Ipod2Car works with Prius!

Well, at least I'm not the only one pulling my hair out over this mess. The only difference between my setup and the others is that I have the XM unit installed as well. MTE is definitely wrong about the CD changer. The Aux port is capable of recognizing any externally connected, protocol compatible, unique device. That means it will accept an external XM module because it declares itself to be an XM module. It will accept an external CD changer because it declares itself to be an external CD changer. The software does know the difference between the internal CD changer and an external CD changer. They are not mutually exclusive.

The basis for the iPod2car box is that it pretends to be an external CD changer. This therefore by design only makes it incompatible with being connected in parallel with a Toyota external CD changer, since both external devices would declare the same ID type.

Long story longer, this box seems to have some more development ahead of it before it can become as useful as it declares itself to be. I'm still not sure what to do with mine. I have zippo for wheel controls, but the audio quality and built-in charging capability are really great. In my situation, the iPod is piggy-backing on the XM module's connections, so to select the iPod, I simply tune my XM to Channel 000 which has no audio output. Then I just navigate the iPod using the click-wheel. When I want to listen to XM, I just pause the iPod and use the wheel controls to select an XM station. I can live with this, but is it worth the price I paid?

I'd certainly feel more comfortable if the whole ball of wax worked as advertised....

Mark

 

Well disconnecting power from the iPod2Car is useless. An easy test of this it to (with the radio on) reach around behind the radio and remove the Toyota Y-harness. This completely disconnects the iPod2Car. Now if you cycle around using the mode button on the steering wheel you will find out that the CD player still does not work. As far as the head-unit is concerned, when the power was applied (turning the CAR on) the iPod2Car was connected and it still is - even though it has physically been disconnected.

So I went ahead and reassembled the car. It works as I have described and I'll live with it for now. I did get an email from MTE (one of their engineers I assume) and he will be available to talk with me Thursday morning. I'll let you guys know what he has to say.

Pat

 

Pat-

Have you directed MTE to this thread? There might be some useful information for them in here!!!

 

After reading through this and other threads, I'm still confused.

If you install it in a Prius with the Toyota in-dash 6-CD changer, without having other devices (XM, etc.) plugged in, will it work totally -- with steering wheel controls and stopping/pausing when the mode is changed or the car is turned off?

Apologize for asking a question that's been asked many times before... but it's getting very hard to tell the players without a program.

 

It's understandably confusing. Pat is having problems with the basic installation with no other external modules. I'm having trouble with the XM and the ipod so that's a different story.

Several users here and even more users on the PriusOnline site have stated that they simply plugged it all together and it worked beautifully, wheel controls and all. I honestly don't know what the difference is.

Having the internal CD changer makes no difference in this issue.

That's all we know for now.

Mark

 

In my Pkg 6 '05 (in-dash changer) the Ipodcar2 works and the steering wheel up/down controls will change tracks. And the steering wheel volume control works too. As I stated before, the only problem is I cannot switch back to the cd changer function UNLESS I power the Prius off and then on again. Other than that, it plays and charges as advertised. I do want this corrected, however, I can live with it this way if I had to.

timmyd

 

It sounds to me like once the head end on a package 5/6/9 sees something plugged into AUX that claims to be a CD changer, it decides to disable it's own CD player. Personally, I would have probably written the software to make AUX be CD2, and allowed em both to work at the same time, but who knows what they had to deal with when it was written.

Pretty disappointing news; I was really leaning towards this, but I'm not quite ready to let go of the CD changer, despite not having used it in quite a while.

I keep thinking I'm going to be on some long road trip with a passenger who's going to get sick of what's on my iPod and want to play their own CDs, and I'm going to have to tell them that I need to pull over to the side of the road to reboot my car to make that work.

One obvious solution, although it will take programming work: allow your iPod connection device to fake being either the CD changer or a Satellite receiver via dip switch. Problem is that it probably only makes a difference to us Prius owners, but would require a hell of a lot of programming.

 

Well, if you're looking for workarounds, pay the $275 for the OEM XM kit, buy the ipod2car kit, connect both with the Y-cable so the XM and internal CD changer are both still active, and use XM channel 000 (no audio) to play your iPod. It's hokey, but that's what I'm doing right now....

 

Was curious what locations people were able to find to mount the black box needed for this device. I'm having mine installed soon and was hoping I could find some good ideas here.

The installations instructions made available are great, but I was unsure how to find a good spot for the box. And if more of the dash had to be taken apart of find a good spot.

Thanks!

Marc

 

I mounted the black box behind the glove compartment in order for it still be easily accessible and removable without any dash disassembly. If you open the lower glove box, you can see that it can be released completely by depressing the sides and by unclipping the arm on the right hand side. Now, if you reach beyond the back of where the glove box usually ends, there's a gap directly above which is the space between the upper and lower glove boxes. This is where the XM harness is normally routed if you've installed that kit. This gap is just large enough to velcro in the black box and still allow the lower glovebox to shut normally. The Y-harness is just a short run from this spot to the Aux connector on the back of the head unit.

 

Are there installation instructions out there that DON'T involve disassembling the entire dashboard starting on the left side of the car?

I've seen suggestions from Coastal Dave that they can install XM in 30 minutes, I can't believe that is possible if the whole dash has to be disassembled (which are the only instructions I've found)...

Thanks!
Peter+

 

Just had the iPod2car installed in my 2004 #7 by Rich's Car Tunes in Watertown, MA (http://www.cartunes.com).

Wasn't brave enough to do it myself. They did it in about 2 hours. It was their first 2004 Prius.

So far it works great and there are no CD issues with the single CD player.

Marc

 

Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the country in another Blue state, CA

Anyone know a *trustworthy* stereo installer in the Silicon Valley area?

Peter+

 

Because the dash pieces are held together mostly by snapping and not many screws, it really is not that bad to disassemble it. It looks much worse than it is in reality. I do not take apart my dashboards very often, but with instructions, it is possible for just about anyone. I do not think there's any other way to do it.

timmyd

 

I've just read through all the posts, and I'm dizzy! It's probably going to be a few months before I get my Prius, but I would LOVE to have my iPod integrated into the system. I know some people have asked, but I didn't see any pictures posted of installed iPods. Does anyone have one?

Also, does anyone know someone reliable who can install and iPod2car in my 2005 Option 6 Prius that is in the Los Angeles area?

Thanks!

 

FWIW, in response to the "not QUITE working perfectly" comments, I ended up sending mine back (15% restocking fee, oh well). I'm going to wait to see if the iCruz from MonsterCable addresses all of the concerns...

*crosses fingers*

 

Good to know! Since you live very close to me, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know if you ever get something you're happy with, and if there's someone in the area who can install it.

By the way, is the main advantage of this kind of device over the cassette adapter that it automatically recharges the iPod?

 

IMO, the *MAIN* advantage over a cassette adapter is that it ought to sound VASTLY better. Aside from not having to adjust the volume of the iPod (and the clipping that results from turning it up to high), a hard-wire right into the head unit bypasses all of the noise-inducing circuitry in the cassette system.

Also, being able to control the iPod from the MFD and steering wheel controls, allowing one to possibly keep the iPod hidden while in use. And, as you mentioned, allowing the iPod to run off car power is a nice bonus.

Once Monster starts talking a bit more about the iCruz, I suspect there will be more discussion in that thread about whether or not they're able to display track information on the Prius MFD. iPod2Car (and other systems to-date) do not offer this at all.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim S.\";p=\"47381)</div>

LMAO!

 

My Ipod2car rant

I have a 2005#6, and I order my ipod2car around october. I'm not sure what firmware rev I have.

I'm disappointed with the ipod2car. While it does its job as a clean line-in for the ipod and it is great to get rid of the tape adapter, it really doesn't deliver a reliable integration with the car audio.

First of all, the radio acts reluctant to believe there really is something plugged into it. Pressing the CD button doesn't flash any visual cue on the computer that it is changing modes, like it does when pressing the radio or tape buttons.

Power cycling the car when listening to the ipod switches to radio mode. This is to say, if I was listening to the ipod when I parked and shut off the car, when I come back and turn the car on, the radio is now playing and I have to press the CD button to get back to the ipod.

The ipod2car is supposed to turn the ipod off (stop playing) when the car shuts off. This usually works but is inconsistent, and it forces me to check the ipod whenever I leave the car. Conversely, if the ipod is paused and I push the CD button, the ipod usually starts playing, but not always.

The track skip buttons are equally unreliable. I can skip to the next song only a few times before the FF button stops working. I've noticed that in most cases I can still use the RW button to restart the current song, and then the FF button starts working again. Sometimes neither button works at all.

A final minor annoyance is that when switched to CD mode without having the ipod plugged in, the ipod2car puts some electronic noise through the car speakers. This can be bad if the volume is up high.

There's also a feature that I wish it had, and I'm surprised it doesn't do. Since the device pretends to be a CD changer, it should get signals from the radio to pause playback when the radio is turned off or turned to a different mode (tape, radio). But the ipod only ever pauses playback when the car is turned off. Turning the radio off doesn't pause the ipod.

That's my rant. I wanted to provide an honest review of this thing so others could know exactly what they are getting if they buy one. If you are an ipod2car user and do not have these problems, please let me know!

- Robert