Wire-Tunes iPod interface, anyone?

this looks interesting but their website sucks so i can't get any info

 

I went by our local Circuit City today and saw one of these there. I saw the version for Toyota does actually list the Prius as a compatable car on the box. I just might have to give this a try.

I must agree the website does have a bit to be desired. You can't even get the PDF. All it does is take you to the Adobe site for the reader program.

 

It would be nice if this one did all that it says with the Prius. Does anyone know of this company? Who are they and where they come from? It would be nice if one of their engineers owned a Prius so it would be done right.

 

Bad News- it did not work on my 2005 Prius

I had Circuit City install one in my package 4 Prius last Saturday.
I neglected to bring my ipod with me, so the install tech used brand new
open box ipods from the store (three different models; I'm
not sure which ones). None of the three worked, and nobody
answered the phone at the wire-tunes customer support line, so Circuit City refunded me for the unit and the install. The ipod charges, and the
"Axcess" logo appears on the ipod screen, but there was no way to
select the ipod from the Prius touchscreen. Selecting CD just reported "No Disk". The Circuit City installer said that he thought I needed a head unit with a button for a CD changer.

On Monday, I had long talks with both the Toyota parts dept. and Metra. Toyota confirmed that there is only one head unit- it is the same for regular audio and JBL Premium audio cars (the difference is in the speakers and 6 CD changer). The head unit figures out there is a changer attached by signals sent down the wire from the changer/wiretunes-- there are no "DIP switches" or jumpers on the head unit.

The support line at metra 800-221-0932 confirmed that they had tested the unit in a new Prius, and suggested that if the firmware in the ipod wasn't up to date, the interface might hang talking to the ipod and thus not send the right signals to the head unit announcing it is present.

I don't know what was in the ipods at Circuit City, but I updated my ipod firmware to 2.3 and rescheduled the install for today. This time
the ipod didn't even display the Axcess logo; it just showed a "check mark" and said do not disconnect. Again, the head unit had no idea the
ipod was out there. We got Metra support on the phone; they talked with the engineer; and he said that Toyota must have changed their firmware in the head unit, which subtly changed the protocol, which is why it didn't work in my car. Since this was the second failed install and they had warned me it might not work, Circuit City refunded me for the wiretunes but not the $50 for the install labor.

The engineer at Metra said they would get to work on figuring it out. He
also had the lame excuse that while the box clearly says "2004 UP Prius", the install instructions do not list the Prius as compatible.

 

Re: Wire-Tunes iPod interface - iPod interface - Neo ion

I had exactly the same experience with the Wire-tunes install at Circuit out here in Burbank, CA as will_leavett did.

I just got a new 2005 Prius and have been researching everything I could get my hands on to integrate my iPod into the Prius. When I found wire-tunes online - I agree - their website sucked - so I called Metra (the company who I think manufactures it) and they didn't even know who sold it - even though they list Circuit City. I bought the Neo-ion interface - http://www.neocaraudio.com/prod-ion.html - I called them up in San Diego - they assured me it worked fine. Looking for an installer - I was recommended by a Toyota dealer to try Circuit. The Burbank store installs these things - when I got there - they had the Wire-tunes so decided to try that instead since it claimed to be compatible - it wasn't. Like will - only got a check mark - no audio at all. They called Wire-tunes and no one knew anything. They are going to follow up with their R&D people on monday and call me.

So I had them install the Neo-ion - which I had already ordered direct - which turned out to be made by Peripheral (at least that was the package it was in) We set the dip switches according to instructions - we got audio - can turn the volume up and down - and CD changer comes up on the Prius screen - but you can't change playlists - the time of the track does not work - and you can't forward or reverse the track selection - only got that to work a couple of times. I too, made sure I had current software in the iPod (I did). So At least I get audio and volume - but I still have to manually select things on the iPod. I will now call Peripheral back and ask what's up and why it does not work as described. At least I get direct audio.

By the way - I called iPod2car to ask where to get their system installed - they said they had recalled it due to too many incompatibilities - and it "might" be back in the market for the Prius in "a month or so".

(sigh) I will report back to this group when I find out more. Anyone who has any information that could help me here it would be greatly appreciated.

- longing for my playlists in California

 

i personaly use the one from apple that plugs into a lighter outlet. i dont need it on the screen or anything and it charges the ipod and plas over the radio. it was $75.00 from apple when i bought it its gone up a bit since then

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...1.1.1.1.0.1.0.1

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(johmbo\";p=\"101591)</div>

I had a hell of a time with the iPod2Car. See this thread:
http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t...od2car&start=15
It appeared to "work" when I disconnected the XM, but not really what I was looking for.
The USA Spec iPod Interface looks interesting, I wonder if anyone has tried it.
http://www.usaspec.com/ipod.htm


Bob

 

The head unit can't possibly be the same in the standard system vs JBL. The amp is a separate piece under the passenger seat in the JBL system, not to mention the CD changer and tape player is part of the head unit.

OK, if they were to say the 'head unit' in the head unit assembly was the same, sans amp plus changer/tape in the assembly, I'd buy that.

By the way, I had perused the repair manual regarding the audio system, since I caught a bunch of DTCs while I was trying to get GPS time to sync my pager's time. The head unit has a device ID of 190, but its sub components have logical addresses, which may be confused with external devices with device IDs defined as the same device type.

For example:
In JBL, the head unit is device ID 190.
It has logical addresses 1 (communication), 63 (changer), 60 (radio), 61 (tape).
Now say you add device ID 360 (CD-CH1) or 240 (CD-CH2), the head unit/display unit may get totally confused!