sfguy, are you happy with your mObridge?

 

I self-installed both the m0bridge iPod adaptor and the Tooki Bluetooth handsfree phone adaptor into my 2008 997 Turbo Cab. It was slow going to remove all the trim pieces and turn all the screws (mostly due to unfamiliarity), but once the PCM was out the actual wiring of the power and the fibre was very easy and fast. Putting everything back was easy as by then I had figured out all the steps to remove & reinstall the PCM. The Tooki and the m0bridge seem to coexist without any problems.

On the Tooki:
* The supplied power harness is really easy - you can remove the ISO power plug from the back of the PCM, and connect the Tooki to fused power without any soldering / cutting / splicing etc.
* The system does pause the iPod and resume the track playing after the call finishes, which is what you would hope, but it's nice to see it work in practice

On the m0bridge: (with my 160GB iPod classic)
* I tapped the power from the Tooki PCM power harness using splice connectors - this seemed easiest and avoided the need to add another fuse (as it should work off the PCM fuse in the fusebox)
* No crashes/freezes/failures to start up correctly at all, ever
* Includes Aux in (not tested) and the ability to switch between PCM and iPod control (exit/enter lock mode)
* $599+shipping from http://www.mobridgeinc.com/

Issues to be aware of due to the fact that it is emulating a CD-changer. These things are a limitation of the PCM (and will likely be true for any iPod adaptor that works off the PCM interface):
* Random mode works but is not preserved after switching the engine off - this is a known limitation of the PCM. It's also not preserved when switching "disks" - e.g. switching from 'genre' to 'artist' selection
* It takes many seconds to refresh the full track list to become usable when changing pages (e.g. paging past the first 99 items in a list, or entering or exiting a subfolder) - again I think this is a PCM/MOST speed limitation
* Only two levels of folder hierarchy - e.g. 'genre' then 'track', rather than 'genre' then 'artist' then 'album' then 'track'. Yet again another PCM limitation

* There seems to be a slightly audible ascending-pitch whine over the speakers for a couple of seconds as the iPod spins up when starting to play for the first time. I have an iPod Classic 160GB with a hard disk, so I'm assuming that as the disk starts up, this causes the whining noise. I'm surprised that this happens as I thought the connection is all digital. Perhaps this is caused by the iPod at source?
* I haven't tested the Aux in yet
* I was hoping that the cover art would be visible when playing, but all you have is a white screen saying 'm0bridge'. So probably no need to mount the iPod on a cradle to the right of the PCM, apart from perhaps to unlock the iPod wheel to access podcasts (no way to do this from the PCM interface)

You do have to lock the car and let the system settle / fully switch off for up to 10 minutes after the install, otherwise you can get errors which prevent you from using the PCM system at all.

I put the Tooki in the cavity behind the climate control panel, below the PCM. This will let me add the microphone by just removing the right-hand leather side piece, rather than having to remove the whole PCM unit again.

The m0bridge unit is a little bigger than the Tooki unit. It might fit on the plastic wall behind the PCM, but the disadvantage of that is (1) the Aux in won't be accessible to plug/unplug that (though that could be solved by running a permanent extension cable), and (2) the SD card slot (for firmware upgrades and future MP3 playback) won't be accessible. For now the m0bridge and iPod are in the glove box, but I'll have to find a more permanent location. The cables supplied by m0bridge are very long (to allow an in-trunk install) so they will need to be looped and held in place.

Hope this is helpful to others considering one or both of these interesting pieces of kit.

--------------------
2008 997 Turbo Cab
2001 Audi S4 Wagon (GIAC & tip chip)

 

Great write-up. Thanks!

I'm glad to hear that each page contains 99 items. On the NAVTV, a page is 31 items. And it doesn't do any randomizing at all, so anything the mObridge has to offer is welcome.

 

i found out it's not the issue of the ipod firmware but the amount of songs i have on the ipod. Mobridge is testing out the errors right now. I have too much music from over the years and i think there is a issue with that.

 

I have an 80GB iPod in the car and it's full. Do you know what the limit is?

 

Try 132GBs of music Since this problem i have reverted to only certian playlists and it's working good.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I got the mObridge. Much better than the NAV-TV. My review is here...

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...d.php?t=116589

My installer and I will be having a NAV-TV burning party. Then it's off the Bay bridge.

 

You would think porsche would have figured out how to hardwire an Ipod to PCM by now.

 

Especially since Apple would be glad to help them.

 

Are u sure your installer knows what hes doing? I have installed a few Nav-tv units and all have worked great. See where he installed it. It works really good up in the front trunk area, (either Sirius or Ipod) and seem to have no problems. And nobody wants to pull out their radio 3 times. Just a lil FYI

 

I have installed huge amounts of these and occasionally I would get one that does what was listed above and believe me the installer has nothing to do with it, my work looks as if it was installed at the factory. I also have had the same with sirius and BT, but NavTV seems always to be on top of it.

I am glad Ray that you mentioned when it boots up that it has the problem. That is where i think the issues are, or when it goes to sleep.

I also enter everything in the PCM also so when you hold down trip and main buttons there are no warning triangles.

 

So you connect the iPod under the front boot also? Please say no... It takes 10 minutes to pull that radio MAX

 

Mine behaves like that maybe 25% of the time, but it really doesn't bother me too much. Is it a ipod issue or what?

 

do you leave your iPod connected all the time?

if so try disconnecting it every time and see what happens for the next few times.

it is a theory I am working on.

 

Yes it's connected all the time, keep it in the console. I'll give it a try. Thanks