I have the clicking sound when I turn the ignition off for about 15 seconds. I'm guessing the ignition switched source I used does not shut down immediately.

FWIW I used an ignition switched power source as I could not see any reason to leave an accessory powered up all the time.

 

I thought that the optical MOST network was a ring, which needed to be operational at all times. If the 500BT does not have power (such as key-in, when PCM, amp and navigation start up), would it pass the optical in both directions? I think not.

The 500BT has a bypass mode, but I envisioned that it still needed power, even to act as a MOST repeater. I do not think that the 500BT would allow the MOST ring to be operational, unless powered, so I would recommend that we limit the alternative testing to power using key-in, not just ON.

But even that does not address the issue of when you try to play without even having the key in. The PCM can be turned on when you are sitting in the car - I did this last night while the family was have an ice cream outing. Even key-in power would break this, as the PCM could not talk to the amp. And when the 500BT eventually powers up the MOST ring, the PCM might given up on initializing the amp and navigation(when the error message displays). You can workaround that by selecting different sources or the navigation.

 

Is it possible we are facing issues with bad optical connections? The MOST connectors do not keep the fiber optic cables very straight in the PCM or 500BT devices. I know that Toslink, FibreChannel and GigE all have connectors with very tight fits and requiring near perfectly polished ends. But the MOST connector is much sloppier.

Looking at the fiber going into the 500BT at startup, I see an almost constant red light - data is being sent non-stop. But trying the same looking at the loop side, I only saw a short (1/2 second) burst of light/data. It did not look like the 500BT was passing the data through. After reassembly last night, everything worked for the next 5 startups. Could I have just tweaked the position of the optical connectors enough to make it work reliably? That might explain why the frequency of issues has changed over time - the environment is being shaken all of the time.

 

Seahull - That's exactly why I was saying you need to use the key-in switched power and not the accessory power. And yes, you do lose the ability to use the radio with key out but most people aren't too concerned about that. If your sitting in the car you probably have the key so just put it in the ignition if you want to listen to the radio.

 

He installed it where the cd changer used to be. I do not know where he tapped into for the power. When I called him, he said he prob tapped into the passenger lighter socket.. or possibly behind the radio. He is unsure but it has been a while lol. I do know I can access PCM/Dension without the key in the ignition. Basically, the Dension is on when the PCM is on.


the installer's name is Jamey Rawling (recommended by Eric)
he is a good guy and a real pro


he suggested to check the red/black wire plug and make sure its sitting securely and has a sold connection. He also suggested other possible scenarios (such as fiber optic cable) but I think its best u call him directly and pick his brain.


http://www.yelp.com/biz/rawlings-audio-monrovia

 

It is possible, but unlikely. The optical connection is digital: it either works or it doesn't. If it is about cable seating, one of us would have had an issue of the system crashing in the middle of a trip.

It is possible that there is a timing sensitivity during handshake, with tighter tolerances. However, resetting the Dension before powering up works... Kind of ruling out optical connection issues.

Furthermore, i tested without bluetooth and without usb connection: it is working so far, without crashes.

What is also unexplained: when it is working, the USB-lightning connection to my iPhone 5 is not working. It signals to the iPhone that it is disconnected after 10 seconds or so. Hitting play on the iPhone resumes, but only for 10 seconds.

 

Jaimey installed my Dension as well. As you said, he's a great guy and a real pro. I suggest that anyone within reasonable driving distance to his shop who's having issues, whether self-inflicted or caused by another installer, make an appointment to let him check your set-up. He'll make it right.

 

Running without the Phone function (dip switch 6 set to Off) has resulted in a higher rate of it functioning correctly. It is still faulting 40% of the time, but that's better than the 70% previously. To me this tells me it's a problem with the Dension effectively emulating the two devices (CDC, Phone).

Next step will be to pull it all apart and make sure I haven't installed it incorrectly. I triple checked everything against all instructions from Eric, but I need to be sure.

As an aside, is there any way to factory reset the Dension? As in full refresh of config and removal of pairs devices.

 

I have been testing the unit using ONLY the 3.5mm aux jack OR a USB flash drive. Nophone, no bluetooth, no iphone connected toUSB.

Success rate: 100% so far.

For me, it is no doubt that the issue is a bug in the interface between an iPhone (using iphone 5 with iOS 7) and the Dension gateway. Two issues there, could be the same:
. Upon disconnect, the bluetooth stack is crashing the unit
. The USB connection to iPhone 5 is buggy (hiccups every 15 seconds, disconnecting the autoplayback on the iPhone)

More tests today. I will report later.

 

I'm currently running it with dip switch 6 off, bluetooth off, all paired phones removed (I tried two phones to be sure it wasn't a handset issue). It hasn't faulted in the 4 times I've run it using USB on an iPhone 5, with a lightning cable (which others have stated doesn't work, unsure what's going on here!).

I'll run it like this for another day, then introduce bluetooth, (and if successful) then introduce phone. I do believe that switching on 6/the phone feature is a contributor to the issue. It has faulted with it off, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is due to not letting the car sit off for long enough after turning off dip switch 6.

 

Had a couple more successful uses with my iPhone NOT paired so decided to pair and begin the next test scenario. Worked immediately after pairing the phone, but after the first complete power off (left car off and locked for 30 mins) and power on, it reproduced the fault.

So current test results are:
Dension with Bluetooth OFF/Dip6 OFF works 100% with iPhone 5 over USB
Dension with Bluetooth ON/Dip6 OFF/No Phone Paired works 100% with iPhone 5 over USB
Dension with Bluetooth ON/Dip6 OFF/iPhone 5 paired works 0% (so far)

 

NZskater: wow, this is very interesting. I forwarded your results to Eric, even though he also reads this forum regularly.

The bluetooth stack implementation for iOS is different than Android or laptops. Do you have access to a bluetooth device that is not from Apple?

Your test clearly demonstrated that your issue is NOT an installation issue (heat, optical loop or non-switched power).

Let's hope that this issue can be fixed with a firmware update.

Nadim

 

Thanks Nadim. Am in direct communication with Eric, that was a copy/paste from an email I sent him. As always he has been incredibly helpful.

I will be testing with an Android mobile this weekend. It would be really helpful for others to complete the same test as I have, and see if they can replicate the fault.

 

Since changing mine from being the last device in the loop to the first, I've had better success, but still not perfect.

I decided not to try the switched power after reading about others that installed it that way. I realized that switched power would result in the radio not working in two circumstances...one being that if you wanted to listen to the radio without the key in, and the second being that if you wanted to listen to the radio with the key in but not turned to the on or accessory position.

My car did not come with a cd changer nor a phone. The Dension instructions say to program in a cd changer if the car didn't have one, but when I've done this it hasn't changed anything other than getting an annoying message that pops up saying that no cd changer can be found.

I have exchanged some emails with Eric at BumperPlugs and he was nice enough to give me some tips even though I didn't get my unit from him. One of his suggestions was..."First, the cdc programming may not have taken - dealer must see the '+' sign in both columns on the PIWIS when done."

After reading all the posts, it seems that there are people in 3 camps...
1. Those that have installed it themselves using unswitched power and have the issues.
2. Those that have installed it themselves using switched power who say it works, but only if the key is turned to the on position.
3. Those that have had someone like Jamey at Rawlings Audio install it and say it works 100%.

This is one of the threads I had bookmarked that talked about having Jamey install it...

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...xperience.html

I contacted House Auto in LA to see if they knew what Jamey programmed in with the PIWIS computer, but they told me that they just let him borrow the computer and he does it himself. I sent Jamey an email asking if he wouldn't mind sharing some of his secrets to getting these working properly, but I haven't heard back yet. Maybe Eric could get some info out of him.

I really think it has something to do with getting it programmed correctly with the PIWIS. I'm going to hook mine up to it again tonight and take some screen shots. I'll post those pictures later.

 

I can confirm that enabling Bluetooth and pairing an iPhone 5 has resulted in issues. It now has to be reset and then switched off and on to work. This results in it working for one session, but the subsequent post shutdown/startup session(s) failing.

Next test will be to disable Bluetooth on my phone and start the car before reenabling. If successful I will try pairing an Android phone instead to confirm if it is an iPhone centric problem.

On the coding front; I would recommend enabling the CDC via PIWIS. Every example given of it working consistently is with this enabled.