Dension Ice Link & the Ipod!

[edz9876]

Thanks for you post Mcbean7. I do have one question that has concerned me from reading various posts on different iPod interfaces.

Is there any way that it could drain the 4R's battery? Some have said that if you turn the vehicle off without first turning the stereo off that the iPod keeps playing and using up the battery. Is this a problem with the Icelink?

Thanks in advance.
Ed

 

[ToyotaDan]

Thanks for you post Mcbean7. I do have one question that has concerned me from reading various posts on different iPod interfaces.

Is there any way that it could drain the 4R's battery? Some have said that if you turn the vehicle off without first turning the stereo off that the iPod keeps playing and using up the battery. Is this a problem with the Icelink?

Thanks in advance.
Ed

I just installed the Dension unit and I can tell you that when you turn off the car, the ipod stops charging.

 

[jmm9568]

i was wondering if with the dension ipod hook up you could only control playlists? i want to have something where i am able to go through the artist/albums/song lists w/o having to make playlists

 

[edz9876]

Installation

Ok, the Icelink has arrived. But no installation manual. No installation manual on the Dension web site either Would appreciate any insights on what connects to what before I rip my dash apart. Here is what I know and what I don't.

A - connects to the iPod.
B - connects to the Icelink.
C - is the Icelink.
D - connects to the other end of the Icelink.
E - connects to G?
F - ??
G - connects to E?
H - ??
I - ??

I assume H or I connect to the cd changer port on the back of the stereo head unit. What are the other connectors for? Thanks in advance.

 

[ToyotaDan]

Re: Installation

Ok, the Icelink has arrived. But no installation manual. No installation manual on the Dension web site either Would appreciate any insights on what connects to what before I rip my dash apart. Here is what I know and what I don't.

A - connects to the iPod.
B - connects to the Icelink.
C - is the Icelink.
D - connects to the other end of the Icelink.
E - connects to G?
F - ??
G - connects to E?
H - ??
I - ??

I assume H or I connect to the cd changer port on the back of the stereo head unit. What are the other connectors for? Thanks in advance.

F doesnt connect to anything. Ignore it.

G goes to E


H goes in the back of the Radio

and I plugs into what you took out to plug H into (only one thing back there fits)

And thats it...

 

[Jessie_D]

Toyota instructions

Oh, sorry you guys, we only just got the Toyota install instructions done yesterday. It's posted on our website now but here's the direct link for you.

http://www.densionusa.com/support_files/icelink_plus_install_supplement_toyota.pdf

Best Regards
________________________________________
Jessie Wise | Dension USA

 

[edz9876]

Installed the Icelink but have a couple problems.

- Text display always shows the Artist from the first song played. Title advances but not the Artist.

- The icelink goes bezurk when I start the vehicle. It seems to start and stop the ipod 3 times in a mater of about 3 seconds. That's not too bad, but about 50% of the time the ipod does not recover from that and everything is basically locked up. The stereo display shows the disc and track number and 000 for the play time. The ipod screen shows the Dension screen. The only way to recover is to turn the vehicle off and on again and cross my fingers.

The text problem is fairly minor, but the lockup problem is not. Contacted Dension and there won't be a firmware update until 2006.

Anyone else have this same problems? Any way to get around the lock up issue?

 

[ToyotaDan]

Installed the Icelink but have a couple problems.

- Text display always shows the Artist from the first song played. Title advances but not the Artist.

- The icelink goes bezurk when I start the vehicle. It seems to start and stop the ipod 3 times in a mater of about 3 seconds. That's not too bad, but about 50% of the time the ipod does not recover from that and everything is basically locked up. The stereo display shows the disc and track number and 000 for the play time. The ipod screen shows the Dension screen. The only way to recover is to turn the vehicle off and on again and cross my fingers.

The text problem is fairly minor, but the lockup problem is not. Contacted Dension and there won't be a firmware update until 2006.

Anyone else have this same problems? Any way to get around the lock up issue?

For the second problem (I have a 2003 so my display shows nothing, but it does work well in my 05 sienna) turn the key to start the stereo, wait 3 seconds, and then turn to crank the car... this should make the reset go away...

 

[mostejo]

Yes, I have the same problems when I crank the engine. (working fine if I don't crank and leave it on ACC).

In addition, sometimes my stereo doesn't even let me switch to CD1 even though the iPod shows the Denison logo.

I've tried rerouting the cable in case it was engine interference, but that didn't help. It's still a 50/50 gamble when I start the engine.


As for the artist text, I have a guess. It's probably due to how the stereo works. It's shown as the disc title and the stereo probably doesn't bother updating it unless you change "discs". I found you can switch to another source (AM, FM, TAPE, CD) and switch back to CD1 and it will force it to change.

 

[edz9876]

For the second problem (I have a 2003 so my display shows nothing, but it does work well in my 05 sienna) turn the key to start the stereo, wait 3 seconds, and then turn to crank the car... this should make the reset go away...

Thanks for the suggestion ToyotaDan, but unfortunately that didn't work. I did however come up with a similar method that seems to work most of the time. Before turning off the ignition, I switch to FM. After starting the ignition, I wait a few seconds and then switch back to CD1 (changer mode) and it will usually work.

Mostejo: thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one with this issue. At least I know it's not a defective unit. Interesting idea about the Artist update issue.
By the way, I have the JBL single CD unit. What unit do you have?

Sure hope there will be a solution for this one in the next firmware update.

 

[ToyotaDan]

Thanks for the suggestion ToyotaDan, but unfortunately that didn't work. I did however come up with a similar method that seems to work most of the time. Before turning off the ignition, I switch to FM. After starting the ignition, I wait a few seconds and then switch back to CD1 (changer mode) and it will usually work.

Mostejo: thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one with this issue. At least I know it's not a defective unit. Interesting idea about the Artist update issue.
By the way, I have the JBL single CD unit. What unit do you have?

Sure hope there will be a solution for this one in the next firmware update.

I have the navigation unit, and I tried 5 solutions before Dension. I am just happy I can control the IPOD, even if it is a little flaky. I like your fm to cd changer idea.

 

[mostejo]

I got two emails back from Dension this week. One said they were working on a new firmware.

The other email suggested swapping it out for another, which I have now done. My old IceLink was blue and said it was version 3.10 (I think). I was surprised the new one I got is black and is version 3.30. The same firmware version was on both.

It's only been two days, but I think that fixed my "not able to select CD1" problem. I did get "0:00" once, but the iPod was on the Icelink setup menu, so I just had to exit that to start playback.

Course, this is only after 2 days, so I'll post back after a week of testing.

edz9876: I have the JBL 10 speaker, single disc CD with steering wheel controls. Radio model number is 16853.

 

[solmagic2]

I am very excited here, I just got my runner.

Will this work with my runner.

'03, JBL single disc?

 

[ToyotaDan]

I am very excited here, I just got my runner.

Will this work with my runner.

'03, JBL single disc?

Yes, it should work in yours - expect some small hiccups as described in this thread, but they are minor...

 

[edz9876]

I am very excited here, I just got my runner.

Will this work with my runner.

'03, JBL single disc?

solmagic2,

I have an '05 with JBL single disc with rear seat audio and an ipod nano. Here is what I've found...

- sound quality is quite good.
- charges the ipod while playing.
- no special requirements for naming your playlists.
- installation was quite easy as long as you feel ok ripping apart your dash.
- Artist and title show on head unit using the TEXT button.
- Steering wheel controls work well for control.
- Rear seat audio can not listen to the ipod. You can however listen to the ipod on the speakers while the RSA is listening to CD, AM or FM.
- The numbered buttones (1 thru 6) don't work for selecting playlists as indicated in the manual. You must use the Next disc, Prev disc buttons (buttons 3 and 4 I think).
- The Artist information on the head unit does not update when the ipod goes to the next song. You always have the artist from the first song. The only way to update the artist is to switch to the next play list and back.
- The song title on the head unit does not update if you manually advance to the next song. Only updates if one song ends and the next starts on it's own.
- If you have the ipod playing and turn off your vehicle, next time you start the vehicle, you have a 50/50 chance of the icelink locking up. To get around this, I switch to FM before turning the vehicle off.
- expect a firmware update from Dension for the Toyota unit in January.
- contacted Dension tech support 3 times so far. Response times where 2 days, 1 day, and 6 days and running.

 

[ToyotaDan]

solmagic2,

I have an '05 with JBL single disc with rear seat audio and an ipod nano. Here is what I've found...

- sound quality is quite good.
- charges the ipod while playing.
- no special requirements for naming your playlists.
- installation was quite easy as long as you feel ok ripping apart your dash.
- Artist and title show on head unit using the TEXT button.
- Steering wheel controls work well for control.
- Rear seat audio can not listen to the ipod. You can however listen to the ipod on the speakers while the RSA is listening to CD, AM or FM.
- The numbered buttones (1 thru 6) don't work for selecting playlists as indicated in the manual. You must use the Next disc, Prev disc buttons (buttons 3 and 4 I think).
- The Artist information on the head unit does not update when the ipod goes to the next song. You always have the artist from the first song. The only way to update the artist is to switch to the next play list and back.
- The song title on the head unit does not update if you manually advance to the next song. Only updates if one song ends and the next starts on it's own.
- If you have the ipod playing and turn off your vehicle, next time you start the vehicle, you have a 50/50 chance of the icelink locking up. To get around this, I switch to FM before turning the vehicle off.
- expect a firmware update from Dension for the Toyota unit in January.
- contacted Dension tech support 3 times so far. Response times where 2 days, 1 day, and 6 days and running.

Let me add something here. If you rename your playlists to have numbers in front of them, then they will correspond to buttons 1-5. Button 6 is the Dension ice-link menu and it's kind of funky to navigate.

My playlists are:
1All
2Rock
3Pop
4Country
5Favorites

These are smart play lists. By doing this, it's easy to switch between playlists.

Keep in mind, the Ipod is only used in the 4runner. I have another ipod for daily use, so no big deal to call playlists something weird.

 

[solmagic2]

Thanks allot,

Here is my question. I don't listen to many playlists. I listen to songs and albums.

Can I use the Ipod to navigate those as opposed to using the jbl controls to listen to playlists?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[edz9876]

Thanks again for the tip TD. I'll give it a try.

Solmagic, the icelink makes your ipod appear as a 6 disc cd changer. You put songs into the first 5 discs in the form of playlists. Disc 6 is reserved for accessing the icelink setup menu. You could set up playlists to include specific albums if you like but you may be restricting yourself.

You can also access additional playlists and an "album play" function from the menu. This is not something you can or should be doing while driving however as it is awkward to access. Hoping for some improvements here in the next firmware release.

FYI, the album play function is supposed to allow you to find a song you like and then select album play to listen to the whole album. Access to the album function is too awkward to be useful at this point.

 

[doctob]

So let me get this straight...Once I install this thing I can only listen to the first 5 playlists I have on my Ipod and then, it will only display the artist name for the first track in each playlist???

 

[solmagic2]

Thanks again for the tip TD. I'll give it a try.

Solmagic, the icelink makes your ipod appear as a 6 disc cd changer. You put songs into the first 5 discs in the form of playlists. Disc 6 is reserved for accessing the icelink setup menu. You could set up playlists to include specific albums if you like but you may be restricting yourself.

You can also access additional playlists and an "album play" function from the menu. This is not something you can or should be doing while driving however as it is awkward to access. Hoping for some improvements here in the next firmware release.

FYI, the album play function is supposed to allow you to find a song you like and then select album play to listen to the whole album. Access to the album function is too awkward to be useful at this point.

Thanks again. I am going to get one of these no matter what but I think that is a design flaw. I have a 60gig with over 8000 songs, my playlists are huge and can be restrictive. Yes I have my favorites that I listen to all day at work for a verity. I guess I am going to have to change the way I use my iPod and the way it is set up. Because What about new music I put on it. I would like to listen to that cd. Anyway enough bitching from me. I make it work. Thanks again for all your help with answering my questions.