jaymurff25

I have an 07 with nav and I cannot get the DICE unit to work. The nav display says DICE, shows the name of the first song, but it says PAUSE and on the iPod after flickering and changing screens numerous times it shows a check mark and says ok to disconnect. This is extremely frustrating and disappointing. I have the 80gb black video iPod and it has firmware version 1.2.1 on it (which is what it came with) and the little guide book that came with the DICE says that the video iPod MUST have firmware version 1.1.1 but I don't know if the guide is simply outdated or if for whatever reason they just don't support the newer firmware version which came with my iPod 6 months ago.

I have the first two set of dip switches on the DICE unit down and the second set up. The xm is not connected to the Y adapter and I have completely disconnected all of the plugs from the xm brain in the trunk. As far as I understand that is how it has to be set up on the 07 with nav. Any thoughts?

darksom1

You will probably be better off posting this in the 3G Audio forum.

jaymurff25

Ahh shoot I thought I was in that forum when I posted it, sorry about that. Should I re-post or can it be moved?

Xpditor

You are now.

jaymurff25

Thanks for moving this for me. I am waiting until ~9am west coast time to call DICE to find out if I have a bad unit (which seems to happen quite often with these) or if it's simply that they can't support the 1.2.1 firmware on the video ipod.

modificata3

My buddy just bout a dice and said that when he was looking around forums that the video ipods have trouble playing properly for a lot of people....doesn't solve ur prob, just letting u know ur not on ur own

jaymurff25

I appreciate that, thank you. I called DICE during lunch and they seemed puzzled that it's not working and I told them that I have read numerous posts on the net about people having to get a replacement unit sent to them. They finally agreed to send me a replacement unit by ground shipping, even though I ordered directly through them and paid $40 for overnight shipping on this unit. Needless to say I am extremely disappointed with DICE at this point.

For those that have it installed and working, regardless of the year of your vehicle and which iPod you have, can you answer a couple of questions for me?

1. If you have the Y cable, do you have the existing factory plug plugged into it?

2. Did you have to disconnect any of the connections to your XM brain in the trunk?

Nick@DICE

Hi? Who did you speak with over here? It wasn't me I don't think.

First of all, did you try do reset the iPod. This fixes 99% of issues like this.

And you need firmware 1.1.1 or above, so you're fine.

jaymurff25

His name is Adam S.

Reset the iPod as in hold down the middle and top button?? I have done that 15 times at least.

I have tried every possible combination of things plugged in or not plugged in. I am only trying this in XM mode as I don't care for CDC mode since the point of this is to have text on the screen.

I was told that I had to go and put another $120 hold on my credit card to have a new module sent out which will take up to 5 days to get here, after spending $220 to have the original one overnighted. So basically I just lost my shipping money for the overnight shipment and the dude didn't even seem to care that there is a problem with the unit.

So in 5 days I hope to find out whether or not this was a huge waste of time and money or not.

Nick@DICE

Well it's possible your iPod isn't getting the play command - but usually that is the iPod's fault. The next thing to try is to reflash your iPod and to make sure the data port is free of dust or other nasties.

And it's not the Video iPods that are being pains in the butt, it's the new Classics. They have a nasty problem with random pauses, but Apple acknowledged that it's their problem, and that there will be a fix.

jaymurff25

I have considered resetting the iPod but I have almost 10,000 songs on there and I don't want to reset it unless it's likely that this is the cause.

What is the proper set up regarding what should be connected and not connected in the 2007 TL with nav if I want it set up through XM?

I thought that simply leaving the existing plug behind the radio disconnected would be enough with the first two dip switches down and the second two up. However, I have read in other places that the brain must be disconnected in the trunk as well.

Nick@DICE

Back up your music first, of course. There are programs out there that can do that with a few clicks.

Leaving it unplugged from the back is fine if you don't have navigation. If you do, the XM plug is woven in with the navi one so you have to unplug the XM brain in the truck entirely from the trunk or everything will be haywire.

Yup, the DIP switches need to be UP/UP & DOWN/DOWN. If you don't unplug the module each time you flip the switches, the change will not be reconized until you do so. Of course the car has to be fully off as well.

jaymurff25

You mean DOWN/DOWN (car switches) & UP/UP (iPod switches) as the book says, correct?

I wasn't concerned about losing my music, I was not particularly in the mood to wipe my iPod of almost 10,000 songs and then have to rebuild it later on. However, I went ahead and did just that just to make sure it wasn't the fault of my iPod which has never given me any trouble.

For reference I have an 80 gig video iPod with firmware 1.2.2.

Here are the steps that I have taken today.

1. Wiped the iPod completely clean with the newest firmware 1.2.2 and then created 1 playlist with 25 songs and that is the ONLY thing on the iPod.

2. Disconnected the car battery.

3. Completely disconnected the XM from the car. (NOTE: THE BOOK DOES NOT SAY A THING ABOUT THE XM BRAIN IN THE TRUNK).

4. Left the XM disconnected from the DICE plug behind the radio. (NOTE: As I understand it, if you have a 2007 with Nav and want to use the DICE in Sat Mode with text you will NOT need the R4 cable since you won't be connecting the XM back into it anyway).

5. Set the dip switches on the DICE module at DOWN/DOWN (for the car switches) and UP/UP for the iPod switches as the guide specifies for SAT mode with text and both DICE/iPod control.

6. Connected the DICE module.

7. Connected the iPod to the DICE module.

8. Reconnected the battery.

9. Turned on the car, DICE module went into init mode, iPod flashed screens until landing back on the check mark screen saying ok to disconnect. The nav screen displayed the track name of the first song on the iPod and also said PAUSE. Pushing the buttons on the iPod made no difference.

10. Tried friends iPod, 60 gig photo version, same exact thing happened.

So right now I am waiting another >4 more days for the new DICE module to arrive. I am out the $40 for overnight shipping and extra $20 spent on ordering through DICE as opposed to the reseller on Acurazine. I also have a $120 hold on my card until the original DICE unit is returned and they release the hold against it and as of right now I essentially have nothing to show for it other than knowing how to take apart my console and trunk liner.

For those that asked in other threads you will lose your real-time traffic since the XM has to be completely disconnected. The sales person at DICE might tell you that you won't lose this as she did with me, but seeing that it's tied into the XM I am 99.99% certain that you will lose the real-time traffic.

I suppose you could connected it in cd changer mode but you won't have text display and I highly doubt the sound quality will be $200+ better than using the Aux port in the center console. Also, don't expect any type of apology from the people at DICE, expect them to blame the install or the iPod and deny that there are many people receiving bad DICE modules.

Nick I know that you have tried to be very helpful on the forums here and to be honest the big reason why I went with DICE was that I expected a good product and good customer support because of your posts on here.

Nick@DICE

You mean DOWN/DOWN (car switches) & UP/UP (iPod switches) as the book says, correct?

My bad, thanks for the correction. I was thinking about the HD radio.

4. Left the XM disconnected from the DICE plug behind the radio. (NOTE: As I understand it, if you have a 2007 with Nav and want to use the DICE in Sat Mode with text you will NOT need the R4 cable since you won't be connecting the XM back into it anyway).

whoa now. I said that the cable you left hanging was NOT the XM. That's the harness to part of your navigation system. You MUST plug that back in! That's why the R4 kit is sold to those with Navi.

For those that asked in other threads you will lose your real-time traffic since the XM has to be completely disconnected. The sales person at DICE might tell you that you won't lose this as she did with me, but seeing that it's tied into the XM I am 99.99% certain that you will lose the real-time traffic.

Yup, you will lose XM traffic, no question. I'm sorry you got the wrong information. Was this Adam that told you that as well?

Nick I know that you have tried to be very helpful on the forums here and to be honest the big reason why I went with DICE was that I expected a good product and good customer support because of your posts on here.

Well you do have my appologies. What I can do is once we recieve your old module and confirm it's bad, I can have the difference in shipping refunded to you. Does this sound ok?

6spdtls

what does dice ipod kit do? does kit let you watch ipod video through stock navigation?

Nick@DICE

.

https://acurazine.com/forums/sponsored-sales-group-buys-10/dice-ipod-kits-exclusive-buy-acurazine-371815/

It allows you control and text from your iPod to your headunit. You can check this thread for pictures.

jaymurff25

My apologies, I misunderstood you there. I don't believe that I have tried the unit with just the plug behind the radio connected and the entire XM brain unplugged. I will try that this evening after work and repost my results. I would suggest adding to the installation guide that if you have a 2007 with nav that the xm brain in the trunk must be disconnected and that the existing plug behind the radio should be connected to the DICE plug.

No, I do not know her name but I mentioned your name at the time of the order and she didn't indicate one way or another whether she knew you.

I would appreciate that. Thank you. Honestly if Adam would have simply overnighted another unit to me I would have been happy but he said that isn't an option.

jaymurff25

Well I tried your set up last night and I can't imagine that to be the correct way unless something is just totally screwed up because none of my buttons on the dash work with it set up like this:

- XM Brain completely disconnected in trunk
- DICE plugged into port on rear left of radio where XM was plugged in.
- Plugged pre-existing XM plug into the Y adapter on the DICE cable.
- Dip switches on DICE module set to DOWN/DOWN for car and UP/UP for iPod.

Battery was disconnected while plugging/unplugging. Plugged the battery back in and the nag screen comes up and is completely locked up and none of the buttons on the dash work. Turn off car, disconnect DICE plug from DICE module and re-start car and car functions as normal (minus XM of course).

At this point I'm just waiting until Friday to get my replacement unit and hope that it works.

If anyone else has the DICE unit working in their car can you verify how you have it connected please? Especially interested in those that have an 07 with nav.

Nick@DICE

You have it installed correctly, not to worry. You're doing great. I'm going to assume you have a bad piece. I'm looking forward to you getting the new piece :o

jaymurff25

Thanks! You and me both on looking forward to the new piece. It's driving me nuts having my car taken apart for so many days but I don't want to keep prying the pieces off each time I try something.

borgit

Hey Guys,

I feel that I should contribute to this discussion as I've had quite an experience with DICE. So, I ordered the first unit from autotoys. It arrives, plug it in, works fine. I am all excited. Then two days later, I notice that the Ipod doesn't charge. So I get in touch with Nick, and he sends me out a new unit.

So I get the new unit plug it in, and the music plays and the ipod charges, BUT the head unit (navi screen) doesn't display any text or any other information. And the steering wheel controls dont work. So this second unit is even worse! So, I get in touch with Nick, he's like no problem we'll send you a new one again, but in about a week or two after we finish a new firmware. I am like ok.

I wait a week, PM nick, no response. Wait another week PM him again, no response. So Nick got tired of my problems and conveniently forgot about me. So then, I say fuck it, I call dice. Speak to Adam S. (nice guy by the way). He's like ok, we'll send you a THIRD dice unit. So I get the third DICE unit, plug it in and viola it works fine. Ipod charges, steering controls work, music plays, the works... I am finally excited!

Until a few weeks ago I noticed another small problem. When i change the text scroll length 10 (channel 2 on preset 6). After a few engine restarts it goes back to channel 4 (length 16). So it doesn't remember the setting. Minor problem, i agree.

Another weird issue i've had is that two times when i started the engine my navi got stuck on the boot up, but the DICE unit was initialized and the music was playing. I am not sure if that's DICE's fault...

Anyhow, that's my adventure with DICE. But in the end, i am happy with it.

Nick@DICE

No, I don't have any PM's from you in the last 3 weeks, which is the last time I cleaned it out.

Anything longer than 3 weeks ago I wasn't responding to anyone, I made a few posts here and there but since I was 3 weeks out of surgery on my arm I didn't have a lot of effort to put into a computer.

jaymurff25

So I got the replacement DICE unit in yesterday and went to install it this morning and it still did not work. At that point I started troubleshooting everything I could in the car, making sure the XM brain was completely disconnected, the plug into the radio didn't have bent wires and that it was fully seated. The same for the XM/Nav plug into the DICE harness. Everything seemed perfectly fine. Then I very closely checked the end of the DICE harness that plugs into the DICE module and sure enough one of the wires was loose and pulled out of the plug with almost no force. Of course DICE sent me a new wire that goes from the module to the iPod as well as the new module but they didn't send me a new harness for some reason and that turns out to be the problem with the unit. I have attached a picture to illustrate the problem. I don't believe that I can fix this so Nick when you read this if you can help me to get a new harness shipped I would greatly appreciate it.

jaymurff25

Cancel the request for a replacement harness Nick. I "fabricated" a new plug out of a standard barrel connector for the loose wire, cut off the square plug from the adapter and inserted the new plug, taped it up and it works perfectly now. I will be sending the DICE module that I received as a replacement back on Monday.

Here is a picture of it installed for those that are interested.