lembowski

iTrader: (1)

you guys must have small hands. in the above thread it tells you how to take the console apart, I admit it looks hard but take your time and you'll be fine! first time i did it, it took 2 hrs..............now i can take it apart and do what i have to and put it back together in less than 30 minutes. the special tool would be a screw driver covered in a towel

jknight

The tool I am referring to is used to take the Upper Console off, where the air vents are. It looks like the special tool has a hook on the end. You are supposed to take that off before you can take the radio out. I am assuming the screwdriver and towel tool is for removing the silver trim pieces, right?

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

yeah screw driver for the trim. depending on where you put the neo/dice/whatever you may not have to take the vents out. I took the vents out by hand, litterally popped them up. Doesn't take much force....... just work slow and steady and you'll be fine

jknight

lembowski, do you know if there is another cable on the back of the radio that might be an XM cable?

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

I only know of the one in the lower driverside of the unit. I don't know about the plug in the trunk. I wouldn't think it would matter which side of the xm plug it went into. Kinda disappointing about the customer service they are providing on this unit.

jknight

Well, before I ordered my Dice unit, the guy at Dice said he was unsure about the product, and that if I got it, I would be kinda Beta testing the unit. And since it is new, they don't have all the answers either. So I can't totally fault them as they were upfront with me. And they are willing to take it back if it does not work right.

tsxtc777

I recently purchased the Neo IPod adapter with text. First, the customer service at Neo is a disaster. The gentleman working the phones is rude and useless in regards to technical support. When I first called he couldnt tell me how the text was displayed (song name? artist name? artist and song name?). I've seen others on this board complain about some "Logan" fellow, but I didn't think it would be this bad.

Then, I finally decided to order the product after they put up an ad offering a discount to the first ten SKU's ordered. I came to find that this is more or less a false advertisement. This was a brand new product and a brand new ad and I had to have been one of the first ten. I talked to customer servie and the person told me the product must not be one of the ones available for discount (I feel like they must say this on every order).

Upon receiving the adapter I came to find they had sent the wrong instructions and most likely the wrong adapter. I installed the prodcut with ease. There really isn't much to it. The XM plug is easy to find and easy to disconnect.

So, I had everything installed, re-connected my battery, entered the stereo code, and gave it a go. There it was, the sweet sounds of my IPod...only coming out of half my speakers. This was not a problem I had ever encountered with any other audio feature on my car. The sound was only coming out of the speakers on the right side of the car. Further, there was no text. It simply read "CDC 01-01."

So, I turned my car off and back on, thinking maybe the problem would sort it self out with a "re-boot" like my computer. No luck. Now, the car wasn't even recognizing the adapter. I would push the SAT button and it stayed on CD.

In the meantime, I have sent the prodcut back for their "inspection." They are going to send me another one and I will try again. All in all, a poor experience. Although, if this works in the end I will still be a happy camper.


Good luck,

Acuradic

jknight

One more thing. I got the Honda R3 kit (I think that is what it is called) and on the box it says for Nav, you need the R4 Kit which includes the y cable. And i have Nav. The guy at Dice told me he would not have the R4 kit for 2 weeks, and that I should just get Honda's Y cable. But maybe the Y cable in the R4 kit is different.

Has anyone hooked this up that does not have Nav?

hidden72

I spent all night googling for the answer to this question. Here's what I've been able to figure out so far:

In reference to a TSX (hopefully carries over to the TL):
"14 Pin connector is not relly an XM port. It is a bus which can handle multiple devices, and iPod takes a place of an external CD changer"

and also an Ebay listing for TL-compatible USA-SPEC:
2.) If the vehicle is equipped with navigation and/or XM receiver, unpug the navigation / xm cable (White 14-pin) from the back of your factory stereo, and plug it into the female 14-pin connector on the CAS-HON2Y cable (included, pictured below)

So, based on those 2 postings, it would seem that the "Y" cable serves 2 purposes. 1.) Navigation, and 2.) XM radio - both coming into the headunit. So, it wouldn't work if we threw the "Y" cable aside and plugged the NEO Prolink directly into the headunit, because we would lose something to do with Navigation.

So, with that in mind, we need to get more details as to where the XM tuner is, itself - and work on disabling the connection at the XM tuner end of things, instead of trying to separate it off of the "control bus" where it plugs into the headunit.

I'm not an EE or anything, but these diagrams were posted that might help us understand the wiring layout. Anyone make heads or tails of this?
Here's some pictures I stole from ebay showing the back of the unit, just in case they're helpful (Navi/Non-Navi doesn't matter because XM is going to be a part of both of them).
Finally, I fired an e-mail back to Logan @ NEO and asked for more specific details & instructions on how to disconnect XM while still retaining the Navi integration.

As always, I'll post the response for others to see.

I'm getting nervous. I have a shop scheduled to install my Prolink tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to have to pull this apart more than once (nor pay for it more than once).

hidden72

Based on what I've read tonight, you're probably right. I think we still need the Y adapter and need to go after the XM Tuner unit itself. Here's a graphic that illustrates where the XM Tuner is. Anyone who has a NEO Prolink w/ TEXT installed want to see if they can get to the tuner and start pulling wires?

datmrman

Here is a more realistic picture taken from kennyc's backup camera DIY:



Here's another picture taken from my backup camera DIY:



In both pictures, the XM module is the one with the barcode label.

jknight

Dice just emailed me letting me know that they have an engineer testing it with a 2005 TSX with NAV to get it to work properly and will then let me know what they find out.

hidden72

I spent a few hours with this tonight trying to figure it out. It went in without a hitch, but here are the problems:

Still no text. XM is definitely disabled when you don't use the Y cable, but it may still be disabling something else by not using it. I am going to hook the Y cable back up again and go after the XM in the trunk tomorrow.

Playlist, song, album changing works, with a caveat. On my 60GB iPod video with firmware 1.1.1(recommended) or even the latest firmware, one click of the next track will skip it forward 4, 8, and sometimes even more ahead. Makes it hard for me to pick a playlist.

I tried running through the display settings (preset 6, channels 1 to 4) to make sure its not a # of characters problem. No luck.

For those who buy the NEO Prolink, when in SAT mode, any reference to DISC# really means XMPRESET#. Lousy documentation. I picked up that precious gem while reading the Dice instructions.

I am also going to try both an iPod Mini 4GB and a 4GB Nano to see if there is any change between there.

If anyone else has updates, please send them in!

hidden72

Uugh. I just popped off the trunk liner and reached around into the XM tuner and pulled the cable harness off. It's a very tight squeeze, but it's reachable without taking the whole lining out. Now, in XM/SAT mode, there's no bleedover (even with the "Y" cable attached) and no more XM text, so I'm pretty certain that I've disconnected the XM system from the "other end". I'll try feeling around and make sure there's not another harness connecting to the XM box that I missed.

Regardless - still no TEXT, nothing. The sound quality is awesome - but I would expect that from any SAT/CDC adapter.

I also tried the iPod mini. Same symptoms as with the 60GB Video. Trying to skip 1 track makes it skip tens of tracks, same for playlist selection, etc. I'm going to take a Nano and see what I can get from it next. So far it's not looking good for getting text on an 06 TL w/ Navi. No Saturday tech support at NEO either.

After I try the Nano, I'm going to put the thing back together and just hope that whatever the problem is, it can be addressed by a special combination of dipswitches and/or a new box.

hidden72

No difference with the Nano. The other thing that sucks is standard CDC mode doesn't work the right way either. I'm going to put it into line-in mode and just use an 1/8 cable until I can speak with Neo on Monday.

Do we know who is the "real" maker of this unit? In a situation like this, usually the guys with the engineering talent are going to better support customers who are trying to do an install.

calculi

I took apart the car according to the PDF mentioned in this thread. It was a ton of help but didn't help with locating the actual cable.

My goal is to have no XM but rather text from the iPod in my 05' TL w/o nav.

I disconnected the XM cable in the back of the radio (bottom drivers side) and plugged in the Neo cable. It only took a few minutes to do. I held the clip down on top with a finger and used a small screwdriver on the bottom to pry off.

Once connected though, the XM button on the radio stopped doing anything. I have the Neo unit set to "Sat" mode so I have no idea what gives.

I decided that I must need a y adaptor so I rushed to Honda and picked one up for $16.50. Once I connected that, the XM radio seems to work and not the Neo unit still.

Guess I will call them on Monday morning.

BlackGuevara

Hey Everyone,

I had my NEO w/ Text installed in my 04 TL w/ NAV on thursday last week, unfortunatly I am having the same problems everyone else is having. NO TEXT!!

Right now I am using it in CDC mode, the track skipping works fine but when I want to change the search method i.e. going through different playlists I have to change the Disc in CDC mode, the only problem is that I can't see the current disc so I just have to keep pressing the Disc Up button until the ipod does what I want.

I actually had a call with NEO on friday afternoon. They have acknowledged that TEXT is not working once installed in the cars. Apparantly they over looked some configuration so they are in the process of testing it now. I was told they will get in touch with everyone that has a text unit. They guy I talked to hinted at everyone getting a new unit after they figure things out.

Maryland Mike

I had a local shop install my Neo iPod adapter this morning. I'm really happy with it. I got the vanilla non-text version because I want to keep XM. The sound is even better than I expected, much better than the cassette adapter. I had it installed in the sunglass compartment below the radio. Once I select a playlist on the iPod, I can put it into the compartment and close the door so nothing shows at all. I can then change tracks from the steering wheel. Very nice.

hidden72

I wonder if that coincides with Dice's statement that the "R3" module won't work for text and us TL owners would have to wait for an "R4" module in the coming week(s). My NEO module has an R3 on the sticker...

For those of you who have the NEO Prolink w/ Text, how does the track-skip function work for you? Are you able to go from track to track, one at a time? Mine is hit and miss. No matter what mode it's in, when I "next track" it'll usually jump between 4 and 20+ tracks.

jknight

My manual said that Text without Nav is R3, and Text with Nav needed R4. So text should work for those without nav, but I don't know if anyone has tried it without nav.

As for your track skipping, is your ipod on shuffle mode? If so, then it will jump around, so check that.

hidden72

I just got off the phone with NEO Support. They also admit a problem with the NAVI TL's and TEXT. The gentleman was kind and informed. He said that they expect to get the problem(s) fixed in the next week or so, and would be contacting me once the issue is resolved . He stressed that the adapter itself be installed in an area where it is easily accessible, due to the fact that a "swapout" would be necessary in order to fix this issue.

The current recommendation from NEO is to run the unit in CDC mode until the issues can be worked out.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check the shuffle mode on the iPod, and also maybe I have the "random" track set on the head unit. (There's no visual feedback there...) Thanks for the tip. NEO support said they weren't sure what would cause that - but it could also be tied to the compatibility problems already being experienced on the NAVI TLs .

hidden72

I just received a follow-up e-mail from NEO tech support (Logan). It acknowledges the problems and asks for some additional details. I'm copying the e-mail here so that others can stay informed.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

it says different models and firmware can change things, i wonder what year they tested it on?

hidden72

No additional information from NEO so far. I dropped another e-mail to support and it looks like their techs are out of the office this whole week at a tradeshow or some other. Hopefully they're checking the inbox at night.

One interesting tidbit is that if you go to their website, then to products, and throw in a 3rd GEN TL in the drop-down list, you don't get the ProLink w/ TEXT as an option anymore. They just show the standard ProLink (non-text version).

I sure hope they get this figured out soon.

calculi

I couldn't even get the unit to work at all in my 05' w/o nav. I tried everything mentioned here (besides going into my trunk) and that Neo recommended and couldn't even get the unit to play. Being an engineer and a former mechanic, I'm thinking that my neo unit was doa (dead on arrival).

Sent it back today and will wait till some of these bugs get fixed before taking apart the car again.

Thanks everyone for help!

tehloxely

Wow I just read this entire thread and I really want one of these Neo majigys. I think I will wait until all the bugs and whatnot are flushed out. I would like to have the TEXT version and lose the XM. I will never use the XM so TEXT is good for me.

One question though. For those of you that do have it. Can you use the controls in the steering wheel as well as the radio?

mgt4rwg

Yes, steering wheel controls work just fine. My unit is not the text version.

redman042

This Neo device sounds great! I have a question. I have an 06 with Nav, and we use XM, so I just want the non-text Neo unit. Once you have it all connected, how do you switch between iPod and Satellite? How good does it sound with this setup? Is anyone experiencing bleed-through?

hidden72

I have an 06 w/ NAV as well. In my attempts to get the NEO Prolink w/ TEXT to work, I used it in both CDC (CD Changer) mode, as well as XM SAT/TEXT mode. If you plan on keeping XM, then you will use a "Y" cable to connect both the NEO and the XM radio into the back of your head unit. With the dip-switches on the NEO configured properly, your NEO/iPod combo will look like an "External CD Changer". Hitting the CD button once will let you use the in-dash CD-Changer, and hitting the CD button a 2nd time will put you into CD Changer (CDC) mode, where you can then listen to the iPod. It sounds great.

You'll have 2 modes available to you. The 1st is "playlist" mode, in which "discs 1-5" will be mapped to 5 playlists (honda1, honda2... etc), and choosing that disc will load up that playlist. You should be able to use the "next track" to skip a song that you don't want to hear, or rewind a song you want to hear again. I believe that your iPod controls are "locked out" in this mode.

The other mode is "direct" mode in which you control all of the music through the iPod itself (you have to pick the playlist, album, artist, etc.) I believe next-track works as well in this mode.

In your situation, I would recommend against buying the TEXT unit, and just go the standard USA-SPEC/NEO/DICE non-text version. The sound is awesome, and is a world of difference between direct connect and using an FM Modulator (yuck)! All of these units run in CDC mode and shouldn't interfere with your XM radio.

Good luck!

hidden72

In my interactions with NEO support, they made it pretty clear that I should be installing this in a place that's easy to get to, because I think they're pretty sure they're going to have to replace them to fix the TEXT problems.

My box is currently sitting on the driver's side floor, right next to the console. For anyone else venturing to try the TEXT version, I highly recommend putting it somewhere that's easy to do a quick swap.

Let us know when you get your replacement!

mgt4rwg

The change is achieved by pressing the XM/AUX button. The neo operates as disc changer. You will select disc 5 for iPod, disc 6 for an AUX such as a external DVD. To go back to XM, press the XM/AUX button again. You must manually select your folder or playlist on the iPod. Songs in the playlist can be changed using the steering wheel controls. The sound is great.

redman042

Thanks for the info. I'm fine with using the iPod for viewing song/title info and doing most of the selection. I'm doing that now. The addition of steering wheel controls is a nice plus. Right now we are using an iPod with a tape adapter and cigarette lighter charger, and we are pretty happy with it overall, but the wires clutter the console and we can't close the compartment door where the cigarette lighter jack is located. So my main reason for wanting to do this is to reduce the clutter and improve the sound somewhat.

I would never dream of using an FM modulator. They suck in a huge way.

hidden72

I dropped an e-mail to support @ NEO to see when they expected an update to address the TEXT w/ NAV issues that we are experiencing. I received a reply today that they expect them "next week".

As I hear more I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

jswim99

I started a thread on the Neo iPod adapter for the TSX in the Audio/Video forum. Mine is a 06 non-navi and the TEXT function doesn't work. Right now I'm waiting to hear from Neo support. I have yet to see/hear from anybody who has this working in an Acura.

blackbudget

I just got a call from a woman at Neo as a response to my reply to their mass email on troubleshooting the TEXT unit. They want me to send my kit back and they will send me a new one. When I asked if I could have them send the new one first, she said that they can't do that and that the replacement kits are on backorder and won't be in for a few weeks. Good thing I asked, I could have been without for weeks. She recommended I send back the entire kit, but that it wasn't absolutely necessary. I don't feel like tearing my car apart again, so they are only going to get the module. Another plus, I have to pay to send back the module. At least they aren't charging me for the replacement kit...

tehloxely

Well that's good that they are replacing it.

crzygosu87

iTrader: (4)

@___@ I just recently purchased the text version of the adapter too ... I'll have to send it back too i guess ... they'll replace for no charge correct?

blackbudget

Replacement is free of charge, except for the cost of shipping your unit back to them, which has to happen before you can get the new one. FYI, they are on back-order.

hidden72

That's funny that they're on back-order. You'd think they'd take care of the current users who bought the early units first, and then start selling to the general masses. The guys I've been working with at NEO made it sound like they'd cross ship me a new unit next week sometime. When I get the details, I'll let you know.

I'm not sending the whole kit back either. They can have the box, and the box alone. My cables are now permanently attached and I'm not ripping the system apart again to pull 'em out!

crzygosu87

iTrader: (4)

yeah i definitely agree ...