mapotter99

Firmware version 3.00 has been released. 

New firmware 1.31 is available.

@IvanRaide For what it’s worth, my carrier is AT&T and my iPhone model is the 11 Pro Max with iOS 13.6 (beta gold master). 

I do NOT have the WiFi drops, but I do have the metallic, mono Siri/phone calls. 

I’d be interested in what carrier everyone is using, what model iPhone folks are using, and what iOS version it is running. Also, include which of these problems you are experiencing. 

32 minutes ago, IvanRaide said:

No, iOS14 didn't help that, Siri still sounds wrong, (like bluetooth mono).  I suspect it's not going to get fixed, they probably implemented phone and "voice dial" via HSP and HFP and not AVRCP/A2DP and I highly doubt they are going to go back and redo it, (I'm sure they are already onto new hardware and cant wait for you to buy that NEW hardware instead of this months old junk).  But, lets hope ....

 

I see you have "hey siri" on.  You have mentioned distance as well.  I have my phone always in my right pocket so about 2 feet diagonal to the center of the head unit, today is the 4th day of no drops for myself though.  One thing if you could try ..... say "HHHHHEEEEEEYYYYYYYY" (pretty loudly) and tell me if you get a few audio drops after that?

I suspect you are right. That is typically Pioneer’s approach to these things after a few months on the market. Im hoping if enough of us complain this early on, they will have to fix the problem... IF it can be fixed with a software/firmware update. 
 

I just tried Hey Siri while connected wirelessly. I had no drops. Everything worked properly. 
 

Is anyone having the dropping problem on a WT7600NEX?  I’ve only heard of it on the 8600, so far. 

I just spoke with Pioneer, and after checking, the support person I talked to said the metallic distant Siri is a KNOWN issue, and promised to forward my information to engineering!

So... call in AGAIN and really press the issue. Offer to help engineering fix this problem!

@IvanRaide I saw in your video on your thread about the volume knob mod that you are using the iOS 14 beta.

How is your Siri and phone call sound quality with the beta?

I’m still pinning this problem on Pioneer, as other cars don’t have this problem. I just hope it is fixable with software, and not due to them cheaping out on Bluetooth hardware. 

22 hours ago, IvanRaide said:

Do you happen to have "Hey Siri" turned on? 

I do. 

Once you have made a Bluetooth/wireless connection to the unit with your phone, you have to actually open CarAVAssist on the headunit FIRST, and then open it on your phone and make a connection. From the home screen, swipe to the source selection screen. It should be towards the bottom. Doing this disables CarPlay or Android Auto which would otherwise prevent the app from communicating with the unit. 

2 hours ago, Thorissr said:

Excuse my lack of knowledge, but what does opening up this hidden menu allow? Video while mobile?

Everything that is normally locked out while the vehicle is moving. 
 

I wouldn’t call it a “hidden menu”, exactly. More like a hidden override setting. 

11 hours ago, MB01 said:

Hi. After many hours of screen presses, I figured it out. The Pioneer DMH-W and DMH-WT models have a special hidden menu bypass requirement. No interface bypass is required, but you can leave it connected if it is already installed. Dean and Fernando at Five Star Audio made a video of it on the tubes if you’d rather see it than read it. Here is how to do it: 
1. Update the firmware to 1.13 
2. Enable the hidden menu bypass by sourcing the radio off (source off, not power off). 
3. Press and hold the bottom left corner of the screen for exactly 10 seconds (use a stopwatch as timing is critical). 
4. Within 1 second, press and hold the bottom right corner (to the immediate left of bluetooth icon) for 10-12 seconds until a small “set on” icon will appear (in the bottom middle of the screen) confirming the bypass has been activated. 
5. If you do not get it the first time, cycle the ignition off and back on and start over. 
6. If you need to reverse this process, reset the radio.

THANK YOU!!!  You just made several people very happy!

5 hours ago, mutable said:

I'm new to car audio tech but wanted to get CarPlay in an older van that I have, so I installed a DMH-WT8600NEX unit with a Crutchfield wiring harness and am having a few issues:

The biggest issue is that the screen flickers every 4 or 5 seconds, but the audio doesn't cut out. This feels like it could be a hardware issue, like a bad panel. The flickering does not seem to be connected to any movement/jostling of the unit, and I've checked the connector of the screen to the unit itself, everything seems right.

The other thing, which might be a firmware issue or oversight, is that I can't seem to get the CarPlay screen to dim at night. The screen outside of CarPlay (the NEX stock screen) does seem to dim, though it's unclear if it's timer based or is picking up the illumination wire. But either way, I can't figure out any to get a different brightness in CarPlay itself, making those midnight rides of mine a bit less enchanting.

Any thoughts? I'm thinking of following up with Crutchfield about the first issue but wanted to know if I should try anything in particular before I do

A few of us have had that issue. I had it develop after a couple days with my first unit , but I had it replaced, and the second unit was fine. I’m thinking Pioneer did a crap job of connecting the display cable to the main unit board. 
 

I haven’t had any problems with dimming since getting it set up. You have set the dimmer all the way down while the unit is in night mode, haven’t you?

I’ll just go ahead and throw out that I’ve had zero problems with wireless CarPlay dropping out or range issues. 

My only problem with CarPlay is the robotic, poor-quality Siri and phone call voices. 

Something sounds like it isn’t working correctly for the connection to drop that easily. I’d probably request a replacement. 
 

Are you both using the 8600?  I’m using a 7600. 

@Hawknbyrd My initial unit did it. I had it replaced through Crutchfield, and my second unit hasn’t done it at all. 

My initial thought is it may be related to having to pull the screen connector wire through the unit to make slack, but I’m not sure. 

I’m sorry to hear that someone else has this issue. That means it could be fairly common.  

I just completed the update to 1.13. No noticeable fixes on my end. Siri still sounds like garbage. 

CarAVAssist is a complicated pain in the ass that requires a very precise and intentional workflow that differs based on the function one wants to perform. To update the firmware, there is no need to connect CarAVAssist using the CarAVAssist source on the head unit over Bluetooth. Firmware updates only work over a WiFi hotspot, and must be done from within the Firmware Update menu on the head unit. Here is what I did using iPhone...

1) Assuming you have already setup CarAVAssist between your head unit and phone, open the app on your iPhone, tap “Firmware Updates” and download the new firmware. This step can be done from your house WiFi away from the head unit. The initial CarAVAssist setup alone is a pain in the ass, and is required so your phone knows what head unit you have.  If folks need help with this, let me know.

2) This assumes you have already set up the head unit to use the iPhone hotspot. Note that iPhones disable the hotspot after 5 minutes if there are no connections to save battery. Activate your iPhone hotspot by going to Settings/Personal Hotspot and waiting, or by dragging down from the upper right corner for the Control Center, holding your finger on the WiFi icon, and then tapping “Personal Hotspot” to make it discoverable. Wait for the head unit to display the connection notification. 

3) Open the CarAVAssist app on your iPhone and go to the Firmware Update Section. 

4) On the head unit, go to Settings/System/System Information/Firmware Update and tap “CarAVAssist”.

5) On your iPhone CarAVAssist app, start the installation process. 

@Dizle No problems with wireless CarPlay or its range. Just the robotic Siri voice and phone calls. 

@mfvtgtgsWith the 7600, I just forcibly push it. Not tabs or buttons. 

Interesting about the Siri. I can’t imagine the actual components or hardware are any different, other than the screen.

@Dizle, I’d call and report the Siri problem to Pioneer support. I did last week. This may be a problem with the 7600. Hopefully it is a firmware-addressable problem!

Anyone have any inside information for how to bypass the new NEX models (DMH-WT7600NEX and DMH-WT8600NEX) with the new software?

The old trick doesn’t work.  

7 hours ago, Dizle said:

How does Siri sound with your receiver? I have the wt7600 and when I ask Siri a question she responds with a robotic voice. When I’m following navigation Siri sounds fine. 

Glad to hear I’m not the only one with this problem!

Yes, the Siri voice and phone calls sound awful... distant, scratchy, and robotic. Navigation sounds fine. I called Pioneer and they blamed Apple, of course, so who knows at this point. 

10 hours ago, mfvtgtgs said:

1) there is a way to change the forward/backward tilt on the lcd but I cannot figure it out after reading the install manual. If someone knows please snap some pictures for film a movie on how to do it for us that can’t figure it out.  I don’t want to randomly start forcing things and break my $1000 radio!

With the 7600, it is manual. You have to push and pull it to adjust the angle.

Quote

2) this may be related to #1 but it is kind of a pain to put the lcd screen On and then snake the mounting screws behind it and hold it in place with forceps while I screw in with a long screwdriver. Then... invariably to get everything hooked up and lined up and connected requires multiple installs and removals to get it just right. Removing the lcd screws adds another layer of annoyance for each reinstall, not to mention nervousness that I’m going to drop the screws.

Once the screen is attached, you shouldn’t have to detach it. The entire radio and dash kit should be able to be removed with the screen attached.

Quote

3) The caravassist app is cool to edit the home screen but it took me a little to figure out.  I did not realize I had to find the caravassist app on the unit and open it before I could connect with my iPhone and transfer the data. It was not super clear in the manual and I was trying to connect from my phone without opening the corresponding app on the radio

Yeah, I had to look that up. Typical Pioneer, and probably necessary in order to get around CarPlay taking over. 

Quote

4) I am having a hard time with wireless CarPlay sound quality. I am running iOS 13.5 and am frequent cut outs of sound which is very annoying. During my initial dry fittings before I actually screwed it into the car I did not recall drop outs but may not have been listening to CarPlay long enough. Since driving around I am getting cut outs and occasionally the phone disconnects and reconnect after 15-30 secs. I have  Tried to delete and reconnect the phone and it persists. I am going to connect with a different phone to see if still randomly drops out.   Hopefully this will resolve.  I need to remove it one last time to put in hdmi and usb adaptors so I will recheck connections.

I’ve had no problems with audio or CarPlay dropping. No disconnects at all.  I AM getting a robotic voice with Siri and phone calls, as Dizle mentioned. Glad to confirm it isn’t my unit!

Quote

5) I have purchased right angle adaptors for the usb-c and hdmi since I broke the included usb-c adaptor.  In my car there is not a lot of room behind the unit so in the process of putting it in, I inadvertently bent/broke the usb and hdmi cables

That sounds like a problem unique to your car. This unit takes up about the same depth as any other head unit I’ve owned. 

Quote

6) The downside of being so quick to get this means I went from a unit with a bypass to no bypass available.  I have the hardwire pass and have tried the lower quadrant bypass and can confirm that these do not work on the dmh8600. Hopefully this will be made public very soon.

I hope so, too. 

Quote

7) The hotspot feature is cool in that it can get weather, sports, and even browse websites (when standing still) using the hotspot from the Iphone. However, I believe the hotspot shuts off on the phone after awhile of having nothing connected Perhaps to save the battery.  So.... when I get out of the car and then get back in, I have to go to settings on my iPhone and reactivate the hotspot and then the radio automatically connects.

This is intentional behavior for iPhone to conserve battery life. 

Quote

 

those are my first impressions! I’d be curious if others have encountered these or perhaps they have a fix for any of them??

 

 

The bypass doesn’t seem to work. I tried holding my finger on the bottom left with the source set to OFF. It didn’t work. 

Not sure about a wired bypass.

Hopefully that info is passed down soon!

I received and installed my WT7600NEX yesterday!

I went with the 7600 because the 8600 screen would simply be too large to fit between my center vents above and the climate control panel below. The two units are identical other than the screen size. 

And that screen!!!!  I definitely don’t need the 10” screen of the 8600. The 9” screen of the 7600 is PLENTY big enough, and an enormous upgrade in size and pixel density from previous 7” NEX units.  It really is gorgeous, and makes the user interface easier.

Installation was ALMOST a straight swap for my old W8400NEX. The audio wire harness had to be changed, but that is easy as it is all RCA plugs. The new unit uses USB-C, but includes a C-to-A adapter in the box, so I did have to pull my old USB-A cord to run the included USB-C extension cable. 

The new NEX software is typical Pioneer.  Those familiar with the old NEX software shouldn’t have too difficult a time using the new. Most changes were done to bring the UI up to date and to support new internet-connected features and Alexa.  I love the new Home Screen customization options! The live tiles are customizable and swappable.  You can have up to four. They can be resized, removed, and replaced with other functions... weather, sports, gauges, climate control, etc.

As for aesthetics, there are new dynamic backgrounds with effects that use the colors from the album art within the NEX interface. It’s pretty cool, and a welcome update to the theme colors, which are also still present. 

Alexa support is serviceable, and more so if you plan to ONLY use Alexa, and not CarPlay or, presumably, Android Auto. I honestly don’t see myself using it much, as it requires temporarily disabling CarPlay to use it. This is done as if it is a separate source. I understand why they do this, and I don’t see a way around it, but it would be nice if I could say and use “Alexa” while using CarPlay. Since 90% of my time is spent with CarPlay, I really don’t expect to use Alexa much, but if that is your ecosystem of choice, you should be happy...

...that is if the unit maintains a good hotspot connection with your smartphone, which it relies on for internet. My iPhone hotspot feature seems to go to sleep, and I have to go to the iPhone hotspot setting to wake it up before I use it. 

My biggest nitpick isn’t really a nitpick, but more of an “oh, shit, they got me!”  Pioneer does not advertise built-in navigation with these new WT NEXs. I didn’t really look for it, as I just expected a $1000 head-unit at the top of the NEX range to have it. Alas, they do not have built-in navigation. Now realistically, this isn’t a big deal for most, as pretty much any nav app on CarPlay or Android Auto blows away the stock nav system... and has free rolling updates!  But those who live in or travel to more rural areas will need to take note, less you go to use your preferred navigation app only to be confronted with a blank grid due to a lack of cell coverage. Leaving built-in nav out seems both skimpy and forward-thinking at the same time on a unit of this stature.

Let me know if anyone has any questions!

On 8/17/2018 at 3:39 AM, CARL84 said:

Are you still able to use the software bypass for in motion video with the 

AVIC-W8400NEX?

Yes, the software bypass works the same as it always has on the W8400NEX. 

On 7/13/2018 at 6:46 AM, toyotaman said:

mpotter99, do you have the W4400 unit?

No, I have the W8400. 

1 hour ago, toyotaman said:

No, i could not do the software bypass by holding my finger 1"from lower left corner of the screen in source off mode.  

Nothing happens when i do that.  Am i missing something?

It worked fine for me and allows access to the Nav settings while driving. 

2 hours ago, toyotaman said:

I upgraded from Avic Z140 to the AVH-W4400NEX last week.  I never used the GPS on the Z140 and found it was very inaccurate hence I went to the 4400.  

Compared to the Z140 this is MUCH MUCH faster and more responsive.  Much better screen. and the Bluetooth works.  I love the Android Auto (wired, since Samsung still does not support wireless).

 

Few concerns:

1- Missing parking line in back up camera view

2- Steering wheel phone off hook and hang up buttons do not work, while Android auto is running.

3- I used the MicroBypass, but the GPS still picks up the cars speed and locks up the menus when in motion.  It re-enables them as soon as the speed is 0.  

 

Anyone has any solutions for these?

1- Call Pioneer and request this feature be added back. I’m wondering if someone backed into something after setting it up improperly and then sued Pioneer. 

2- CarPlay works fine for me. Sorry, I can’t check Android Auto. 

3- Have you done the software bypass?  I’ll double check, but I haven’t noticed this.