RonS

If I select video on the AV1, then Pandora will not work. Pandora will only work if AV1 is selected to ipod.

 

AV2 is selected to video but the iphone video will not play from AV2 (unlike when I set AV1 to video).

 

Is this an installation issue or unit configuration issue?

Mike,

Yes, the configuration needs to be changed when you switch between playing iPod videos and the Pandora app. But really, how often are you playing videos from your iPod? I haven't even bothered trying. Honestly, if I was really going to play videos in my 987 (which I'm not), I'd play from SD or DVD. I'd think you'd be too busy in your 911 too

BTW, I think - but am not sure - it is possible change from iPod to AV1 on the scrolling source wheel on the left side of the Z120 screen, so you might not have to go into the settings to reconfigure. I notices one of the icons is a toggle. Pressing it went between ipod, AV1, AV2. I couldn't think of any use for this feature at the time. But it might come in handy for this. Give it a try.

Good Morning Guys,

 

When I load the SD card, it asks for a password. I have tried many different sequences (no numbers). It keeps asking me to input password?

 

 

Does this mean the file is corrupt? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks

Did you install ShortFuse's hack?

First post here, a great site!

 

I'm installing a Z120BT in a 2008 Porsche Boxster with CDR-24 factory head unit and factory amp. I've got the old unit out, the EUROMOTORSPEED kit specifically for my car with its wiring harness adaptor and have placed my GPS and Phone Mic. I plan to use the factory amp and factory speakers so the custom wiring harness in the kit should plug right in.

 

The VSS Speed Sensor I would like to skip tapping into. Its part of the ABS system and I can't easily get access to it. I pulled the cable to the ABS off, but its a master junction unit, and no easy tap-into access.

 

Q: Is the VSS required to get this unit to function properly? I assume its mainly for GPS dead reckoning which I can live without. But are other critical functions for the Z120BT tied into it, such as unit shutdown, etc?

 

I'm only using the main black plug and not the white one with the RCA jacks. Would like to do the bypass to the handbrake, but have read here its not do-able on the black plug only. If that's the case, will the NAV be locked out while driving if the VSS is not hooked up? I don't care anything about watching DVD's while the car is moving, but would be nice to be able to access the NAV while on the move.

 

I'm pretty confused about Vehicle Speed Sensors and the Parking Brake hookup and how they affect the unit in my setup. Can anyone enlighten me further?

 

Finally, the Illumination hook up. Is that necessary or is the Z120BT have a auto-sense LCD backlight like the Kenwood?

 

TIA,

Duane

Duane,

Since you bought from EuroMotorSpeed, contact them for help with the VSS and ILL wire connections. In fact, call. Loi (the proprietor) is an expert; he has a Boxster himself. He lives nearby and came to my house to help with the install. In fact, he did most of the hard stuff himself. The down side of that was I was busy doing other things while he hooked up the VSS. I did look over his shoulder and helped route the wire up there. Mine is a 2010 Cayman, but I don't think the ABS harness changed. Ask Loi how to get to the correct wire. I recall him un-wrapping the tape around the wire bundle a few inches before the connector to expose the wires. I don't have his printed instructions with me, so I can't give any specifics on which wire to tap.

The ILL wire went to the tail-light harness. It is a long way to hide the wire, but it is the best place to get a clear shot to a light circuit. I really don't know why they dont use the front parking/running lights, especially since we already pulled the VSS wire up there and it is right behind the left headlight. You will want ILL, not just for the reverse video (which is optional), but daytime and night time illumination levels should be different (and easily configurable).

Do the bypass. I don't understand why you don't want to connect the black RCA harness. Yes, it is bulky, but there is room for all the extra connectors behind the HU. Just careful and tuck them in. I used the factory speakers too. It was tight, but it will all fit.

BTW, you said you were using the factory amp/speakers. Do you have the Bose speaker/amps? That's a more complicated installation. If you are using the factory amp, I think you need the RCA connectors on the black harness. Mine was the just the base 4 speakers.

Also, there are 987 owners on Planet-9.com that can help with specifics on the install. I think there are several articles and definitely many threads about installing after-market units.

I had my Z120BT installed last weekend and am really enjoying it. I used to have a Z1 and this is a nice improvement in many areas. One thing that caught be by surprise was how loud the screen is when it turns on, opens fully, or closes. I remember my Z1 being very quiet during those operations. I haven't gotten a chance to get back out to the shop that installed it to get their thoughts. I honestly hope they wouldn't have sent me on my way knowing that it was busted.

 

I took a video from my mobile and have it posted here: https://files.me.com/morowe/1twxm1 (.3GP format) and here is just the audio version, video got lost in the conversion: https://files.me.com/morowe/iyx5op.mov (.mp4 format). The video is of the unit opening and closing and am interested to know if yours sound the same or are quieter/ louder.

 

Thanks

The video sound was low, couldn't hear anything objectionable. The mov file sounded like a cow giving birth. Dude, that thing is broke. Mine sounds like a normal DVD drive tray opening.

No, my phone isn't paired, and it does this even with my phone turned off. The menu that includes contacts, dial pad, google 411, missed calls, etc.

 

What do you consider a factory reset? I've tried the methods in the user's manual for restoring the unit to it's initial state and for restoring to factory settings.

 

Thanks.

Yes, that's the reset I meant. No other ideas. Well, its got a 1 year warranty. Sounds like a call to Pioneer. You didn't buy it on eBay, did you?

It's not much consolation for us, but I've noticed in various high end car forums (BMW, Porsche) that people looking to upgrade factory units are turning away from Pioneer due to the bad street talk about their BT. Most, although initially favoring the Z1x0-BT series, have turned to Kenwood.

I hope Pioneer is listening. You can only dazzle people with bling (the new whiz-bang iPod interface) for so long.

"Can't hear on the phone? never mind - just watch the shiney Sphere spin. Kool huh." It's not working. People have figured it out!!!

I was having no problems with the unit for the first several months that I owned it, but about a month ago the phone menu started popping up constantly. It's made the AV and navigation menus practically unnavigable. I can't do anything (change artist, change Sirius channel, etc) without the phone menu popping up, and having to start all over again. I've tried rebooting it, and removing my phone from bluetooth, but neither seemed to work.

 

I would be thankful for any suggestions you guys might have.

Start with a Factory Reset.

Are you saying that your phone isn't even paired. Is the phone turned on? Which menu are you talking about? The one under the Main Menu / Phone? Or teh sub-menus like Dial pad, Contacts?

If no one is certain about why this may be happening, I'm also willing to hear some educated guesses. Anyone?

Uneducated guess.

A few possibilities come to mind.

1. Bad VSS signal.

2. Poor GPS reception/antenna. ie, Bad GPS signal.

3. Bad Ground connection.

Try temporarily disconnecting your VSS wire from wherever you have it connected. It really isn't absolutely necessary, and this should eliminate it as the source of your trouble. I'm guessing your Speed Pulse readout will be zero. If not, you may have a short in this wire. However, if this fixes the problem you can either leave it off, or try reconnecting it (to a known good source).

If you still are experiencing phantom movement of your location, then it must be GPS related. Check your signal strength. Check for possible frayed antenna wire. Assuming the antenna is in the same location as before the problem started, you might have to replace it. But before you do, try a different location and see if the signal improves.

If the above doesn't help, try temporatily grounding the AVIC chassis to a know good ground using a short wire.

If it isn't one of these, then it is the unit itself. Does everything else work?

Note: I am not an EE or installer. My advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

Is there a way to hard reset the unit before I try anything?

Oh, it didn't come with a manual? Here you go. Z120-BT

Search for "factory".

Yeah it is a real z120

This unit has had warranty before with music skipping through the SD card. But I bought it on ebay new but who knows if the seller will still warranty it...

OK I see your situation. So, if you can get to the Firware Update screen in Bluetooth Settings, it would be worth a shot to try the SD2 update. Sounds like you've got nothing to loose. Check out the Hacks forum. There are sticky threads that have the info you need. But you only need the second SD. Ignore anything about installing the 1st and any other update. Prepare your SD with the CNSD-110FM SD 2 image, insert it into the AVIC, and update the firmware through the BT settings menu button. Takes about 5 minutes.

I can get into the settings, but everything in there is greyed out. I did wait after driving around and it is still not working.

 

I mostly posted before the hack was released. But I will try that.

 

Pioneer said it is corrupt and I have to send it in... The thing is I don't have warranty.

Wait, is this a real Z120-BT, or an F20-BT with US software installed? I saw your post about asian fonts. What is the history of this hardware? Why no warrantee?

Anyway, I don't think I can help you. Something is screwey with your unit.

I emailed Pioneer and they said it is corrupt... How did this happen

I am assuming that is a rhetorical question. How could I possibly know what went wrong. Do they have any suggestions? Sounds like RMA time.

All of my BT functions are greyed out. Where do I get this SD2? Should I just revert to factory settings? Where can I get Parrot 3.10?

What is are greyed out? Can you get into the Bluetooth Settings? If not, then you couldn't know what version you have. When I first start my car and enter the settings menu, it takes 10-15 seconds for the Bluetooth icon to activate. Maybe you just didn't wait long enough.

Parrot is the company that provides the BT drivers to Pioneer. The latest is v3.11. Since you have 30+ posts, I assumed you have been on this forum long enough to know about the hacks to upgrade the Z110 to Z120 via two SDs. These can be purchased from Pioneer for $200, but pirated copies are also downloadable using Torrent. There are many treads discussing this in the Hacks sub-forum.

Since you have a Z120, it should of come with v3.11. Rather than install bootleg software, you should contact Pioneer.

I have a real 120bt and the bluetooth firmware displays "---------"

It does not show a number.

Does your BT work? If it does, then you probably are OK.

However, if you want to "refresh" it. get SD2 from the v2.0 update (Torrent). It is a small file with Parrot 3.11 only. I know some have warned against just installing 3.11 without 3.10, but it worked fine for me. It worked even on the old Z110 software - without installing SD1. So it should work for you.

Hey, anyone have the file to update the bluetooth firmware?

Some reason I don't have any firmare version for my bluetooth.

It is a 120bt, I think this happened after I just did the 2.003 update

How are you verifying this. It doesn't show up on the System Info page. You have to go to Bluetooth Settings, Firmware Update. It will then display the current BT version. There's no way that v2.003 deleted it.

so your suggesting that pioneer shipped a harness with a missing wire, or is it possible that the x710 does not have the violet wire.

the manual covers both the x710 and the x910. the harness doesn't have the pink wire either. the request for a picture was simply a attempt to clarify.

I would be grateful for any one who has a boyo camera attached to x710bt to respond with thier experience and how they wired it and if it works smoothly,i.e. comes on in reverse, goes off when shifted into drive or park and the unit goes to the next function such as ipod, radio or nav without a long delay or getting hung up on a black screen

You might have better luck in the X Series forum. But here is the X710 installation manual. See for yourself.X710 Installation

A quick look says that the harness should have the Violet/White reverse wire. It does not use the pink VS wire, so it might not be present in the harness.

This happens to be on a CD, but I could put it on a SD or USB. I don't have soft keys. It only shows play/pause on the screen.

I was using the Z110 manual. On the Z120, and maybe the 110 too, you press and hold the hard button < or >. I think they changed all the players' interfaces on Z120.

Even with this, it will be a pain to FF a few hours into a file. Have fun...

Hmm, I'm pretty sure the install guy said he did that BUT I will definitely double check and try the parking brake in a little bit. Thanks!

If you don't have the bypass correctly installed, I think you'd know by now. Without it many functions are grayed out unless the BP is set.

I guess I should of started with a couple more obvious questions.

1. Can you play MP3s and see cover art?

2. Do you have compatible Videos on you iPod (sorry, had to ask). Can you play them through the iPod?

I have very large audio book mp3 files. Every now and then I bump the forward button and I loose my place in the file. It starts at the beginning. Does anyone know of a way to REALLY fast forward or jump to a spot. If there were a slider, I could position it myself. These books are in excess of 8 hours in size. I tried to go backwards from the beginning, but that just restarts at the beginning. Last time I did this I was 7.5 hours into an 8 hr book. I had to sit there with my finger on the fast forward for about an hour and a half while driving.

 

Thanks for any feedback you may have,

Mike

You didn't say whether the MP3's were on CD, SD, iPod, or USB. But I think this works for all. Press and hold Fast Forward (>>) or rewind (<<) soft key - not the hard buttons < or >.

I have an Ipod Touch - one of the older generations. When I connect it to my AVIC-Z110BT, the video option is grayed out. How can I play videos from it through the unit? Thanks in advance.

If you haven't installed the bypass, your Parking Brake must be set to play any video source.

I havent really messed with my HU since install, but one problem I have everyday is my gps needs to be recalibrated for my location. the arrow is either facing the wrong way or is facing sideways when im driving forward (if this makes sense) it's almost as if my gps antenna was facing side ways or sometimes backwards but putting it in different positions doesnt help, any idea?

 

 

also my mic sounds like im far away, I figured thats just a bad mic issue.

 

thanks in advance for the help

Here are some things to consider.

Did you install it or was it "professionally" installed? Was VSS connected, and Reverse? Are the red and yellow power leads correctly connected. If not, the unit will loose it's location each time it is turned off.

In the NAVI Settings screen, What is your GPS status and the color of your GPS ANT indicator?

What do you mean by recalibration? Is Speed Pulse turned on? What is the learning status of your NAV? How often do you drive this vehicle?

The unit has internal motion sensors that can detect direction/turns even before the GPS signal gets locked (based on your last "fix"). So even in a parking garage, you should see fairly accurate NAV tracking, using dead reckoning. I wonder if this could be affected by strong magnetic fields (like a speaker) near the HU?

However, if it is correctly installed and configured, then you may have a defective unit.

I updated the z110bt. Followed the instructions from Pioneer's website. Downloaded the update too from Pioneer's website. (1001.00) I didn't realize there were any others. If you have a link to the newest one that would be great.

1.002 is ShortFuse's 'unauthorzed' patch to allow bootleg v2.xxx updates (bypasses validation of unique key from Pioneer). 1.001 is the right update for you.

So you followed Pioneer's instructions (below) on you got 1001.00? that's odd.

Have you tried again?

I also have this problem on z110bt with my iPone 4. I updated the firmware on it yesterday but have yet to test to see if it made a difference. Its weard though, I performed the update and it looked as if took but when I check the system information the firmware still shows 10000.00. If anybody has a fix for this that would be great.

You updated which, the iPhone or the Z110? If the Z110, which update? 1.001,1.002, 2.000, 2.003? And where are you getting the version. The instructions tell you how to view the effective version.

i really dont like the new 120 GUI and i swear the volume is lower after the update. I want to revert back to the 110 programing now. can i just redownload the 1st z110 update in the "110 - 120" thread and install that? i have a competition to go to tomorrow so please get back to me ASAP guys.

 

thanks.

Nope, no turning back. The 1.001 update was just a patch release, and even if it wasn't I doubt that the AVIC firmware would allow you to install a version older than the current one. So, you're stuck with 2.xxx. Maybe you could sell yours and buy a Z110.

What volume source(s) are you saying is too low? You can adjust the sources individually in Audio Settings menu, SLA. Some of your customized settings may have been reset during the upgrade.

I just installed my radio and im using a PAC OS-4 in my escalade to retain all the options. AS soon as I connected the harness to power the fuse blew. I completely removed the PAC OS-4 and just hooked up the Power/switched power/and ground which I thought would have allowed the radio to turn on but nothing. Does anyone know something that Im missing here?

The fuse blew for a reason, and now it sounds like something in your unit is toast. There's a 10A fuse on the back of the AVIC, maybe that saved you. Did you install any inline fuses in either the red or yellow power leads? If so, check them. I hope it's a fuse, cause otherwise it is going back to the shop.