uncouth Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Specter, Thanks for the info. That will certainly take care of the issue. Appreciate your quick reply! Vblue, The problem is not as simple as you state. I'm not trying to activate a free trial - I'm trying to purchase a year of MSN Direct coverage. Even though I'm offering them money, they cannot activate without the product key, and Pioneer hasn't helped with recovery. Assuming Specter's workaround comes through I'll finally be able to purchase the service. Thanks for the input guys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VBLUE42 Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 I understand you arn't trying to activate the trial. The reason why you cant activate further is because the trail is already active and expired by someone else. The reason you cant see the product key is because, under normal circumstances, it would not be needed. If the solution you stated doesn't work, you probably are out of luck unless you swap your unit for one that has not already been activated. Most of the time this happens because the unit is either a refurb or was bought and returned after the MSN trial was activated. With the number of cheap F series out there, I think this possibility is most likely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncouth Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 We certainly agree on why this issue exists. Still, even a refurbished unit should have the ability to activate the full/paid MSN Direct service, and yet neither Pioneer nor MSN seem interested in providing a solution. It's a bit crappy on both their parts. Yes, the unit was used and returned and the free trial product key has expired. Still, when Pioneer refurbished the unit they should have provided a new key. I'd like my unit to have the full array of services available to it. When I purchased a refurbished unit nowhere did it state that some services may or may not work. We'll see what happens. Currently the unit I'm testing still displays "Connecting to MSN Direct" when placed in the cradle and powered on in the car. I'll search around and see if I can find a solution. Stay tuned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VBLUE42 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 You certainly are right with your feelings and I agree. It is unfortunate though. We are talking about the F series and this would not be the first problem we have had to discover and be disappointed with and no indication of a positive response from Pioneer. Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncouth Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Ok guys, problem solved. For the F500 owners that stumble across this post, here's a rundown. The MSN Direct receiver is in the cradle. Make sure you have your power cable (whether AC @ home or DC in vehicle) connected to the cradle and not the unit. Once the cradle is powered the receiver will connect to the MSN Direct service and report that your unit is inactive, and then provide your product key. Simple enough. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncouth Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Quick addition: Funnily enough, the unit was not previously activated. I have the free 3 month account up and running now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Specter Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Ok guys, problem solved. For the F500 owners that stumble across this post, here's a rundown. The MSN Direct receiver is in the cradle. Make sure you have your power cable (whether AC @ home or DC in vehicle) connected to the cradle and not the unit. Once the cradle is powered the receiver will connect to the MSN Direct service and report that your unit is inactive, and then provide your product key. Simple enough. be sure to plug the antenna that came with your unit into the plugin that is located on the right side of the cradle. The antenna is just a wire with a single plug and 2 small suction cups on it. stick it on your windshield. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
romeyp Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 Ok guys, problem solved. For the F500 owners that stumble across this post, here's a rundown. The MSN Direct receiver is in the cradle. Make sure you have your power cable (whether AC @ home or DC in vehicle) connected to the cradle and not the unit. Once the cradle is powered the receiver will connect to the MSN Direct service and report that your unit is inactive, and then provide your product key. Simple enough. This is the correct answer. Good job uncouth! I had the same problem last month when I first got my F500BT, and could not figure it out until I called Pioneer and a tech there named Oliver told me that I have to have the power going through the cradle and the antenna connected for MSN Direct to present the activation key. Afterward I was not that impressed and no longer use the service and just use the GPS and music player. I'm surprised it took two pages before someone gave the correct answer. Sometimes for simple people like myself it is best to go into great detail including the most obvious steps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkMaster Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Along the same lines, I am having trouble with my MSN direct...when i hit the status screen I get a Firmware upgrade failed, please reload a proper firmware. has anyone encountered this problem and even better has anyone found a resolution for it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billycuth Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I didn't read all the responses in this thread yet, but I had the same problem. What I found out is that u need to use the fat cable and have it plugged into the stand. The stand is the actual MSN Direct tuner. Once I powered up the unit using the cradle/fat cable I was able to get the MSN Direct product key. The product key is like the mac address. It doesnt matter if it was activated by someone else, it should still work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billycuth Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 PS - this information is in the AVIC 500BT manual. If you read the manual, you can pretty much solve every problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
assass1n Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 for people that are saying the product key only shows once, it doesnt show anymore once its been activated, etc.... please stop doing so. the product key will ALWAYS be there regardless of the status of the account. mine has gone to that "msn direct is connecting" screen several times. a hard reset always worked for me. please note a reset isnt just shutting the unit down then powering it back up. it means actually pushing the reset button. for the avic f900bt its located at the top left of the unit. for the others im not sure where it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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