AVIC Z140BH: Report your bugs here.

[MoreGooder]

I've decided to start an official thread where we can list the known bugs found in the Z140BH. As people report bugs, I will add them to the list in this first post. Hopefully, we'll get someone from Pioneer to take notice and make the necessary firmware changes.

 

So, let's get started.

 

1. Right after the system starts up and the IPOD screen appears, pressing Home brings up the annoying and incredibly useless warning for the Navigation system. Pressing OK on that, takes you to the GPS map. You then have to press Home again to accomplish what you wanted to do in the first place, which was go to the Home screen.. (How does something as obvious as this make it through product testing?)
    
    
   
2. The manual indicates that, starting from the Home menu, you can press the Settings button and then Screen Off to turn the screen off. However, you can only do this if the parking brake is pulled.
    
    
   
3. The AutoEQ system is completely flawed, and does not work at all. My installer spent a rediculous amount of time trying to get it to work and followed the instructions in the manual to the letter. It simply does not start the test. Lots of money and labor dollars wasted on that.
    
   
4. (mjruotolo) Bluetooth audio incorrectly indicates "Connecting" when it is actually already connected and playing audio.
   

[VBLUE42]

1 and 2 are not bugs and are by design so they are not going to change. 3, Did you pull the parking brake?

[MoreGooder]

I respectfully disagree. My AVIC D3 didn't behave this way, and, 1 and 2 conflict with the owners manual.

 

If Pioneer truly thinks these are not bugs, I'd love to hear the explanations. Most impressively, explain the logic behind having to read the Navigation warning when going to the Home screen.

 

And, yes, they did pull the parking brake.

[VBLUE42]

The D3 is not the Z series and the issues you bring up have been brought up for over three years sense the 110. Its by design and not going to change. And feel free to get some sort of explanation from Pioneer but just be aware you will likely leave the conversation more frustrated then before. And Im not aware that what you describe is detailed anywhere in the manual that it shouldn't work that way.

[MoreGooder]

Well....

 

Perhaps I should just return it and get a Kenwood then.

 

Jeebus.

 

Such stupid decisions by Pioneer. I can live with a few "features", but when I have to deal with them on a regular basis, it can be very frustrating.

 

I can do a ebrake bypass just to cure one of their poor decisions. I want to turn the screen off when on a long night drive.

 

I believe I will call Pioneer. They should have one more frustrated customer to deal with. Perhaps it will be enough for them to do what's right and listend to their customers. The reason I sound pissed off, is, well, I am. I burned through some hard earned cash to purchase this. It had better be damned near perfect for what I paid.

[MoreGooder]

Owners manual, page 189, Turning off the Screen. It makes no mention whatsoever that the hand brake must be activated.

 

I read the manual cover to cover before purchasing. This bug alone would have made me choose the Kenwood.

[VBLUE42]

The fact that it doesn't mention doesn't mean its a bug, just means they forgot to get that in the manual before print. It happens. Again, its by design so its not going to change. Just do the damn bypass and you don't have to worry about it again. And before you get that Kenwood you might want to do a little research before you think its any better. Clearly you didn't check here before buying the Pioneer or you may have found some of these issues. And you haven't even begun to uncover the real issues yet. Anyway, all aftermarket navis have a motion lockout for most settings and functions that either require the P brake to be engaged or have the function bypassed and they all require you to agree to the message before using the navi. Kenwood is no different and there are several complaints about their new unit as well. I know because I moderate www.kenwoodforums.com as well as this one. I certainly understand your frustration and agree with you but honestly there is no unit that doesn't have functions that don't make sense or have bugs that should have been caught before release. You're better off moving away from head units altogether and going with some sort of tablet device as I have done with the iPad. Check the thread below for a demo if you want to get ideas.

 

 

http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/34165-honda-civic-ipad-install-20/

[MoreGooder]

Thanks for your valuable help VBLUE42. I hope you don't get the impression I'm taking it out on you. My beef is with the knucklehead that wrote the code.

 

I'm researching the bypass right now.

[VBLUE42]

Oh I know exactly how you feel. I have been very harsh on here with the piss poor software programing that Pioneer has employed all the way back to the 1st gen F series. You should have been around then if you think the current units are bad, which they are. As I said however, all head unit manufactures at least over the last five years or so have released units that have been somewhere between alpha and beta stage on release. I know sense I have owned all of them. Unfortunately this seems to be the intended practice and hasn't really gotten any better sense then and in some cases has gotten worse. What would really be funny is if a company like Apple got into this game. These dumb ass Japanese companies with their third rate Chinese programers would instantly loose overnight. Apple getting into this business would bring a level of innovation and complete software stage on release that would send these companies scrambling to catch up and would truly shake up this industry. Or you could just go iPad or Android tablet and pretty much have just that if you wanted. Have a view of my vids and I think you will see what I mean.

[Grimlock]

The one bug I've seen on mine is this- My iPhone was connected via the iPod connector (not bluetooth) to charge up the phone. My phone dropped it's signal so i decided to reboot it and turned the iPhone off. When doing so, it made a loud popping noise through the speakers and then lost all sound. Switched sources- still no sound. Restarted my car, and everything was fine. I assume this was some sort of built in protection.

[VBLUE42]

Off topic but next time it looses signal just toggle "Airplane Mode" on and off.

[Grimlock]

Off topic but next time it looses signal just toggle "Airplane Mode" on and off.

 

Thanks for the hint, I will try it.

[ratcliffe_24]

So I installed my Z140 last week and I have a few questions. I live in Canada so there is no HD radio here however I can't get the RDS ( radio data system) to work. Am I doing something wrong? Also what signal booster works with the traffic controller? Another annoying thing is that every time I start the car I have to unplug and replug my iPod. It shows the song playing but there is no sound. Any help would be great.

[MoreGooder]

I think we'll need to have a good idea of if the problems are installation related, or actual bugs with the unit.

Does RDS data show up on other radios in your area? (Dumb question perhaps). How strong is the signal?

 

Ipod: I nave a Nano, and no problems. What Ipod are you connecting?

[MoreGooder]

I received a reply to my online inquiry from Pioneer regarding items 1 and 2 on the list. I'm anticipating a reply this week. Keep your collective fingers crossed. Perhaps my sweet talking will work where other attempts have failed.