Hi all. Getting used to my new Z2 - but something happened a few times that makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong, or my unit might have a glitch.

I was surprised that the default setting for the CD mode would be to automatically record any CD you insert onto the hard drive. After a while I realized that at first that's not a bad thing, because I don't think I own 200 Cd's and I will probably never fill up the 10 gig Music Library.

What has happened a couple of times is I have my Cd Recorder still set on automatic - then when I listen to some songs on Music Library, and then go to insert another CD - It doesn't let me... It opens up to let me get to the CD slot, but the blue stripe that tells me I can insert a CD is not lit up. And it won't let me insert a CD unless I turn off my truck, and then restart the whole system, then it will let me insert a CD.

Thanks for ur help guys. Bob

dumb question, but is it still copying music from the cd that's in the drive still? If it is then that's why it won't eject the disc.

No, it wasn't recording a CD at the time. There is no CD inserted, after I'm finished listening to the Music Library, and want to insert a new CD, it will allow me to open to access the CD slot, but the light bar doesn't come on allowing me to insert the new CD, and it won't take the new CD until I turn off the ignition and restart it. This doesn't happen every time. It has happened about 4 or 5 times tho.

Never seen or heard of this happening before. As far as I'm aware, there's no reason you should be denied access to the ROM drive if you're listening to ATRAC's from the library.

One thought if it happens again: try switching from library to FM radio, then to ROM drive. Shouldn't make a difference, but I'm curious...

Thanks inferno - i'll try that the next time it happens.

But this leads me to another question. After realizing that when I turn off the ignition, I can then use the CD player like normal after restarting my truck, I was trying to figure out how to turn off the entire Z-2 while driving. I mean have it shut down and the screen go back into upright position and off. Is this not possible? By the way - I like most others had the by-pass done - don't know if that makes any difference.

Thanks guys...

I mean have it shut down and the screen go back into upright position and off. Is this not possible? By the way - I like most others had the by-pass done - don't know if that makes any difference.

The Z1/Z2 is powered on and off only by the ignition. here >There is no other way to turn it off.

(Also, for what it's worth, the screen does not return itself to the upright position if powered off [car turned off] while down. It returns to the upright position only when hitting the open/close button, or inserting a CD.)

Couple things to consider...first did you ever do a low level reset? It will lose your fm/am settings but nothing else. press the small pinhole button that is between the eject button and V button once and it will turn off and then start the z2 again and might solve it but not sure. Also i think u can turn off the z2(not entirely) but holding the AV button for few seconds.

Good suggestion rjousuf. Pushing the reset button sounds like it would probably work. I'll let you know if it does, but it doesn't seem to be something a person would have to do unless his unit was defective. Had to push the reset button on my Linksys router a lot of times to keep it going, until I just threw it away and bought a new router for my computer.

And pressing and holding the v button puts it into standby mode. I'll try that too the next time it happens and let you guys know.

Inferno - sorry I didn't make myself clear, I was referring to the unit returning itself to the upright position from whichever angle I selected it to be in while it is on.

Thanks for all your input. I was mainly trying to figure out if this is a problem that other people have had, and what have they done to remedy it. From what I understand, my warranty with Pioneer has been voided by the fact that the unit was installed with a by-pass. Not sure if Pioneer would be willing to help with any software/update programs that might fix my problem if in fact it was only an update program fix.

Thanks again guys for your brainstorming.. Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

And pressing and holding the v button puts it into standby mode. I'll try that too the next time it happens and let you guys know.

It's strange - the instructions clearly call it standby mode, but it's really not. All it does it turn off the screen (so I guess you could say the screen is in stand by mode? lol). Music still plays and Navigation still tracks your position. Everything is on but the screen. Still, it's a good feature. I can't tell you how many nights my girl and I have stayed up talking in the car long into the night, and it's great to be able to turn off the bright-ass screen in the otherwise darkness.

Oh, and yeah, holding down A/V button is really just a shortcut to turning the source off. Everything else is still on, including the screen. Another nice feature, though I generally just hold Vol Down for the same effect.

I was referring to the unit returning itself to the upright position from whichever angle I selected it to be in while it is on.

AH! Thanks for the clarification. =D

Update. Spent 2 hours driving around today trying to figure out what might have triggered the "glitch" where I can't load a CD.

If I try and load a CD right after start up, it will load.

If I try and load a CD after driving around for a few minutes, It won't acccept a CD.

I tried only using the FM first.. Same result.

I tried setting the CD to manual rip - Same result.

I tried using all the other AV functions first, then trying to insert a CD - Same result..

The screen will slide down, but it won't allow me to insert a CD- UNLESS I TURN OFF THE IGNITION AND RESTART AGAIN.

I called Pioneer Tech hoping they would tell me - We've had this problem before, and this is how to fix it..

Didn't happen, the guy told me to do the following: push the reset button - which would be the 4th time I've tried that. It works for about half a day, then it won't accept CD's again..

He next told me to delete my entire hard drive - I asked him if the instructions are in the owners manual, as I couldn't do it right then, and he said yes they are - Use Method 3. Looked in my owners manual, couldn't find any instructions, much less a method 3. Are those instructions in the owners manual and I missed them?

I personallly don't think any of this is going to fix my Z2. I called the installing dealer, and he told me to try whatever tips tech support told me to try, and he would try and help me as much as possible, but I realize that when I had the installer do the bypass - it would void the Pioneer warranty.

Since about 75 percent of Nav systems get the bypass, whether they be original equip and bypassed later, or systems like the Avic-Z2 added on - what happens if there is a problem like mine... I paid $2,500 bucks to have the Avic-Z2 installed and bypassed, with the Bluetooth, and a license plate back up camera..

I purchased it and had it installed - ONE MONTH AGO!!!

If the Pioneer warranty is voided by doing the bypass - and there is a problem with the unit that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the bypass - what are my options???

Thanks guys... Bob

He next told me to delete my entire hard drive - I asked him if the instructions are in the owners manual, as I couldn't do it right then, and he said yes they are - Use Method 3. Looked in my owners manual, couldn't find any instructions, much less a method 3. Are those instructions in the owners manual and I missed them?

Pg 179 - 182 in the Z2 manual.

Cropped and attached, for your pleasure.

Give it a shot. Resets (even up to Lvl 4) are the next step, and you might get lucky, but at this point, with everything you've tried, it's sounding like a hardware failure.

EDIT:

As for warranty, I don't see why Pioneer would know (or why they should know ) you've bypassed it since the bypass is only performed on the wiring harness, and uses the official firmware (no hacks). If you were to call them directly, they could only ask for the unit, not the wires which could be soldered to your vehicle. ... Just a thought.

Anyway, here's the instructions for your reset

ResettingtheZ2.pdf

The only way Pioneer is going to know you bypassed your unit is if you tell them or send in your modded wiring harness with the unit.

Thanks for the clarification on the by-pass. The installing dealer gave me the impression that they had to get inside the guts of the unit and do some intricate soldering. Didn't realize it was on the harness. That helps. Thanks guys...

And thanks for steering me towards the reset methods.. Pioneer tech told me to try method 3 - I asked them if that didn't work, what next, he didn't suggest method 4 but said I would probably have to send the unit in then. Trying method 3 when I get home today. Thanks again for all your help.

Latest Update:

I want to share some troubleshooting success with you troubleshooting gurus.. I'm really glad this message board exists, and I appreciate all the suggestions you guys gave.

I tried doing the reset method 3 as per Pioneer Tech Support's suggestion. No change...

Then, thinking it was hopeless, I did the method 4 reset. I hated to do it because I had quite a few CD's already loaded in the Music Library, and this would erase them all, along with a lot of other settings, but I guess it would clear the hard drive as much as possible.

I'm pretty sure IT WORKED!!!

I drove around for a couple of hours, loading CD's, then making sure I listened to the Music Library for a while, then loading another CD, then trying listening to FM for a while, then loading another CD.. This is what I couldn't do before, If i drove around and listened to Music Library, or FM, or even the Ipod, it wouldn't let me load a CD to either rip it or just listen to it.

I spent a lot of time testing to see if I could make it fail again (Because I didn't want to be accused of a "Premature Evaluation".. I hate when that happens..)

I'm pretty confident the method 4 (or level 4) reset solved my problem. Now I'm trying to figure out why.. The only think I can come up with is that I loaded a couple of CD's on that had songs that I got off of Kazaa a couple years ago when it was a popular trading site, and before people started getting busted for using it. There might have been some virus that came along with some of the songs, it never affected my home computer because i have virus protection, it never affected my previous CD player because it didn't load the songs onto a hard drive.. Maybe one of those CD's brought along something that caused the problem.

Needless to say, I'm not going to load those CD's on again, just clean store bought CD's.. Do you guys think that's a possible reason for my problem?

Anyway - wanted to share some info for your future troubleshooting.

Thanks again guys... Bob