I hate to resort to asking about iPod woes on the AVIC forum, but Best Buy is leaving me no choice. My wife's 5th Generation iPod will not work with the AVIC-D3 she has in her car, but all other iPods will. The D3 doesn't acknowledge that its connected (the item is grayed out).

This has gone back to Best Buy (its still under extended warranty) five (yes, 5) times and they never fix anything. It came back from visit number five and they replaced the battery... nice of them. This time when we took it up there to say "still not working" they were much more accomodating (I just moved to a new city) and plugged it up to their display stereos and docks there at the Geek Squad station and it worked just fine. They didn't have an AVIC connected - these were all the "two line display" stereos. So in their eyes, its the D3 (which again, will sync with every other iPod in the world). I brought it home and started looking it over - the first pin in the output dock (pin 1 on the left with the white face up) was simply not there. So I took it back to Best Buy and they said that it was a ground wire and would not impact the player or the way it syncs up.

Depending on which pinout diagram I look at on the web, its either a ground or a firewire pin. While I can't see the ground doing much (but I'm by no means an expert), the firewire is a definate maybe.

So since Best Buy won't help, I thought I'd try to reverse engineer this thing and look at it from the perfectly functioning D3 side. If I can figure out if the missing pin is vital, then I can go back (again) and make a case for it. Can anyone confirm if this is a ground wire or a firewire pin thats missing?

A couple of quick facts:

• - Its a 5th Generation iPod Video (30GB)
  - It powers up and charges via the USB cable on a PC and will play if connected to a desktop dock or two line car stereo
  - If connected, the D3 does not acknowledge it
  - Yes, it used to work
  - While connected, there is no indication in the iPod display that it has external power and I can freely navigate the menus
  - My iPod Classic works using the same cable with no problem
  - A friend's iPod 5.5 Generation works fine using the same cable

Again, sorry for posting it here - but I'm running out of options.

Any help you can throw my way would be VERY much appreciated!

D3 required a certain firmware version in the iPod video to work. I don't know what it is, but you might try updating to the latest if you are not already.

Just a thought.

It did work before (at one point), but since Best Buy has had it no telling whats been going on so I threw it into iTunes. It is running firmware 1.2.3, which I believe is the latest revision for that model.

I do appreciate the suggestion though!

why dont you try resetting the ipod??

I dont remember exactly how to do it off the top of my head but its on apples website.

it might help your situation.

No dice - same problem.

well, here's the answer to your first question:

http://pinouts.ru/Devices/ipod_pinout.shtml

Pin 21 is of particular interest. Basically, the resistance on this pin is what the iPod uses to determine which peripheral/brand/unique device is connected. Perhaps yous is damaged and the iPod isn't going into Pioneer mode?

21 Accessory Indicator/Serial enable Different resistances indicate accessory type:

1kOhm - iPod docking station, beeps when connected

10kOhm - Takes some iPods into photo import mode

500kOhm - related to serial communication / used to enable serial communications Used in Dension Ice Link Plus car interface

1MOhm - Belkin auto adaptor, iPod shuts down automatically when power disconnected Connecting pin 21 to ground with a 1MOhm resistor does stop the ipod when power (i.e. Firewire-12V) is cut. Looks to be that when this pin is grounded it closes a switch so that on loss of power the Ipod shuts off. Dock has the same Resister.

I agree that if it worked b4 you may have a contact problem with a pin. Check and see that your pins on both connectors are not bent in some way and not making good contact...

Why don't you just use a "every other ipod in the world" instead? Seems your poking your finger at Best Buy, when it's your ipod that won't work with it.

Just because you have this 5 year warranty on the D3 does not mean it covers everything you try to hook up to it From reading your story, seems like they have tried to go above and beyond to fix YOUR broken ipod issue.

id say if it worked before then either something came up with the adapter, be it internally or installation wise. or ipod related.. maybe firmware update? id try a new latest gen ipod see if it works or not, if it does then your ipod is to blame, if it doesnt then id see about getting best buy to replace the adapter. hope this helps

id say if it worked before then either something came up with the adapter, be it internally or installation wise. or ipod related.. maybe firmware update? id try a new latest gen ipod see if it works or not, if it does then your ipod is to blame, if it doesnt then id see about getting best buy to replace the adapter. hope this helps

He said he had a few other ipods that worked perfectly fine on the same D3 with the same ipod cable. If that is the case, it's obviously a problem with the ipod itself.

i would agree, but the cake would be on his face if it turned out to be a version difference thing with the ipod instead. so starting in the begining to troubleshoot is best

With the missng/damaged pin, I'm going to take it to Best Buy and have them replace the interface socket. I tried some additional iPods this week with the same results - they all work (so the D3 and the cable should be fine). The iPod has the latest firmware and otherwise works fine (it connects via a docking station on a friend's iPod boom box).

I'll report back if that corrects the problem.

Thanks to all those who helped out!

well hold on, if the d3/cable are fine, you might want to troubleshoot ipod. the ipods you tried that worked, where they new ones?

well hold on, if the d3/cable are fine, you might want to troubleshoot ipod. the ipods you tried that worked, where they new ones?

- My iPod Classic works using the same cable with no problem

- A friend's iPod 5.5 Generation works fine using the same cable

So a same generation and a new generation.

so its your ipod thats broke? you see?

I have a friend that is having a similar problem with a Peripheral adapter (stock Honda application). His works fine, his wife's doesn't, with hers being a 6th gen and a classic. Hers didn't work brand new out of the box, so I'm wondering if this is some sort of problem with Apple (whom is going to say they it's the 3rd party parts that are the problem.)

I had the same problem and struggled with it for months until I very carefully looked at the Ipod side of the dock with a magnifying glass and learned that two of the pins had been pushed back into the connector tab. I used a tiny screwdriver (like you'd use in electronics) to pull them forward, then I used a toothpick to flatten them back into the gooves.

It all worked great for a few months until last week. I connected the iPod and the head unit didn't find it. I looked at the connector today and it looks like the two wires that were bent are now gone. I'm not sure if it's something that can be fixed on the ipod side.

Just to close the circle (in case someone else encounters this issue)...

The iPod went back to BestBuy two more times (the fine print on the extended warranty states they will repair or replace at their choise), the problem got escalated to their regional support manager, and was finally repaired correctly.

It was the broken first pin - the AVIC header is fine.

Thanks to everyone that contributed, empathised, or just flat out provided input!