hi i just bought a new z1 made in august and i got the ducatiboy flasher and it dosent work? the headlight flashing trick dosent work,any chance for some kind of fix for the new z1's to make use of all the the features?
thanks

Since I have never seen one I can't help right now. I was considering trying to track one down and just buy it to see if I can. I don't know if I will or not, but if I can get my hands on one, I will mess with it and see if anything can be done. I didn't figure out the first hack, someone else here did, I just made it automatic. If someone has the urge to start messing with your new one, feel free :)

thanks. i hope someone comes up with something.. i was very dissapointed to find out that your circuit didnt work on this one.. it worked great on my frist z1. thanks for that!

zeros said:

thanks. i hope someone comes up with something.. i was very dissapointed to find out that your circuit didnt work on this one.. it worked great on my frist z1. thanks for that!

I'm pretty dissapointed as well. This is going to cause me months of headaches trying to support both "versions" with no external way of knowing which one you have. I hope someone comes up with something as well. If I had one of the new ones, I would be very pissed at pioneer.

why do you think pioneer changed the bypass. because to many people found out about it? i really am upset about that. it is one reason i bought anthor one. well im sure hope someone finds out someway to get around it .

To be honest, I think they changed it because of me. These companies know about these types of forums. And they watch them. When it was a manual flashing of the headlights they can say the person knew about it and did something on purpose to bypass the lockouts. Or with the TR7 it was at least difficult to do. But I came along and made something that was a no-brianer to install and did it automatically. It was a simple $40 add on to make the Z1 like it should and my guess is they didn't like this.

Either that or it really was a "bug" and this attention (here and on ebay) caused them to "tweak" their build.

I just hope someone (or I) has the guts to take one apart and see if there is anything that looks like we can mess with.

I have half a mind to try switching hard drives between a working one and a non-working one to see if that has any effect. It's possible it's on the hard drive. I doubt it, but it would be an "easy" fix.

It might be something as dumb as flip a switch under a sticker and it will work again. Who knows? Someone somewhere knows the truth, eventually it will filter down to us schmucks. :)

i hope so . thanks for your hard work.!

zeros said:

i hope so . thanks for your hard work.!

Me too, and you are welcome.

Pioneer would not change the easy bypass just for the hell of it. There are liability issues and since just about every unit got bypassed it was like they never put in the safety lock-out in the first place. In the US this means that the Lawyers are ligning up to hold Pioneer liable when there is any kind of an accident involving a bypassed Z1.

Pioneer making it easy for Customers to watch movies while driving is not a case that can be won in court!

Look for the fixed bypass to be some place other than in the part of the software that is updated from time to time (after all the software# didn't change) and if I'm right then all existing bypassed units are good for life even after updates.

On the other hand there is probably a good reason for making it possible to by-pass the units and therefore even the newest units should be able to be bypassed ..... but not as easily as before. The latest D2s can probably still be bypassed since it involves more than just flashing the headlights. (Maybe the new Z1s can now be bypassed the same way the D1 and D2 can?)

The latest way for bypassing can not be optained from Pioneer US or Canada. Dealers in Countries, where there is no liabitlity issues, will probably have the info.

shit I hope mine works since I just ordered it and the flasher. how can you tell if the software has been changed?will this be somehting I would be able to see on the unit itself?. :(

grcplaya said:

shit I hope mine works since I just ordered it and the flasher. how can you tell if the software has been changed?will this be somehting I would be able to see on the unit itself?. :(

So far the "best" way is to look at the manufacture date. June 06 and before, chances are very good. July 06 and later, chances are very bad.

if this is the case i will be selling my unit with the extras, and buy the avhp-6800. will I have any issues with this unit by grounding the wire so I can full time play?

ducatiboy said:

To be honest, I think they changed it because of me. These companies know about these types of forums.

With all due respect sir, i dont think this is true. I think that there probably was an internal dialogue as far as the legal liability of someone crashing because they bypassed the moving lockouts and they decided they just didnt want to have to face that liability.

And they watch them. When it was a manual flashing of the headlights they can say the person knew about it and did something on purpose to bypass the lockouts.

If the bypass is in there, doesnt matter if it was a manual flashing or an automatic flashing, in a legal proceeding these two would be very hard to distinguish.

Either that or it really was a "bug" and this attention (here and on ebay) caused them to "tweak" their build.

i tend to agree with this statement, however i think it was more of an easter egg than an actual bug.

I just hope someone (or I) has the guts to take one apart and see if there is anything that looks like we can mess with.

Its most likely a new firmware revision that disables the feature.

I have half a mind to try switching hard drives between a working one and a non-working one to see if that has any effect. It's possible it's on the hard drive. I doubt it, but it would be an "easy" fix.

Swapping hard drives may or may not do something, the firmware is most likely what is enabling disabling this feature, but it is definitely worth a shot to see if this is a software level lockout.

I think Pioneer could have gotten in trouble because of the fact that you can unknowingly unlock the Z1. If you didn’t know about the light flash or the Ducatiboys bypass, you could accidentally unlock the Z1.

Either by remote start with your parking lights on flash or by turning your lights on when you start your car, then change your mind and turn them off.... either way your Z1 is now unlocked and you didn’t do it intentionally... if something happened then I would say Pioneer could be SUED.

lcstyle said:

ducatiboy said:

To be honest, I think they changed it because of me. These companies know about these types of forums.

With all due respect sir, i dont think this is true. I think that there probably was an internal dialogue as far as the legal liability of someone crashing because they bypassed the moving lockouts and they decided they just didnt want to have to face that liability..

It's not about truth, it's about not knowing for sure what made them change it and voicing opinions. And since the 'Ducati' was offered as an add-on by just about every dealer he may just be right.

All Avics and for that matter almost all navis have the ability to be bypassed. My opinion is that on the Z1 that bypass was just too easy to accomplish. Just flashing the lights is something anyone can do without leaving a trace......

Now that there is an Avic411 forum (didn't exist when the Z1 was designed) this has quickly become common knowledge and every dealer made it known to the new owners and also offered to install the Ducati.

It's my opinion that the new Z1 can be bypassed by design but that this new bypass requires an intentional, traceable intervention rather than just flashing the lights. By having intentionally cicumvented the lock-out feature the Liability for doing so shifts to the owner as well as to the installer. 8)

Passat 05 said:

It's my opinion that the new Z1 can be bypassed by design but that this new bypass requires an intentional, traceable intervention rather than just flashing the lights. By having intentionally cicumvented the lock-out feature the Liability for doing so shifts to the owner as well as to the installer. 8)

Very well said, and I think you are right. I think they might have changed it to leave a trace. That's an excellent point. I also hope you are right about having a new way, I just hope we find it soon.

yeah that does make perfect sense.. are their any pioneer nav/dvd units that can not be bypassed? im sure their is some kind of bypass.. its driveing me crazy not being able to use most of the features. i hope something shows up soon!

What are we really talking here? Is it mainly that we are losing the ability to watch DVD movies on the AVIC-Z1 unit itself up in the front seat while the car is moving, and the ability to change destinations on the fly? If those are the only two things that the bypass being disabled prevents us from doing, then maybe it is not so bad. I say this as someone who bought the DucatiBoy flasher but don't know yet if it will work for me since my car is scheduled to have the AVIC-Z1 installed this Friday. If you still have full access to the stereo features, XM or Sirius radio, nav traffic, phone (all I want to do is take a call and make a call), etc. Then the fact that we are all saying that we do not want to be dangerous and try to watch a DVD while driving (yeah, I know what about the front seat passenger? My solution is I'm getting my wife a sunvisor monitor) means I'm fine there. I don't think I would be changing where I'm going every couple of minutes on the road. Truthfully, I would ask the unit to show me how to get somewhere. Then when I was there, if I wanted to go somewhere else, I would do that while I was stopped and parked. Again, I feel the pain from people who want full unlocked access. I wanted it too. However, until I learn more about what I can't do with a locked AVIC-Z1, I'm not going to panic. I look at it like I look at my cable and satellite tv set-up. I pay for the total package from Comcast and from DirecTV, but I really only watch about 10 channels consistently. I just like having the choice and ability to be able to watch whatever might happen to come on, and not find out that there is something I want to watch but I can't because I don't get this or that particular channel. :) Is this what this really all boils down to people? We want to be able to decide for ourselves what we can and can't do, and not have Pioneer decide that for us? Feedback welcomed. Maybe I just don't know what the hell I am talking about. If so, someone please enlighten me. Thanks.

From what I understand rapayn1, some of your phone functionality will be disabled. You cannot access the phone book numbers on the Z1 while in motion. You could however use your phone to dial numbers and access stored numbers in your phone. Basically the Z1 will act like a wireless bluetooth headphone (speaker and mic...that's it)...if this is the case just stick with a wireless bluetooth headset unless you like the speaker phone-llike behavior of the Z1's phone.

Now the magic question, Is there a way to find out which ones which by looking at the box for the Z1?

I am planning to purchase one very soon and now very concerned about the apparent fix to the bypass.

Can anyone else concer with the new fix? :x

the only way to tell that i know is to look at the serial number on the box .it says what month it was made. if it was made in july or after i the bypass will not work. as far as i know.

rapayn1, you sound like someone who has never had a GPS system in a car before. I don't mean this as an insult of any type; just that if you had a GPS already you would know what you are missing by having the unit locked out while driving. To me this has nothing to do with playing a video while driving. I consider that stupid and unsafe behavior. But after having a portable GPS in my car for the past 8 months, and the factory navi for 2-1/2 years in my wife's Accord, (which has no lockout, by the way, just a disclaimer screen when you start up that must be acknowledged) I can tell you that you will find it very, very frustrating if you get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and can't have your $2000 navigation system suggest a detour without pulling over and putting on the parking brake.

I have often found myself hitting unexpected traffic (and don't fool yourself into thinking NavTraffic, or whatever they call it, will be updated quickly enough to an accident so you never get caught in traffic) and with a few quick button pushes on my Garmin have found a way around it. With the lockout, even though you are basically sitting still, you won't be able to do that. To me, that is the biggest disadvantage to the lockout.

Glad I found an April '06 Z1 for my new car.

ufd108,

No offense taken. You guessed correctly. This will be my first foray into the world of GPS navigation. So, that was why I posted the question of what are we really missing? I truly do not know. I wanted to know if I was stressing myself out over something that, FOR ME, really would not matter. I had some disposable income and chose to spend it on what seemed to be the hot automotive gadget at the time. I'm 40. So, every now and then I just decide to have some fun and this head unit looked like something that would be a real cool item to have. I still contend that probably more often than not, I would just be using the audio features of the AVIC-Z1 (CDs, MP3s, XM radio). On a long road trip, I may play a DVD for the people in the back and for my wife up front via her sunvisor. I also have the tv tuner. Same thing applies. When I don't feel like going into the bank or a store (especially during football season), I may just sit in the parking lot and and watch tv or a dvd that I made of the weekend's game. Again, I am all about choice or freedom of choice. So, I hope when they install my unit, that it was one made prior to July of 2006. If anyone can point me to a FAQ that lists what features won't work while moving, and even better for a newbie, why those features are important to have enabled, I would love to go there and read it. Thanks.

The only other way around that sort of problem is to always have the parking brake grounded. It won't work while driving but at least when stopped/in a slow state it will work without the 'actual' parking brake needing to be applied.

I've noticed that it is annoying as well, and this is my first GPS unit.

-Litos

rapayn1 said:

If anyone can point me to a FAQ that lists what features won't work while moving, and even better for a newbie, why those features are important to have enabled, I would love to go there and read it. Thanks.

So far, we don't have one, but I (or someone else) should type one up. It might be nice to know what will and will not work.