Ok, I think I found it. I was just driving around for 5 minutes at 45 mph and had a dvd playing. I think I have it, but I want to install it and set it all up and drive around for a day or so to test it.

But if someone wants to know how to do it and help test....

Take the unit out and look at the back of it.

There are 4 empty wires on the right side of "connector 2" (towards the FM radio antenna). As you are looking at the rear of the unit with the fm antenna on the bottom right... you want to ground the very bottom right pin (the empty hole in the connector).

I took the cellular phone mute wire from connector 1 (use a jewlers screw driver and push in the little tab and pull out that wire) and then make sure the tab is still pried out a bit, then snap it into the bottom right of connector 2... as it's plugged into the rear of the unit. (I plugged in that wire while connector 2 was unplugged and then plugged it back it. I wouldn't try sticking that wire in connector 2 while it's connected to the unit itself).

Ground that wire 24/7 and also ground the parking brake 24/7.

So go out there and try this... let me know how it works....

I'm putting the information on my web site:
http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html

Wow you mean it might have actually become easier to bypass... Downside is people won't need your circuit anymore. Which I guess that does kind of suck.

cntrylvr79 said:

Wow you mean it might have actually become easier to bypass... Downside is people won't need your circuit anymore. Which I guess that does kind of suck.

Yah, that is true. I was hoping that I could still stay in business, but what's even worse, I don't think anyone ever needed my circuit. I think that everyone could have just done this from the beginning, I'm going to test my old unit as well. I think sales just went to 0 and will stay there from now on :) Oh well, it's better to be honest than rich.

I'm going to take a bunch of pictures to make sure everyone can see how it's done.

ducatiboy said:

cntrylvr79 said:

Wow you mean it might have actually become easier to bypass... Downside is people won't need your circuit anymore. Which I guess that does kind of suck.

Yah, that is true. I was hoping that I could still stay in business, but what's even worse, I don't think anyone ever needed my circuit. I think that everyone could have just done this from the beginning, I'm going to test my old unit as well. I think sales just went to 0 and will stay there from now on :) Oh well, it's better to be honest than rich.

I'm going to take a bunch of pictures to make sure everyone can see how it's done.

Wow!! You really are a stand up guy!!! Thanks for keeping the fun in fun!

Thanks.

Ok, ground the parking brake and this pin on "connector 2".

Again, I have tested this for all of 5 minutes, but with all the "rumors" around I think this is it. The other 3 pins had no voltage on it and this one at 5V. It also had a very weak pullup to 5V. Pulling it to ground drew almost no current < 1mA. Groud these both 24/7. Seemed like an input to me. And it works, the parking brake warning message does not come up.

Please try this and let me know how it works.

do the ebrake & this new wire have to be grounded AFTER the harness has been connected to both the reciever and the car? or can is just be grounded & plugged in all at the same time?

i know with some of the other avics the ebrake cable has to be grounded but only AFTER the unit has been plugged in to power. if it isnt grounded after the reciever gets power, an error message comes up.

Hey Ducatiboy!

Just reading the posts and came across this one. You ARE one hell of a guy...And I for one thank you for all of your efforts and your honesty. I did purchase one of your Flasher units for my Z1 and it worked after a few tries with my installer (you probably remember me emailing you about it). You are truly a gentleman and a scholar. I applaud you sir! Not many people would do and say what you have done and said. Thank you again for your honesty. It goes to show that there are still good people out there. Thank you again!

Thank you very much! I like to think I'm an honest guy. :)

wkderf said:

do the ebrake & this new wire have to be grounded AFTER the harness has been connected to both the reciever and the car? or can is just be grounded & plugged in all at the same time?

i know with some of the other avics the ebrake cable has to be grounded but only AFTER the unit has been plugged in to power. if it isnt grounded after the reciever gets power, an error message comes up.

No you can take the wiring harnesses ground those wires, hook everything up to the car, and just plug them into the back of the Z1, I just tried that and it worked.

I have yet to try it on the older units, but I'm betting it will work too.

Oh and to pull that wire out, don't push on the metal tang. Use a jeweler's screw driver and lift up on the white connector just next to it, and it will pull right out.

You do in fact realize this is all a game with pioneer though. You can count that they are lurking here reading all this and will soon dream up another fix. Sadly, I don't think we will ever checkmate them. hoorey for this victory though. I do appriciate your honesty and would buy from you any day.

Oh and you guys might want to put those wires on a toggle switch so that if you ever get pulled over by local law, you can flip the switch and then it won't play a dvd when you start moving... just incase they make an issue out of it.

In order for the switch to you, do both wires need to be put on the switch? Or just the e-brake or other pin?

My installed didn't put a switch in for my D2, but I think I'll add one just in case.

Damageinc333 said:

You do in fact realize this is all a game with pioneer though. You can count that they are lurking here reading all this and will soon dream up another fix. Sadly, I don't think we will ever checkmate them. hoorey for this victory though. I do appriciate your honesty and would buy from you any day.

Pioneer will have no issue with anyone doing a bypass in this manner. As long as someone has to do something deliberate to the wiring they are in the clear.

Flashing the headlights was something that anyone could do without leaving a trace and since it was widely publicised, and every dealer informed every new owner of this, Pioneer left themselves liable.
The problem was not the Ducati auto flasher but the fact that anyone could bypass without doing any modification to the built in safety.

What Ducatiboy has figured out makes this bypass about the same as bypassing a D1 etc. Pioneer can't be responsible for someone making modifications, thus deliberately circumventing the built in safety measures.

sportsfan21 said:

In order for the switch to you, do both wires need to be put on the switch? Or just the e-brake or other pin?

My installed didn't put a switch in for my D2, but I think I'll add one just in case.

It'll probably never be an issue until AFTER you've been in an accident and in that case the switch will only draw attention to the fact that this thing has been modified.

Here is something interesting. This bypass DOES NOT work with my March 06 unit... just my July 06 unit. The March 06 unit comes up with a "hey the parking brake is installed incorrectly" message in about 20 feet of motion. The July 06 unit let me drive around for 15 miles. The VSS wire and internal sensors initialized and put me into 3d hybrid. All the while with Blazing Saddles on the dvd player. I can't say that some time in the future this might not work. But it seems like the way to go. What's weird is that it doesn't work on the old units. Guess my circuit is still needed after all.

at least till the stock of pre July units runs dry right?

Good work on this, while I have a pre july unit and your bypass, I see your a stand up guy for many things you have said. You didn't have to find the fix on the post july units and it's plain honerable that you did. Not to mention it's free...

Great find Ducati. I know many people will be thanking you for it, maybe not the folks that have been trading units in and out to get a pre july. At least that frustration can stop now..

good job glad we could do it bro let me know if you need anything in the future great installers do great things when they work together

So when does your 'test' unit go up for sale or raffled? If it is a raffle, I am in for sure.

ducatiboy said:

The March 06 unit comes up with a "hey the parking brake is installed incorrectly" message in about 20 feet of motion. The July 06 unit let me drive around for 15 miles. The VSS wire and internal sensors initialized and put me into 3d hybrid. All the while with Blazing Saddles on the dvd player.

Just for clarification.... the July 06 unit let you drive "all the while" with Blazing Saddles, right? Not just for the 15 miles at which point it crapped out and stopped playing? (I assume you only tested it for 15 miles, not that you actually tested it for 20 miles, but the new bypass only worked for the first 15?)

wow!! boy am I glad I returned my overpriced April unit from Circuit City, lol! thank you so much for everything Ducatiboy, seriously I dont know many people who would go through the trouble. Now I can consider getting the Z1 again. I was considering a Nismo exhaust instead (in fact I was considering purchasing one tomorrow for my 350Z) but now I have to rethink what I really want..

Just remember to test this out on LONG trips and MULTIPLE trips. With my July 06 unit I was able to see movies with the parking brake merely grounded for varying amounts of time, before the whole unit would revert back to default and stop working.

Ducatiboy, kudos. At least you know I have a July 06 unit and you still got a flasher order from me before we figured out this didn't work.

Anyways, after some serious testing of this, perhaps bench testing as well, we can hopefully verify this. I know I'm ordering a car alarm from Circuit City and the guys there helped me with my install and I'm sure will gladly modify my circuit once this is verified.

-Litos

I'm putting this bypass onto my July 06 unit Thursday morning (today) and driving from Atlanta, GA to Tampa, FL.

I'll let everyone know if it works the whole way down, stopping for gas, etc.

Well it works the wire in the plug by the backup camera works and it works great !!! thaks again !

udecker said:

Just for clarification.... the July 06 unit let you drive "all the while" with Blazing Saddles, right? Not just for the 15 miles at which point it crapped out and stopped playing? (I assume you only tested it for 15 miles, not that you actually tested it for 20 miles, but the new bypass only worked for the first 15?)

With my unit it worked the whole time I was driving, I only said 15 miles cause that's when I stopped driving. It never failed while I was driving. I'm going to test it more today.

DJ Machismo said:

Just remember to test this out on LONG trips and MULTIPLE trips. With my July 06 unit I was able to see movies with the parking brake merely grounded for varying amounts of time, before the whole unit would revert back to default and stop working.

This is a good idea, and why I came on and told people about it before I was 100% sure it was the solution. There were rumors about what would bypass the new units. And I wanted help testing. But my July 06.. I couldn't watch movies for even 20 feet. My video was locked out right away, but I had the GPS antenna and VSS wire hooked up and tried grounding the parking brake alone. That didn't work for me at all, as soon as I grounded this other wire and the parking brake everything worked... for me. :)

DJ Machismo said:

Ducatiboy, kudos. At least you know I have a July 06 unit and you still got a flasher order from me before we figured out this didn't work.

Yah, I feal bad about those... if you email me through the emails at www.sminntech.com and give me your order date (as long as it's before I put up the warning that the flasher didn't work with new units) I can email you my address... send it back and I'll refund your money. I don't want to take money from anyone for something that doesn't work for them.

DJ Machismo said:

Anyways, after some serious testing of this, perhaps bench testing as well, we can hopefully verify this. I know I'm ordering a car alarm from Circuit City and the guys there helped me with my install and I'm sure will gladly modify my circuit once this is verified.

-Litos

Yes, everyone do some testing and let me know. I hope we found the solution.

MitchellStang said:

So when does your 'test' unit go up for sale or raffled? If it is a raffle, I am in for sure.

A friend of mine was thinking of buying a Z1 and now that I think I found it... I want to test it for a week or so, but I think a friend of mine will be buying it off me. So I won't need to get rid of it through the forum. Thanks for the support though.

Hopefully I'll be testing this out this evening. I received my July z1 yesterday and bench tested the flashing technique with no success. I'll be soldering up the wiring harness this afternoon (as long as work doesn't get in the way) and installing when I get home. I'll let everyone know how it works.