http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... C+F-Series

!!!

THANKS!!! I wish I had a dang SD car writer at work! Will have to wait till I get home...

I'm downloading it now but I'll have to wait till I get off work to install it. I'll report back when all is done!

It's big: 270MB!

woot!!

Pioneer has become aware that users of the AVIC-F90BT, AVIC-F900BT, and AVIC-F700BT may experience issues with one or more of the following: navigation voice guidance sound quality and reading of guidance information; brightness of display screen; Bluetooth sound quality and hands-free calling; parking brake warning; cataloguing time for voice recognition of iPod content; song order within an album for iPod content; playing of MP3 music files for USB content; volume control for USB and SD content; and, Spanish and French mode operation with an iPod and with navigation voice guidance.

Wow... that pretty much covers all the problems... the big ones anyway.

Pioneer has become aware that users of the AVIC-F90BT, AVIC-F900BT, and AVIC-F700BT may experience issues with one or more of the following: navigation voice guidance sound quality and reading of guidance information; brightness of display screen; Bluetooth sound quality and hands-free calling; parking brake warning; cataloguing time for voice recognition of iPod content; song order within an album for iPod content; playing of MP3 music files for USB content; volume control for USB and SD content; and, Spanish and French mode operation with an iPod and with navigation voice guidance.

 

Wow... that pretty much covers all the problems... the big ones anyway.

It would seem so. They at least recognize them, hopefully they corrected them.

Pioneer has become aware that users of the AVIC-F90BT, AVIC-F900BT, and AVIC-F700BT may experience issues with one or more of the following: navigation voice guidance sound quality and reading of guidance information; brightness of display screen; Bluetooth sound quality and hands-free calling; parking brake warning; cataloguing time for voice recognition of iPod content; song order within an album for iPod content; playing of MP3 music files for USB content; volume control for USB and SD content; and, Spanish and French mode operation with an iPod and with navigation voice guidance.

 

Wow... that pretty much covers all the problems... the big ones anyway.

No kidding, I cant wait to download the update when I get home 2nite. Maybe I can finally use the VR catalog problem free.

The firmware update, however, does not address reported concerns regarding the length of boot up times. As is the case with other computers, the length of time to boot up an AVIC F-Series system is largely due to the numerous demands (navigation, entertainment, information, connectivity, compatibility, etc.) placed upon it.

Hmm, I guess we'll just deal with the boot time.

Pioneer has become aware that users of the AVIC-F90BT, AVIC-F900BT, and AVIC-F700BT may experience issues with one or more of the following: navigation voice guidance sound quality and reading of guidance information; brightness of display screen; Bluetooth sound quality and hands-free calling; parking brake warning; cataloguing time for voice recognition of iPod content; song order within an album for iPod content; playing of MP3 music files for USB content; volume control for USB and SD content; and, Spanish and French mode operation with an iPod and with navigation voice guidance.

 

Wow... that pretty much covers all the problems... the big ones anyway.

 

It would seem so. They at least recognize them, hopefully they corrected them.

"The free firmware update is intended to address these issues and improve the overall performance of the AVIC F-Series systems. In addition, a separate CD-ROM containing a revised operation manual will be provided as part of the update process. The firmware update, however, does not address reported concerns regarding the length of boot up times. As is the case with other computers, the length of time to boot up an AVIC F-Series system is largely due to the numerous demands (navigation, entertainment, information, connectivity, compatibility, etc.) placed upon it."

Seems as though they have. Yay!

Excellent.

Looking forward to reading comprehensive reports on the effectiveness. It would be helpful if people use the list of things addressed in the Pioneer announcement.

Thanks in advance everyone!

Mine is downloading now.. I will do the update my 900BT in about 20min and give an update.

Maybe this will help with my BB and bluetooth

Mine is downloading now.. I will do the update my 900BT in about 20min and give an update.

 

Maybe this will help with my BB and bluetooth

What is "BB" ?

BB = Blackberry

I downloaded the update, but I won't be able to test it out until I get off work at 10pm. Hopefully it resolves the issues we have all been having.

I just installed the update on my f90bt and have the following limited observations:

The good:

1 - VR catalog ran through my iPod with 17,000 songs on it in 3 minutes. Once you catalog the iPod you can then turn catalog mode back off and it stores the existing catalog info for the next time you start the car. You will have to turn it back on and re-catalog the iPod when you add more music to the device.

2 - The system is now displaying the correct time

3 - the display is much brighter and does not wash out as easily in the day light. I parked the car in a place where it had direct sunlight on the screen and compared pre/post update at full brightness and I can now see the display where I could not before the update.

4 - The songs on the iPod now play in track order not alphabetical order.

The bad:

1 - HD radio still does not display station numbers/call letters on the preset buttons.

2 - Boot time seems to be unchanged (I expected this).

I only had about 10 minutes to play with it once the update was done, I will report back if I find anything else out on my drive home.

WOW! Can someone post a pic of the improved screen brightness in daylight?? Dammit dammit dammit, now I might have to sell my 8120! LOL.

I'm gonna wait and see if there are any major bugs in this firmware before I jump ships again. On the plus side, I still have all my Pioneer accessories to go with a 700BT (XM, etc).

Also hows the bluetooth? And also, does it "drop" the ipod sometimes when after starting the car, like where you have to reconnect it to get the Avic to see it again?

Thanks! Can't wait to hear more reports!

Just installed the first part of the firmware update. Between step 9 and 10, the system actually exposes Windows CE 5.0! And the craziest part is, you can do ANYTHING you want with it in this state!

I can actually open the GPS application in the Windows folder and track satellites, I can copy over IE for Windows CE and run it over Bluetooth Dialup Networking (DUN) with my Windows Mobile 6 phone! I can put any touchscreen Windows CE program I want on this puppy! It has about 1.8GB of free space. Problem is... I DON'T WANT THAT! I just want a working AVIC-F series like I paid for!!!! I am going to remove the SD card and reboot and see what happens...

I only had about 10 minutes to play with it once the update was done, I will report back if I find anything else out on my drive home.

thats awesome news. try making a call on your way home and see if the bluetooth iimproved...my download still has another 10 minutes on it so ill post the results on my end when its all done

After the update for my f700bt the only issue im still having is the BlueTooth. As far as i know, the sound quality on the other end didnt improve much, anyone else having this problem after the update?

Instaling right now. WOW those are some bit of instructions to get this done!! Almost feel like I should get an honorary PHd for this process!

here you go

Aight, took the CD card out. Rebooted. Here are some problems that STILL exist on mine, even after checking that I'm running the newest hardware:

* Boot-up time is slow: I will say, this will NEVER go away because it is running Windows CE and boots up just like a PC. Just like your cell phone, it needs a little time to get up and going. Damn!

* 2D navigation: Still DOES NOT allow you to click the compass and always point in the direction your going instead of the north direction. My AVIC-N2 did this flawlessly.

* Response time: Still does not respond fast to commands.

* NEW BUG: Even when I turn the master volume down, I can still faintly hear the beeps and chimes from pressing buttons like MENU. I do have big amps on the thing, but it is turned ALL the way down and the other sound options are off too. WTF?

I guess I'm gonna have to realize that this OS is never going to stack up to the quicker custom OS's with hardware made EXACTLY for them, and not a generic OS that adapts to the hardware. It will be interesting to see if people hack their systems, considering getting on Windows CE is just a matter of inserting the right CD card. I'm seriously thinking of making some of my own software since I just so happen to have all the right tools on this computer as-is!

Just installed the first part of the firmware update. Between step 9 and 10, the system actually exposes Windows CE 5.0! And the craziest part is, you can do ANYTHING you want with it in this state!

 

I can actually open the GPS application in the Windows folder and track satellites, I can copy over IE for Windows CE and run it over Bluetooth Dialup Networking (DUN) with my Windows Mobile 6 phone! I can put any touchscreen Windows CE program I want on this puppy! It has about 1.8GB of free space. Problem is... I DON'T WANT THAT! I just want a working AVIC-F series like I paid for!!!! I am going to remove the SD card and reboot and see what happens...

Hahha yeah I thought that was a fun toy too.

But it actually has improved the AVIC.

Touch screen response, while not perfect is MUCH improved - and now within the realm of usability.

The Nav voice and beeps are much much cleaner - I never really noticed how bad they were.

Screen is MUCH brighter. At 8/10 brightness its easily twice as bright. Great fix.

Still slow to boot and slow to allow reverse screen.

I will play with it more later. I am a happy camper.

so SD card is the only way? I can't put it on a USB stick or CD? What a load of crap.

ok, jus finished the update and played around a bit. here are my results to my current knowledge:

THINGS IT DIDNT FIX:

-cant change 2D to arrow north

-those useless boxes when not in a route are still there

-that annoying red cursor still shows up.

-bootup time still sucks, but that cant be fixed with an update thru SD

THINGS THAT GOT WORSE:

-the reacton time seems a little slower when its still booting up

THINGS THAT GOT BETTER OR ARE FIXED:

-BLUETOOTH WORKS LIKE A CHARM!! lol (Verizon LG Env)

called my mom then my fiance'. both said it was alot better

-brightness is much MUCH brighter

-the VR only has to be done once now and it memorizes your ipod until you add new media

-with 4000 songs and 5 music videos i dont think it took 10 seconds.

OTHER:

did anyone else get this? after phase 2 of the update when u change the folders, it made your unit like a windows software? i was able to go into control panel and things like that. didnt affect it i just thought it was kool lol.

so there you have it. thats all ive discovered so far but this unit for me went from a 7/10 to a perfect 10. if anyone had any doubts, fear not, the unit works awesome now.

so SD card is the only way? I can't put it on a USB stick or CD? What a load of crap.

yeh i kno i thought that was stupid. i hadda goto office max and buy an sd card/reader jus to do this.