I purchased my F900 a few days ago and had it installed by Best Buy. Everything works perfectly, however I noticed something extremely peculiar. My GPS menus and my DVD player do NOT lock out when the vehicle is in motion. I took my car onto the freeway and have successfully been able to watch a DVD disc and manipulate my navigation controls while driving 65mph+. I have not hacked, nor have I attempted the hardware bypass on the unit. Maybe Pioneer gave up and quit trying to protect us because we hated these safety features so much. I'm really curious to find out.

Or maybe the installer did the bypass? It's unlikely but more likely than Pioneer risking a lawsuit and not putting a lock on the unit.

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's at bestbuy where you can return anything in any shape without them looking twice at it.

They also put the returned items back on the shelve without fully inspecting them.

My best guess would be that someone installed it, bypassed it then uninstalled it and returned it.

Oops,

Double post.

Or maybe the installer did the bypass? It's unlikely but more likely than Pioneer risking a lawsuit and not putting a lock on the unit.

Maybe, however the installer did not mention anything about performing the bypass. I might boot the unit into WinCE and see if the "parking_break_speed" value has been changed. If that is at the stock 16 value then i'll pull the unit out and check the wiring harness for any modifications.

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's at bestbuy where you can return anything in any shape without them looking twice at it.

 

They also put the returned items back on the shelve without fully inspecting them.

 

My best guess would be that someone installed it, bypassed it then uninstalled it and returned it.

I think you're thinking of Costco. Best buy has the WORST return policy on the face of the earth... they charge 15% restocking fee on nav units and if a returned item goes on the shelf it is marked as an "open box" item. The unit i bought was factory sealed.

Why would you pull the HU out? Just leave it alone and enjoy it the way it is.

Why would you pull the HU out? Just leave it alone and enjoy it the way it is.

It's an interesting situation, and some of us would like to know why it is that way...

I had mine installed by a major national chain as well. I showed the guy this site on my I-phone and asked him to bypass the unit and he said "oh, I usually do. you just move pin 1 on the top to pin 4 on the bottom".

He did and I love it. I think it's a common practice.

I had mine installed by a major national chain as well. I showed the guy this site on my I-phone and asked him to bypass the unit and he said "oh, I usually do. you just move pin 1 on the top to pin 4 on the bottom".

 

He did and I love it. I think it's a common practice.

If that's the case they're setting themselves up for a major lawsuit (from the Manufacturer or from the end-user). I'm sure big chains who are official dealers for these companies have to adhere to rules about not bypassing security features. This is a MAJOR liability issue.

I just checked the pioneer.ini file and the parking break speed value is still set to 16... I can only assume that the hardware bypass was done. I'll be verifiying that on Tuesday.

Option 3: Gremlins did it while you were not looking.

Please keep in mind that having the navigation menus active while in motion is not against the law in any way. If it were so, then Acura would be in deep doo doo as all their cars have active nav menus right from the factory. Having DVD active can be a gray area. If you are watching a dvd and have an accident, then most states will probably come after you. But if you don't have an DVD in the unit, is it illegal? Just bypassing Pioneer's system in not reason for a lawsuit. Loss of warranty...possible. Taking Pioneer off the hook for DVD watching...probably. But not illegal.

Just bypassing Pioneer's system in not reason for a lawsuit.

Ever hear of the lawsuit involving a winnebago? This woman bought a winnebago, and while she was on the highway, she put the bago on cruise control, and left the driver's seat to go in the back to make herself a sandwich. The bago went off the road and flipped over several times...you'd think it'd be her own fault? wrong..

Not only was she awarded a new winnebago, but also 1.75 MILLION DOLLARS, because the manual didn't say you cannot actually leave the seat while on cruise control...if people can pull off lawsuits like that, I'm sure Pioneer can be sued for not having a safety lock on their units.

And if were Gremlins that did it, well you shoulnt've fed them after midnight

Just bypassing Pioneer's system in not reason for a lawsuit.

 

Ever hear of the lawsuit involving a winnebago? This woman bought a winnebago, and while she was on the highway, she put the bago on cruise control, and left the driver's seat to go in the back to make herself a sandwich. The bago went off the road and flipped over several times...you'd think it'd be her own fault? wrong..

 

Not only was she awarded a new winnebago, but also 1.75 MILLION DOLLARS, because the manual didn't say you cannot actually leave the seat while on cruise control...if people can pull off lawsuits like that, I'm sure Pioneer can be sued for not having a safety lock on their units.

 

And if were Gremlins that did it, well you shoulnt've fed them after midnight

I assume that last sentence means you know this already, but just in case someone else believes you ...

This is an urban legend, never happened. Two links:

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/14 ... ortmyths14

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

Oh, really? Wow, i didn't know it was false, I read a list of like top 10 craziest lawsuits and that was number one. Forget what I said then.

And the gremlin thing I was only acknowledging HiFiSi's post. But I digress.

I had a D2 installed a couple of years ago and the guy at best buy did the bypass without me asking or even telling me. I thought it was standard that all systems worked while in motion. (didnt have the dvd drive) it was only when i was reading about the D3 when it came out that i found out you needed to by pass the units. So it is possible that best buy bypassed your unit for you.

makes sense to me that you should be able to interact with the nav while in motion... DVD watching while in motion is just plain silly, however.

makes sense to me that you should be able to interact with the nav while in motion... DVD watching while in motion is just plain silly, however.

X2. Is there really a difference between fiddling around with the nav and fiddling with the iPod?

Option 3: Gremlins did it while you were not looking.

This is plausible. Perhaps the F series have gremlins confused. Their DNA encourages them to break things. In the case of the F series, maybe they think all the things that aren't working are actually working properly, so they end up fixing them.

just a theory of course...

That settles it... Best Buy did the hardware bypass without telling me. No cause for alarm here.

Maybe I should sue them for voiding my warranty for me.

i bought an avic f900 and am not happy, it will charge my iphone when it feels like it, it will drop all audio to left channel and ill have to disconnect, reconnect (only on ipod, iphone), i can pause the song and hear heaps of static (both ipod and usb), why when i make a phone call does it automatically go to map,why is there only 1 aux plug on the back of the deck and you need it for your ipod (i have hitv f@#kers) now i have to have that shit hanging out the front of my unit, if i am sitting there with acc on and then start the car the unit has a spazzy and the touch screen wont work anymore, i hear the new firmware fixes some of these issues but cause i didnt register the unit pioneer want me to pay $300+ for it, after i bought prs171 splits, 6" bassalts for the rear, tsw prs 12" sub, prs1200m monoblock and prs4100 4 channel. i have heard all sorts of other problems with these units aswell such as bluetooth not working and nav not talking all because a 2 channel amp was running 2 pair of speakers parallel, disconnect a pair and it was fixed.... the avic f900 has serious issues, i shouldnt have sold my hd311. and thats all i can think of that is wrong with this particular unit except the fact that i takes almost a whole minute to start up, it doesnt come with a remote, its not compatable with the cat10 steering wheel interface module, it will play a small handfull of divx files on dvd but not cd or through usb, the operation manuel is on a disc but not a format the unit will understand. i would swap it for a avhp6050dvd in a heartbeat and then just get a navman so at least when i input a destination and go there i can listen to my music without the music pausing everytime the voice tells me where to turn, even if i turn the nav volume all the way down. i would hate to think what would happen if i was listening to music while being navagated while having a conversation on hands free and my headlights automatically came on, i think the unit would explode and even if i had a reverse camera and was reversing at the same time... ka-blammo, all i am suggesting is unless you get an f10 dont get anything, thats what ill be getting after i put my fist through the avic frustration 900 and thats if i can forgive pioneer for producing such a piece of crap... yes sir $1999 and all this could be yours

i bought an avic f900 and am not happy, it will charge my iphone when it feels like it.................

I picked up my f900bt 2nd hand and shortly after updated to the FX3.1 firmware. After that, everything worked like a charm. iphone works every time.

Not sure what you meant by only 1 AV set, there are 3, one for ipod, one rear cam, and one optional. Could you have the right channel hooked to another set?