Well I've owned my new F900BT for all of two days now and so far I love it! I'm excited to do the bypass and start modding it with suggestions from this site. The first solution I need though is this...

I've got a 2005 Ford Expedition Limited with factory DVD/RSE. It was installed by a professional that the dealer works with and they are putting in the wiring harness to make it accessible in a few days (they forgot to order the 70-5520av before the install). From all the research I've done it seems as if I can't have the factory overhead DVD player and the full iPod integration. While I understand that they both require the AV1, I am floored that with all the hacks, mods and changes people have made to their AVICs, nobody has found a way to have both of these together. And it's going to KILL me to have this sick HU and not be able to control my iPod from the screen!

Please someone tell me how to make it work. I have tried searching these threads up and down and can't find anyone that has an answer.

Well the iPod has to use AV1 and there is no other option. However there is a work around if you want to use AV1 for both. You will need to get a signal splitter for the AV1 input and run both sources there. To view the DVD source, you will need to select iPod then hit the VIDEO button at the top right of the screen. Select a movie on the iPod then pause it from the screen. This opens the video input on that source. You will then simply push play on the external DVD player and it will output the video to that input. Another even easier approach would be to use an adapter cable for for the AV2 input on the front of the unit and use that as the external DVD source. This is the method I use and it works very well. I even have a slim adapter cable that I have tucked neatly under the bottom of the unit and the dash kit. Below are a couple of photos of what I have.

Thanks for the reply VBLUE42. Although I'm not sure what happens after the plug leaves the AV2 input. Is there any way you can hook me up with a wiring diagram from the AV2 through to the factory DVD/RSE? Also, any suggestions on the best adapter to use to keep it super slim and tucked away like you have done? Looks very clean and you almost can't even see it! Thanks again for you help...

Most installers will know what adapter to use with a factory DVD player in your vehicle. The AV cable I have is one that I bought on ebay for about six bucks. I is a cable that comes on a yoyo spool so you can tighten the slack. Therefore it has to have a very thin cable. I removed the spool so I could have more control with the cable. Don't really think there is a name brand or anything.

I've been looking all over eBay and just Google in general and can't find an adapter like you've described. Is it a 3.5mm to 3 RCA? and are the RCA ends female? Could you possibly find your old eBay transaction and let me know who the seller was? I like the idea of having a thin wire that comes with the retractable type so that I can bend it down and under the HU without any stress on the wire. Thanks again!

Ill see what I can do.

Any luck yet on that product search? My installer is coming out to the house on Tuesday morning to put in the harness for the factory DVD/RSE and I'd like to be able to put in the AV2 adapter while he's got the unit pulled out.

Last night I finally got an SD card and got busy...updated to FW 2.08, brake wire grounded, soft bypass completed (put 256) and custom Splash screen. I'm hooked! I want to (actually need to) update my maps and have been reading the 2009.06TA thread but it seems I need to update to 3.0 first and all of these mods seem sooo difficult! There's always revision and corrections to the OP and I really don't want to brick my new toy. And I don't have the money to buy the cards from Pioneer.

Any suggestions on which mods I should do next? Should it be FW 3.0? Can I update maps prior to that? Once I get it all up to date then I will start playing with custom mods.

I am going through the last three years of my paypal account so bear with me.

Oh wow! LOL...I'd love any feedback too about what steps a new AVIC owner should take next to get all up to date (my own neighborhood doesn't even show up on maps and it was built in 2005!). Thanks for taking time to help out with everything!

BAM!!! Not bad for 3.50 shipped to your door.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/IN ... rcmndsrc=2

I even bought another one just now so I would have an extra.

HELL YA!! VBLUE42...you are the man! (or woman, not sure since gender has never been discussed...lol) That is MONEY!! I'm ordering it as we speak!!

Now when you get some time could you point a newb in the right direction?

Yea Im a fellow hard leg. Anyway, what direction are you wanting to go?

Wait...doesn't the adapter have to be female RCA plugs? Now I'm really confused. I'm pretty sure that this is the harness they are going to install on Tuesday so the RCA plugs on the 3.5mm adapter would have to be female right?

http://www.amazon.com/Metra-2002-2004-A ... 58&sr=1-23

I would love to see pics of how yours is installed

Yea I forgot that part ,sorry. You can pick up a gender changer at Radio Shack. Thats were I got mine.

Perfect. As far as the next mod, I need to get the newest maps installed. Any suggestions?

There is an old thread on here that I used a little less then a year ago. Ill check tomorrow and see what I can come up with. Which firmware do you have on the unit?

Just installed the latest free firmware from the Pioneer site. It's 2.08. The only other mods I've done are the soft bypass and a custom splash. Next will be updated maps, then maybe firmware 3.0, then...who knows.