I have installed a new AVH-P4200DVD and I'm using the official Pioneer iPod cable for video playback. I'm able to load audio and video without any problems, but no album artwork will show up. I've tested the same cable with an older model iPod nano and the artwork loads just fine. So I've narrowed it down to the 160GB iPod Classic. It's the newest generation iPod Classic, so is the 4200DVD not able to access artwork from this iPod? Is there any way to fix this?

I'm pretty frustrated to say the least, since album artwork was a big factor in purchasing this unit over others. I have contacted Pioneer but have not heard anything back yet. Seems like it's a compatibility issue that was not advertised. I hate to remove this unit because I like all the other features, but without the album artwork I may have to shop for another unit.

which background wallpaper are you running. I believe if you have the moving ones, it won't show artwork.

I changed the settings to no background and still no album artwork. Thanks for the suggestion though. Has anyone had any luck with this unit and the newest 160GB iPod Classic?

I received this response from Pioneer today:

Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics, Inc.

Sorry, we do not have a "new" classic to test.

We have reported this to our engineers and request they investigate.

Hopefully we'll get some answers soon, but I doubt it. Too bad, because I like everything else about this unit.

if it works with an iphone, then I don't see a reason it won't work with a classic. In fact there's various people on youtube that are running a classic and showing cover art.

if it works with an iphone, then I don't see a reason it won't work with a classic. In fact there's various people on youtube that are running a classic and showing cover art.

But is anyone using the latest 160GB iPod Classic (7th Generation)? I have read about others having the same problem with this unit and the 7th Gen iPod Classic. There was a 5th Generation 160GB that seems to work, but can anyone verify that the 7th Gen works? I'm nearly certain it doesn't since I can load album artwork on my wife's nano but nothing on my Classic.

I am having the same problem with the 7th generation iPod 160gb and the Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD. No artwork with this iPod, but iPhone and old iPods work just fine.

Chadworth, please contact Pioneer customer service to inform them of this issue. Maybe if enough people report it they will fix it with a firmware upgrade.

I did through email. I'll have to call them and see what they say.

Same problem as all of you. I called Pioneer and they mentioned there have been Firmware updates to the AVH-P42000DVD, however I would have to visit an authorized service agent here in the US. I was told that they really didn't know if this firmware update would address the issue but it was their only suggestion. Great.

So I called the closet service agent to me, I live in Florida, closest location was Arlington TX, wtf. Anyway, here's there info if anyone else wants to try: Jots, 817 652 3622. They said yes they do have the firmware update and I would have to ship the headunit in to have it serviced. I asked if this update would allow album art on my iPod Classic 160gb and they also didn't have a clue. I was told he would talk to his technician to see what was up, still no call back. I only called a few hours ago, but will return the call first thing tomorrow morning If I don't hear anything back today.

I'm so fed up with this situation, the main reason for buying this head unit was its supposed compatibility with the iPod. My anger should really be directed at Apple and their proprietary BS, but then again Pioneer is just as clueless on how to handle the situation, c'mon people, we pay good money for your equipment and we can't get decent answers or products!!

I contacted apple today and they had no response either. The only other thing I can think of is to downgrade the firmware to the 6th gen. version, which I think is 1.1.2. I will research this on my own, but if anyone knows how to do this let me know.

I also was told to update the firmware but was not guaranteed that it would fix the artwork problem. For me, it's not worth the hassle of removing the unit and upgrade the firmware unless I know for sure it will solve the problem. Pioneer has really dropped the ball with this. Hopefully someone will confirm that the firmware update will in fact fix the album artwork problem.

As for downgrading the firmware, I'm not sure that you can. I believe 2.0.4 is the firmware that was shipped on the newest 160 GB iPod Classics. The 2.0.2 and 2.0.3 were available for the 120 GB, but not the newest Classic. Anyone know if it is possible to downgrade?

Jots has my headunit and are upgrading the firmware. It's covered under Pioneers warranty along with return shipping, however I'm out about $20 on shipping it to them. I'll post an update when I get it back in the car.

HKnoma, thanks for updating us on that. Do you know the process for upgrading the firmware? I have 2 local dealers listed and both are unsure as to whether or not the unit has to be removed to upgrade, but I assume that it does since they probably do it using the USB port on the back.

HKnoma, thanks for updating us on that. Do you know the process for upgrading the firmware? I have 2 local dealers listed and both are unsure as to whether or not the unit has to be removed to upgrade, but I assume that it does since they probably do it using the USB port on the back.

From what I can tell it's a pretty involved process that can only be done by a certified technician, not just any pioneer dealer. This is why I had to ship my unit half way across the country. I asked if they could mail me the update or tool, but they said the actual unit had to be disassembled. I also asked them what version this update was, and if I could check my current version though the head unit. They said there's no way to know what the current version is without going through the actual update process, thanks Pioneer.

I'm really skeptical about all this working, but for $20 it's worth a shot, at the very least I'll have the latest firmware, for whatever it's worth. I'm really starting to miss my stereo though, I hope they get it back to me soon!

You cant downgrade to a firmware from an older series of iPod.

Update: Like stated in my earlier post, I sent my headunit in to a certified Pioneer tech to have the latest firmware update installed. Well I just got the unit back, and it DID NOT fix the album art issue.

FYI my set up is as follows and it does NOT display artwork:

AVH-P4200DVD w/ latest firmware update (as of this posting date)

iPod Classic 160gb firmware 2.0.4 (latest generation (7?) as of this post)

I'm pretty much at a loss, next order of business is to call Pioneer and Apple to put in a request to have the issue resolved.

More Updates:

Was able to try out another 7th Gen iPod Classic 160gb 2.0.4 and it was able to display album art... The only difference was that her iPod was formatted to Windows where mine was for Mac. This could be the problem, I wonder how many other people who are having album art issues are on Mac vs Windows.

So did you reformat yours and get the same result?

So did you reformat yours and get the same result?

Used Disk Utility and re-formated to FAT32 and still no album art... BUT...

After playing around with all kinds of different options I have found one method to get my album art!!! HOW TO:

1. I have a Mac and ended up restoring it back to original settings to Mac Formated.

2. On tab one (Summary), scroll to the bottom and check box only the last option (Enable disk use)

3. Create a Playlist entitled "All Music" or whatever you want, the name of your iPod, etc...

4. Add all the songs you want to have on your iPod into that playlist.

5. On tab two (Music), click the bubble (Selected playlists, artists...)

6. Select the playlist you just made with all your songs.

7. Sync it up and go try it out (It seems to take about 10 seconds into each track for the artwork to show up).

For me this worked, I now have all my album art, Best of Luck!

Hmmm, Weird.

Used Disk Utility and re-formated to FAT32 and still no album art... BUT...

 

After playing around with all kinds of different options I have found one method to get my album art!!! HOW TO:

 

1. I have a Mac and ended up restoring it back to original settings to Mac Formated.

 

2. On tab one (Summary), scroll to the bottom and check box only the last option (Enable disk use)

 

3. Create a Playlist entitled "All Music" or whatever you want, the name of your iPod, etc...

 

4. Add all the songs you want to have on your iPod into that playlist.

 

5. On tab two (Music), click the bubble (Selected playlists, artists...)

 

6. Select the playlist you just made with all your songs.

 

7. Sync it up and go try it out (It seems to take about 10 seconds into each track for the artwork to show up).

 

For me this worked, I now have all my album art, Best of Luck!

 

So does that mean that you will lose all of your other playlists or does it all stay in spite of that main play list you are talking about?

Hi friends,

I have started to have this problem.

The only different thing I can tell you is this started after one month working without problems with my iPod. It was formatted in Mac.

I bought this radio 2 months ago and was working OK with the CD-IU200V cable I bought separately for my iPod 6th generation 160Gb, showing all the albums artwork for every single album I have.

However since a week, the iPod turned to not show any artwork anymore. I have look for information related this issue but haven't found any information how to get back my artwork albums shown on the screen of the radio.

I have tested my iPad and iPhone and both works OK with showing the artwork!!!!

How can I solve this? Any way to fine tuning the radio to show them again? Or do something with the iPod?

which background wallpaper are you running. I believe if you have the moving ones, it won't show artwork.

I changed the settings to no background and still no album artwork. Thanks for the suggestion though. Has anyone had any luck with this unit and the newest 160GB iPod Classic?

Which background settings are you guys talking about? Is it for the iPhone because I've tried looking in the settings for my X920BT and I don't see any settings for background??

I know this is an older thread but when searching for a solution this thread helped in which direction to go,

First off the problem is not the Ipod, it is the Itunes software (at least it was for me). The first Ipod 7th generation I bought had an internal flaw and no matter what I did I could not get the Album art to show on my AVH-P4400BH. So I exchanged the Ipod for another one and found that the new one worked right off the bat, no problems. A month later after I synched some new music all of the album art went away when connected to the to the AVH. I tried everything to get it working again but no avail,

Then I downgraded the Itunes software from 10.6.1 to the Older 64Bit Windows version, 9.2.1 that can be downloaded from apple here http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1056

Once the ipod reformatted I decided to manually sync the music, pictures, and podcasts by draggigng and dropping to the Ipod icon, and it has been working flawlessly. All of the artwork shows up on the AVH without a problem.

Hopefully this helps someone, I know the 10.6.1 Itunes software is nicer but it is missing something when it comes to embedding the art work for the MP3's.