Anyone had any luck/problems with the Avic series (I have an N4) and an Android phone? My HTC Hero works fine with Bluetooth audio. Actually it works great. But when I tried to use the phone part, it will see the Hero, it will connect and then say unrecognized device. I can only assume it is the newer phone against an older Bluetooth device (the BTB200). Still it is strange that it works fine in Audio and not Phone.

Norman

Anyone had any luck/problems with the Avic series (I have an N4) and an Android phone? My HTC Hero works fine with Bluetooth audio. Actually it works great. But when I tried to use the phone part, it will see the Hero, it will connect and then say unrecognized device. I can only assume it is the newer phone against an older Bluetooth device (the BTB200). Still it is strange that it works fine in Audio and not Phone.

 

Norman

The Pioneer CD-BTB200 Bluetooth unit is NOT compatible with the Bluetooth phone profiles on the HTC Hero (e.g., Hands-Free Profile, Headset Profile (HFP, HSP)). That's because Pioneer made some errors programming the Bluetooth in the unit and/or used an older Bluetooth standard....and it's NOT fixable.

You cannot get it to work...in fact, the AVIC D3 and BTB200 combination will usually refuse to connect with the HTC Hero for telephony at all, saying "Invalid Device" name.

However, the CD-BTB200 works fine with the Bluetooth audio streaming profiles on the HTC Hero (e.g., A2DP, AVRCP) as you've already discovered.

FYI, the Hero works fine with the Bluetooth built in to some later Pioneer units, such as the AVIC-X920BT. I personally upgraded a buddy's unit and he has the Hero. We tried everything, and it all works fine...including the voice command dialing.

If you cannot afford to ditch the crappy old D3 and CD-BTB200, you can try to find a different (typically older) phone that works well with it, such as the Motorola RAZR V3 series or the LG Rumor 2 (the latter works quite well with the D3/BTB200 combination). There are a bunch of forums on this board dedicated to maintaing Bluetooth compatibility lists for the old D3 and BTB200 combination.

Aside: I always wondered if there's a device out there that will convert a Bluetooth telephone profile (e.g., HFP) into an audio stream and back....would let people use many more phones with the older Pioneer stuff, despite Pioneer's errors programming the Bluetooth stack and their use of an older Bluetooth standards set.

Well, here is an update. I just purchased a NEW EVO 3D. This phone also has the Andriod operating system. My Hero was version 2.1. This phone is version 2.3. I decided to try something with my AVIC. I tried to pair the phone and IT WORKED! The big test was to see if it would maintain the pairing after turing off my truck and coming back to it later. Sure enough my EVO connects to my AVIC just fine. So I am back to hands free with my AVIC. It may not seem like much, but it is a nice feature to have. Obviously the phone book will not transfer, but that is ok.

Well, here is an update. I just purchased a NEW EVO 3D. This phone also has the Andriod operating system. My Hero was version 2.1. This phone is version 2.3. I decided to try something with my AVIC. I tried to pair the phone and IT WORKED! The big test was to see if it would maintain the pairing after turing off my truck and coming back to it later. Sure enough my EVO connects to my AVIC just fine. So I am back to hands free with my AVIC. It may not seem like much, but it is a nice feature to have. Obviously the phone book will not transfer, but that is ok.

If you still have your Hero, hit up www.xda-developers.com and see if there's a custom ROM for the Hero that bumps your android version from 2.1 to 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.3, 2.3.3, or 2.3.4.

Even if it's a stock ROM update from HTC or an "after market" developed one (I'm running CyanogenMod 7 nightly on my Galaxy S), the updated drivers and bluetooth stack may work with the Pioneer. It's worth a try for nothing other than fun if nothing else It may work too, as long as it was a software based issue and not a hardware based between the AVIC and the Hero