Help With Grom Interface Please

[reeves1985]

ive been looking through old threads and not found any useful information on my problem which is:

CAR:

IS200SE NAVI

CD 13906

i got my GROM interface today and swiftly installed it worked fine for about 10 minutes control ipod through stereo, THEN after 10 mins or so it cut out and radio came on would go back into cd changer mode until car was turned off and then back on again

now i can get the sound through the speakers but cannot control the ipod via the stereo it just displays cd 1 and the volume seems a little lower than at first (this might just be my ears with the vol)

even like this every so often it still cuts out infrequently

my IPOD is a TOUCH (i emailed and made sure it was capatable before purchase) with latest firmware i have reset hu but still nothing

if anyone can help me out here it would be greatly apriciated

[Steve_D]

I wont be much help to you but I do use an Ipod Touch with my Grom interface & it works fine? try another Ipod just to see what happens & eliminate something otherwise maybe a loose connection at the back of the stereo?/Grom box?

[Sonnet]

Hi reeves1985

my box does this from time to time when I just switch out the ignition while listening to music from my iPod. After testing a little bit around I found two ways to deal with it:

Way one:

Before switching OUT the ignition switch from the iPod mode to FM -> If you start than the car again and want to listen to your digital music, just choose the iPod mode by pressing the CD button once (or twice if you have left CD in your internal player)

Way two:

It's almost the same. You wrote

now i can get the sound through the speakers but cannot control the ipod via the stereo it just displays cd 1 and the volume seems a little lower than at first (this might just be my ears with the vol) even like this every so often it still cuts out infrequently

This comes up if the gromAudio box does not recognice your iPod correctly. This could happen, as discribed in way one when you left the iPod pluged on while switching on and of the car. So the solution is pretty easy if it occur that control is not possible and the sound is poor.

Just switch to FM and then after some seconds after the radiostation startef to play switch back to the iPod and everything should be fine :D

The grom Box will go back to the simple mode (CD1 Disk 1). If you get full control over your Touch just choose - as usal - Disk 2 to 7

I know a perfect interface should not have this bugs, but I know from other postings that grom is working hardly to fix all known bugs and a new release will come out in Feb or March. I'm not sure how they will bring the updates to the customers.

Anyway.

I hope my little work around will help you to get back you full control and the sound quality

Cheers from Berlin

Sonnet

[reeves1985]

thanks sonnet i will try this i hope it works tempererily as i spoke to grom and they advised me

the was a glitch in there system and the wrong chip was burned and would send another in the post tomorrow which will take until the end of next week to get

so hopefully it will work with your little workaround

it was just doing my head in cos at first everything was fine

[Parthiban]

Glad they've sorted it for you and hope the new one works perfectly!

just choose the iPod mode by pressing the CD button once (or twice if you have left CD in your internal player)

My non-iPod aux only adapter doesn't do this, it remembers which CD mode it was in and will go back to the same one when switching back from the radio.

Nothing really to add but found it interesting that some units behave differently to others.........

[Hando]

now i can get the sound through the speakers but cannot control the ipod via the stereo it just displays cd 1 and the volume seems a little lower than at first (this might just be my ears with the vol)

mine does this too but only when selecting playlists 6-9 via the headunit.

[SHAHZ]

Ive noticed that i also have a dip in sound quality when i turn the car on and off with the pod connected.......i normally diconnect and reconnect the pod.....will try what you do Sonnet and put it on FM

[reeves1985]

well i can say that the workaround for the time being didnt work it cuts off every10 minutes or so and i have to turn engine off and on to get it to play again

pretty annoying seen as though i have to wait 7 business days for the item and it is the wrong one now will have to wait another 7 days

and i also scratched my dash because i was p****d off whilst fannying around behind the HU

[Sonnet]

well i can say that the workaround for the time being didnt work it cuts off every10 minutes or so and i have to turn engine off and on to get it to play again

pretty annoying seen as though i have to wait 7 business days for the item and it is the wrong one now will have to wait another 7 days

and i also scratched my dash because i was p****d off whilst fannying around behind the HU

Sorry to hear that

Did they really say, that you have to wait 7 days? When I've emailed them couple weeks ago (in December) and told them about another problem they send me the replacement lightning fast via air express mail - for free.

Point is, they know right now that there is a really active lex community out there who is highly requesting their product up to know.

They also now that this community get in contact with their product over these highly frequented discussion boards.

So they finally know that a problem on their site has occure and some negative posts on these boards, reading by all these interest will create a slight problem for them :winky:

I'm sure that Grom will try to fix this issue with his customers as fast as they can before negativ headline getting out of control

Regards

Sonnet

[reeves1985]

yeah i asked when i should expect to receive the replacement and they said back end of next week so we'll hve to see if the next one works properly

also quick question for u

in your first post when i said it turns off after about ten mins and i had to turn engine off and back on to get it to work you said:

This comes up if the gromAudio box does not recognice your iPod correctly. This could happen, as discribed in way one when you left the iPod pluged on while switching on and of the car. So the solution is pretty easy if it occur that control is not possible and the sound is poor.

Just switch to FM and then after some seconds after the radiostation startef to play switch back to the iPod and everything should be finewhen pod goes off

when the pod cuts off it goes straight back onto the radio and doesnt recognise the grom adapter so therefore wont allow me to press cd to get it back on i have to restart the car

it would be handy if yourself or someone else knows how to resolve this as that would be great until replacement comes

[Hando]

yeah i asked when i should expect to receive the replacement and they said back end of next week so we'll hve to see if the next one works properly

also quick question for u

in your first post when i said it turns off after about ten mins and i had to turn engine off and back on to get it to work you said:

This comes up if the gromAudio box does not recognice your iPod correctly. This could happen, as discribed in way one when you left the iPod pluged on while switching on and of the car. So the solution is pretty easy if it occur that control is not possible and the sound is poor.

Just switch to FM and then after some seconds after the radiostation startef to play switch back to the iPod and everything should be finewhen pod goes off

when the pod cuts off it goes straight back onto the radio and doesnt recognise the grom adapter so therefore wont allow me to press cd to get it back on i have to restart the car

it would be handy if yourself or someone else knows how to resolve this as that would be great until replacement comes

Actually now I think about it - I had this problem early on in normal mode. But the problem for me was that I had used ephpod not itunes to create a playlist and this confused the grom. I plugged it back into itunes and deleted the ephpod playlists and everythuing was ok again.

Do you use itunes with your pod or something else?

[reeves1985]

yeah i asked when i should expect to receive the replacement and they said back end of next week so we'll hve to see if the next one works properly

also quick question for u

in your first post when i said it turns off after about ten mins and i had to turn engine off and back on to get it to work you said:

This comes up if the gromAudio box does not recognice your iPod correctly. This could happen, as discribed in way one when you left the iPod pluged on while switching on and of the car. So the solution is pretty easy if it occur that control is not possible and the sound is poor.

Just switch to FM and then after some seconds after the radiostation startef to play switch back to the iPod and everything should be finewhen pod goes off

when the pod cuts off it goes straight back onto the radio and doesnt recognise the grom adapter so therefore wont allow me to press cd to get it back on i have to restart the car

it would be handy if yourself or someone else knows how to resolve this as that would be great until replacement comes

Actually now I think about it - I had this problem early on in normal mode. But the problem for me was that I had used ephpod not itunes to create a playlist and this confused the grom. I plugged it back into itunes and deleted the ephpod playlists and everythuing was ok again.

Do you use itunes with your pod or something else?

i use itunes for my playlists etc it just seems strange that it does work then it doesnt.

to me i cant understand how it can be a firmware problem or chip problem because it recognises it one min then not the next sometimes it will only play and give me no control through HU but still cuts off after 10 mins

its a real pain in the a**e

[Geoffers]

Is it regular with the ten mins thing? Just wondering if it is a thermal issue with the voltage regulator. If it is the vreg, it would explain all the other strange things happening.

[reeves1985]

Is it regular with the ten mins thing? Just wondering if it is a thermal issue with the voltage regulator. If it is the vreg, it would explain all the other strange things happening.

yeah more or less give or take a few mins here or the would that also cause malfunction

u say voltage regulator is that on the adapter or car side of things

is it easily fixable etc?

[Geoffers]

In the adapter.

I've assumed here as I've not seen the adapter in person. Just what you've said seems to ring a few bells and certainly a path I would go down first.

Can you claim under warranty first of all?

If not, I'd take it apart and firstly feel around for components getting hot. Look for a voltage regulator of some sort. (could even be just a zener). If you decide to take it apart, take a photo so I can see and point out what to test and where. If it is a vreg/zener you are talking a couple of quid tops, even if it is surface mount usually.

[reeves1985]

In the adapter.

I've assumed here as I've not seen the adapter in person. Just what you've said seems to ring a few bells and certainly a path I would go down first.

Can you claim under warranty first of all?

If not, I'd take it apart and firstly feel around for components getting hot. Look for a voltage regulator of some sort. (could even be just a zener). If you decide to take it apart, take a photo so I can see and point out what to test and where. If it is a vreg/zener you are talking a couple of quid tops, even if it is surface mount usually.

they aresending me a new unit

well apparantly this is what was said by grom:

Hi,There was a glitch in our system and wrong firmware was burned.We will send the right chip to you tomorrow,My apologies for the issue,Dmitry/

but would still like to knw whats wrong with the one i have and if it is fixable u never no whenyou may need one

ill have a look around the box and feel if anywhere is getting hot and ill get a picture of tthe inards of the unit taken and post up

[shamu]

I too am currently having an issue with my stereo not recognizing Grom Ipod Interface.

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 and according to their sales rep, the model is supported.

Unit came in yesterday and I plugged them exactly like the their formal instructions and posts here(thanks to couple of walkthroughs from Sonnet and Honda).

I also executed a couple of troubleshooting steps like replug all connections and switch on/off ignition many times to no avail.

When I pressed CD, I can hear quickly the audio playing from my Ipod(I set my Ipod to play some music) but it will immediately revert back to radio in less than 3 seconds.

So currently, I'm waiting for a reply from their support tech.

Many thanks for the community here. If this product works as advertised on my stereo, it would be totally awesome.

Samuel

[reeves1985]

well im currently still bloody waiting for an update and its now really begining to p**s me off i have emaild with no reply to my last email

if it doesnt arrive today i can feel some very negative feedback on their eBay account i dont want to but i feel i am going to have to

I too am currently having an issue with my stereo not recognizing Grom Ipod Interface.

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 and according to their sales rep, the model is supported.

Unit came in yesterday and I plugged them exactly like the their formal instructions and posts here(thanks to couple of walkthroughs from Sonnet and Honda).

I also executed a couple of troubleshooting steps like replug all connections and switch on/off ignition many times to no avail.

When I pressed CD, I can hear quickly the audio playing from my Ipod(I set my Ipod to play some music) but it will immediately revert back to radio in less than 3 seconds.

So currently, I'm waiting for a reply from their support tech.

Many thanks for the community here. If this product works as advertised on my stereo, it would be totally awesome.

Samuel

[shamu]

I just want to follow up with the post I had earlier.

I was able to figure out the weird behavior of the device. It works during daylight when the headlight is not on.

However, during night-time when Lexus sensor kicks in (headlight is on), the device does not work.

So the workaround would be to switch off the light when inside of a building before pressing "CD" mode.

It might be the harness cable is not sending proper signal or something like that.

However, the device itself works.

Hope this helps the community.

shamu

I too am currently having an issue with my stereo not recognizing Grom Ipod Interface.

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 and according to their sales rep, the model is supported.

Unit came in yesterday and I plugged them exactly like the their formal instructions and posts here(thanks to couple of walkthroughs from Sonnet and Honda).

I also executed a couple of troubleshooting steps like replug all connections and switch on/off ignition many times to no avail.

When I pressed CD, I can hear quickly the audio playing from my Ipod(I set my Ipod to play some music) but it will immediately revert back to radio in less than 3 seconds.

So currently, I'm waiting for a reply from their support tech.

Many thanks for the community here. If this product works as advertised on my stereo, it would be totally awesome.

Samuel

[reeves1985]

I just want to follow up with the post I had earlier.

I was able to figure out the weird behavior of the device. It works during daylight when the headlight is not on.

However, during night-time when Lexus sensor kicks in (headlight is on), the device does not work.

So the workaround would be to switch off the light when inside of a building before pressing "CD" mode.

It might be the harness cable is not sending proper signal or something like that.

However, the device itself works.

Hope this helps the community.

shamu

I too am currently having an issue with my stereo not recognizing Grom Ipod Interface.

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 and according to their sales rep, the model is supported.

Unit came in yesterday and I plugged them exactly like the their formal instructions and posts here(thanks to couple of walkthroughs from Sonnet and Honda).

I also executed a couple of troubleshooting steps like replug all connections and switch on/off ignition many times to no avail.

When I pressed CD, I can hear quickly the audio playing from my Ipod(I set my Ipod to play some music) but it will immediately revert back to radio in less than 3 seconds.

So currently, I'm waiting for a reply from their support tech.

Many thanks for the community here. If this product works as advertised on my stereo, it would be totally awesome.

Samuel

that maybe a quick fix but i like my lights on auto but if thats the only way so be it but it still doesnt explain why the unit cuts out after 5-10 evertime its used Grom dont know of the fault and are pretty much clueless i have treid the xcarling version but it wont switch to changer mode

its annoying me now as i scratched all my dash messing with it (taped up as well) and blown nearly every fuse in car prattin about

[Sonnet]

well im currently still bloody waiting for an update and its now really begining to p**s me off i have emaild with no reply to my last email

if it doesn't arrive today i can feel some very negative feedback on their ebay account i dont want to but i feel i am going to have to

@reeves1985

I can understand that you're going to be p***ed off.....but we have to be fair against GROM. OK they have bugs in their product and you are the the poor one who got a crap one first.

BUT we don't have to forget, that it takes up to 7 years (1999 to 2006) to bring AN iPod solution in the Lex (so it must be a kind of more difficult than in other cars). And this solution is working for about 90 % of the Lex drivers who has ordered so far.

We also know, that there are at least 6 different OEM Lex stereos outside which have to be supported for only $80 Dollar (the alternative VAIS Tech adapter cost about $250 Dollar for the same thing)

We ALL cry with you that you scratch your dash board when removing your stereo again and again - but it's NOT Groms fault, becoause you can test the box OUTSIDE of the console until it's working properly....

What I want to say....it's the only affordable solution that is working for most of us. For that reason we should not blame it but discussing all known bugs and workarounds.

I got a second for replacement here because my original one - which is working perfect since month :D The only bug is that the iPod is not receiving the shutdown signal when switching of the radio. I reported this bug to GROM before the big hype starts and they send my a replacement. Unfortunately I hadn't time so far to replace and test it. But if the change this is done you can have really cool working original Grom adapter....if you are interested. Just PM me

Cheers form Berlin

Sonnet

[reeves1985]

well im currently still bloody waiting for an update and its now really begining to p**s me off i have emaild with no reply to my last email

if it doesn't arrive today i can feel some very negative feedback on their ebay account i dont want to but i feel i am going to have to

@reeves1985

I can understand that you're going to be p***ed off.....but we have to be fair against GROM. OK they have bugs in their product and you are the the poor one who got a crap one first.

BUT we don't have to forget, that it takes up to 7 years (1999 to 2006) to bring AN iPod solution in the Lex (so it must be a kind of more difficult than in other cars). And this solution is working for about 90 % of the Lex drivers who has ordered so far.

We also know, that there are at least 6 different OEM Lex stereos outside which have to be supported for only $80 Dollar (the alternative VAIS Tech adapter cost about $250 Dollar for the same thing)

We ALL cry with you that you scratch your dash board when removing your stereo again and again - but it's NOT Groms fault, becoause you can test the box OUTSIDE of the console until it's working properly....

What I want to say....it's the only affordable solution that is working for most of us. For that reason we should not blame it but discussing all known bugs and workarounds.

I got a second for replacement here because my original one - which is working perfect since month :D The only bug is that the iPod is not receiving the shutdown signal when switching of the radio. I reported this bug to GROM before the big hype starts and they send my a replacement. Unfortunately I hadn't time so far to replace and test it. But if the change this is done you can have really cool working original Grom adapter....if you are interested. Just PM me

Cheers form Berlin

Sonnet

PM sent mate!

plus just to let ppl know i wasnt really ****** off at the fact the adaptor didnt work but more the fact at myself for scratching my dash and that it took 2 weeks to get a reply from them