iPod won't connect

[daniel]

My iPod model MC008LL (second gen?) running software version 4.3.3 (8J2), which I think is the latest software version, won't connect when I plug it into the iPod connector. The Alpine unit does not recognize that it's plugged in, and the iPod continues to output its music through its own internal speaker. There are no error codes on either device. It's just as though it were not plugged in at all.

The Bluetooth at first would not connect, but when I turned off the Alpine, rebooted the iPod, and then turned the Alpine back on again, it connected and worked fine. I figured my problem was solved.

But then at the grocery store I shut off the car, left the iPod on but locked (screen goes blank, music will continue to play, but no buttons respond except the volume buttons on the side until you turn the screen back on) and when I turned the car back on, the Bluetooth again would not connect. The iPod thought it was connected, but the Alpine thought it was not.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[smorgasbord]

I don't know about the bluetooth issues, but via the cable is a "known" problem to Alpine, at least for my recent car. Someone in your Alpine docs is a slip of paper telling you that sometimes it won't recognize the iPod/iPhone and that the "fix" is to disconnect and reconnect again.

It really sucks. I can see why everyone bashes the Alpine unit.

[dsm363]

Not sure what is going on but i turned the bluetooth off immediately on the Alpine unit since it's almost worthless (car is so loud with wind noise at highway speeds anyway). That may have something to do with it.

[daniel]

I did try disconnecting and reconnecting, but I'll try doing it a few more times.

The bluetooth, when it did work, produced excellent sound for me. It was plenty loud enough. And the sound quality was as good as my tired, defective, old ears can discern.

[Lloyd]

I had this problem with another car. I had to use a different connector than the white apple connector, and the software had to be current then all was good.

[daniel]

The Roadster has its own connector. You don't use the white Apple connector at all.

I tried disconnecting and reconnecting, and eventually it worked. But then after stopping and starting the car again, after 3 or 4 tries I gave up and listened to the radio.

On the freeway with the top off (my first time with the top off) the road and wind noise is too loud to hear anything!

[markwj]

If this is an iPod with Bluetooth (iPhone?) the problem is most likely the phone is sending output via Bluetooth not the dock connector.

Plug it in, then call up the music player app. In the bottom right of the iPod screen there is a square icon which is probably blue (Bluetooth). Press it and it will show "Alpine...". Choose "Dock Connector" and it should switch back.

Let us know if this is the problem for you...

[daniel]

My iPod Touch (not an iPhone) does have bluetooth. I turn bluetooth off when I try to connect to the dock connector. Per Smorgasbord's suggestion, I found that if I repeatedly unplug it and then plug it in again, sometimes it will connect. Sometimes it does not connect before I give up. If instead (or after) I turn on bluetooth it will never connect until I turn the Alpine off and then on again; but this does not always work. Rebooting the iPod is not an acceptable solution because it takes too long. And is not always necessary, though I have yet to determine if turning bluetooth off, and turning the Alpine off, and then turning them both back on, might work.

What's the story on the Pioneer unit?

I am officially declaring the Alpine unit to be trash.

The NAV in the Alpine is MUCH worse than my Garmin Nuvi, except that its screen is larger than the Nuvi. But if I put the Nuvi on the dashboard it interferes with my view of the road (something that does not happen in either the Prius or the Xebra, since both are higher up). It's kind of annoying that they can build such a spectacular marvel of engineering, and then put a crap system like the Alpine in it, and charge $4,500 for it!

[dsm363]

Did you turn bluetooth off in the Alpine unit itself? I really don't like the Alpine unit either but until something comes along that matches the navigation of my 3 year old TomTom, I'm going to wait. That new Sony unit may be an option but I was told unless you stick within the Alpine family, the transition is much more involved.

[S-2000 Roadster]

I have done a lot of investigation with regard to this problem, so I will try to summarize what I have learned:

1) Between the iPod connector and the Alpine IVA-NAV-10 "head unit" is the Alpine TUA-T550HD "HD Radio Tuner Box," which is unfortunately the weak link here. It is not a simple, direct cable like it should be. Due to the way that USB works, the HD Radio unit must act as a USB hub, and I suspect that this is where all of the problems lie. I'm guessing that the HD Radio shuts itself down when not in use, which tends to disconnect the iPod as well. Either that, or it's a really poor USB hub. Unfortunately, the HD Radio unit is hidden away in the Roadster, and you probably cannot access it without voiding your warranty. Your best bet is to wait until the Alpine system is fully started, then make sure your iOS device is awake when you plug it in. That usually works for me (*).

2) You do not need to reboot your iPod or iPhone. In general, it is a good idea to reboot your iOS device if you are having problems and have not done so in a very long time. I sometimes go for months without ever turning off my iPhone and have no issues, but then after a mysterious problem crops up I find that a quick reboot usually cures it. That said, the Alpine system fails too frequently for rebooting the iOS device to be a good idea.

3) You do not need to turn off Bluetooth, nor do you need to turn it on. Use Bluetooth only if you want your in-vehicle microphone and speaker system to work when placing or receiving calls. It's basically too noisy with the vehicle moving, but I leave it on anyway. It does not seem to affect the USB performance, although it may be acting as a red herring.

(*) We had a problem here in Seattle where my iPhone would not connect to my Alpine at all, but every other iPod and iPhone in the Tesla Store Seattle worked fine. Service was convinced that my iPhone had a problem, but as an iPhone developer and USB hardware developer, I know for a fact that my iPhone has absolutely no problems ever connecting with any other device on the first try. Sure enough, testing my iPhone on a new Roadster 2.5 on the showroom floor showed that my phone worked fine.

Upon ripping apart my car, and with my investigative help, we discovered that when wired directly to the head unit using the Alpine-supplied iPod cable, my iPhone works every time.

Thus the eventual "solution" was to replace the HD Radio unit with a new one, since it lies in between the iPod connector and the head unit. This seemed to work, in that I went from only having one day where it worked to having it work every trip if I'm persistent, but it's still far from 100% reliable.

I am fully tempted to remove the HD Radio unit so that the iPod connector would then be wired directly to the head unit. The direct link seemed 100% reliable, although I didn't test it more than the two days my Roadster was in the service bay. The thing is that HD Radio sounds like crap. If it required a paid subscription like the Sirius XM Satellite Radio system then I would rip it out immediately. At least for now, there's the conflicting temptation to access crappy-sounding music for free. I am also interested in maintaining my Tesla Motors warranty, so I won't be changing anything on the Infotainment system until the warranty has expired. Perhaps Tesla Motors charged $4,500 so they could afford to replace the cheap components frequently.