ipod touch 3.0 software and car interface

I also have run into problems with my car i-pod adapter and my i-pod touch (1st gen) after the upgrade to 3.0. I have a 2008 BMW with the factory i-pod adapter and now when I connect it It won't appear on the car I-drive screen like it used to. It also won't charge. I get a message on the i-pod touch that says it's connected, but it isn't. My guess is that we need to wait for a software revision.

Val and Leonard,

What you are seeing is the proverbial problem of those who make adaptors/interfaces. Even though the SDK was out for six months before the release, no one who made the adaptors for your cars probably even looked at it. You might be waiting a long time for BMW and Infinity to update their interfaces.

You might want to pick up a nano or a classic for your car music.

I'm not so sure this is the auto manufacturer's fault, here's why:

I too have a problem with 3.0 on my 2G Touch in my Honda Fit. Prior to 3.0 I had no problems at all with the factory iPod interface with the 2.2.1 OS. Now with 3.0 I cannot select Playlists, Artists, etc. It will only play what was playing before connecting to the interface.

Now here's why I think this is an Apple issue:

After restoring the Touch (for a 3rd time) I decided to only load 100 songs and one Smart Playlist. Not only did the iPod work just fine in my car, Live Updating in the Smart Playlist worked again (another problem with 3.0). This proved that 3.0 does work with the Honda iPod interface.

However, once I loaded the remainder of my songs and playlists, the Touch no longer works in my car (and SPLs no longer Live Update until I re-connect to iTunes). I removed almost all of my SPLs and left 2GB of free space and still have the problems, but I have one SPL that depends on the contents of others so I'll try removing that to see if that changes anything.

So I'm wondering if this is actually a memory issue? In the past there have been reports problems with "memory leak" where the CPU fails to un-allocate memory when its supposed to. That is certainly a possibility that could create these symptoms.

I have a 2008 BMW and have the same problem. The funny thing is that it works fine with an updated iPhone. Very annoying. You can play it without plugging the USB into the car, but you lose the i-drive and steering wheel controls. 😟

So I'm wondering if this is actually a memory issue? In the past there have been reports problems with "memory leak" where the CPU fails to un-allocate memory when its supposed to.

You can test that by actually turning your touch OFF (hold down wake/sleep switch until red slider appears - slide the slider). Restart by holding down the wake/sleep switch for several seconds until the silver apple appears - wait for the touch to boot.

F Shippey wrote:

So I'm wondering if this is actually a memory issue? In the past there have been reports problems with "memory leak" where the CPU fails to un-allocate memory when its supposed to.

You can test that by actually turning your touch OFF (hold down wake/sleep switch until red slider appears - slide the slider). Restart by holding down the wake/sleep switch for several seconds until the silver apple appears - wait for the touch to boot.

Tried that, no luck. I went so far as removing all playlists except for one that I need to auto-sync to (since my library exceeds the Touch capacity), but still doesn't work in my car. Still seems odd that it will work with some content, but not fully loaded.

I have issues on my 2007 Mercedes with iPod kit. The connection is definitely intermittent and flakey to say the least. I will see it sit and watch it cycle from connect to disconnect since I updated to 3.0. It worked like a charm before this. If I can get it to start playing then it seems fine.

I strongly disagree that this is the auto makers problem. They had already built hardware which worked with the interface (pre-3.0). Apple should have made changes interoperate with existing hardware OR clearly indicate it would not.

naven87 wrote:
I strongly disagree that this is the auto makers problem. They had already built hardware which worked with the interface (pre-3.0). Apple should have made changes interoperate with existing hardware OR clearly indicate it would not.

Agreed, backward compatibility must be maintained (if possible). If it is not possible, then it needs to be prominently stated as such before purchase.

I just installed a rather expensive new head unit in my car. And prior to the 3.0 upgrade it worked perfectly. Since the upgrade the unit says "not supported" Great. I hope it is addressed in a future upgrade. I would suggest to all with the same problem to report it to the Apple "bug" site. Not sure of the link sorry. But the more input the better chance for a fix.

And the comment earlier about new software working like the old is very true. It's not the head unit manufacturers fault that their unit used to do what it was advertised to do and because Apple "fixed" something in 3.0 that wasn't broken just does not make sense.

I would suggest to all with the same problem to report it to the Apple "bug" site. Not sure of the link sorry.

The link is http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipodtouch.html

In another thread you participated in, I said: I suggest you ALL send feedback to Apple about your problems at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipodtouch.html giving them the details of your installation

This is the only way of getting the particulars of YOUR setup to Apple.

Thanks for the link and I did as you suggested (the reason I suggested it) and supplied the info to Apple.

BTW, I reverted back to 2.2 and all is back to normal except all my individual app info. But I can live with that now that my music is back in the car.

I have the same issue with my Pontiac Solstice. I'm having trouble reverting to 2.2 and replaced the unit. Will iTunes remember the upgrade when I hook up the new unit? Is there something I have to do to ensure that it doesn't install on the new iPod?

I can't even do that.

Well, I haven't tried to revert back... but even in 2.2.1, I had issues with the Alpine iDA-x305. where it doesn't connect properly or even causes the ipod to restart!!

w/3.0: LAG, in both controls and song information update. then there are times it'll show song information that would be correct, if that were the song playing.

By the way, the replaced unit worked fine and did not upgrade automatically to 3.0. No need to uninstall iTunes. Back on 2.21, the interface works great in my Solstice. I'll wait to "upgrade" until 3.1!

It's obvious that Apple changed, added, or enabled extra commands that all these hardware vendors weren't aware of and weren't part of their MFi/WWi certification process. Having iPod/iPhone accessory vendors test beta code is important as Apple can't be responsible for all these products, however, this is what the MFi and Works with iPhone programs are for. If a device is properly certified then it should work with any future versions of that iPod or iPhone, right? As far as I know there is no process within MFi/WWi that requires (or suggests) that 3rd-party hardware accessory makers redo testing for new releases. If there were a mechanism in place we wouldn't be seeing as many problems as we are with 3.0.