iPhone 3GS and Pioneer car deck not playing nice.

Question

Level 1

8 points

iPhone 3GS and Pioneer car deck not playing nice.

I recently had a Pioneer Premier DEH-P310UB installed in my Jeep. The reason I went with this model was because it seemed to do exactly what I wanted, charge the 3GS and allow me to control the iPhone from either the unit or the phone. The Pioneer is labeled as "Made for iPhone" and tagged as compatible with the iPhone 3G (and therefore, according to Apple, the 3GS).

So, here is my problem: the charging is erratic. For instance, I was coming home today, about a 35 minute drive, and the iPhone was charging as expected until about 30 minutes into the drive. At that point it just stops charging. If I unplug the USB (either from the iPhone or the Pioneer) it usually fixes and starts charging again. However, sometimes it takes a few pulls of the USB before it finally takes, and even then, many times it will only charge for a minute or two before going back to not charging. While this goes on, the iPhone displays the "Charging Not Supported" message, even though it is.

I have tried two cables, the one supplied from Pioneer and one supplied by Apple, I have reformatted the iPhone without restoring a backup, and my wife's 2nd gen iPod Touch seems to be charging fine, though she has not closely watched.

Could this be a bug in the 3.0 software? A hardware change? A hardware issue with either the phone or the radio? I am really stumped with this one.

iPhone 3GS 32GB, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jul 9, 2009 7:04 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Cashmonee Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 12, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Cashmonee

Anyone having a similar problem with 3.0 or the GS at all?

Reply

Answer 2

w7ox

Level 4

2,407 points

Jul 12, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Cashmonee

There have been problems reported with other automobile charging systems. But those seem to be different in that they don't charge at all. Yours seems intermittent .. which makes me wonder if it is a connector problem, either on the car end or the iPhone end. If the iPhone charges OK using the same cables from a computer usb port or AC supply that would suggest something odd with the car system.

Have you tried charging anything else (like an iPod) with it?

Phil

Reply

Answer 3

Cashmonee Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 12, 2009 4:48 PM in response to w7ox

The iPhone charges fine on a dock or plugged into the wall. I have tried my wife's touch which isn't 3.0 yet with the deck and it seems to have no issues. I am kind of at a loss. Perhaps it's a 3.0 issue?

Reply

Answer 4

RKahl

Level 1

35 points

Jul 12, 2009 5:08 PM in response to Cashmonee

Could be the pioneer charging cord. I just found out that the non-apple charging cords that work with my iPhone 3g will not work with my iPhone 3gs.

Reply

Answer 5

Cashmonee Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 28, 2009 7:50 AM in response to RKahl

The problem occurs with both the Pioneer cord and the Apple cord. I also tried the Scosche adapter as per Pioneer's suggestion and it does not help. SO now I am on the phone again with Pioneer and will try to talk to Apple today. Any other possible suggestions?

Reply

Answer 6

Jul 28, 2009 8:36 AM in response to Cashmonee

I have a question... I have an eclips deck with the same issue... does the end of your phone get "warm" or "hot"?

Reply

Answer 7

Cashmonee Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 28, 2009 3:55 PM in response to SixFourtySix

It does, and I thought that might be the issue. However, I went to the Apple Store today and they swapped phones. Not only did the issue persist, it got worse. Now the phone will only charge one in ten or so tries. This is very frustrating. The radio clearly states compatibility with charging for the 3G and therefore, per Apple, the 3GS and it is not working at all. What is the point of the "Made for iPhone"?

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 28, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Cashmonee

I think you should trade the jeep in and let some other sucker buy it. it might be the end of your troubles.

Reply

Answer 9

Jul 28, 2009 10:17 PM in response to Cashmonee

You are not alone! I have a Pioneer DEH-P7000BT. Worked great with my 3G, it charged it and played audio. With my 3G S, I get multiple different modes of behavior.
1) Charge but no music
2) Music but no charge
3) music and charge
4) neither

I just had my 3G S replaced at the Apple store as I thought the dock connector was defective, but the second unit has the same issues. Tried three different USB cables, same problems. Again, it worked without any problems with my 3G. Is there some software bug with the 3G S?

Reply

Answer 10

Jul 29, 2009 7:40 AM in response to Cashmonee

My guess then would be swap your deck out... If its under warrenty... other than that. I suggest trying to rally some of your iPhone 3gs friends and try theirs on the deck. Or try to rule out the phones causeing the issue... Test 3g models as well (if you can). That way you can then take the battle to Pioneer. At least you will have better proof that the fault is in the deck and not the phone.

Reply

Answer 11

DMSams

Level 1

0 points

Jul 29, 2009 7:14 PM in response to SixFourtySix

I am having this same exact issue. I have the iphone 3gs and a pioneer
DEH -P5100UB. Ive tried two seperat cables with the same results.

Reply

Answer 12

Elviston

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2009 8:16 AM in response to DMSams

Here's another thing to throw into the mix: The new iPhone operating system doesn't work as well with my Pioneer car deck as the old one did. I have an iPhone 3G, and it worked flawlessly with my Pioneer DEH-P5000UB — until I updated my iPhone to the latest operating system. Since then, the Pioneer's display reacts too slowly to scroll through artists/songs on the iPhone; so, I switched control over to the iPhone and flip through music that way. No biggie. Worse is that the iPhone will occasionally stop playing music through the receiver altogether and give me an Apple screen. A little tinkering and unplugging/replugging the unit usually solves that. Still, it's annoying and I wish it worked as well as it did before I got the "better" iPhone OS.

Reply

Answer 13

Aug 16, 2009 11:38 PM in response to Cashmonee

Was planning to upgrade to the 3GS until I heard about this 😟

Reply

Answer 14

TWParker

Level 1

19 points

Aug 17, 2009 6:39 AM in response to Elviston

Oh yeah, Pioneer DEH-P5100UB here, and 3.0.1 is a lemon as far as USB audio is concerned. I've gotten the "charging not supported" warning, but replugging the USB cable fixes that. Also the occasional iPhone reboot when changing songs, but 3.0 did that as well.

No, the biggest problem is the audio dropouts. It might not do it for and hour, then I'll start to get 1-second long dropouts, and sooner or later the audio to the stereo will stop completely. If I replug the cable or power-cycle the stereo, all good until it starts to drop out again.

I know it's OS 3.0.1 causing the problem. I had my 3GS replaced for an unrelated charging issue, and the replacement unit was loaded with 3.0. I synced some music from my laptop, then ended up playing it in my car for a good 3-4 hours total before I got home and updated it to 3.0.1.

Before I updated it, I didn't have one audio glitch.

Reply

Answer 15

Aug 18, 2009 12:11 AM in response to TWParker

I have the same problem with in the girlfriends car. Audi fitted ipod connection that worked fine for playing music from my 3Gs until 3.0.1 upgrade, now getting a "nothing connected to external CD" message. My girlfriends 3Gs with 3.0.0 still plays fine.

Wish apple would stop ******* about with these kind of things and just leave the backward compatibility.

/C

Reply