Connecting Volvo stereos by USB

My iphone 4 stopped connecting to my volvo car stereos by USB after the upgrade to 4.2. It appears I'm not the only one, but I'm afraid Apple won't fix this problem for only few Volvo owners ...

Iphone, iOS 4

Posted on Nov 28, 2010 12:31 AM

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Posted on Jan 11, 2011 8:09 AM

Experienced the same problem with my 2010 Volvo XC90 and Ipod Touch Gen 2. Unreadable after upgrade to 4.2.1

*Fixed it* by downgrading back to 4.1 firmware and restoring Ipod. Re-synced all my apps and itunes and now working as before.

Apart from downloading the firmware the trick was to get the ipod to into restore mode and select this firmware rather than downloading directly from the apple server.

I used shift key plus the Restore and then selected the file I had downloaded
, itunes responded with an error 11 - but I simply did the same again shift restore and again pointed to the 4.1 firmware. All done except it said cannot restore music as the backup was newer - no problem just selected new ipod. Used the same name and selected what to re-sync -all apps, and tunes from my itunes library.

Don't give up - it can be done!
24 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 11, 2011 8:09 AM in response to Gte171v2

Experienced the same problem with my 2010 Volvo XC90 and Ipod Touch Gen 2. Unreadable after upgrade to 4.2.1

*Fixed it* by downgrading back to 4.1 firmware and restoring Ipod. Re-synced all my apps and itunes and now working as before.

Apart from downloading the firmware the trick was to get the ipod to into restore mode and select this firmware rather than downloading directly from the apple server.

I used shift key plus the Restore and then selected the file I had downloaded
, itunes responded with an error 11 - but I simply did the same again shift restore and again pointed to the 4.1 firmware. All done except it said cannot restore music as the backup was newer - no problem just selected new ipod. Used the same name and selected what to re-sync -all apps, and tunes from my itunes library.

Don't give up - it can be done!

Jun 9, 2011 3:25 AM in response to waterloo47

I have just managed to fix this problem on a V50 and a iphone 4.3.3( or it may have rectified itself!) Don't bother with the USB for the time being but engage the bluetooth search for phone on the car- then same on phone, you may get that' not optimised' message nonsense but just cancel out of this. You ought then to get a pin request from the phone and the car gives this to you, in my case manufacterers basic 1234. Tap this in to the phone and away you go. It took a lot of frustrating attempts but it works eventually. I cannot say if this works for the ipod and or USB as I dont have music up on my iphone 4 yet but I'll post here I make any progress. However I do agree with the sentiments here... I bought this car specifically due to to this feature because I already picked up penalty points for using my phone while driving!! So much for Volvo's committment to safety... and as for Apple maybe if Mr Jobs could come back down to earth amongst us mortals for a for a spell??

Dec 30, 2010 4:55 AM in response to upnorth2b ymail

Same here - up until last upgrade my Volvo V50 and iPhone 3 worked fine - not perfectly, but fine. So when the iPhone suddenly became "unreadable" I suspected the cable and bought a new one for 259 SEK, roughly 30 bucks. Too bad I didn't read up on the forums beforehand, could've saved me that expense.
I guess I thought Apple couldn't possibly do a Microsoft and ruin a perfectly fine system with an "upgrade" - I was wrong.
Fix now!

Feb 26, 2011 8:54 AM in response to waterloo47

waterloo47 wrote:
My iphone 4 stopped connecting to my volvo car stereos by USB after the upgrade to 4.2. It appears I'm not the only one, but I'm afraid Apple won't fix this problem for only few Volvo owners ...


So how about Volvo fixing their software .They would have had access to the beta versions of all iOs
in reality they can't be bothered like other motor manufacturers .
It is not Apple's responsibility to test their iOS against accessory compatibility but very much the accessory manufacturer's responsibility

Message was edited by: Peter Gillespie

Nov 29, 2010 3:17 AM in response to waterloo47

Volvo sold 334.808 cars in 2009 and is expecting an even higher amount in 2010. If just half of these people own an iPhone, Apple will have a problem in the near future. I think Volvo will put some pressure on them. Apparently the same problem appared in 4.0, but was fixed in 4.1. Hopefully they will fix this again, and keep the code in the tree this time.

I myself, own a XC60 from 2009, and after an upgrade to 4.2.1 I'm not able to use the phone as an iPod in the car, like I use to do. So Apple, in fact, destroyed my regular driving experience.

Dec 26, 2010 2:32 PM in response to waterloo47

We have a new Volvo XC60 (premium audio) and just bought a new iPod Touch (iOS 4.2) specifically so we could listen via our Volvo sound system. This is our first "conversion" to Apple never having bought any Apple device prior. Now, as noted, no connection via USB---just "unreadable." Very disappointing from both Apple and Volvo perspectives---especially as marketed to us: "You'll LOVE the fantastic USB port that can used with your iPod!!!!" Oops, they forgot to mention to use an "old" iPod! Since our Volvo is the bigger investment...the iPod will be returned and re-purchased if (and only if) it will work with our Volvo. Sadly, so much for our introduction/conversion to Apple....

Jan 2, 2011 5:45 PM in response to Stefan888

Me too, so frustrating! Just bought a 2011 xc60 and was super excited to hook up my iphone 4.2.1 and after multiple tries, USB unreadable! Arrgh. I tried all the 'tricks' I've read about, turning off phone, plugging in USB and redrafting car, etc. Nothing works. Tried to revert back to 4.1 and apple wouldn't let me do that either. Looks like we are SOL unless apple fixes this in their next update. In the meantime I may just buy a cheap mp3 player (non apple) to get me through.

Dec 7, 2010 4:56 AM in response to waterloo47

I have the same problem after installing iOS 4.2.1. After installing my volvo stereo "cant read" my iPhone via usb.
I'm a bit frustrated bcoz my car is new and my iPhone is new and the don't work together.
I talked to support asking if it was possible to downgrade the operating system but they could not give any info on doing that.

Apple - Please fix this!!

//Psw

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Connecting Volvo stereos by USB

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