Connecting a Audi PB to Sony HU-Help

My_B5 · February 05, 2006, 12:04:17 PM

I know I spread my questions in different treads, sorry for that.....

My concerns know is that I manage to download the latest Sony firmware to my DMS and installed the PB in the car as instructed. The green and red lights on the PB flashed for 5-10 min and then went out. (As it should when updating the new firmware to the box). So I'm getting power to the box, for sure. However it seams that my Sony CDX-M8800 does'nt recognise the PB. My HU is just loading and loading (lights out on the PB), no "Welcome speech" or anything. Normally, when PB is not connected to the HU, I got CD written in the AUX mode. When PB connected, it's says only AUX, and it's just loading and loading.
Any ideas what I can try next or instead?

When the Phatbox is in use, does the green or red light shine on the box?

markbowen · February 05, 2006, 07:32:54 PM

As I think you know, the Sony MX-8800 is not officially supported by Phatnoise. No one knows for sure if a Phatbox will work with that head unit -- not even a Sony-specific Phatbox, let alone an Audi Phatbox running Sony firmware.

You wrote that the lights are out on the PB. You mean the lights are off? If the lights are off then it's not properly connected. If that's the case, turn off the car and disconnect the cable from the back of the PB. With the DMS in the PB, reconnect the cable. The red light should come on and stay on, indicating that it's getting power. Then turn on your head unit and see what happens.

My_B5 · February 05, 2006, 07:52:03 PM

The green and red light came on when I "programmed" the PB with the new Sony firmware.
I did what you suggested, disconnected the cable (with DMS out), and reconnected it (with DMS in). The red light stayed on for a few sec and the green light flashed. Then they stopped and my head unit did'nt recognise the PB. It seams that the PB turns itself off. The red light should be on the whole time when the PB used?
Shall I empty my DMS and reprogram the firmware? Or?

Sony sells the same CD changers (ex. cdx T-69) to the Sony HU listed at Phatnoise "compatible" models, as to mine, CDX M-8800 and others. So they should "speak the same language".

judb · February 05, 2006, 08:06:46 PM

I would clear (delete) everything on the phtsys partition and reload the sony firmware and remove the forceupdate / forcesettings files if they get created there. then try again.

My_B5 · February 06, 2006, 07:35:41 AM

QuoteI would clear (delete) everything on the phtsys partition and reload the sony firmware and remove the forceupdate / forcesettings files if they get created there. then try again.

Did what you said, and atleast now I get a constant red light from the PB. But still nothing at my HU's display, just loading..loading.
If the cars battery is a bit low, could that be the problem? (radio working find though...).
Is there a way to check if the cable is ok? (Bought it new from US, and it looked new to me..??)

judb · February 06, 2006, 08:52:53 AM

I doubt that its a power issue.. the red light being on means the phat box has power. did the green light flash at all when you inserted the dms?

Try turning the car on and turning on the radio with the DMS out, then plug in the DMS and see if it does anything light wise. please carefully record the blinks.. if they are fast or slow blinks and the number of them.

Also, download http://downloads.phathack.com/bushing/rc_pairs.zip and install the level 10 rc scripts to get maximum logging enabled.

Also also, take and make a copy of the phatbox.ini and name it bootload.log on phtsys. this will give us the full logging potential of the phatbox side of things.

My_B5 · February 06, 2006, 12:35:34 PM

Quote Did the green light flash at all when you inserted the dms?

Try turning the car on and turning on the radio with the DMS out, then plug in the DMS and see if it does anything light wise. please carefully record the blinks.. if they are fast or slow blinks and the number of them.

Also, download http://downloads.phathack.com/bushing/rc_pairs.zip and install the level 10 rc scripts to get maximum logging enabled.

Also also, take and make a copy of the phatbox.ini and name it bootload.log on phtsys. this will give us the full logging potential of the phatbox side of things.

The second time I inserted the DMS, the green light came on for a few seconds (together with red) and then both turned off.
I found a strange thing; if I unplug the bus cable from the back of the HU and then plug it in again the power comes on (red light on), but not if I unplug the same cable from the back of the PB, then no lights at all.

Where shall I install the level 10rc script, at the DMS (E phtsys)? And also, where do I find phatbox.ini folder? Sorry my PC skills are very limited?

judb · February 06, 2006, 02:46:55 PM

everything should be on the phtsys partition.. (e drive perhaps as you mention?) they all go in the root of that drive letter.

My_B5 · February 06, 2006, 04:26:52 PM

Can't find this: phatbox.ini . I have a phatbox "folder" at the phtsys but withouy .ini.. Is that the one?

judb · February 06, 2006, 06:00:38 PM

well.. that could be part of the problem.

sounds like you are missing some files.. did you run PMM on thsi DMS and make sure it was happy with it?

My_B5 · February 06, 2006, 06:20:01 PM

Yes I run the DMS doctor a number of times and everything find. Shall I e-mail you a"print screen" so you see what kind of files I got at the phtsys?

I also found this:
http://forum.phathack.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1122535476/1#1

judb · February 07, 2006, 02:23:47 AM

No, not DMS Doctor.. you need to run PMM after wiping all the files on phatsys to reset some config files.. just go in and make sure the correct settings for your head unit are set in the PMM options and save and eject the DMS.. that should make the phatbox.ini exist if it doesn't already.

if that doesnt work, you have something way wrong with your setup.

My_B5 · February 09, 2006, 02:20:42 PM

YES YES YES!!!

It's working. This is really weird, but after I tried many different things. I found that the Sony HU needed to be reset after I disconnect the cable from behind my HU. Then suddenly CD1 turned up at the CD MODE, then I pushed the mode button instead of AUX, then VOILA I found CD2. It was READING from the PB. Then the "welcome message" start to play.
So I thought the PB was going to connect through AUX which was wrong the whole time.

Sorry if I can't explain the process more clear, my bad understanding of the process and my bad english. Hope this helps future "PB-Sony HU" users in some way.........

sbingner · February 09, 2006, 11:57:24 PM

are there any quirks? Does random mode work properly? I have a HON03 to Sony adaptor, and it's not working as well as I hoped, but I think it's possible it's just that my cable is from a really old sony cd changer and it may not make proper contact on a couple pins to the adaptor :\ -- plan on working on that this weekend

My_B5 · February 13, 2006, 12:38:51 AM

Plenty of quirks

. It works more of a CD changer. No voice prompts ( I don't undertstand why?) When I go through my phtsys, I don't find any phatbox.ini files, how come?

Removing the forceupdate / forcesettings files has nothing to do with it I hope??

So the only speech I have is playlist 1, "welcome to phat....."

No, MODE settings, I can not choose between genres etc. All I got is "cd changer functions", songs up & downs and lists up & down...
I don't know where to start to look for my problems....Any help, MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Random function works find, I can choose between random record (list) or changer (all lists/songs).

markbowen · February 13, 2006, 03:27:54 AM

You really should have a phatbox.ini file and if you don't there is a problem.

But the problem could be just your Windows settings. On the computer open up the phtsys partition. Go to the top and click on "Tools" and then "Folder Options." In the window that opens click on "View." Under "Hidden files and folders" make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is checked. Just under that, make sure "Hide extensions for known file types" is NOT checked. Click "Apply" then "OK." Do you have a phatbox.ini file now?

If you do, post the contents of it here. Some of these guys might be able to tell something from that file.

If you still don't have it, then open up PMM and run the firmware update on the DMS again. Might even be worthwhile to update the phatbox again.

My_B5 · February 13, 2006, 04:57:24 AM

Thx markbowen,
I did what you suggested and I found the file(I had the phatbox.ini file the whole time, just without the .ini ) . But inside I found nothing saying Sony, all the other brands, Nissan, Pioneer, Honda, Chrysler, Volvo, Mazda, Bmw, VW/Audi, Kenwood etc....It's a very long txt file, can't post it here (I can mail it, if anyone has any clues?). What shall I look for?

I have reloaded my firmware a few times. Updating the PB is done every time I put the DMS in to the box, is'nt it?

Thx again

az1324 · February 17, 2006, 08:10:27 AM

The Sony Phatbox doesn't have voice prompts and I think you can only do playlist and song navigation on it. Have you read the Sony guides on phatnoise.com?

My_B5 · February 20, 2006, 04:45:13 PM

QuoteThe Sony Phatbox doesn't have voice prompts and I think you can only do playlist and song navigation on it. Have you read the Sony guides on phatnoise.com?

Nuts!! Is this through? No voice prompts on Sony. And Phatnoise wants 600$ for a "CD text changer"!!
My PB has almost the same functions as a "normal" CD changer. No browsing through genres or voice prompts, just playlists up and down & tracks up and down.

When my PB plays the PN playlist "Welcome to phatnoise car audio system", is that just an mp3 file and has nothing to do with voice prompts?

And yes, I read PN.com giude. They don't say anything about voice prompts......

sbingner · February 21, 2006, 03:31:14 AM

We can make SSA navigation with the sony, but would take quite a bit of work... I may do something since my car has a sony interface adaptor but I have to get a few bugs worked out before I work on something like that

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Connecting a Audi PB to Sony HU-Help