Phatbox "locking up"

[spicolte]

I have a 2002 BMW 540iT. ("T" for "Touring" or what everybody else just calls a station wagon!)

I have had consistent problems with the Phatbox "locking up" when I use any of the buttons that interface with it in a rapid manner.

If I "arrow up" or "arrow down" through an album, or through a playlist too quickly, the unit begins going haywire.  It will either jump around the same album I am on, or continue jumping through albums, to finally settle somewhere and then allow no more input from the user.  In some bad cases, it will just play bits of songs, then jump to another, do the same thing, jump to another...on and on.

Only unplugging the power into the unit stops the insanity.  Once the power is restored after a few seconds, all returns to normal.  As long as I don't use the "arrow up" or "arrow down" keys too quickly, I am safe...and this is how I have been living with the unit since I put it in, about 3 years ago.  My only caveat is using the "random" mode, and letting it play everything at its own leisure.  If I wish to find a song from an artist starting with the letter "S", and I am currently on a letter "A" artist, my only hope is to use the random mode, then arrow up and down...very slowly...for a few songs at a time (taking a minute break between "arrowing"), and hope I land near "S".  When I do, I disengage random mode, and then jump SLOWLY to the album and song.  It truly is ridiculous and annoying!

This has been this way since day 1 with this unit.  At one point, Phatnoise replaced the entire unit with a brand new unit,(phatbox, blitzsafe, cables, etc.) yet the same problem still exists.  I have even tried different DMS's in the box...same trouble.

I assume it is most likely some electrical gremlin in my car.  I had BMW look into it when the car was still under warranty, but only from a fringe point of view.  BMW has a staunch rule against any aftermarket "anything" in their cars.  If they find it, they immediately blame any problems you are having on the device, and send you on your way...which sucks, because I truly believe the problem with this phatbox may be the car, but they won't look for anything.

The phatbox is the only thing affected in my car however.  No other radio interface problems have surfaced.  I have only had one or two occasions of weird annoyances with my car.  One where I deactivate the alarm to unlock it, and the flashers come on and won't go off until I cycle through a couple of "turn car on, turn car off" episodes.  BMW and my own mechanic have said this is usually due to a drained electrical system due to the car sitting for a few days without being started. (apparently the computer brain is always "thinking").  The other where all interior lights suddenly come on while I am driving, which normally only happens when you open a door, or deactivate the alarm at unlock.  Again though, these happened maybe once or twice over the entire ownership experience.  The phatbox problem has been consistent, and easily duplicated.

I have posted to BMW message groups (in the audio mods section) concerning this, and asking if others have had similar problems, but have never had a response.

Can anyone here take a guess at what it could be?  (I figure if the entire unit and all the that goes with it have been replaced...then it must be my car)

Thanks for the help.

[Terry_Kennedy]

Can anyone here take a guess at what it could be?  (I figure if the entire unit and all the that goes with it have been replaced...then it must be my car)

Thanks for the help.

I have a 2003 BMW 325xiT. I have DVD navigation and I haven't had this problem. The only issue I've seen is that if I hold down the < or > button, sometimes it acts like the button is "stuck" and the PhatBox will go "A B C D E", etc. continuously. Pressing the 1 button (to select disc 1) will settle it down, however.

Is your PhatBox firmware up-to-date? It used to be possible to check this using PMM, but with the ongoing availability problems with the Phatnoise servers, your best bet is to use the DMS hack tools (found on this site) to update the firmware.

Other than that, the only thing I could suggest would be to try swapping in a newer tuner / radio module (which one depends on whether you have navigation or not) to see if that helps. Unfortunately, your car is probably out of warranty - there are enough service bulletins out on the radio that say "on customer complaint, replace radio with upgraded module" that if you were in warranty, you could get a new radio from the dealer for free.

Buying new parts at the parts counter is expensive. You can get a bunch of new features (which vary depending on if you have navigation now or not) by doing so, however.

Where are you located?

[spicolte]

Terry,

Thanks for your response.

I am located in San Francisco, and I believe you are in New York, as I am fairly sure I have visited your link to the mods in your BMW.(quite impressive!)  I'm guessing perhaps you were wondering if I was close to you geographically.  Bummer...as I couldn't be any further away! 

My issues with the box are simply from rapidly using the arrow buttons.  It will cause it to lock up that way everytime.  If I go slow...I never have trouble.  But even then, slow arrowing repeatedly will eventually end up in a lock up.

Aside from the issues with the phatbox, my head unit hasn't been having any trouble.  Given that, I'm sure BMW won't replace it for me.  But I am gathering from what you wrote, that some bulletins exist that I could use as an *excuse* to get them to replace it.  It is a CPO car, but they usually don't cover bulletins once you are out of the original warranty. (don't know if it makes a difference, but it is also non-nav)

I haven't updated any of the software in the box.  I have seen the software available here, and was nervous about messing with the box by using it.  I do have a back up box however, so I suppose if something goes wrong I have that.

How exactly should I upgrade the software in the phatnoise?  Do I download the program available here to my PMM and then upload it onto my DMS?  From there, I'm guessing I would have to then load the DMS and let the new software update my phatnoise?  Is that correct? 

Should I be worried about any problems if I update the software?  I read so much here about folks attempting to update the software and then lights get stuck on, and music won't play, etc. 

I just want to feel confident I am not creating another headache larger than what I have.

Thanks for your help.

Michael

[Terry_Kennedy]

I am located in San Francisco, and I believe you are in New York, as I am fairly sure I have visited your link to the mods in your BMW.(quite impressive!)  I'm guessing perhaps you were wondering if I was close to you geographically.  Bummer...as I couldn't be any further away! 

Thanks! I don't generally take the BMW to the west coast any more, though I do drive my Atom there.

I haven't updated any of the software in the box.  I have seen the software available here, and was nervous about messing with the box by using it.  I do have a back up box however, so I suppose if something goes wrong I have that.

How exactly should I upgrade the software in the phatnoise?  Do I download the program available here to my PMM and then upload it onto my DMS?  From there, I'm guessing I would have to then load the DMS and let the new software update my phatnoise?  Is that correct?

Go here and download the 4 zip files for BMW. Then unzip them into the PHTSYS partition of your DMS. The next time you put the DMS in the car, it will spin for 5-10 minutes updating the firmware. You can zip up the contents of PHTSYS first (it isn't that big) if you want to make a backup.

Should I be worried about any problems if I update the software?  I read so much here about folks attempting to update the software and then lights get stuck on, and music won't play, etc.

I've never had any problems. A lot of the issues report here are when people try to run the hack script on the PhatBox and update the firmware at the same time, update the firmware without ensuring the box is working first, and so forth.