The USB/Aux-in/ipod compatibility superthread

[theironyuppie]

Did you see he group buy?

viewtopic.php?f=46&p=300175#p300175

i ended up ordering from us off ebay. worked out about $60 cheaper than cushie.
if i had of seen this tho, i would have bought in just to get from an aussieseller.

[SegR]

yeh i had a look at the website. it gives you a fair amount of detail. love the idea of android compatibilty.
would i be right in assuming if the old model was compatible with my MY08 mcintosh liberty that this would be as well?

Maybe, but I wouldn't assume anything. Report back when you have it in

[Nipple06]

Ok guys i have done a bit of research on this now according to the aussie one it works in steve's (smj69) makintosh system

[sjm69]

If you have is model macintosh stereo is should work , the only reason I say should is because that's what the supplies says

[theironyuppie]

Well my Grom-USB with Bluetooth arrived today.
Gonna have a crack at installing it over the weekend along with my reverse camera if I get time.
To anyone that done one of these installs before, whether it be a grom or something else, just wondering where you mounted the actual box unit?
I was thinking about putting it under the dash or maybe the centre console. Would be nice to be able to access the ports relatively easily.

[db1]

The data cable is very short, so it limits the options quite a bit. I wanted it in he centre console as well , but it won't reach. And the cubby between the vents is too small. I've got mine under the ciggie lighter/ashtray, but it gets quite warm in there and i dont think that'll be good for its longevity. I think I'll move it to the smaller pocket in the glove box.

[shav]

The data cable is very short, so it limits the options quite a bit. I wanted it in he centre console as well , but it won't reach. And the cubby between the vents is too small. I've got mine under the ciggie lighter/ashtray, but it gets quite warm in there and i dont think that'll be good for its longevity. I think I'll move it to the smaller pocket in the glove box.

I fitted mine in the smaller pocket in the glove box. Had some double sided velcro tape fitted to it in case I need to remove it for any reason. Fits the usb stick in there fine with the lid closed too.

Refer to the pictures in this link viewtopic.php?f=22&t=16196&start=285

[db1]

Shav, how did you route the cable through? Did you have to cut a hole in the pocket?

[shav]

Shav, how did you route the cable through? Did you have to cut a hole in the pocket?

yeah the cable went behind the dash and in behind the glove box. The little pocket actually comes out and we just carefully cut a little niche out in the pocket for the wire to feed into.

[theironyuppie]

so using a few guides I found on the forum I managed to get my head unit out ok.
I wired everything up and put my grom under the ash tray as I have the satnav in the small spot in the glove box. (though I may move it to behind the head unit when I get time)
then I went to test it and...nothing!
not only do I get no sound thru the grom, my regular sound from radio, cd and aux seems to have gone as well.
I managed to sync my phone up with the Bluetooth on the grom so its obviously getting power but that's as far as I got.
I then tried going back to the stock loom without the grom and that seems to have no sound now either!
I double and triple checked the wiring to make sure I plugged everything back in so im pretty sure that's not it.
I also checked the audio fuse under the hood and that seems ok.
does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?

[theironyuppie]

after giving up yesterday I just had another go at it with a clear head.
turns out all the cabling to the head unit was ok but I must a have loosened the round cable that goes to the amp when I removed it.
tightened up the connection and ive got sound again!

after all that I don't seem to be having much joy with the grom.
I found a ne sport for it to the right behind the head unit which is much better.
the Bluetooth synced and connected ok but when I try to make calls I get nothing. same when I try to play thru usb.
I thought the aux port might be messing with it so I tried unplugging that but still no joy.
the documentation that came with it says I need to be on cd mode but whenever I switch to it, it just starts playing the discs.
can anyone that has put one in tell me what mode they run theirs on?

I hope that after all this its not a compatibility issue
my head unit model number is PF-28241

[Blacklisted72]

I just bought this Grom set-up myself this week but havn't had it fitted yet. I thought i read somewhere that you Double press the CD Mode button and that puts it in CD External Stacker Mode, which is what the Grom is plugging into on the back of the HeadUnit.

PS. Mine is the Kenwood GX-204KH

[db1]

The cd button allows you to switch between cd mode or Grom mode. If you can't switch to Grom mode then something's wrong. Have you tried updating the firmware? Make sure you use the correct version. The PF-28241 is listed as compatible on the Cushie site, so it should work.

Edit: calls can only be made/answered in Grom mode.

[Nipple06]

I just bought this Grom set-up myself this week but havn't had it fitted yet. I thought i read somewhere that you Double press the CD Mode button and that puts it in CD External Stacker Mode, which is what the Grom is plugging into on the back of the HeadUnit.

PS. Mine is the Kenwood GX-204KH

You should have have waited for the group buy :/ ...

[theironyuppie]

thanks for the input guys.
the firmware update seemed to do the trick!
im assuming because I got mine from the states it came with the US SAT firmware.
I switched to the latest version of NO TEXT type and its up and running.
while im glad its working (finally) I have to say im a little disappointed that the steering wheel controls don't seem to work. I was hoping they might have fixed that in the latest model. hopefully they'll address it in a future firmware update.
other than that I have to say that the sound quality of the Bluetooth is excellent on the phone calls and streaming audio.
I tested the usb function with a thumb drive and while it works without flaw it does lack the ability to skip tracks without the steering wheel controls.
Im also having trouble to get aalinq to work with my android phone although without the ability to skip track from the car, its just as easy to stream via Bluetooth, which seems to remember where the track was up to when you leave the car and continues automatically when you return. a handy little feature.

in terms of selecting the grom, on my head unit I simply scrolled thru sources using the mode key until the grom came up. you don't seem to access it via the cd button at all. im assuming it must be different for each unit.

hopefully this info will help some people out. ill be interested to hear how every one else goes after their installs....