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Sonance iPort doesn't work with certain iPods!?

mpullinmpullin Posts: 949
in NetLinx Modules & Duet Modules
I'm having a problem with the Sonance IW4. When we put it in and first tested it with our system it worked great. A few months afterwards it began acting up. It would report its firmware version and dock status correctly but gave no other useful information. Commands do not work. I contacted AMX TS and Sonance TS and they both advised me to replace the iPort, so I did. The new one looked like it was going to work at first (it correctly recorded the iPod's name) but then when I sent an ENTER_REMOTE_UI_MODE it started screwing up just like the first one did.

Sonance hasn't returned my call on this yet, but AMX TS seems to think it could be an iPod problem... how messed up would that be, if iPort manufactured a product that didn't work on all iPods?!

Anyone here experience this? If so, have you determined what kinds of iPods will work and what will not? We've been testing it with a nano that's about 1 year old.

Comments

  • jweatherjweather Posts: 320
    I've heard reports of individual iPods that are otherwise fine, but don't play nicely with 2-way iPod docks... try a different one, or get Apple to replace the iPod.
  • mpullinmpullin Posts: 949
    jweather wrote:
    I've heard reports of individual iPods that are otherwise fine, but don't play nicely with 2-way iPod docks... try a different one, or get Apple to replace the iPod.
    Thanks for your advice... so this problem isn't specific to a given model? Any idea where I can get more information on this? I would stick another iPod in there but the site in question is kind of far away and not convenient to test... :(
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    Is the iPod firmware up to date? Not everyone allows iTunes to update it.
  • mpullinmpullin Posts: 949
    DHawthorne wrote:
    Is the iPod firmware up to date? Not everyone allows iTunes to update it.

    Yes, the firmware is the latest, the funny thing is, though, this exact same nano worked in this system a few months ago with older firmware!

    Did Apple's latest nano firmware upgrade break two-way RS232?

    EDIT: Just tested the IW4 with a nano w/ firmware version 1.0. It works perfectly.
  • trobertstroberts Posts: 228
    Make sure the iPort has the latest firmware. Even if it is new it still may not have the latest firmware. You can goto http://www.iportmusic.com/moduleaccess.html to find the latest firmware. You will also need a firmware update kit from Sonance to do this. I have seen certain ipods not work with iPort though. Usually it is not related to the model, but an actual problem with the iPod itself. However there are specific older model that will not work with iport via 232. Lots of useful info is on the above web site.
  • fragglefraggle Posts: 3
    mpullin wrote:
    Did Apple's latest nano firmware upgrade break two-way RS232?.

    I don't use an iPort but worked out the protocol myself from the work done on the net about the Apple Accessory Protocol and have also noticed some strange occurrences with some new iPods. I had my code working relatively well with Gen 3/4 iPods and most testing was done on a Nano. When I connected one of the latest iPods my code stopped working but after a closer look I noticed that an extra byte was being sent. After this was accounted for it started working again.

    I couldn't get an iPod touch working at all, except for the basic transport commands (no feedback). I still have problems with the iPod not responding 100% of the time to changes in playlists/artist lists/album lists etc (retrieving the names in the playlist). I don't know if this is a problem with my code or a problem with sending the large amount of data over the rs232 connection. The iPod does consistently drop characters when requesting playlists though. I would be interested to hear how well the iport goes at returning the information, reliability and speed.

    Troy.
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