MDI niggles

[Tux]

If you keep buying their products you're just condoning their behaviour. Plenty of options out there that are superior in every way like Android OS phones.

You really should use 'IMO' a bit more as that's all it is...

[sharkablue]

Hate to break to you but your beloved Apple is responsible for one of the buggiest bits of hardware on the market.

The MDI uses Apple's Specifications for the interface, there is no magic here and it works most of the time (except when Apple make changes to firmware which can break the interface and this applies to many devices that interface to the icrud/iturd in this manner). The MDI is separate to the head unit and has it's own processor and the same applies to the bluetooth. These are all separate systems that can do what they want when they want unlike some all in one headunits.

VW's various bluetooth implementations use the bluetooth specifications unlike Apple's bluetooth which is poorly implemented, buggy and requires restarting at times just to get it to connect.

So I think I can say with confidence that any fault about connecting to two devices at once lies with the non multitasking Apple ITurd(tm).



My dislike for Apple has nothing to do with calling it as it is.



If you keep buying their products you're just condoning their behaviour. Plenty of options out there that are superior in every way like Android OS phones.

Sorry to say Maverick. I have an iphone 3GS at present and had a 3G before that. Im in no way a fanboy, I couldnt care less about Apple or Google or whatever.

However when my iphones were plugged into my Toyota, which has a iPod interface, along with touch screen navigation and bluetooth. Everything worked fine. No issues. No needing to restart or anything.

My mates have a Alpine and Pioneer setup in each of there cars, and agian, not a single issue. Works as it should.

The major issue was with my coverage, which is Optus's fault there.

So with that in mind, I would tend to believe that even though VW claim it is up to Apple's specs, there are clearly issues with it that need addressing. Because if it works fine from other manufactures...

This might also explain why when the iphones or ipods are plugged into the MDI that they sometimes get those errors that states "This accessory is not designed for the iPhone" or whatever it says.

I have personally ordered the MDI on my upcoming GTI, and by the looks of it, I will have the iPhone 4 before I get my hands on the car (just). So I will post my feedback on how it goes.

[G-rig]

The MDI is easily worth ordering for $270 compared to the cost and hassle of fitting it later, and it's good to see that there are new firmware updates from VW. Even if the iphone4 didn't work properly it would be a matter of time till VW came out with a tweak.

After market bluetooth can be just as bad and buggy depending on what combination of phone and adapter..

[ConR]

Let's not forget the MDI also allows other "connections". I use an 8GB USB stick, and it's super fast with no issues to date. I've also plugged in my 320GB WD pocket drive, and it's had no issues.

I think we're getting a little off track at times in this forum. But then again, we've managed to create a three page thread about stickers

[Karlosovic]

...blah blah blah...bile and venom...blah blah blah...

I don't like iApples either, but you should try to be less of a cranky old man - in general
(and coming from me, that's something)

[Wugaga]

Hi guys, Sorry if this question has already been asked before. I just got my VW Golf TSI witht he MDI device. It comes with a USB media input cable. Is it compatible with the white iPod cable that comes with every other iPOD? Because whenever I try to plug my iPOD in to the MDI device via the white iPOD cable, it says that the 'Media Device is not Supported' ... Any solutions ? Thanks in advance for the help.

[MkVIGTI]

Hi guys, Sorry if this question has already been asked before. I just got my VW Golf TSI witht he MDI device. It comes with a USB media input cable. Is it compatible with the white iPod cable that comes with every other iPOD? Because whenever I try to plug my iPOD in to the MDI device via the white iPOD cable, it says that the 'Media Device is not Supported' ... Any solutions ? Thanks in advance for the help.

It has indeed been covered, and the USB cable WON'T work with the ipod/iphone. You'll need to buy the specific ipod cable for the MDI

[Frankenstrat]

Wugaga: Buy yourself a 4GB USB-stick, lob your MP3s onto that, create a playlist (you can use Windows Media Player to do that) and you're good to go. Crank up the volume and wind down the windows.

[Corey_R]

In fact, for less than the cost of the iPod MDI cable (~around $83), you can purchase a Patriot XPorter XT Boost 16GB USB Drive for only $55
For not much more than the cost of the iPod MDI cable, you can purchase a Patriot XPorter XT Boost 32GB USB Drive for only $99.

This way you don't have to worry about having to connect your iPhone or iPod to the car each time you get in... much more convenient

[Mr_Bob]

Has anyone removed the factory fitted MDI connection?

I've ordered it as a factory fit, but am hoping to relocate to the cup holder area...

[Wugaga]

Thanks guys for the help ! My dealer said that he'll give me one of those adapters for free but unfortunately I have to wait a while coz they're on backorder at the moment. I guess it'll be the good old USB stick for now !

[ajc]

just got my jetta 147 with factory MDI and I have been given the USB fitting as well. Feel free to move this post, cant find anywhere else to put it but if someone else can...

So you cant plug the white ipod cable into the usb, understood, but anyone have a simple answer why? has it been covered elsewhere? I would have thought the cable does nothing but connect everything? somewhat like an extension cord?

my old car has an aftermarket alpine with ipod integration, turns ipod off when cars off, NEVER had an issue with that system, also charged the ipod, worked on all sorts of different ipods, never tried iphone though. I could just plug it into the glove box and leave it there for months.

So from what everyones saying, i couldnt just plug in my old ipod to the MDI and forget about it, not have to touch it again, and have it all run off there, (if i get the ipod cable), ipod would run out of battery while car is off etc etc? Seems odd, is this the normal experience people have? With my alpine system, because the connection is similar to having it on a computer, the ipods not playing once the car is turned off, so it times out and turns off..

If that is the case I wont bother hassling the dealer to try and get the ipod cable off them, will just do as others say and buy a memory stick and sync it with windows media player, takes up less space that way too... but then ive kinda wasted my money as an sd card could have done it? Ipods all organised how i like it too, so would be a shame to have to redo my music library.

any thoughts?

[Maverick]

just got my jetta 147 with factory MDI and I have been given the USB fitting as well. Feel free to move this post, cant find anywhere else to put it but if someone else can...

So you cant plug the white ipod cable into the usb, understood, but anyone have a simple answer why? has it been covered elsewhere? I would have thought the cable does nothing but connect everything? somewhat like an extension cord?

It's been answered before but this is an APPLE restriction. You cannot control the ipod from the USB cable and you cannot output the sound digitally over the USB cable. The only way to get audio out of the ipod is via the headphone socket or via the connector on the bottom in an analog format.

my old car has an aftermarket alpine with ipod integration, turns ipod off when cars off, NEVER had an issue with that system, also charged the ipod, worked on all sorts of different ipods, never tried iphone though. I could just plug it into the glove box and leave it there for months.

That's good and that's what you can do with the ipod cable that plugs into the MDI.

So from what everyones saying, i couldnt just plug in my old ipod to the MDI and forget about it, not have to touch it again, and have it all run off there, (if i get the ipod cable), ipod would run out of battery while car is off etc etc? Seems odd, is this the normal experience people have? With my alpine system, because the connection is similar to having it on a computer, the ipods not playing once the car is turned off, so it times out and turns off..

? You can forget about it, some firmware versions on the ipods won't power off, again this is a APPLE limitation/restriction.

If that is the case I wont bother hassling the dealer to try and get the ipod cable off them, will just do as others say and buy a memory stick and sync it with windows media player, takes up less space that way too... but then ive kinda wasted my money as an sd card could have done it? Ipods all organised how i like it too, so would be a shame to have to redo my music library.

Best to use a large USB stick or hard drive, far less pain in the future, much cheaper, it will always work and won't be affected by APPLE deciding to change how the interface operates (has happened before especially the video interface).

[alebonau]

Re the iPod not switching off and draining itself to death after switching the car off. One thing I have found is that the iPod does automatically pause itself when you switch from media to say fm or am radio. So what am going to try is for the next week or so hit the fm button before switching the car off. See how the iPod goes and check whether it drains itself or not.

Otherwise been really happy with the iPod as media source and works a treat in the golf

[AdamD]

Otherwise been really happy with the iPod as media source and works a treat in the golf

I have to second this. I've been using my iPod Classic 6.5 gen in the car with my MDI + RNS-510, and have been really impressed overall with the performance of the MDI. It's integrated perfectly with the iCrud (despite the player's many faults) - something that could not be said of the equivalent interface in my Accord Euro (which also cost double what the MDI did). The iCrud always switches on/off as required, plays just as expected, and hasn't crashed or caused me to have to even look at it since I put it in the car four weeks ago.

The only minor hiccups are the small skip at the beginning of some songs - it seems fairly intermittent, and doesn't occur when I manually advance a track - and the inability to go back to previous tracks when in Mix (random) mode. These are seriously minor issues and I'm happy to live with them given the overall stability and performance of the VW unit.

So, VW - big thumbs up from me ref the MDI!