iPod control via USB stopped working

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GeekEV

GeekEV

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
1,825
Location
NorCal, USA
Hey guys, over the weekend the iPod control via USB stopped working. I'm using my iPhone 4, actually, but it was working fine since I got it. On Saturday, I plugged it in and it took a LONG time "reading usb memory..." and finally started playing, but with no display information and no track list. The iPod app on the phone does NOT say "accessory connected" like it usually does and the next/previous track controls don't work.

I tried rebooting my phone - no luck. I tried turning the car off and back on - no luck. I tried resyncing my phone - no luck. I tried removing all my music and resyncing - no luck. I tried doing a full restore of my phone - no luck. I tried my wife's iPhone 3GS - no luck. I even tried a different usb cable - again, no luck.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm about ready to call Nissan, or take it to the dealer. :cry:
 
iPhone os just got an update last week. I've had several "hang ups" with mine since the update. We'll probably be quickly getting another update to fix the new bugs...I mean features.
 
I had that happen to me a few weeks ago. I t would not recognize the phone at all as usb. Bluetooth was fine.

Turning phone off completely and on again solved it for me. I also disabled Bluetooth on the phone when I was doing this.
 
If the above suggestions do not help, it could be the cable or the LEAF's USB socket. Some USB connectors are relatively easy to damage.

Try a USB thumb drive directly in the socket.
Try a different cable.
 
I've been running the iOS 4.3 beta (I'm a developer) for many weeks and it's been fine (save for a few audio pops and crackles), as has the 4.3 gm seed (the final version, pre-release). It was working find Saturday morning and stopped Saturday evening. I did not update my phone in between then.

I did try a new cable, to no avail. I don't plug and unplug the USB cable, I leave it there all the time, so I sure hope the USB port didn't wear out I'll try a USB thumbdrive and see what happens.
 
garygid said:
Try your phone and cables on another LEAF, and other "identical" phone(s) on your LEAF.
Click to expand...
I did try my wife's iPhone 3GS. Not "identical", but it doesn't work either. As for trying my phone and cables on another LEAF, that'll have to wait until our next local gathering! :lol:
 
OK, so I tried a USB drive with MP3s on it, those get read just fine. Also, note that my wife's iPhone 3GS is still on iOS 4.2, she has not upgraded to 4.3, so it can't be that either... Time to chat with Nissan I guess!
 
You might need to Re-Boot the LEAF. With everything off, disconnect the 12v battery, wait for a few minutes, then re-connect it.

Or, maybe the Audio/Nav system needs a full reboot. Not sure how one does that, if the above procedure does not work.
 
GeekEV said:
OK, so I tried a USB drive with MP3s on it, those get read just fine. Also, note that my wife's iPhone 3GS is still on iOS 4.2, she has not upgraded to 4.3, so it can't be that either... Time to chat with Nissan I guess!
Click to expand...
If the USB stick worked just fine, I would be calling Apple...
 
Two different phone models on different iOS versions and different cables? And nothing changed on my phone between when it was working and when it wasn't. It was in my pocket between the two. I'll try the 12v reboot when I get home (no tools at the moment). I don't see how it could be Apple's issue. Both our phones are working fine in all other respects. Of course, the same argument could be made for the LEAF.
 
GeekEV said:
Two different phone models on different iOS versions and different cables? And nothing changed on my phone between when it was working and when it wasn't. It was in my pocket between the two. I'll try the 12v reboot when I get home (no tools at the moment). I don't see how it could be Apple's issue. Both our phones are working fine in all other respects. Of course, the same argument could be made for the LEAF.
Click to expand...
Apple frequently "kills" non-licensed usage of their products. They want a cut of the pie no matter what is plugged into the bottom of the iPhone, so it wouldn't surprise me if they changed something.

Also, the LEAF could have sensed that there was an over-current draw on the USB port and shut down some functionality because of it... Probably the only way to know would be to completely power down and reboot the LEAF though... I think the only way to do that though would be to disconnect the 12v battery and pull the HV (high voltage) coupler in the back-seat floorboard...
 
My USB stopped working when I out a drive in it. After cycling the car off with it disconnected it worked again. If you disconnect the 12v battery it will fully cut the power to the Clarion unit and control but you may need a code to get it working again. Try cycling the power and using a usb memory stick to test.
 
I think we're going in circles. I did try cycling the power, it didn't help. I also tried rebooting my phone and a bunch of other things I already mentioned... Based on a suggestion here, I also tried a USB thumbdrive. THAT worked, so that would seem to suggest the USB port is fine. I tried two different iPhones on two different iOS versions, with two different USB cables. Seems unlikely to be on the iPhone side based on all that. Combine that with the fact that it WAS working and the only thing that changed from when it worked to when it broke was I got out of the car and went to lunch. When I got back in and plugged my phone in, it wasn't working anymore.

I contacted Nissan chat support, and (which I'm sure won't surprise anyone here) they didn't have a clue. He kept trying to tell me there are two inputs to cycle though, one for USB and one for iPod. LOL. Though the guy took down my information and promised to call me back tomorrow morning after escalating it with an engineer.
 
GeekEV said:
I think we're going in circles. I did try cycling the power, it didn't help. I also tried rebooting my phone and a bunch of other things I already mentioned... Based on a suggestion here, I also tried a USB thumbdrive. THAT worked, so that would seem to suggest the USB port is fine. I tried two different iPhones on two different iOS versions, with two different USB cables. Seems unlikely to be on the iPhone side based on all that. Combine that with the fact that it WAS working and the only thing that changed from when it worked to when it broke was I got out of the car and went to lunch. When I got back in and plugged my phone in, it wasn't working anymore.

I contacted Nissan chat support, and (which I'm sure won't surprise anyone here) they didn't have a clue. He kept trying to tell me there are two inputs to cycle though, one for USB and one for iPod. LOL. Though the guy took down my information and promised to call me back tomorrow morning after escalating it with an engineer.
Click to expand...


Now that the USB worked TD worked, you may see if you need to enable hard drive mode in Itunes on the phone, I had to do this on my ipod and I can't remember if phones have the same function that may be off in background. It worked for me and I had similar issues but may not be applicable.
 
FYI, Nissan called me back this morning (kudos for the follow through) to tell me that they didn't yet have a solution to my issue. The gentleman informed me that they've also had another report of this issue and were investigating. They'll call me back again tomorrow morning.

I decided to hold off on pulling the 12v battery power until after I hear back from them, in case they want me to do more troubleshooting...
 
This is a good example of the benefits to Nissan (and owners) of reporting problems clearly. When Nissan is able to see that it is not an isolated problem, they can better focus on improvements and upgrades.

Good work, please keep us posted.
 
Nissan called again with another update this morning. They still don't know what's going on, but they're getting increasing reports of problems with the iPhone (only). While it does kind of sound like Apple updated something (and broke everybody at once), as stated earlier in this thread two different iPhones on different iOS versions exhibit this problem - and neither of them were updated between when they worked and when they didn't. I guess we'll wait and see what they come up with, in the meantime I'll use bluetooth...
 

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