MDI. With Iphone4

[whiskywallah]

I've got a couple of questions regarding the IPHONE input .
I pair my phone over Bluetooth ( factory standard to RCD310).
I have used the audio over Bluetooth in the past but that is now turned off.

When I plug the phone in BEFORE the bluetooth has paired it will offer to turn on BT audio to which I say NO, then I have to disconnect and re-connect the phone to get audio out through the cable. Browsing will work just no audio.

Then I will often get a short 0.5s audio gap in the first few seconds after a track change.

Anyone else seen these issues?

[Jad]

I find that I need to connect the MDI cable wait till it initialises and then unplug and connect a second time for it to work correctly with my iPhone4. For some reason I don't get audio working correctly on the first connection, after the second connect it works fine with no lockups or lost audio.

[Blackdakdak]

I get in car, put key in, wait until iphone4 connects to Bluetooth, then plug into MDI, then remember that doesnt work, then unplug and start music playing on phone, and plug back in again. From there most things work, except I can't navigate thru folders. If I want a particular playlist I have to start playing that before I plug into the MDI. I can navigate song to song using the steering wheel buttons.

VW dealer had a go and couldn't get it any better. My boss has a recent Golf and has similar issues, except he can navigate thru folders by using the knob on the MDI. His steering wheel navigation doesnt work, but he doesnt have to start before plugin like me.

The dealer was amazed i got it working at all with my process - I had to admit it was an accidental discovery that took some time to repeat.

[whiskywallah]

Hi Blackdakdak,

What radio do you have?
310 or 510 or what?
On the 310 you use the row of 6 'soft' buttons that change labels every time you switch sources. Look for the UP button. This takes you back up the browse list to the top, where you can chose from Albums, Artists, Playlists etc. using the scroll wheel.

[High-Fidelity]

The iPhone defaults to playing over the BT audio if it is activated. You should be able to double tap the home button, hit the air play icon and select the dock connector output to have it play through the MDI. Once done just hit play on the head unit and it should be fine.

I have the same problem on my R36 with the 7P6 bluetooth and RNS510. With the 7P6 bluetooth you can disable BT audio via VAGCOM, so that may be an option for you if you don't use the BT audio profile. It would be nice if you could pick the default output on the iPhone, but no luck yet, even with lots of people asking for it at the apple support forums. Also with the 7P6 and my Premium MFA cluster, I can turn off the bluetooth audio by disconnecting the Media Player in the MFD using the MFSW buttons. After that, the MDI will happily play. I have to do this every time I start the car though (unless I disable BT audio with VAGCOM).

The pausing after changing tracks has apparently been fixed in a firmware update for the MDI. I'm waiting on my MDI USB cable to test this for sure, but you could have a read at Volkswagen Media Device Interface (MDI) Firmware Upgrades | my-gti.com for some info. If I remember right, after reading the comments a while back, FW version 0150 fixes the pause after track changes.

[whiskywallah]

The iPhone defaults to playing over the BT audio if it is activated. You should be able to double tap the home button, hit the air play icon and select the dock connector output to have it play through the MDI. Once done just hit play on the head unit and it should be fine..

That's the problem..... I'm left with no play button on 310 head unit. I'll experiment further.

The pausing after changing tracks has apparently been fixed in a firmware update for the MDI. I'm waiting on my MDI USB cable to test this for sure, but you could have a read at Volkswagen Media Device Interface (MDI) Firmware Upgrades | my-gti.com for some info. If I remember right, after reading the comments a while back, FW version 0150 fixes the pause after track changes.

Thanks that's really helpful.

[High-Fidelity]

That's the problem..... I'm left with no play button on 310 head unit. I'll experiment further.

Haven't tried it with an RCD310, but if I remember right with the RNS510, the headunit still thinks it's playing, even though it's not, so I have to hit the pause button and then the play button. These are touch buttons on the screen. Not sure how it works on the 310, but maybe there is something similar?