Don't Tell Joe!

[ErnieA]

Don't tell Joe but we have cured our iPod/iceLink problems. The docking cable (that replaced the iPod Dock that came with the iceLink Plus) is working perfectly. We listened to over 5 hours of music today without a single lock-up. Most excellent :D I hope Joe has his tunes fixed before he starts his riding season. ;)

[Daza]

But....

Hi Ernie,

Do you (did you) have scrolling enabled and working for you 5 hour ride?

I'd love to buy one but Joe's scared me off !!!!!!

[messenger13]

Don't tell Joe but we have cured our iPod/iceLink problems. The docking cable (that replaced the iPod Dock that came with the iceLink Plus) is working perfectly. We listened to over 5 hours of music today without a single lock-up. Most excellent :D I hope Joe has his tunes fixed before he starts his riding season. ;)Not so fast Ernie. I'm not saying you haven't fixed it...but you better give it a little more time. I have gone through more than my share of successes and failures. I have thought that I found "the fix" at least 3 times now. Each time led to more disappointments.

FWIW, yesterday I went for a 100-mile ride. I used my iPod with a cassette adapter and the iPod mounted on the handlebar. My iPod locked up...again! It must be a vibration issue. Argh!!! :(

So the question comes back, is this an ice>Link issue? . . . or an iPod vibration issue? Your docking cable may be the ultimate answer. Time will tell...

[meese]

Then you've also got an iPod issue, Joe. I've been using an original 5 Gig ipod and then a 2nd generation 20 Gig iPod for 73K miles and neither have locked up on me. The longest trip was my B2B, with it playing for 21 hours straight without a hiccup. I have taken the audio and button control from the Apple remote and am using a cut-up FireWire cable for 12V power.

Maybe some of the newer iPods are more sensitive to vibration?

And yes, we did get the scrolling text working on Ernie's bike sometime last year.

[ErnieA]

But....

Hi Ernie,

Do you (did you) have scrolling enabled and working for you 5 hour ride?

I'd love to buy one but Joe's scared me off !!!!!!

Yes the scrolling is enabled. I'll update this board as soon as I have a lock-up (if one happens). I tried everything I could to crash it. In the past I could not advance or back up a playlist without a lock-up. I was able to manuever through all the playlists and not have any problems. :D

[ErnieA]

Not so fast Ernie. I'm not saying you haven't fixed it...but you better give it a little more time. I have gone through more than my share of successes and failures. I have thought that I found "the fix" at least 3 times now. Each time led to more disappointments.

FWIW, yesterday I went for a 100-mile ride. I used my iPod with a cassette adapter and the iPod mounted on the handlebar. My iPod locked up...again! It must be a vibration issue. Argh!!! :(

So the question comes back, is this an ice>Link issue? . . . or an iPod vibration issue? Your docking cable may be the ultimate answer. Time will tell...

I'm hearing what you're saying. For the longest time I've tried to get this darn thing to work. No matter what I've tried (mounting the dock in different places, software and firmware changes mostly) the thing would lock up. I new it wasn't the iPod 'cause the darn thing works fine when it wasn't plugged into the iceLink. I've been playing with thing since last May. All I can say is it worked well for the last two rides. No lock-ups and full visibility for text. :cool:

[unleashd]

Don't tell Joe but we have cured our iPod/iceLink problems. The docking cable (that replaced the iPod Dock that came with the iceLink Plus) is working perfectly. We listened to over 5 hours of music today without a single lock-up. Most excellent :D I hope Joe has his tunes fixed before he starts his riding season. ;)


Now if you could put up a parts list and a nice write on the install, I (maybe others too) would appreciate that!!! Pictures would also be nice!!!

pretty please...... :D :D :D

[wcarter]

Has anyone experienced lockup using the flash-memory-based iPod Nano? Mine has never locked up, and I advance up and down playlists all the time.

My only issue is the constant power drain. Not a problem at home since I keep the bike on a Battery Tender, but I'm a little leery of trips away from home.

I took the bike to a weekend retreat on Thursday. I was stopped at the resort entrance and was informed that motorcycles are not allowed on the property. I had to leave my LT in an open lot next to the gatehouse. When I came out Sunday morning, I found the battery dead flat. I was about to blame my iceLink, until I discovered I had left my jury-rigged heated seat in the "low" position. Oops.

[Texas42]

Please can you give us all of the details, where do you have it mounted, what version of the firmware, what iPod etc? Share your profound knowledge.

[messenger13]

Maybe some of the newer iPods are more sensitive to vibration?Bingo! My iPod has literally run for days without locking up. It only locks on the LT. And it did again this morning on my way to D.C.! :(

[OlsonBW]

"I used my iPod with a cassette adapter and the iPod mounted on the handlebar."

Other than using a paint mixer I can't think of anything else that would be worse for electronic equipment than mounting it on handlebars. That would be the first thing I would change in trying to figure out why your iPod is locking up. The hard drive is obviously trying to protect itself.

[Texas42]

I modified the cable to my ice>Link, so that the power is switched by the ignition key, I had already installed a switched Blue Sea box on top of the battery, so I just cut the hot wire and hooked it to one of the positions seems to work great. If I put the CD changer back I will have to turn on the key to eject the carrier, not a big deal to me. :)

[jwd98056]

I have had my iPod/Ice-Link up and running for a few weeks now. I have a 20GB click wheel model iPod loaded with 19+GB of tunes. I am using the docking cradle but it is just laying inside the zippered mesh outer pocket of my BMW saddlebag liner on a cleaning cloth. I have the correct Ice-link firmware, the latest iPod firmware and the scrolling text is working. I have been on a number of day rides, up to about 300 miles, as well as my commuting activities. The iPod has never locked up while I was riding. I only have problems when starting the bike or when I first turn the radio on after starting the bike. I get the "Track 99" error indication which usually means the radio system can't find the iPod. This seems to happen about every two or three days. It doesn't seem to matter if I turn the radio on/off with the "On" button or if I leave it on and just use the ignition switch. This has happened most often when I start it up in the morning but it has also happened after a stop somewhere on the road or when I am going home from work.

When I open the bag liner pocket and look at the iPod it is fully plugged into the cradle and it is not on (the screen is blank). I can click the wheel and it comes on but there still is no communications through the Ice-link. What has been working for me to get it working again has been to remove the iPod from the cradle, do a "Settings/Reset All" from the iPod menu , push "play" on the click wheel and then plug it back in the cradle. The music starts playing immediately and everything works as it should. It takes less than 30 seconds. I have gotten into the habit of turning the ignition to the accessory position before mounting and starting the bike just to see if it is brain dead.

While this is an annoyance it has not elevated to the intolerable level yet. If Ernie's successes continue I may look into getting the portable docking cable. I certainly do not want to go back to the CD player. I also have my iWay 500c GPS loaded with another 9+GB of music but I do not run with it mounted during commutes and local rides. Otherwise this will be my backup on trips if the iPod acts up while I am riding and I don't want to stop just to get it running again.

It appears to me that the iPod is getting into some mode that disables the serial communications link. I have had this happen on my PC on more than one occasion. For our Ice-link installations I don't know if this is caused by something the Ice-link is telling the iPod to do and the iPod goes bonkers or if the iPod firmware is just flakey. The other thought I had was maybe there is something occuring to the external power to the iPod that is triggering some protective mode inside the iPod. Then again it could just be the random firing of my other brain cell :D.

[messenger13]

"I used my iPod with a cassette adapter and the iPod mounted on the handlebar."

Other than using a paint mixer I can't think of anything else that would be worse for electronic equipment than mounting it on handlebars. That would be the first thing I would change in trying to figure out why your iPod is locking up. The hard drive is obviously trying to protect itself.My wife using my iPod while JOGGING!!! Never locks up. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I did rubber mount my ice>Link's cradle in two different place. But...still locking up. So, I'll move my iPod to my tankbag and we'll go from there.

FYI: my iPod has also locked up in a plethora of other locations on the LT. I'm running out of options. :o

[grizzly]

Hi, guys...

I've kind of been watching from the sidelines as this whole thing plays out. At some point, my beloved Rio Karma is going to bite it and I'm hoping this is all figured out by then.

Probably someone's looked into this already, but this thread here suddenly makes me think power problem. I recently traced a series of bizarre, seemingly-random computer failures to a just-barely-out-of-spec power supply. If the current draw came up the tiniest bit, the voltage would drop just enough to create all kinds of havoc.

Could it be the power supplied from the IceLink is right on the hairy edge of adequate? It might be enough to affect certain Ipods but others may have a better tolerance... Has anyone with a working system swapped Ipods with someone whose system acts up?

Just a thought...

[Daza]

Gentlemen,

I think I've read everything I can find on this site about the Ice Link and the Ipod.

My gut feel on the lock up problem is that it is the ipod locking up and not because it is connected to the Ice Link but because of the high frequency vibration experienced on a motorcycle. This vibration may be barely perceivable to the hand but would cause major problems for a hard disk head "flying" over a rapidly spinning hard disk.

Like most portable CD players (diskman etc) the ipod draws info from the disk (hard disk in the case of the ipod) and stores it in RAM memory to allow for any problems in reading the info "on the fly". The info is usually read many seconds in advance, stored in RAM and then played from RAM.

What I believe is happening with the ipod is that the high level of vibration causes constant disk reading errors to the point where the unit locks up and stops trying to read the disk. (not sure whether the software is this smart, but maybe to protect itself). It can handle jogging etc because the shock/bump frequency is very low in comparison and it has ample time to recover and store the info in RAM.

My experience (with a 30gb Photo Ipod) is that if I leave it in the oddments box it will lock up over time. Temperature seems to have no bearing. If I put it in my jacket pocket (where is is damped from the bikes vibration) it does not lock up.

That's my 2 cents worth.....

[meese]

But my 5 Gig and later 20 Gig iPods have many tens of thousands of miles sitting in the oddments box, with no ice>Link and no lockups at all. I think it is a flaky connection between the ice>Link dock and the iPod dock.

[Daza]

But my 5 Gig and later 20 Gig iPods have many tens of thousands of miles sitting in the oddments box, with no ice>Link and no lockups at all. I think it is a flaky connection between the ice>Link dock and the iPod dock.

G'day Ken,

Might have something to do with the Ipod model and therefore the hard drive model fitted I believe.

My Ipod is not connected to an Ice Link. I don't own one (yet).

It's not connected to anything other than the earphones that it came with but still locks up when placed in the oddments box. However, when I use it every day on the train for a couple of hours, never a lock up. When it's sitting on the bike is the only time it has ever locked up to date.

Explain that?

[meese]

I've also heard that some of the "newer" iPods may be more sensitive to such things. Give it time, as solid-state memory capacity is growing as prices drop. We'll have 10 - 20 - 60 Gig solid-state iPods soon enough. :)

I actually had the worst trouble with an Archos MP3 player. It actually destroyed the hard disk, and the replacement disk was better but it still locked up regularly no matter what I tried. The firmware sucked so bad that a group of users got together and wrote their own code for it.

I eventually just gave up and put the newer hard disk in my laptop, where it has worked for years without problems. But no, I don't actually operate the laptop while riding, though it is quite often in the saddlebag. :)

[hschisler]

My wife using my iPod while JOGGING!!! Never locks up. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I did rubber mount my ice>Link's cradle in two different place. But...still locking up. So, I'll move my iPod to my tankbag and we'll go from there.

FYI: my iPod has also locked up in a plethora of other locations on the LT. I'm running out of options. :oSo... are you saying you've had a plethora of 'Pod problems? :rolleyes:

[messenger13]

I rode about 240 miles yesterday with my 60GB iPod in the top of my Chicane tankbag. I ran it through the ringer without one hiccup. I guess I need to move my ice>Link(s) one last time and see what happens.

[messenger13]

So... are you saying you've had a plethora of 'Pod problems? :rolleyes:Settle down Howard! Step away from the keyboard! Let go of the mouse! Nobody'll get hurt!


:D

[rixchard]

i have a 20 gig IRiver player that has been on the bike for some 30,000 miles and have never ever had the hard drive skip. Is it the same hard drive as what is in an Ipod? I have no clue.

[hschisler]

Settle down Howard! Step away from the keyboard! Let go of the mouse! Nobody'll get hurt! :DThis, coming from a guy with almost SEVEN THOUSAND posts...? :crazy: :D

[Texas42]

I have been following this saga since I bought my LT and ripped out the CD Changer, installed an ice>Link and iPod.

1) Is vibration the problem?
2) Is it vibration in the connection, caused by using the cradle instead of the cable?
3) Is it vibration in the connection because it is in the saddle bag?
4) Is it the version of the iPod software?
5) Is it the version of the ice>Link software?
6) What is the cable part number to order?
7) How much does it cost?

[BigJohn]

I am going to send my iPod back when I get the shipping box they are sending me. They act like since my iPod is only 3 months old they are going to send me a new one. I may put it on Ebay, and buy a 4 gig flash drive iPod. I really think that on a motorcycle the the heat and vibration must be an issue. Are most of you guys have these problems with hardrive model iPods?

[ErnieA]

I really think that on a motorcycle the the heat and vibration must be an issue. Are most of you guys have these problems with hardrive model iPods?

Yes. But mine is doing great with the docking cable instead of the OEM dock. No problems now. :D