This write up is a bit lengthy, but I tried to include as much detail as possible.
The short point is: after about 15 months of happy GW500 iPod use it looks like the GW500 stopped working today. My car configuration: CDR24 head unit, BOSE, no CDC.
Long writeup:
I've had a Dension GW500 in my Cayman for a little over a year and have been extremely happy with it. A couple of weeks ago I had a slight problem with the CR-24 head unit where it stopped responding to all controls. Took it to the local dealer and had them fix it (i.e. they pulled and replaced the fuse). Now this afternoon I ran into a bigger problem: I have no sound at all.
The head unit looks to be responding correctly: the station information is displaying in the dash, the CDS looks to be responding normally, etc. Check off the head unit.
I pulled both the D-F10 & D-F9 fuses, both one at a time, and both at the same time. No change.
Moved onto the Dension unit in the front trunk. Tried pushing the reset button, no change. Checked the power, +9V, so that’s ok. The fiber cables for the MOST bus look fine, no nicks, cuts, or breaks.
Checked the amp, it looks good, did not really do much to diagnose, but nothing obvious is out of place.
When I first turn on the car I can clearly see the light shining in the fiber cable that would go into the Dension, but on the fiber cable that goes from the Dension into the amp I see no light. I do not remember what the normal operation is for the GW500, but I expected the light coming out of the Dension to be lit as soon as the unit has power applied, and I see nothing at all on the Dension unit…
I’m leaning towards the thought that the Desion is for some reason broken. But what gets me is that it was working just fine when I put the Cayman into the garage last week after giving her a bath.
Any ideas?
Anybody know what the warranty timeframe is on the GW500? (Grasping at straws but have my fingers crossed.)
Thanks for any advice / ideas…
I don't have an answer for you other than to check with whomever you bought it from on warranty or repair service.
Was the vehicle EVER programmed by a dealer for a cd changer?
These units do not typically 'break'....they are just not installed right.
Good question, but indeed my car was reprogrammed by a local dealer to know about the cd changer (i.e. the GW500) as a part of the installation. When I installed the GW500 it would not work at all (as expected) until I brought the car to the dealer and had them program it to know about the changer. But.... I did have another dealer look at the car a couple weeks ago when the head unit stopped responding to all of the buttons (maybe they goofed up the programming at that point
.
But the thing that gets me is the lack of light being eminated from the GW500 to the fiber connectors. I expected there to be a red light when power was applied to the GW500.... Can anyone check their GW500 to see if indeed it "lights" up when power is applied?
Thanks for the good ideas and help....
On the Aux box, where is the mode selection switch - dark circle or white circle?
What firmware are you running?
And can you see the dip switch settings? If so, get back to me or post them here.
Aux box switch: Tried both, currently on White circle.
Dip switches: 4&6 up, rest are down.
Firmware version: I think 2.08. Don't know how to read it off with out it working, any ideas?
Thanks for helping
I guess I have to ask, did you hit the reset button?
3. Reset Gateway 500. (Push the reset button on the top of the AUX box. See figures on page 1.)
I guess I missed mentioning it in my write up
Yep: I did indeed try the reset button (If only I could be that lucky...)
Go to our Links page at BumperPlugs.com and download 2.16 and install it on the Dension. Get back to me with any changes.
Also try another iPod, and see if there is any difference.
And are you 100% sure you have unswitched/constant power at the Dension?
I will double check that the power is indeed unswitched this afternoon, but I think it is.
As far as trying other iPods: at this point in time I do not have anything plugged into the iPod connector. When I did have an iPod plugged in it did not show the GW500 screen showing version number, nor did the iPod act like it was connected to an external device.
I will try one of my other iPods when I get home from work this afternoon.
Played with the GW500 this afternoon when I got home.
Some more points:
1) The power is switched.
2) When I rerouted the fiber optic cables to eliminate the GW500 from the loop: low and behold the audio works fine
This leads me to think that indeed I've lucked out and possibly have a broken GW500. Any ideas on how to test it out? Or is it possible to ship it to Dension to have them look at it?
Thanks everyone for the ideas.
