iPhone and AVN2454

[liono2k1]

This was my iPhone project for the AVN 2454 Eclipse in my 2004 4Runner.

Problems:
1) There is no compatible system yet for the iphone and any Nav HU. You will get an error screen on your iPhone. This screen will disappear after several seconds.
2) The AVN2454 does not have a VTR cable sold via CTS mobile or Eclipse that I can tell. I did a google search and there is no such cable for it. There is only the CRD2 (8pin) and CRD3 (Sirius/cd changer). The VTR cable for the AVN has to be a 6pin.
3) The iPhone has video out disabled until someone can find a hack for it.
4) You can only play clean audio out of the iPhone if u have it on airplane mode. This means you cant recieve calls.
5) DLO Transpod works but it is hard to get an open FM channel in a big city

Solutions:
1) Ignore the nag screen. The iPhone will play on the AVN2454 via the VTR custom cable below.
2) I ordered the VTR cable from CTS mobile (CRD2). Cut it down to a 6pin harness. So I shaved off the side of the wiring harness until it only has 6pins. It just so happens to fit into the 6pin harness in the back of the HU after you do this. I custom made the 6 pin wiring harness by testing each wire until I got right and left audio and video (confirmed with a portable dvd player). Getting the cables took 2wks. Cost $35 with fed ex shipping.
3-4) I then won on ebay the Dynex 5 in 1 dock (dx-ipdr) with remote. With shipping this was half price at $20 than the one they sell at bestbuy. This was a deal. Audio works through the vtr cables via the iphone. You can pump in the audio from the iPhone but it has to be in airplane mode otherwise there is static from the Edge network. I hooked an ipod video to my set up and got a music video to play on the screen of the AVN from both the Dynex and Apple Universal Dock. Both of these do show video from a video ipod but of course my iphone has no video coming out of it. If you buy a Dynex, make sure that you understand the Dynex dock has an automatic volume control. Everytime you stick your iPhone in the dock, the dock sets the volume internally to low. Raising the volume on the iPhone wont do anything. YOU HAVE TO USE THE DYNEX REMOTE to control the volume everytime to increase the volume. If you do not do this you will hear engine whine and very low sound. So, jump in car. Place Iphone in dock. Grab remote. Increase volume. Select VTR from the sources on the AVN2454. Select the volume that you like. Listen to music from your iPhone via the Eclipse AVN2454. It works perfectly. No abnormal sounds.

Benefits:
5) No need to worry about the DLO transpod anymore.
6) I dont have to buy the AVN2454's remote since I can use the Dynex remote to play tracks.
7) You dont need to buy Apples Universal dock with remote at a cost of $99.
8) I dont have to burn a separate CDRW with MP3's on it anymore. I can just use my phone. This process usually took me an hour. Several minutes to erase CDRW. A long time to select tracks that I want on the CDRW from my huge library. Make sure that the tracks will fit into a 650meg CDRW. Burn.

9) Important benefit: Total cost of project: $55

Other ideas:
1) Use the DLO transpod or other FM transmitter and just get used to finding the right station to play music through.
2) Buy the DLO homedock delxue with remote ($150 retail). This is more than the real deal from Apple but someone from the scion forums said it works. But, the homedock deluxe will show the song title on the LCD screen in the car with a background color of your choice (so I have read). DLO | New HomeDock Deluxe

[iamguppie]

I don't have a Tundra (my Father does though!), or even a Toyota for that matter, but this looks like the best place to get my odd question answered! I am also one of the few that has found the Dynex 5 in 1 (w/remote) dock to be a good mobile dock for my iPhone... Right now the dock is the first component in my portable tailgating speaker system, which will be used with my iPhone for USF football games. So far the dock works great, as does the remote, but I obviously hit a bump when I tried to play video through it.

While I don't need video anytime soon, it would be nice to know it is available, so here is my question (sorry I babble a lot)...

Apparently the new firmware update for the iPhone (version 1.1.1) enables video out using Apple's component or composite cables, and maybe even with Apple's Universal Dock, which as you can see is extremely similar to our Dynex dock. I was curious if you had updated to this new firmware, and if so, have you tried the video out since?

In any other case I would simply upgrade to 1.1.1 and give it a try myself, but I recently installed some third-party applications, but they don't work on this new firmware and I'm not ready to part with them until someone fixes that problem.

If you can shed any light on this issue I'd really appreciate it if you'd share you're knowledge! If not, or if you are also curious and are in my situation, let me know and I will certainly let you know if I find the answer elsewhere! Thanks a lot for your time, cheers!

[iamguppie]

Hey! Just wanted to let you know that after reviewing the benefits of upgrading to the 1.1.1 firmware on the iPhone, I did it, and the video still doesn't work with the Dynex dock. Good news is that it will work with that Apple universal dock and the Apple component/Composite cables... Just a heads up if its any use to you! ...And I'd recommend the 1.1.1 update if you haven't done it yet, a list of its new features (some you might not realize) can be found here. Thanks again.