Apple Car Play - Pioneer head-unit - iPhone doesn't connect

[biondi]

Hi guys and girls,

I bought a car yesterday that has a Pioneer Avic-f70dab head-unit and have an iPhone 6S Plus. I've connected my phone via bluetooth to it with no problems. There are two USB cables from the head unit and I connect my phone to the USB1 (which according to other sources is the correct one for Car Play but I have tried both). The unit however doesn't seem to recognise my phone.

I've attached a photo (not sure why it's rotated left, looks ok on when I open on my desktop), you can see in the top left of the display a cross next to the phone icon, so I presume it can't see it. I've tried about 7 different cables and two iPhones.



Does anyone have any ideas? I was thinking maybe it was because I was using 'dodgy' iPhone cables but some of the ones I've tried are certified (apparently). Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Matt

[Craikeybaby]

Update software on your iPhone to the latest level.
Use an official Apple cable.
What does the CarPlay settings screen on your iPhone say?

[biondi]

Thanks for responding - I have the latest iOS version on my phone and under the CarPlay settings on the phone there are no options, it just looks for the Car. It won't find it as my head-unit isn't the wireless type, you plug it in to activate it.

[Blaster72]

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/use-a-toothpick-to-cle...

Looks unlikely since you've tried two different phones but you never know.

Also worth checking if the firmware on the headunit is up to date. I had pretty much the same headunit in my last car and that didn't have Carplay.

https://www.pioneer-car.eu/eur/products/avic-f70da...

[fredd1e]

Have you updated the software on the Pioneer? I think there might be an update available on the support website.

[AutoClouseau]

Had a similar issue a few years back when I had one, one of the settings in the menu was stopping it, I think it had been set up for a non Apple phone, so I reset back to factory settings and that seemed to work for me, so if you haven't already, then try that perhaps.
Updated to add, you can also update the firmware on the unit, download is on Pioneer-car-eu.

Edited by AutoClouseau on Monday 12th February 16:51

[biondi]

Hi,

Yep, so I have the latest software on my iPhone and I'm using an Apple certified cable (have tried about 8 different cables now, just in case!).

The Pioneer unit has the latest firmware (1.10) and is internally configured for a smartphone and Apple Car Play. I've also performed a full reset, just to make sure.

I've tried two different phones (iPhone 6S and a 6S Plus).

I think what could be telling here is that if I plug the phone into USB2 it charges the phone, if I plug it into USB1 (which is required for Car Play) - it doesn't. I'm assuming it should (but don't know for sure). So, I'm guessing I may need to replace the USB1 cable from the head unit. Now I just need to work out how to do that without breaking stuff and causing small fires.

M

[biondi]

Hi guys,

I just want to close this off in case anyone else has the same problem. The issue was with the cable from the head-unit, although it occasionally indicated it was getting power to the iPhone there was obviously some issue with it. I swapped it out and it now works fine.

Thanks,

Matt