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iPod 5.5 and my car kit

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chileboy:
I have a Gen 5.5 iPod Video which I upgraded to 240GB.  Around the same time, I installed in my car a Parrot MKi9200: http://www.parrot.com/catalog/products/parrot-mki9200/.  I recently started spending an inordinate amount of time commuting, so I wanted a way of listening to high-quality music while doing so.

My intent all along was to use Rockbox - partly because I rip everything from my original CDs to .flac files (hence my desire for the 240GB), but also due to its superiority to the OF.

I saw here that Rockbox works with a number of car audio systems, so I was hopeful that it would work with the Parrot, but it does not.  On the Parrot screen, for several seconds it displays "opening iPod", then "error: unsupported iPod/software" or something similar.

I am using the latest build (as of today) - obviously some changes have happened since 3.6, because with that version I got no message at all from the Parrot.

I tried every combination in Settings of Car Adaptor Mode, Accessory Power Supply, USB HID, etc., with the same result.

I was looking for some direction as to what I could try to get this working.  I browsed the forums quite a bit before posting, in particular I read with interest the thread about getting the iPod to load as a USB drive, but that isn't exactly what I'm trying to do and, as someone else pointed out, I could simply plug in an external USB drive for that purpose.  But the DAC in the iPod + Rockbox is noticeably better than that in the Parrot, and, anyway, as I said I really want to use Rockbox.

I'm not a developer, but I'm not unfamiliar with mucking around with this sort of thing either, and if someone can help me get started I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

saratoga:

--- Quote from: chileboy on October 13, 2010, 03:24:46 PM ---I'm not a developer, but I'm not unfamiliar with mucking around with this sort of thing either, and if someone can help me get started I would greatly appreciate it.

--- End quote ---

It sounds like your device uses some protocol rockbox doesn't support.  Short of reverse engineering whatever it expects and then implementing support for it, theres probably nothing you can do. 

chileboy:

--- Quote from: saratoga on October 13, 2010, 03:44:27 PM ---It sounds like your device uses some protocol rockbox doesn't support.  Short of reverse engineering whatever it expects and then implementing support for it, theres probably nothing you can do. 

--- End quote ---
Thanks for the response.

I guess I'm not understanding something.  Wouldn't all devices have to adhere to the same protocol?  I mean, I'd think everything would expect the data to be presented via a standard format, otherwise how could the devices talk to each other?

torne:
There is more than one standard protocol (I think three?); Apple defined new ones with later iPod models to allow accessories/docks to do more complicated stuff.

Rockbox doesn't implement the one that your device is trying to use. None of the protocols are publicly documented, you have to pay Apple for them and agree to keep them secret.

chileboy:
OK, that makes sense.  My iPod is an older model though, you would think it uses one of the older, compatible protocols.

Parrot releases new firmware for their unit on a fairly regular basis, maybe a future release will talk to Rockbox.

In the meantime, I guess I will use ALAC and iTunes to manage my music, and remove the database.ignore in the Apple folder.  Then I can still use Rockbox and just boot to the OF when I'm in the car.  Not a great solution, but it will work for now.

I'm disappointed!  :'(

Thanks very much to both of you for your input.

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