saz25

Hi,
I have a new (2 weeks old) RX350. When I first got the car, I connected my iPhone via USB and I was able to access my artists/albums/songs, etc. I think I used it for a day or so. Now after a couple weeks, I am unable to get it to recognize my iPhone as an iPod player.

The Bluetooth works as does Bluetooth audio. I tried dis-connecting and reconnecting the cable. And, yes, its the original cable that came with the iPhone, which is the 4S (newest) model.

I even tried the settings menu, but iPod is grayed out even though it is connected.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

DunWkg

First, I'd try resetting the phone. The maneuver where you hold the Home and Power buttons until the silver apple shows up and then let go. Resetting, hard restarting, whatever that's called.

BertL

I don't have this problem in my 2013 with an iPhone 4. You're using an original cable and supported phone, so that's not the problem as it has been for some. DunWkg's suggestion of course is a good one. Just to rule it out, try a couple of things:
1) Use the same cable and phone with your Mac/PC to be sure it connects and there is not some cable or connector problem into your iPhone. (I had a similar occasional failure with my iPhone and BMW a few years back -- issue ended up being a bad BMW cable that probably was internally broken from too tight of bend near the connector where the console lid squished it. (They use a proprietary $150 connector vs the white Apple ones.) I replaced the cable and worked fine most of the time but found the physical connection to my iPhone had also become very loose compared to others, so that could have been a problem for me as well.
2) Rip a song onto a USB memory stick and put that in to see if your truck finds it. That would prove if the problem is with the truck/USB or external from it to your iPhone cable/iPhone

Then, if both of those work, time to take it in for service. Good luck!

saz25

Yes, I am using the original Apple cable. Yesterday I power-cycled the iPhone and then it connected to the RX. NOt sure why I had to do that. It had been working a few days earlier.

I have only had the car for a little more than a week. I haven't read the entire manual yet. Its only 1000 pages. <grin>

Does using the Bluetooth on a device such as iPhone interfere with using the same iPhone (at the same time) as a directly connected media player?

One of the options I see on the Nav screen is "BT Audio". Bluetooth Audio. Does that cause interference with direct USB/iPhone audio?

Thanks again,
Steve

saz25

Hi,
I think I answered my own question, by RTFM.

It says "An iPhone cannot be connected via
Bluetooth® and USB connection at the
same time. However, it is possible to
recharge an iPhone while using Apps by
connecting via USB. The system uses the
connection method that was used last.
Therefore, if connected via USB after
Bluetooth® connection, it is necessary to
reconnect the iPhone via Bluetooth"

What I'm thinking of doing is to connect my iPod Touch via USB and just leave it in the console permanently. I really don't use the iPod Touch that much anymore since I got the iPhone 4S last year. They both have the same music library (approx. 20GB of songs) on them. I'll try it tonight. That way I can use my iPhone with its Bluetooth connection for phone calls and at the same time having access to my music library via the iPod Touch.

Steve

BertL

...only thing I can say about resetting your iPhone is to be sure you're at the latest iOS level -- 5.1.1 (for now, until iOS 6 comes out later this month). Needing to do occasionally that isn't unique to your phone being connected to the Lexus -- every few months it seems, something will happen and I need to reset it -- having nothing to do with my cars. I had bigger problems with my two BT earpieces forcing me to reset my iPhone and the earpieces every few days and gave up on those a long time ago. Resetting your iPhone is no different than say whalloping CTRL-ALT-DEL in the Windows world, and I used to do that a lot.

The truck won't let you have both BT Audio (which is "BT wireless streaming" to use a more generic term) running at the same time as a hardwired USB device -- nor can you play FM, a CD, AM, etc at the same time as something else. I can switch from BT Audio to hardwired BT USB with my iPhone, but honestly don't know why I would ever want to do that in a single session inside my truck. (FYI, I tried all that when I bought my RX, but keep a iPod Classic plugged in 100% of the time so my iPhone stays in my pocket.) The things you need to try when you are in an experimental mood, so you know how the iPhone and Lexus implementation works is:
- Run BT Audio, Receive & Answer a Call, Hangup, go back to BT Audio
- Run USB Audio, Receive & Answer a Call, Hangup, go back to USB Audio
- Run BT Audio, Place an Outbound Call, Hangup, go back to BT Audio
- Run USB Audio, Place and Outbound Call, Hangup, go back to USB Audio
I suggest that as some people don't like the way things work (or don't, depending on one's expectations) with the truck (and phone) restarting where a song left off or not. Personally, none of that bothers me -- It's all just fine for me, but you'd be surprised at some of the flames from others in other threads. For whatever reason, I see more threads here on iPhone interface than Android, but I honestly believe that's because Apple customers expect perfection, as do most Lexus customers -- when the two are put together, well, it gets folks going.

Good luck. Enjoy that new ride of yours!

TexasRxh

Another interesting wrinkle that I thought was a bug at first: I was listenning to Pandora via BT Audio and my iPhone 4S battery was getting low. I naturally thought I'd just charge it using the USB port/cable without needing to get out the actual charger. Well, the phone began charging but the audio quit. I was ready to put this on the "bug" list for my 5K service when it dawned on me that connecting the phone via USB cable now switched it from BT Audio to iPod. I guess it makes sense but it was not intuitively obvious at first...took me a few days for the Aha moment.

saz25

Hi,
Does the 2013 RX not support the iPod Touch as a media player?
The latest rev of software, which I have, according to iTunes is 4.2.1

Shouldn't I be able to plug the iPod Touch via USB in the console and use that to play music and also have my iPhone in my pocket connected via Bluetooth?

Has anyone else tried this?

I did and it didn't recognize the iPod Touch.
Thanks,
Steve

BertL

P304 of the manual would seem to indicate iPod Touch gens 1-4 are supported, but note the caveats that support is all on Lexus (not Apple) if one runs into problems.

I have an iPod Classic connected via a real Apple cable to the USB port in my 2013 RX450h with ML and Nav (but doubt that makes a difference in support of devices in question here), can have the iPod playing music, and place a call via BT on my iPhone 4 without problem. Be sure you've got an Apple cable, not a knockoff, the connection to your Touch is solid as a rock (not wiggly and possibly with an intermittent connection) and you have the latest iOS running on your iPhone. I'd also try the USB memory stick test I suggested above to help diagnose where the issue is if I were having your problem. If you're golden on all that, worth adding to your list when you go in for the next service.

joeh80

I have driven a 2012 RX for about 7 months now and have an Iphone 4S. If you search the ES350 forums and even the Toyota forums you will find that Toyota and Lexus both have issues with the Iphone on vehicles that have navigation. My biggest problem has been the complete erasure of all my contacts and speed dials on the vehicle when the iphone connects to the vehicle. This has happened 4 times since I have owned the vehicle. It's not that hard to import the contacts but every speed dial must be manually reset. One thing you should never do is power on the iphone after the car has started or try to make a call while it is connecting to the car. I can almost guarantee you will loose your contacts and have to reconnect the phone to the car. I connect my phone through bluetooth and play music from an Ipod connected to the USB. I am taking the car in tomorrow for service and I will talk to he dealer but I am sure they will blame the phone.

DunWkg

Steve,

Have you tried separately first to make sure they work as individuals first?

From the manual:

In a '10-12 RXh, I have a phone plugged in 24/7 USB and use an iPhone bluetooth all the time, no problem. The '13s maybe different.

TxTarheel

Any idea if the new iPhone 5 and/or iOS6 will work seamlessly with the system? Wife just order the new phone today and hopefully it will work OK for her.

BertL

I doubt there is any way anyone could answer that as no one has an iPhone 5 yet, and iOS 6 does not come out until next Wednesday except for developers and they are under non-disclosure I believe until GA.

Technically, an iPhone 4S isn't in the list of supported phones when you look close at the 2013 manuals, but we know that works, and the iPhone 5 certainly isn't supported at present, so we won't be able to complain as firmly if there are issues for the time being. Lexus Mobile Link however, does show the 4S as being supported, but I believe it's way to early to expect Toyota/Lexus to have done the testing on the 5 yet. I don't expect a problem from what I've read, as no critical functionality has regressed from the iPhone 4 & 4S that is used to connect with the truck, but as long as the iPhone 5 isn't listed in the manuals or on Lexus Mobile Link as being supported, we're a bit on our own until then. I have a 9/21 iPhone 5 delivery date (yes, was one of the crazy ones up at midnight to order a replacement for my aging iPhone 4), and already had planned to post once it arrives and I try out the various combinations unless someone beats me to the punch.

TxTarheel

Thanks for the reply BertL. I was thinking that maybe someone who had a 2012 (or 2011?) might have had expereince upgrading to the iPhone 4S (or Iphone 4?). For instance I know the 4S had a new operating system when it was introduced last fall and I was wondering if someone who had 2012 saw any problems with they tried to link with their NAV system. Of course the NAV sysem may have been completely different and the question is moot. Was just curious if previous iPhone upgrade expereinces were painless of a PITA. Like you we will find out for sure in about a week I guess. Do they ever offer firmware upgrades to these systems, other than the new maps of course? It should be easy to do since they have a USB interface.

kitlz

There was a firmware update to address the iPod scrolling issue on the '10s. That was to stop the first song on top of list from playing while scrolling. Might be time to dig up the thread about figuring out which version everyone has to see any correlation though I doubt there is any.

BertL, was that 12:00 AM Pacific or Eastern, LOL. I'll be curious to see how you make out with the new iPhone. Thanks for potentially being the guinea pig. Full report expected by the 22nd