I just installed a Viastech SLI and an Ultimate Lockpick..
01-20-07, 05:41 PM
#1
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
I just installed a Viastech SLI and an Ultimate Lockpick..*PICS*
Car: 2004.5 LS430 with NAV/Mark Levinson
Ipod: 5th Gen 80GB Video Ipod
I hated the fact that the 6 disc changer wouldn't read mp3's, so I begrudgingly bought an IPOD to interface with the factory head unit. Removal of the factory radio with changer was easy. There are other threads on here for the exact procedure for both the lockpick and the Vaistech SLI, so I won't get into that here. I will, however, answer any questions people might have about either of these units.
My initial plan was to place the iPOD inside the drawer that retracts on the dash, but I didn't want to drill any holes in case I wanted to use it in the future. I ended up mounting the iPOD in the glovebox (pics to follow).
Vaistech quick impressions:
1. It sounds great, just like line level inputs should.
2. The delay switching between folders is very quick, like maybe 2 seconds at the most. The delay switching from song to song is about the same, maybe a tick faster.
3. It will display the folder name and song title. In my experience the name doesn't scroll at all; if it's longer than the screen the end will be chopped off.
4. I'm using it in MD mode, so the first 12 playlists you will have direct access to. If you have 99 playlists and you're on folder 5, you can "down arrow" and back around to playlist 99. I will update this thread once I had more than 99 playlists, as there's a playlist on my iPOD by default that shows up last- it's "On the Go".
5. I placed the unit itself underneath the passenger panel below the glovebox. There's plenty of room, and if I ever need to access it it's real easy to get to. I didn't even need to use velcro or anything.
6. To install this unit, you do NOT have to remove the NAV screen. It plugs in directly inline with the CD Changer.
7. You do NOT lose CD changer ability; it works in tandem with the factory CD Changer.
8. It does resume songs when you leave the car and get back in.
9. Overall, the product was ordered and arrived within 3 business days. The directions are quite simple to get it into MD mode.
I'm very impressed with this piece and I will add to this thread if anything changes! It's so nice to have my 40GB's of music with me once again, and I'm one who has a 100GB music keg in another car.
Overall Grade: Solid A (Would be A+ if it switched folders / songs quicker)
Ultimate Lockpick
This one is made to remove the "I agree" screen (The Viastech one might as well, but I've heard this one is faster at doing it so I let the lockpick do it).
This will allow full Navigation access while in motion, this will also allow full Bluetooth and add a composite video (Yellow cable) plus a set of stereo RCA jacks for audio input as well.
1. You will need to remove the entire NAV unit in order for this to work. Do not attempt this if you aren't using a magnetized screwdriver and a 8mm socket as there's 2 screws on each side that easily drop when you remove them. I had to fish them back out with a magnetic bolt finder when I dropped a couple of mine, and it was a pain in the butt.
2. This plugs inline into the factory NAV plug on the right side (from the driver's perspective) and has a series of blue wires that appear to lead to some set of capacitors / eproms that run scripts for you. More on that later. I wasn't careful when I put the head unit back in the first time and one of the wires caught one of the posts that held the post for the factory screws. Of course I blew a fuse (It's a 7.5 amp that's in the middle of the passenger kick panel). I ended up using some black electrical tape around the entire Lockpick plug to prevent this in the future.
3. First of all, once installed, the "I agree" screen lasts for about 3 seconds and automatically goes away. This part has "fired" every time and works perfectly.
4. The Bluetooth phone part works every time as well; it's nice to be able to call people without being parked or rolling very slowly.
5. The NAV portion? Here's where I wish it were different. EVERY TIME you start the car and you want input addresses and use the NAV just like sitting still, you have to manually hit the "destination" button and then a "bullseye" on the top left portion of the screen. This runs a manual script that disables the factory "greyed out" menus. I think there's a way to do this manually already. The biggest bummer about this is you have to do it every time you start the car, but at least you can do it while in motion. The script takes about 8 to 10 seconds to run, and I would've preferred it to be automatic instead of manual. After all, if you're buying a Lockpick I would assume for $300 you want access to everything.
Still, it's much easier than having to pull over, and you can trigger the script anytime you want without having to pull over.
Overall grade B. This is due to my having to manually execute the NAV script with two button pushes.
I'll get some pics if I can up here. This is how this car should've been all along!
Ipod: 5th Gen 80GB Video Ipod
I hated the fact that the 6 disc changer wouldn't read mp3's, so I begrudgingly bought an IPOD to interface with the factory head unit. Removal of the factory radio with changer was easy. There are other threads on here for the exact procedure for both the lockpick and the Vaistech SLI, so I won't get into that here. I will, however, answer any questions people might have about either of these units.
My initial plan was to place the iPOD inside the drawer that retracts on the dash, but I didn't want to drill any holes in case I wanted to use it in the future. I ended up mounting the iPOD in the glovebox (pics to follow).
Vaistech quick impressions:
1. It sounds great, just like line level inputs should.
2. The delay switching between folders is very quick, like maybe 2 seconds at the most. The delay switching from song to song is about the same, maybe a tick faster.
3. It will display the folder name and song title. In my experience the name doesn't scroll at all; if it's longer than the screen the end will be chopped off.
4. I'm using it in MD mode, so the first 12 playlists you will have direct access to. If you have 99 playlists and you're on folder 5, you can "down arrow" and back around to playlist 99. I will update this thread once I had more than 99 playlists, as there's a playlist on my iPOD by default that shows up last- it's "On the Go".
5. I placed the unit itself underneath the passenger panel below the glovebox. There's plenty of room, and if I ever need to access it it's real easy to get to. I didn't even need to use velcro or anything.
6. To install this unit, you do NOT have to remove the NAV screen. It plugs in directly inline with the CD Changer.
7. You do NOT lose CD changer ability; it works in tandem with the factory CD Changer.
8. It does resume songs when you leave the car and get back in.
9. Overall, the product was ordered and arrived within 3 business days. The directions are quite simple to get it into MD mode.
I'm very impressed with this piece and I will add to this thread if anything changes! It's so nice to have my 40GB's of music with me once again, and I'm one who has a 100GB music keg in another car.
Overall Grade: Solid A (Would be A+ if it switched folders / songs quicker)
Ultimate Lockpick
This one is made to remove the "I agree" screen (The Viastech one might as well, but I've heard this one is faster at doing it so I let the lockpick do it).
This will allow full Navigation access while in motion, this will also allow full Bluetooth and add a composite video (Yellow cable) plus a set of stereo RCA jacks for audio input as well.
1. You will need to remove the entire NAV unit in order for this to work. Do not attempt this if you aren't using a magnetized screwdriver and a 8mm socket as there's 2 screws on each side that easily drop when you remove them. I had to fish them back out with a magnetic bolt finder when I dropped a couple of mine, and it was a pain in the butt.
2. This plugs inline into the factory NAV plug on the right side (from the driver's perspective) and has a series of blue wires that appear to lead to some set of capacitors / eproms that run scripts for you. More on that later. I wasn't careful when I put the head unit back in the first time and one of the wires caught one of the posts that held the post for the factory screws. Of course I blew a fuse (It's a 7.5 amp that's in the middle of the passenger kick panel). I ended up using some black electrical tape around the entire Lockpick plug to prevent this in the future.
3. First of all, once installed, the "I agree" screen lasts for about 3 seconds and automatically goes away. This part has "fired" every time and works perfectly.
4. The Bluetooth phone part works every time as well; it's nice to be able to call people without being parked or rolling very slowly.
5. The NAV portion? Here's where I wish it were different. EVERY TIME you start the car and you want input addresses and use the NAV just like sitting still, you have to manually hit the "destination" button and then a "bullseye" on the top left portion of the screen. This runs a manual script that disables the factory "greyed out" menus. I think there's a way to do this manually already. The biggest bummer about this is you have to do it every time you start the car, but at least you can do it while in motion. The script takes about 8 to 10 seconds to run, and I would've preferred it to be automatic instead of manual. After all, if you're buying a Lockpick I would assume for $300 you want access to everything.
Still, it's much easier than having to pull over, and you can trigger the script anytime you want without having to pull over.
Overall grade B. This is due to my having to manually execute the NAV script with two button pushes.
I'll get some pics if I can up here. This is how this car should've been all along!
Last edited by sparky3; 01-21-07 at 09:10 PM.
01-20-07, 05:57 PM
#2
Lead Lap
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Florida
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Hey this is great info. Thank you so much for sharing. I am very interested in the lockpick.
Have you tried using an external vedio source yet?
Please keep us updated and pictures would be great when you can.
Jerry
Have you tried using an external vedio source yet?
Please keep us updated and pictures would be great when you can.
Jerry
01-21-07, 03:36 PM
#4
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
Day 2 - Further impressions of the Viastech SLI
I learned something new today - one can hit "DISC RAND" and toggle between artist, album, and song title. What is sweet is that mode is retained once you shut the car off!
Another thing that is great is the fact there is NO GAP in between songs. NADA. Zilch.
So far so good - I'd love to see even further IPOD integration with the ability to search from the NAV screen!
I learned something new today - one can hit "DISC RAND" and toggle between artist, album, and song title. What is sweet is that mode is retained once you shut the car off!
Another thing that is great is the fact there is NO GAP in between songs. NADA. Zilch.
So far so good - I'd love to see even further IPOD integration with the ability to search from the NAV screen!
01-21-07, 08:29 PM
#5
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
And now some pics...
Here's the Ipod in the glove compartment. Sorry about the fingerprints! It's wedged in there enough that it'd never move while driving, but I can still pull it out to update it.
If you pop out the shelving in the glove compartment, you'll notice an access panel for the cabin filter. Right above the filter is a small slot that I wiggled the Vaistech Ipod cable through (I used a screwdriver to temporarily make the hold wide enough to fit through). I can still re-fit the shelving without any problems, and IMO it's a good place for the Ipod. I titled the Ipod over for the sake of this picture. You could face the ipod the other way if you're concerned about your friends finding it and borrowing it - it's barely noticeable in there!
This is the default mode of the Vaistech, which displays Title and Song Name. The next two pictures are after I've hit the "Disc Rand" button
Notice the display has now switched from "Song Name" to "Artist Name"
Notice the display has now switched from "Artist Name" to "Album Name"
This is what it looks like on Playlist 5 with Titles off.
This is what it looks like on Playlist 13 with Titles off.
This last part is something I'm going to re-implement with all my songs. There's a program out there that's free named EPHPOD (http://www.ephpod.com/) that works about 100 times better than Itunes. It has an option that allows you to add the year of the song automatically to the title, which will display above on your Ipod (character limited, of course).
Anyway, if anyone has any questions feel free to shoot me a PM or post a reply. I'm very impressed by this VAIStech unit!
Last edited by sparky3; 01-21-07 at 08:40 PM.
02-01-07, 11:15 AM
#6
This lockpick module unlocks buttons, and integrates video & sound? Sounds almost to good to be true for $230! I want this for my 01 but the website says it will only work with 04+ 
02-04-07, 10:21 PM
#7
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)
Sparky, just wanted to thank you for posting this review. I had both the lockpick and sli installed (plus valentine one hardwired to mirror power) yesterday on my 05 Ultra, works great!
Trending Topics
02-06-07, 07:57 PM
#9
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)
03-18-07, 06:17 PM
#10
There is a version for the 01 of Vais, I was going to hold off but I guess that is the next mod. Now lock pic...the 2001 does not have blue tooth that stinks, I wonder what the first year of bluwtooth was in the LS? I am trying to decide between 20's or the Vais on which to do next. I have a Harley that I am modding as well so I have to watch how much I mod before the wife notices. She already had some questions on the LSPortline exhaust that I installed on Fri night.
Last edited by Roc3b; 03-27-07 at 07:30 AM.
04-13-07, 03:41 PM
#12
Are these the ones you want?
Mike
http://www.vaistech.com/
http://www.coastaletech.com/LOCKPICK_MAIN.htm
Mike
http://www.vaistech.com/
http://www.coastaletech.com/LOCKPICK_MAIN.htm
04-17-07, 11:57 AM
#13
I installed the SLI ipod into my 2004 LS430 yesterday.
I'm not particularly engineering-inclined but I did the install myself and apart from not having a metric socket set for the 10mm bolts (a quick trip to Home Depot fixed that) it went relatively smoothly.
I wanted to do it myself so I could do any subsequent updates and I would be responsible for any wear and tear plus I am impatient and didn't want to wait for an appointment and lose my car for a day. Since I had to buy the metric socket set ($30) I probably didn't save much money but I am still glad I did it myself.
Getting the dash out wasn't too bad, Lexus wiring connectors were a little tight but it wasn't as bad as I had feared.
Getting the VAIS unit hooked up was easy once I understood there was an extra cable in the kit (effectively an extension cable to the SLI unit). I ran the ipod connector to the glove box (just like Sparky3) but I left the SLI unit behind the dash because I couldn't get the larger VAIS connector through the gap behind the stereo to the glove box. It now sits in the well just behind and below the seat heater control panel so it's easy to get to if I have to upgrade etc.
Construction of the unit seems very good - getting everything back together and wedged in put quite a bit of tension on the connectors but there were no ill effects (thankfully).
My unit came with the Agree button disabled by default so I needed to change that - took a few minutes to realize that the "Scan" button you need to press 8 times was the *soft* button on the screen not the *hard* button on the head unit. D'Oh.
Unit worked as advertised - sound quality is *excellent* compared to my old tape adapter and I love having the song title displayed.
Finding songs isn't as easy as on the ipod since there is no song list to browse but with better organized playlists I am sure it will be fine. Obviously using the touchscreen/steering wheel controls is much better (and safer) than using the ipod wheel itself while driving.
The unit pauses properly when a phone call comes in and resumes after the call, something I really missed with the tape adapter solution since I listen to a lot of spoken word content.
Only issues I have found:-
1) FF and REW (scroll up and down) seem temperamental - sometimes they work with one touch, sometimes you need to hold them, sometimes they don't respond at all. Still trying to work this out - might be pilot error.
2) After a night in the garage the ipod was in power saving mode and needed a couple of minutes to wake up and then it started on Disk 1 Track 1.
Overall this is a B+ and worth it just for the sound quality alone.
Hopefully issues 1 and 2 will get resolved with firmware updates for ipod and/or SLI and then it is an A-, only losing a little due to the need to organize playlists (which is an MD-emulation limit rather than a VAIS problem).
Highly recommended.
I'm not particularly engineering-inclined but I did the install myself and apart from not having a metric socket set for the 10mm bolts (a quick trip to Home Depot fixed that) it went relatively smoothly.
I wanted to do it myself so I could do any subsequent updates and I would be responsible for any wear and tear plus I am impatient and didn't want to wait for an appointment and lose my car for a day. Since I had to buy the metric socket set ($30) I probably didn't save much money but I am still glad I did it myself.
Getting the dash out wasn't too bad, Lexus wiring connectors were a little tight but it wasn't as bad as I had feared.
Getting the VAIS unit hooked up was easy once I understood there was an extra cable in the kit (effectively an extension cable to the SLI unit). I ran the ipod connector to the glove box (just like Sparky3) but I left the SLI unit behind the dash because I couldn't get the larger VAIS connector through the gap behind the stereo to the glove box. It now sits in the well just behind and below the seat heater control panel so it's easy to get to if I have to upgrade etc.
Construction of the unit seems very good - getting everything back together and wedged in put quite a bit of tension on the connectors but there were no ill effects (thankfully).
My unit came with the Agree button disabled by default so I needed to change that - took a few minutes to realize that the "Scan" button you need to press 8 times was the *soft* button on the screen not the *hard* button on the head unit. D'Oh.
Unit worked as advertised - sound quality is *excellent* compared to my old tape adapter and I love having the song title displayed.
Finding songs isn't as easy as on the ipod since there is no song list to browse but with better organized playlists I am sure it will be fine. Obviously using the touchscreen/steering wheel controls is much better (and safer) than using the ipod wheel itself while driving.
The unit pauses properly when a phone call comes in and resumes after the call, something I really missed with the tape adapter solution since I listen to a lot of spoken word content.
Only issues I have found:-
1) FF and REW (scroll up and down) seem temperamental - sometimes they work with one touch, sometimes you need to hold them, sometimes they don't respond at all. Still trying to work this out - might be pilot error.
2) After a night in the garage the ipod was in power saving mode and needed a couple of minutes to wake up and then it started on Disk 1 Track 1.
Overall this is a B+ and worth it just for the sound quality alone.
Hopefully issues 1 and 2 will get resolved with firmware updates for ipod and/or SLI and then it is an A-, only losing a little due to the need to organize playlists (which is an MD-emulation limit rather than a VAIS problem).
Highly recommended.
Last edited by Mandingo; 04-17-07 at 12:40 PM.
04-17-07, 01:47 PM
#14
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
[QUOTE=Mandingo;2558099]
2) After a night in the garage the ipod was in power saving mode and needed a couple of minutes to wake up and then it started on Disk 1 Track 1.
QUOTE]
Let me guess, 5th gen "video" Ipod? You know what I've found for the workaround for this? I switch it over to another source before I get out of the car (AM/FM, etc). Then, even 3-4 days later I start the car back up, and toggle over to the "MD" input and it resumes right where I left off. Obviously this isn't a perfect solution, but better than nothing.
Shawn
2) After a night in the garage the ipod was in power saving mode and needed a couple of minutes to wake up and then it started on Disk 1 Track 1.
QUOTE]
Let me guess, 5th gen "video" Ipod? You know what I've found for the workaround for this? I switch it over to another source before I get out of the car (AM/FM, etc). Then, even 3-4 days later I start the car back up, and toggle over to the "MD" input and it resumes right where I left off. Obviously this isn't a perfect solution, but better than nothing.
Shawn
04-17-07, 02:00 PM
#15
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)
I'm using mine with a 4gb Ipod Mini right now and don't have the #2 power standby problem