Good afternoon!

I hope you had a great thanksgiving!

So I have noticed a trend that is pretty crappy. It seems that after each update, the reliability of the screen starts very high! And slowly over time gets more and more unreliable. The last update, which had me very excited! [the previous one I spoke of, before thanksgiving]. Would turn on over 95% of the time, with no issues. However, by the end of thanksgiving I was having to restart the vehicle more and more to get the screen to turn on once again.

I just installed the newest update I was sent on thanksgiving day, turned the vehicle on and had to restart it so the screen would appear. Everything else seems to function, but the reliability of the nav system turning on when the vehicle is started unfortunately still is not present.

Currently I am waiting for an update that will squash this reliability issue! I hope he has been able to fix your white lines problem and more

Also yes, I have occasionally had feedback noise, or other callers are able to hear my navigation system instructing me to make various turns. It appears this happens moreso when I am in a low cellular service area, I am unsure on this issue. However I do have it!

** Also I have just now purchased the Mpow Ground Loop Noise Isolator. Hopefully this will get rid of any and all feedback noise that happens while in carplay mode [this is particularly annoying during phone calls, as the stereo has to be turned up quite a bit to optimally hear the caller, which also increases the volume of the high pitched ringing noise, I am hopeful this will not distort lows as a few users on amazon have reported. We will find out!

 

Hi,
I have started my car about 10 times since flashing the last firmware update which I received the day before Thanksgiving. The first 3 times no problem, the next 3 had blank screens, the last 4 no problem. Makes no sense. The white line is gone but still have the temporary flickering screen.

I emailed Eric about the "echo issue". Here is his reply: "This is an iOS13 glitch as the Call Audio Routing to Bluetooth Headset is not working properly. When making/receiving calls, you will have to (until Apple fixes it) manually select the vehicle bluetooth from the phone." I haven't tried this yet. I don't get that many calls when driving anyway, so I'm going to let the callers deal with it until Apple provides a fix.

I'm assuming you told Eric of the deterioration of starting reliability. If the START->blank screen issue gets worse, I'll just go back to my standard ACC then Start procedure until the next firmware update comes out.

 

I have told Eric about this issue.

This is his latest response: "Thanks for the update. It seems like the newer updates have not been doing much for the black screen. Please give us a little more time for the next update as I will get into the details of what needs to be done to really fix this."

Appears we still have a ways to go, but it's still being worked on at least.

I have started doing ACC mode first and so far that has been helpful.

 

That's the exact quote he sent me in an email yesterday.

FYI, on the ACC mode, it seems to me I get the best results (almost always works) when I use this sequence: press/release ACC -> listen for 'pop' -> wait 15 seconds -> START. Sometimes you get the blank screen on ACC but then when you start you get the Nav screen. I chose 15 seconds because I felt that waiting less than that would give me more frequent blank screens.

I can only imagine the complexity in all this; however I'm ready for this to be done. I wonder if this is unique to the 2013-2015 RXs or if it extends to other years/models? Any idea?

 

I for one, became increasingly angry around the end of the first month. I purchased this unit for $499 the moment it was available. I understood going in that this is somewhat of an "early" buy and that it was possible a few kinks may have been present. However, I did not purchase a product that was in Alpha development, or Beta testing. This device was supposed to be plug and play ready. The first install took me a couple of hours as I had never taken apart my dash before. The second install, I was annoyed but surely this big update would solve the problems. The third install... Okay I am ripping the vehicle apart again!? By the fourth update I was pissed. I even emailed Eric, "This is getting ridiculous". I can now take everything apart in less than 15 minutes with confidence....

But, I am over it. Am I annoyed that we became beta testers for an unfinished product? Yes, because beta testers typically don't pay for unfinished products, and $499 + the hours I have invested to keep removing the video interface and reinstall it is feeling ridiculous. However, up to this point I am just ready for this to be over. I am ready for it to finally work, and I am glad I don't have to take the dash apart again and again since I just slide it out from behind the glove compartment box right now anyway. On the one hand I could commend Eric for pursuing the updates, but on the other hand, I would warn others to never purchase beatsonic products until other customers have confirmed 100% that it functions properly, or you might end up testing the product that you paid for regularly, to report back to the company so they can fix an unfinished device for you. --I thought maybe beatsonic would offer a refund, or some credit to their site [that I likely wouldn't use anyway] as a gesture of good will. A simple "Hey! Thank you for the months of testing that you did for us, we didn't anticipate it would be this complicated to resolve the issues coming out of the box, and appreciate your patience! Because of this we would like to extend to you $200 credit towards any beatsonic product or a $200 refund". Something that would make us probably feel pretty good!.

Regardless * Up to this point I am happy we are making progress, happy it only takes a handful of minutes to do the update, and I eagerly await the moment when I can comfortably rely on the video interface to properly work, and I no longer have to reset my vehicle on occasion. At that moment, anyone else who has waited on buying said product, would be making an excellent purchase.

I believe this issue is specific to our generation of Lexus RX 350s as well.

 

Hey,

I emailed eric for an update and thought you'd like to know whats going on on my end. This is what he sent.

"We secured a RX to work on to fix the black screen issue near the end of the month. Unfortunately the engineer got caught up with another project and will not be flying in to work on the vehicle but he will be helping me debug remotely. We're not sure how far we can get into fixing the issue but will do the best we can with this vehicle. Although not confirmed yet but we are expecting the engineer to fly in January and once he's here we're confident we can completely fix the issue.

I apologize for the delay and appreciate you sticking through with us. "

 

I received the same email just a little while ago. Must have been due to your prompting. Thanks!

 

Good afternoon!

Hope your holiday is going well ,

I wanted to reach out and ask if you had anymore updates on this? I emailed Eric a few nights ago with some general info I have gathered during my lengthy trips.

1. My screen turns on 100% of the time when I am on a roadtrip with the exception of the beginning. I.e, when the vehicle is warmed up, it seems that the screen is very reliable. If I stop at a gas station, gas up, it will turn on after gassing, I can then park, go in and use the utilities, go back to the car, and once again it will be on.

2. The factory bluetooth for calling is SIGNIFICANTLY better. In fact when I get a call or call someone, I will switch where the call is routed, to factory bluetooth. Not only is it crisper, clearer, and generally better. I have had people report to me that when we talk through carplay it almost sounds "windy" to them. Not only this but I have to turn the volume up so high to hear people through carplay I risk going deaf if I forget to turn it down prior to hanging up haha. So I also asked Eric if there was any way to make calls just route through the normal bluetooth system.. When I Swap it on my phone I can still hear apple/google maps, I can still see the call actively in apple carplay [and hangup/mute as needed]. And when the call ends it still automatically begins playing my music or podcast right where I left off per usual.

3. This sort of goes with one, but when it's cold outside it seems there is a significant chance the screen will not turn on at all. This seems common, when it's cold I often have to do multiple restarts [although I have started just letting the car warmup for a few minutes and that seems to do a better trick!].

Anyway, hope you are doing well! Just wanting to see if you have any news or how your experience is going .

 

Thanks for the update!

Strangely, I find my experience with the screen at startup exactly the opposite of yours!

I live in northern Maryland, so temps are getting down into the upper 20's many nights recently. I find the screen turns on 100% of the time first drive of the day. Where I am having issues is the third or 4th time I might start the car after I've been driving. For a while, it was every 4th time I started, but then recently it was the 3rd time. Go figure!

When you have a call come in, do you answer and then switch to factory bluetooth? I can't quite envision how you would do that, but perhaps I'm not thinking clearly

I did contact Eric a week or so ago and asked if he needed me to continue to update him with my experiences or just if something unusual happened. He said since they didn't have a vehicle yet to debug with , I could stop sending the info unless another anomaly show up.

 

Well hopefully we can get this sorted out soon after Christmas! I look forward to not worrying if my nave screen will not turn on when I am attempting to drive somewhere!

 

Hey!

Did the new "fix" work for you?
I think maybe I am fastening the cable down incorrectly but it is absolutely not solving the black screen issue for me.

 

I haven't been able to pull the radio to verify the cable. I just heard from Eric early this afternoon and won't be able to do this for a few days.

I have to say I'm a bit skeptical, but will give it a shot.

 

Yeah this fix doesn't make sense. I don't understand how the reliability patterns would change drastically after an update with a cable that apparently is so sensitive closing your door hard can cause it to be "loose". I taped the cable into it's socket [even though it feels firm and secure in it], tested multiple times and it seemed promising.... Only to go test it again a few hours later and see the black screen of death once again.

 

Update: Kept in close contact with Eric yesterday.

On the one hand: I put in more work then necessary. I removed the glove compartment to button all of those wires up [wrapped them all in cable sleeves bundled together etc.] and put the aux cable audio frequency thing on finally [holy cow it's a god send].

I will note that while the cable is obviously clipped in, it does seem to have a very subtle/minor give when lightly pulling on it. However, I tested this while turning the vehicle on, by physically holding the cable into place and starting the vehicle, and still resulted with the occasional black screen. Eliminating in my mind that the connection point in question is not my culprit.

I went behind the stereo a second time [not to hard, 2 panels +4 bolts and no need to disconnect battery]. I used electrical tape to fasten the cable in question down tightly and generously. After putting it back together is appeared to work, however, an hour later doing another test yielded a black screen. Eric seems adamant the cable is the culprit though, and suggested I go behind the monitor as well to make sure the cable is secure in that location as well, and that the adapter is secure to the factory cable. So sometime this week I plan on going back there, removing the cable from the bundling [it's taped and sleeved with other cables], and taping the cable in question up the back/side of the stereo so it has no room to flex near the connection point. I think will tape down every other location it could flex and hope for the best.

I look forward to hearing results you may have! This is frustrating but I am still hopeful this is the answer.

I also tested the connection point in question by firmly holding the cable in it's place and starting ACC mode or the entire vehicle. The results yielded normal, as the screen still came up black. This to me eliminates the possibility that it is the connection point, so I am hopeful one of the other points I did not look at is the culprit [aka behind the monitor or adapter].

 

I haven’t worked on this yet, but my opinion is that if the cable is a problem, whether it’s a connector or not, they should be supplying us with new cables with better connectors, even if they have to buy the connectors from Lexus.