truemagellen

but you can buy the PIE from thew soon he told me

thew

If you want the Pie adapter to work you must have firmware ver 9.55 and above. So if yours is 9.55 then the Firmware upgrade to 9.67 will not really do anything that you will notice.

thew

Yes i am working on Getting the Pie stuff for the RX8 I will be putting a package of a/v stuff together.

When I get the word from Pie.. I will let you know

truemagellen

hey don't forget you NEED 9.67 for the satellite radio from Mazda...wont work on 9.55

harwax

pardon my ignorance. I got delivery of my rx-8 in september 2003. my navigation system "experienced" a software failure about 2 months ago and mazda re-installed software with version U9.136 2003.7. I now have mazda logo on start-up, split screen, easier input,etc. Will your upgrade benefit me and if so, how? I am not sure what a headunit is, or how to tell my version.

thanks

thew

You have the new DVD Nav firmware if you see the Mazda start up screen .. so not for that.. but you will I bet still have the older firmware in your HU. Head Unit is Your Radio Brain. IF you want to add an Aux line level input to your Sound system then you will need the HU upgrade. Also it will allow the HU to talk to an I pod and other such devices while retaining the control via your Steering wheel. Push your Text button and then while holding it in hold down the #1 preset on your radio. (with the Key on) . This will tell you what ver firmware your Hu is running.

If you are not planning on adding any external inputs then you wont really need to upgrade your HU.

Let me Know if that answers your questions

thew

I have copied the HU ver list from the Pie Thread to the top of this Thread.
Please help me keep this up to date.

thew

Note: This Service will be unavailable after the 5th of November until December some time. At that point things may change so if you want this done try to get them to me this month. (October)

Rez

I wanted to post a big thank you to thew. Today I received a shipment that had the HU and NAV units he was able to upgrade for me, I reinstalled them back in the car and am very pleased with the upgrade.

Thew was responsive to my emails during the process and kept me well informed at each step. I'd highly recommend this service for anyone that needs or just wants these updates.

slavearm

Hey Thew,

Can I drive up on a weekday or weekend and just do the upgrade on the spot? I work in LA so it's not that far of a trip.

Thanks,

Slavearm

thew

I will pm you

flyboyindy

Thanks Matt..=) The upgrade and turnaround time was INCREDIBLE =)

truemagellen

hey flyboy you hooked up the PIE yet?

flyboyindy

Nope... waiting on the PIE to arrive on tuesday =) Im pumped...

truemagellen

your almost there bud

thew

YEE haw.. one more 8 with Great Sound ....

Brad Theurer

A BIG thanks to thew for doing my HU upgrade... everything worked out great and I'm now ready to get Alpine MP3 CD changer + some PIE stuff (MAZ/PC-ALP especially) to hook up to it, plus eventual satellite radio capability. What has everybody heard about if/when the Mazda satellite radio module is coming out? Worth waiting for that vs. getting something now (with appropriate adapters/splitters)?

thew

You are so welcome..

imo I would not wait. but Mazda does say sometime next year. But, I think it will use the same plug as the Pie unit does .. so I would got that way for more options.

did you get the prices i sent ?

truemagellen

thew I think you and I can pressure PIE to make a box that allows switching of inputs into the PIE and or EX 1, if that is needed for sat radio

Brad Theurer

truemagellan - doesn't PIE already do something like that? I see a part ALP/AI-AUX available that allows both RCA input (sat radio, ipod, etc) AND keep an alpine cd changer hooked up directly as well. When I am ready to get sat radio that's the part I will probably get. There are other similar switchers available for other than Alpine (Sony, JVC, etc.)

thew

yes.. they do
ALP/AI-AUX

THE ALP/AI-AUX AUXILIARY INPUT/CD CHANGER SWITCHER IS DESIGNED FOR USE WITH AFTERMARKET ALPINE AI-SERIES PRODUCTS. THE ALP/AI-AUX IS PLACED IN SERIES BETWEEN AN ALPINE AI-NET CONTROLLER AND SLAVE UNIT. THE ALP/AI-AUX ALLOWS CONTROL OF THE AI-NET SLAVE UNIT WHILE ADDING THE CAPABILITY OF INSTALLING A VARIETY OF PROGRAM SOURCES TO THE ALPINE CONTROLLER WITHOUT FM MODULATION, RESULTING IN OPTIMUM SOUND QUALITY. ADD AUXILIARY DEVICES, INCLUDING; DIGITAL SATELLITE RECEIVER; DVD PLAYER, VCR/VCP; PLAYSTATION, MP3 PLAYER PORTABLE MINIDISC; PORTABLE CD; PORTABLE DVD W/BUILT-IN MONITOR.

(AUXILIARY DEVICES WITH 3.5 MM AUDIO OUTPUT MUST USE PIE PART # 3.5-RCA6MM TO CONVERT THE 3.5MM STEREO JACK TO RCA)



ALP/AI-RCA

FEATURES: THE ALP/AI-RCA IS DESIGNED TO CONVERT THE AI-NET CD-CHANGER PORT OF SELECTED ALPINE RECEIVERS TO AUXILIARY RCA LEVEL INPUT, ALLOWING CONNECTION OF A DEVICE WITH RCA LEVEL OUTPUT.

REQUIRES: ALPINE AI-NET COMPATIBLE RADIO.

CONNECTS TO: FEMALE 8-PIN DIN FOUND ON ALPINE AI-NET COMPATIBLE RADIOS.

Boozehound

I just checked my HU today and it turns out I'm running 9.53. I'm curious as to what I need to pull in order to upgrade just the HU (already did the Nav with Mazda).

thew

i need you HU .. the small brain box under the CD unit. Take out the HU. and remove all the red screws . then pull the to units apart. you need to send me the HU part only.. and i need it very soon. if its going to happen.

if you want this done EMail me at thew@sbcreative.com tell me your screen name and ill cut and past the shipping and cost info to you. Please hurry.

Boozehound

Just curious - while the HU is out and in transit, there shouldn't be any problems created by driving/operating the car as usual correct?

truemagellen

no problems...you will have air flowing out of the vents which you can control by the **** but you will not have full controll of the ACC...not a problem at all

just remember to disconnect the battery before you remove it, always do it before you do any electrical work on a car

PM me or IM me if you have any more questions and you can't get a hold of Thew, I've already had my HU upgraded with thew, I love having a crystal clear aux in