Magnadyne M4-LCD questions

[jamiller45]

Rv family, I pm'd you about the software

[Tilly]

First, let me appologize for using an old post, but I can't figure out how to create a new post - and this is the closest topic for me to pile onto.

I'm moving back into my Sunseeker after a winter in SD, only to revisit struggles with the m4LCD unit. When I try to use the radio/music function there is a bad buzz in the speakers. I have a selector switch on the cabinet over the door which says "A" "B" "Both" but switching it does not seem to have any affect on where the music comes from. The buzz/feedback is present with any sound source including phone, streaming via bluetooth, radio and with the ipod attached.

The m4LCD is essentially wasted weight in the RV with the GPS constantly rebooting even with two tries with new cards from the manufacturer, the iphone speaker phone useless since the microphone is in the dash and driving bent over to speak into it dangerous, using the iphone through the connector to play music causes even more feed back (so I have to use a separate iphone charger and stream bluetooth which still has feed back), the radio stations are lost everytime I have to reset the whole system via the little 'reset' button using a paperclip (almost every time I use it), I was wondering if anyone has had any success just trading the unit for whatever radio Chevy of Ford may have offered to fill the hole in the dash?

any suggestions other than seeing what color the flames would be if I throw it in the campfire would be greatly appreciated.

Tilly

PS - it could be me since I can't figure out how to create a new post either...

[bclemens]

Not to pour fuel on the fire, but there are some posts on the M4 and the firmware updates that are available. As opposed to making you search for those in your frustrated state...I'll just repost here.

"For any Questions you may have regarding the operation of your in dash Radio / navigation system in your Forest River Motor Home or for any mapping software upgrades, please contact the Magnadyne factory direct and ask to speak to their technical sales specialist Mark Jones or Mike Thrush at 800 638-3600."

Having posted that, let me also say I have heard some feedback issues with the speakers, and in most cases it was because the subwoofer level was turned WAY too high. If you pull the dinette cushion or look under the sofa (depending on model) there is a "level" dial on the sub. Try turning that down and see if that helps the feedback portion. If not, maybe a firmware update on the M4 will.

I just used my iPhone 5 today in training to pair via bluetooth and stream music (i never use the dock...since the connector is the 30 pin for the old iPhone) and it sounded great.

It is a good little system when you get it working as it should.

[Tilly]

bclemens,
Thanks for the quick reply - I toured the factory last summer and was pleased by the staff at the Sunseeker facility. I have gotten three different firmware cards from magnadyne but will try them again.

I have a 2013 Sunseeker 2300. Can you tell me what the A/B/Both selector switch is for on the outside of the cabinet over the sink is for? It does not appear to affect speakers used although it says "speaker selection" on it.

I will disassemble my dinette to see what the subwoofer is set at.

Thanks again!
Malinda

[bclemens]

A is two rear speakers, 2 dash speakers
B is just the rear speakers
All is All.
May be a bad switch.

[Displaced2]

Talked to rep named Mike. Very helpful leaned my system 8 upgrades behind. Currently traveling but heading home today and will visit dealer next week to make current. Hopefully it will work.
Friends with new Solara were so disgusted with theirs crashing, even after upgrades, replaced with Kentwood and very happy now

[Tilly]

bclemens,
Hope you had a good holiday weekend. It is beautiful here in the Black Hills. I disassembled my dinette (Sunseeker 2300) and turned down the gain as well as fiddled with all other controls in the Jensen subwoofer. End result is that the only sound coming out of that box is essentially white noise - which does not even jive with whatever music is playing. With the fuse removed I can use my stereo without that pesky background sound - so thank you for that tip. The A/B speaker selection scenario still baffles me. The only output is from speakers installed in the roof of the RV. Essentially no sound comes from the speakers in the Chevy doors. So, I tried to disassemble the switch to see if it may have been wired goofy. I took the knob and little nut around the knob panel off. The panel does not come off, and from the cabinet (over the sink) where it is mounted I can't see the back of the switch (must be a false wall?)

SO, this boils down to two questions - how can I test to see if my Jensen Subwoofer is scrap and any suggestions on how to test the switch?

Thank you very much for your help. I love this little RV just sorting out the little "pesky" things.

Malinda
2013 2300 on Chevy 4500

[bclemens]

Not sure I can trouble shoot the sub...might be something the dealer will have to take a look at.

[bambam]

Good morning bclemens

Last week we finally got the new RV, I have a couple issues regarding the sound system & M4 Magnadyne:

1) We always hear a humming from the subwoofer (under the couch) when the radio is on. The only way to get it to stop is to turn the volume knob on the subwoofer unit to its minimum (aka: silent)! What is strange is when I mute the M4 unit the humming would stop. Any ideas? Do you feel a ground loop isolator would help? If yes how should I install it?
2) When the iPod is docked, is there a way to keep the control on the M4 screen always active? This auto hide function is killing me!
3) Is there a way to close the radio program without shutting down the unit? I don't see how to shut down only the radio, while continuing to use the unit, let's say for GPS.
4) The GPS maps are from 2011. Very old for a 2014 coach.

Sorry might be basic questions, we spent some time trying to figure out how everything works but were unable to close on these.

The humming is VERY annoying, we just cannot get the kids to sleep on the couch with the radio on.

[bclemens]

Others may chime in here as well...but my first thoughts.
1. Sound like a bad connection on the sub. If you have another speaker maybe hook it to those outputs from the stereo. If it plays, great, bad sub. If not...bad connections.

2. I'll be honest, I hook up via Bluetooth so that I can use the controls on the iPod/iPhone. I plug into the USB on the radio to charge but don't use the dock. I don't like that once you're in "iPod mode" the controls show on the screen but aren't really touch screen. You hit the arrows on the screen. seems counterintuitive. If I want a playlist I should be able to hit the playlist line...not an arrow at the bottom of the screen. So I have no good answer on this one. I've never seen the autohide.

3. I'll have to look into this. Maybe just turn volume down as a quick fix.

4. you may want to check with Magnadyne on this. Their contact info is listed in this thread. They might also have some answers on the other items.

[billt01]

It sounds like it may be a ground loop. There are several ways to isolate this, but I found (not necessarily recommend) removing the ground fixes the hum.

Originally Posted by bambam

Good morning bclemens

Last week we finally got the new RV, I have a couple issues regarding the sound system & M4 Magnadyne:

1) We always hear a humming from the subwoofer (under the couch) when the radio is on. The only way to get it to stop is to turn the volume knob on the subwoofer unit to its minimum (aka: silent)! What is strange is when I mute the M4 unit the humming would stop. Any ideas? Do you feel a ground loop isolator would help? If yes how should I install it?



The humming is VERY annoying, we just cannot get the kids to sleep on the couch with the radio on.

[bambam]

Thanks for the info, regarding the maps I just contacted Magnadyne and Mike mentioned that their units are shipped with the latest maps (Released: 2012 Q3). Mine came with the 2011 maps, so obviously the unit has been in stock at FR for a while now.

Do you have a contact I can work with at Forest River to help me get the latest maps without paying 70$ to naviextras? This is a fair request given that we have a brand new 2014 coach.

Thanks!
-Bassel

[bgc44a]

We (The Cruise Director(other wise known as wife) and I) just purchased a Forest River Solera 24r. We bought it in Idaho, we live in New York State, and then had a ball driving it back home. We love it. We previously had a Gulf Stream diesel pusher 40'. The gulf Stream was a great MH, 2 slides and just about everything you can stuff into a MH, clothes washer/dryer, jacuzzi tub, 150 gallons of fuel, huge holding tanks, etc.,etc.. But at our age, the further side of our 70's, it was no fun driving around a tour bus, so we traded it for what we thought would be the only small MH with the quality of ride and handling we wanted. well the only glitch was the radio unit. It is dim and difficult to use. We have an appointment tommorrow with the local dealer to pull it out and log the serial number, so they can order a new unit. In the meanwhile, I will be shopping for a unit from Sony or Panasonic to replace it. Other than that we love our Mercedes Benz motor home. compared to other units, it is heads and shoulders above them.

[Displaced2]

Friends with Solara had similar problems with Magnadyne. Replaced with Kentwood and very happy.

[paulmlac]

If the dimness is a major factor, there is a button (sun / moon icon) in the bottom left that can toggle the display darker or brighter.

Now, definitely wouldn't argue at all about the difficult to use comment.

Just wanted to let you know you might be able to fix one of your problems though.

[bgc44a]

Clipping the blue wire going to the radio will solve the switching to dim problem.

[Taylorgso]

Originally Posted by bgc44a

We (The Cruise Director(other wise known as wife) and I) just purchased a Forest River Solera 24r. We bought it in Idaho, we live in New York State, and then had a ball driving it back home. We love it. We previously had a Gulf Stream diesel pusher 40'. The gulf Stream was a great MH, 2 slides and just about everything you can stuff into a MH, clothes washer/dryer, jacuzzi tub, 150 gallons of fuel, huge holding tanks, etc.,etc.. But at our age, the further side of our 70's, it was no fun driving around a tour bus, so we traded it for what we thought would be the only small MH with the quality of ride and handling we wanted. well the only glitch was the radio unit. It is dim and difficult to use. We have an appointment tommorrow with the local dealer to pull it out and log the serial number, so they can order a new unit. In the meanwhile, I will be shopping for a unit from Sony or Panasonic to replace it. Other than that we love our Mercedes Benz motor home. compared to other units, it is heads and shoulders above them.

Congrats on your new Solera. We have the 24M and love it. There have been a few issues with the Magnadyne, most resolved by a firmware upgrade. But the dimness is related to the fact that the headlights come on automatically when ignition is on. Properly installed, any other radio you install will have the same issue. You can either clip the blue wire, or turn headlight switch to parking lights before switching ignition on. Also, there is a setting on the Magnadyne which allows you to set the screen brightness when it is NOT dimmed - you may want to check this, also.

By the way, you may want to check the Solera forum from time to time - lots of good information from lots of knowledgeable users.

Really envious of your first trip being a joy ride across the country.

[Tilly]

Bambam in answer to your question:

"3) Is there a way to close the radio program without shutting down the unit? I don't see how to shut down only the radio, while continuing to use the unit, let's say for GPS"

I turn to blue tooth for music then don't play anything on my bluetooth device. This lets the volume for the GPS stay on and doesn't create that pesky "background" static of a radio not tuned to a station. This works out for me since I've found its easy to get out of range of this unit's radio reception capabilities so bluetooth is the only music I usually listen to.

On the sub-woofer hum, I too have that noise, - even with the unit volume all the way down. The noise is noticeably louder and a different frequency when my iPhone is docked. I took it to a dealer who couldn't sort out the issue - so I disconnected the sub-woofer input cables and removed the inline fuse - ahhh silence.

Hope this helps
Tilly

[rhumbert]

I got the software upgrades last week. They seemed to have corrected the rebooting problem. I was hoping it would reinitialize the POIs too, but I still only get 3 gas stations the closest one being 280 miles away. Anyone else have this issue? It appears there are only a few POIs on the map that came with it. Not a single campground listing.
I called Mark at Magnadyne. His only suggestion was to go to Naviextras and shell out a hundred bucks for a new map. Of course there are no guarantees that there will be any more POIs on it. Guess the best thing to do is to suction cup my tom tom to it.

[JvwcRV]

I think that I'm pretty handy when it comes to electronics but this system has me baffled.

1. The USB drive will not read my USB stick. When I place the USB stick into it to play it just shows 'Loading', and that's all it shows. Thinking that since there is over 2000 songs on the stick I waited to see if would eventually list the songs. Well I waited and waited and after 2+ hours with no change I gave up. When I hit the USB icon it just shows 'multimedia' on the screen, when I try and hit play it jumps to stop. I test the USB in a computer and it reads it. HATE IT!
2. When watching TV all I can hear out of the system is a hum or nothing. If I touch the input cables (red & white) at the TV I hear static and now and then I can hear the TV through the surround speakers, but eventually it stops again. What I did notice is that the cables are crappy and for some reason will not properly transmit the sound from the tv to the radio unit. This is extremely frustrating and I'm ready to toss this crap out of the window.

I've updated the unit via the SD card but it still doesn't work. I don't understand why I would have to go through so much to get this thing to do what it says it should do. I also don't understand why FR would use such flimsy cabling for the audio. How much more would it of cost to use upgraded cables??
When I play a DVD the surround sound works great, but when I switch it back to the TV it doesn't.
If I can't this to work correctly I'm taking it back to the dealer and they better figure this out for me.

2014 Forester 2861D