Magnadyne M4-LCD questions

taxbuster · 05-28-2012, 11:14 PM

We have a brand spanking new Forester 3011DS just received from a factory build. It sports a Magnadyne M4-LCD Nav/DVD/CD/Radio/USB/iPod unit about which I have some questions after our first weekend using the coach.

DVD: I understood from one of the dealer's techs that I could play DVDs and direct it through the distro unit to either of the two TVs....I was unable to do so. Is this actually correct? (If so, I'll return it to the dealer for a fix.)

Sirius: Sat wasn't set up on the radio though I believe I'm supposed to get 6 months free. I back-doored the setup, added the Sat to the main menu, but am still unable to get an ESN. Either there is no Sirius tuner or it's not connected. Should it have been there?

USB/iPOD: These either seriously suck or simply don't work with an iPhone 3GS (I'm guessing the latter.) I suspect that the USB only plays from a stick, not from anything that looks like a disk? I didn't have a headphone male-male cable with me but also suspect that will be the method to play from the iPhone.

Nav: Compared to the Nav on my BMW or my DW's Prius, this one is....well let us say 'difficult' to use effectively. There is no manual, so I grabbed one of the net, but it is still somewhat lacking. Is this the only choice?

The good news is that we love the coach -- all my frustrations seemed to have been centred around the electronics. I love the big counter (I cook lots, so prep space is important) and there are only the two of us, with a labradoodle coming soon, so there is tons of space.

If anyone can share some insights, I would be very grateful!

digger47 · 06-10-2012, 06:37 PM

Looks like you are having better luck than me. I just picked up the Sunseeker 2860 with the M4-LCD. I can get the radio, gps and dvd player to work, but that's it. The home page only shows the Setup icon, but it won't open. I can't even program the clock. Love the coach, so far hating the radio.

**Herk7769** · 06-10-2012, 06:41 PM

Concertone is looking better and better

taxbuster · 06-10-2012, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digger47

Looks like you are having better luck than me. I just picked up the Sunseeker 2860 with the M4-LCD. I can get the radio, gps and dvd player to work, but that's it. The home page only shows the Setup icon, but it won't open. I can't even program the clock. Love the coach, so far hating the radio.

Hey digger47: Do you get the password prompt at the setup icon at all? It took me a few tries to actually get the Setup item to open properly - it seems to require 'holding' longer than the others on my system. The password is 5365.

You can apparently also 'reboot' the system by pressing the restart button (it's a little hole at the bottom left of the unit under the "AV in" jack) with a pen or nail. According to Magnadyne this "may" fix LCD problems (ie not responding). I haven't tried this yet.

There's a manual (I couldn't find mine in the unit) at:
http://www.krippa.com/magnadyne-car-...-file-preview/

**jamiller45** · 06-11-2012, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taxbuster

We have a brand spanking new Forester 3011DS just received from a factory build. It sports a Magnadyne M4-LCD Nav/DVD/CD/Radio/USB/iPod unit about which I have some questions after our first weekend using the coach.

DVD: I understood from one of the dealer's techs that I could play DVDs and direct it through the distro unit to either of the two TVs....I was unable to do so. Is this actually correct? (If so, I'll return it to the dealer for a fix.)
It should have a distrbution box that sends DVD to each of the TV's. TV needs to be on channel 3

Sirius: Sat wasn't set up on the radio though I believe I'm supposed to get 6 months free. I back-doored the setup, added the Sat to the main menu, but am still unable to get an ESN. Either there is no Sirius tuner or it's not connected. Should it have been there?
We DO NOT Install the tuners or any part of the Sirius-XM system

USB/iPOD: These either seriously suck or simply don't work with an iPhone 3GS (I'm guessing the latter.) I suspect that the USB only plays from a stick, not from anything that looks like a disk? I didn't have a headphone male-male cable with me but also suspect that will be the method to play from the iPhone.
The iPOD cable should work with all iPhones. I know for a fact it works with the 4. The USB I believe works with memory sticks.

Nav: Compared to the Nav on my BMW or my DW's Prius, this one is....well let us say 'difficult' to use effectively. There is no manual, so I grabbed one of the net, but it is still somewhat lacking. Is this the only choice?
The iGO NAV in this unit is currently the only choice. There are talks of possibly adding a Rand McNally system in the future, but that is on Magnadyne, not FR, so I don't know.

The good news is that we love the coach -- all my frustrations seemed to have been centred around the electronics. I love the big counter (I cook lots, so prep space is important) and there are only the two of us, with a labradoodle coming soon, so there is tons of space.

If anyone can share some insights, I would be very grateful!

I will be more than willing to help you figure out how to work the radio and all of its features. Send me a PM about what you would like to know

digger47 · 06-11-2012, 06:31 AM

Taxbuster,
Never got a password prompt. Will try to hold the setup icon longer. Did you get any other icons on the Home page? I only have the setup icon. The reset button didn't help. I have the manual, but nothing in there helps with this problem. I sent an email to Magnadyne, waiting to see what they say. Thanks.

Sparkbark · 06-11-2012, 06:35 PM

I have the magnadyne 3 which works fine but I can actually take the whole unit out of the dashboard. Does anyone have this similar situation?

**jamiller45** · 06-11-2012, 09:10 PM

What do you mean you can take the whole unit out of the dash? Do you have to use the u shaped tools or can you just grab the radio and pull it out? It should be locked into place, or snapped into place however you want to say it.

Sparkbark · 06-11-2012, 11:39 PM

I can literally take the whole unit out of the dash. I noticed when it was in, the bottom was sticking out and it was on a slant so I pushed on it and it moved. Then just being curious I grabbed the sides and pulled on it and was surprised to see that the whole thing with the metal sleeve came out. How can I fix it or should a dealer fool with it?

RvBill3 · 06-12-2012, 04:10 AM

To add Sirius XM, you need to buy the tuner described in the manual (Sirius-XM SXV100V1). Amazon has a better price than Sirius. It plugs in the back of the unit. Antenna (comes with it) needs to see the sky. I put mine on the front fender near the front of the hood. I bought touch up paint and painted it white to match RV. Can't even see it.

FYI the radio actually is XM compatible (as opposed to Sirius) so it uses the XM channel line up and I added it to my existing family plan subscription.

**jamiller45** · 06-12-2012, 06:26 AM

Sparky - what model and chassis do you have?

JLeising · 06-12-2012, 10:42 AM

New RVer with brand new 2012 Solera. Magnadyne M-4 LCD not behaving well - while navigating, will occasionally "re-boot", going to the "Forest River" screen and re-loading the GPS files. Also, loud hum in audio when watching a DVD (playing on the Magnadyne) on the TV. Was able to stop the hum by disconnecting the red and white audio cables from the Magnadyne to the TV at BOTH ends. Also, when I removed the chassis fuse for the radio - forcing it to run on the house batteries only, the hum was greatly reduced or eliminated (with the red and white wires connected) and the re-booting in nav mode waas less frequent (but still occurs). Any suggestions? Plan to ask dealer in the future - generating my fixit list first.

**jamiller45** · 06-12-2012, 11:07 AM

I got a call this morning about this exact same issue...I will be placing a call into Magnadyne about it and will let you know what I find out. Regarding the other things...The chassis radio fuse has nothing to do with the dash radio. We wire everything directly from the house batteries. The only way the chassis interacts is supplying an ignition signal when using the vehicle. Otherwise the battery disconnect is the same as putting a key in the ignition for the radio. The hum sounds like a minor ground issue that is not too uncommon. The ones you disconnected are used to play the tv through the surround if you wanted to, so they are not really a big loss if you don't need that feature. You could also go to radio shack or something similar and buy a noise suppressor or a ground loop isolator(same thing) and that should pretty much eliminate the issue.

RvBill3 · 06-12-2012, 03:35 PM

My nav system has also rebooted randomly a few times.

JLeising · 06-12-2012, 03:47 PM

jamiller45 - Thank you for the quick and thoughtful reply!
Of interest, on my vehicle, with the chassis radio fuse in, the radio will work with the house main switch "off". With the fuse removed, the radio will not turn on unless the house main switch is "on". Also, the radio always turns on in "night" or "dim" mode if the engine is running - night or day, chassis fuse in or out. If I turn on the radio before starting the engine, it turns on in "bright" mode, then switches to "dim" when the engine is started. I can then switch the radio to "bright" mode through the touchscreen icon. I suspect this phenomenon is because my vehicle is a California vehicle and is set up to have the low beams "on" automatically whenever the engine is running - so the radio "thinks" it is nighttime. Would like to disable - and switch to "dim" manually when I actually drive at night.
Looking forward to hearing what you find out about the re-boot issue. Again, thanks for the excellent reply!

digger47 · 06-12-2012, 04:38 PM

I held the setup icon for 30 seconds. Nothing happened. I wrote Magnadyne an email, but still no response. The unit states SiriusXM ready, so why would I need a tuner on this model? Not that it matters since I can't even set the time. Oh well, it will have to wait until the vacations are over.

RvBill3 · 06-12-2012, 05:28 PM

Sirius XM ready means there is a connection on the back for a little black box to add that feature. (See my previous post) . Car manufacturers also do this. (My sons' Audi and Mazda needed a black box) . The ready part is that once the box is installed the radio itself provides the controls.

taxbuster · 06-24-2012, 09:11 PM

Finally got back into the rig (lots of rain --- when? -- weekends, of course!). This time we went east to Drumheller and hung out in the Badlands. Hot and dry. :-) Now, back to the electronics.

Apparently there was some kind of small wiring issue, but I also learned that there is a control for the centre speaker on the M4-LCD, in the Equalizer area -- oddly, if it's set to 'off' it's actually ON and vice-versa. Though I think they actually did me a favour, because as far as I can tell, my ears match the settings on the radio: off is off, on is on.

And, thank you jamiller45 - yes, when the TV is on 3 and the distro box is set to DVD to front TV it does indeed play! AND has surround sound. Now, I've got to hook my movie box up to the distribution unit as one of the AUX inputs and see how it goes. Won't get the surround sound unless I can also manage to get input from the movie box to the Magnadyne. THAT could be a challenge.

Sirius just shows the Sirius icon - no ESN - so suspect no tuner. I'm a bit peeved - and I'll take this higher up the food chain -- I have inside the vehicle a 'welcome to Sirius from Ford' blurb that gives me six free months. With no tuner (if there really is none) I get six free months of silence. Thanks a lot.

iPhone connects via Bluetooth for voice - the quality is, however, poor. No joy with an audio connection via BT. Hardwired via jack to the AV IN is no problem. (Ditto for an iPad.)

Other than that LOVE the 3011DS - it's a treat to drive, easy to fit into, and just a wonderful all-round home-away-from-home.

digger47 · 06-25-2012, 04:01 AM

Taxbuster - Glad to hear all is well. I got a call from Magnadyne while on vacation and they confirmed that the tuner is necessary and that the owner must provide. I was told by the tech that I had 6 months free of XM, but nothing in writing.
We walked through my radio issues and though I can access most of the features in a round about way, I can still not set-up the radio. I was told to pull the radio out and remove the power cable. After 5 minutes I plugged it back in and still no change. I was told to have the dealer order a new one. Hopefully I'll have better luck on the next one.
Cheers.

taxbuster · 06-25-2012, 06:19 AM

digger47 - sheesh - that's a shame. I guess with a new one at least you'll have the satisfaction of having it work! I'm not happy about the Sirius not included -- everyone talks about it and the brochure says it's there. Personally I believe that is highly misleading. I don't know, though, if that is a Forest River, a Ford or a dealer issue.

I will say that I quite like the DVD-playing ability of the Magnadyne - it pushed the signal through nicely to both TVs (I didn't know my wife had decided to lie down in the bedroom and watch the movie anyway...) and the sound is 'decent' though I may replace the speakers in the end with better ones. Nice to have a remote for it, too.

Good luck and keep us posted on your replacement!

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