Kenwood DNX8220BT - fitted in a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee plus a problem.

[Bennybeanbag]

Hi All,
I had this unit fitted in my 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited last week. The factory fitted system has a Boston Acoustic amp which caused a few installers to refuse to do it. Found one that had experience of Chrysler vehicles and were happy to do it. The other problem to overcome was that the factory head unit is a single DIN but in fact is only 5mm short of the Kenwood unit so the bezel caused problems too. In fact that one is still being sorted out but the installers say they will custom make one if need be. So the unit is in and it works, although not everyrthing yet.

The steering wheel controls haven't been hooked up yet due to the wrong kit being ordered but this will be put right soon. Also the ipod video lead came in 2 days late so a standard lead is in at the moment. It all sounds like a nightmare but these are minor points as the unit is so good I put up with a few installation problems.

Now the good stuff. The tuner is great. Lots of options and easy to use when moving. The only thing not so good is the 'Station Name' field that is either blank or waiting as is the 'Artist and Track' field. This is not the units fault but the UK radio waves don't carry the information on many station's broadcasts. When you use the 'Preset Station Name' field the name appears. Anyway, the tuner is fine and who listens to the radio anyway!

The DVD player is great. This is my first in car DVD player and I love it. My job has me waiting around sometimes and now I can fill my time with top quality entertainment. The surround sound works really well even though i only have 2 rear speakers and 4 in the front. No rear screen yet but that's coming soon.

The ipod feature is functional......it works but its a bit limited. You can skip forward and back by track or album and all the play lists and podcasts are there but moving around the gui is a bit fiddly. BUT - it works and the sound is very good. Having gone from an fm transmitter to direct connection is like going from VHS to HD! The album art on screen is a nice touch and once I get the video lead I will be loading up my 80gb with all sorts of goodies. If I could change one thing it would be to make the gui replicate the ipod dial control.

The sat nav. What can I say. Excellent. More POI's than you can shake a stick at, very fast satellite pick up and the £35 spend on TrafficMaster was worth every penny for a lifetime subscription. Garmin fans will agree and others won't that the sat nav is a great bit of kit but there is no denying it gets me where I want to be and is very user friendly. Big buttons on screen and nice simple menu choices.

The setup options are vast and I've only played about with a few but the audio features are user friendly and allow you to get into the graphic equalizer without too many dramas while on the move. Some of the other set up features don't seem to make any difference but this may just be my car. For example even when the option to mute the speakers for sat nav instruction is turned off, they still mute! Also my parking sensor audio alert used to mute the system but no more. These issues may get resolved once the steering wheel controls are hooked up and everything is connected, but then they may not!

Bluetooth. Excellent. I have a BlackBerry 8100 and it paired and connected first time. The phone book copied across, the call records are in there and the display shows signal strength and battery life. Its easy to use and the voice recording is simple. The only thing not great is that calling from the phone book either by searching or from preset numbers or from voice dialling takes a few too many button presses. This is ok if you keep calling the wrong people by mistake (no chance of calling your wife when you meant to call your girlfriend) but once I've searched for people by letter, selected them from the list, pressed display and then hit the dial button I could have driven round their house and spoken face to face!

My biggest problem at the moment with the unit is the SD Card does not get recognised when it is inserted. I have some custome POI's I want to load but it won't let me. If anyone has any ideas on this please let me know. They are all on the card under one folder created from the POI Loader. It just won't let me access them from the unit. Not using the USB slot but I may see if I can get that going as I have the same problem with the SD Card if I want to upload images to change the background picture. I'm hoping that the USB may allow me to do this as the SD slot won't!

So that's about it. Overall I'm really happy with it. Once it is fully installed and all the leads are connected it will be a thing of joy. I hope the SD slot gets sorted as map updates will be via this 'hole' in the future. Anyone thinking about getting one of these I say go for it. Kenwood are offering it through their 'preferred demo' dealers (listed on the Kenwood website) for £999. I don't think anything else comes close for that amount of money. If anyone wants me to try something out and report back just ask and I'll give it a go.

[bitonw]

try to format that sd card to fat32. have a google for a program to create fat32 file systems.

also try to insert that sd card then power off the dnx8220bt and fire it up again. make sure it starts up with the navigation. that worked for me with the dnx7200.

[Bennybeanbag]

Formatting card as we speak. Tried powering off and on and it didn't make any difference but I will try again once it is formatted. Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how I get on .

**UPDATE**
No luck I'm sorry to say. Reformatted to fat32, loaded just the POI files on the card but it still doesn't recognise the card. Tried powering off and on etc still nothing. I did notice that when the card clicked in the slot the unit re-started but it made no difference. The annoying thing is that when I click on 'Custom POI it says none are loaded and to refer to the user guide. The user guide doesn't actually explain what to do beyond using POI Loader, dumping them on the card and putting it in the slot.

Any other ideas welcome!

[bitonw]

ok. now try this burn a cdr with the poi.file on it...

wait a minute do you use the latest version of POILoader (free download from Garmin)?

you need to create a folder Garmin and copy the file POI.gpi file in it.

if this is not working try it on a usb stick or try it on a cdrw.

good luck.

btw, i never had a finger on a dnx8220bt so i have no idea if this works. my dnx7200 or my kna-g520 did only use a sd card. did you try another sd card and how big is it. try a small one like 256mb of so.

my new dnx5220 can only be updated by cd / dvd it doesn't have a sd slot.

[Bennybeanbag]

Thanks again for the help but no luck. I don't think the card is faulty (laptop reads it no problem) and it is only 1GB so not the biggest in the world. CD made no difference, it still just tells me no Custom POI's loaded.

I even tried loading the SD card with a folder named Garmin and just one POI file but that didn't work, then I tried it with just the POI file and no folder. Nothing!

Time for a support call to Kenwood I think. I will let you know how I get on. Failing that when it goes back for the ipod video lead and final facia fitting the installer can have a play.

[bitonw]

when you use that garmin POILoader program it will create just one POI.gpi file. This file needs to becopied in the \Garmin folder on your sd card.

you cannot just copy POI files in a folder \Garmin!!!

so from the beginning;

download those POI files (like speed camera's) from a web site (http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/) made for the Garmin sat nav.

copy those files in a folder on your box.

then start that garmin POILoader program and point it to the new downloaded files.

this program will create a file with the name POI.gpi

copy only this file (POI.gpi) into a folder \Garmin on your sd card

insert the sd card in your dnx (you have to be in the sat nav screen)

now you will get a message from the dnx if you would like to install new POI's (you will get a message that old POI's will be overwritten)

that's all.

bt

[Bennybeanbag]

Thanks bt. I was using the POI Loader to create the POI.gpi file and I tried it on the card both in a folder called Garmin and then with just the POI.gpi file on the card. What I'm not seeing is any message that the files are beng loaded which makes me think something is up. Just about to call Kenwood.

[Bennybeanbag]

Kenwood came up trumps. The problem was during the POI Loader bit. I was telling it the location to store the POI files was in a 'Custom Folder' (thinking that my SD card isn't a Garmin Device). Turns out I should have picked 'Garmin Device' then the next screen allows me to point it at the SD Card. Then just follow the instructions, pop the card in and they uploaded first time.

If anyone else has a similar problem first try re-setting the unit as Kenwood do know about a 'glitch' with DNX8220BT that re-setting should sort out. Make a note of your audio settings and any other bits you have changed as these will be reset to factory. Any traffic subscription is not affected.

Thanks again to bt for your help and thanks to Kenwood. Their contact number for Multimedia Technical help is (from the UK) 01728746100.

[bitonw]

those kenwoods do have a installer memory. just save your config before you reset the unit. after the reset restore you config.

you will find it in the setup memu (those spanners) at the bottom. you will need to scroll down to find it. here you can also unlock the setup to allow some changes in 2 other setup menu's.

[Bennybeanbag]

That would've been a really sensible thing to do! Thankfully I hadn't done much tweaking.

[timp]

Anyone seen a downloadable user manual for the 8220BT ? The UK Kenwood site has a 12 page .pdf of the install one but no user guide or nav manual. The US site doesn't list the 8220BT.
The local dealer doesn't have the model in stock but has one on back order.

[Bennybeanbag]

I have a hard copy. Anything you want to know in particular? I might be able to scan that bit and upload it.

[timp]

Thanks Bennybeanbag, no, nothing in particular but everything in general! - I'm almost certainly gonna buy the thing but just wanted to get a feel for the menus and the like. Any idea if the Nav is equivalent to anything in particular? I'm sure I've read somewhere that it's a model 'so and so' but can't seem to find it again.

If I can think of something I'll maybe take you up on your generous offer but for now I'm gonna do what research I can.

Tell you what, does it come with the two USB leads, on-line specs differ. I guess I'm gonna have to add an iPod cable to the price too, presumably a video one will work with an older (Gen 4) iPod - or will it?
Also, does the iPod audio route through the 3.5in jack (can it do it through the USB at all?)

[Bennybeanbag]

The sat nav maps and software are from Garmin so I guess it would compare with their kit. I don't have too much to compare it with. I had a Navman prior to this and it is much better than that. Big screen, easy menus, fast pick up and so far very good routing.

It does have 2 USB slots but one is for the ipod to control it from the unit. The lead also has a jack that plugs in the back to carry the audio but I suspect it won't work unless the USB is also connected. Mine came with the ipod lead but I've bought the video lead which works like the audio one except it has an extra video jack that plugs into another socket at the rear. I have a 5th gen video ipod and I think the unit is ok with all versions except the shuffles (but check!). I am about to take it back to have the video lead connected and will also get a USB extension lead fitted as there is no way to get at the slot without an extension. I am getting this done so I can upload some pictures for custom backgrounds.

If you can find an approved demo installer (they list them on the Kenwood site) they should have a unit in store that you can try. i took my ipod along and plugged it in to make sure it worked. Also if you buy off one of the approved outlets they should do it for £999 plus fitting (well they did two weeks ago). kenwood are subsidising them.

I am very impressed with it so far.

[timp]

I've been offered the 999 price plus there's a car specific surround and a steering wheel control adapter so I've been quoted 1070 max all in (fitted).
Did you get 2 actual USB extension cables so they should reach the glove box?
Does yours have the mini-USB socket on the back thats been mentioned?
(saying that, I've read so many forum messages that I may be confusing somethibg here!)

There is talk that for any firmware upgrades the unit will have to go back to Kenwood - can't say that impresses me, specially buying such a new model thats bound to get some firmware upgrades over its lifetime (isn't it?).