Gateway 500 Menus in COMAND: Firmware 2.0x

16461 Views 9 Replies 2 Participants Last post by anewbie, Dec 17, 2009

Skylaw

Discussion Starter · Oct 25, 2007 (Edited)

Gateway 500 Menus in COMAND: Firmware 2.xx

When I upgraded from Firmware Version 1.0x to 2.xx in the MOST bus version of the Gateway 500, I thought the new firmware and its menu system was far more intuitive. However, I had undergone a fairly steep learning curve with the 1.0x menu system, and private messages have convinced me that if one is seeing the v2.0x menus for the first time, the learning curve is still steep because the user manual provides skimpy guidance, and because it is necessary to refer not only to it, but to the manual for your head unit. There are also some "tips" to overcome some frequently occurring obstacles that can truly frustrate the new user. Once those are employed and understood, use of the menus becomes straightforward. I will only address the MOST bus COMAND menus, because I am not familiar with operation of the various Audio head units.

Unfortunately most (if not all) of the Audio series of head units, and the D2B versions of COMAND, are not text capable and will not display song titles.

One of the most troublesome things occurs during initial setup: Selecting the "+Paging" option so as to be able to display text (song titles) and scroll through lists without reverting to "track number" on the COMAND display each time you try to scroll (or shut the car off).

Tip 1: The GW 500 user manual tells you that selection of menu options is made by pressing and holding the "Fast Forward" button on your head unit. Selected commands are canceled using "Rewind." There are no such buttons labeled on COMAND. However, your COMAND manual tells you that those functions are accomplished by using the "SEEK+" button for Fast Forward, and the "SEEK-" button for Rewind, holding each for 2 seconds to effect the selection.

Tip 2: For making the "+Paging" selection (I believe it means "Text + paging" - you'll see why later) hold the "SEEK+" button in for 5 to 10 seconds, not just 2 seconds, to get the selection to "take." Hold it until the screen flickers and resets, then release it. If you have held it long enough, when you select a playlist you will then see song titles, and when you scroll through them you will continue to see successive titles (if you didn't hold it long enough only the first song in a list will show its title; the rest will show only Track number on COMAND; and after you shut your unit down and restart it, Track numbers will again appear instead of song titles).

Note: Some hardware changes - with Hardware Version 1 (which has pigtail fiber optics connectors) and Hardware Version 2 (normal MOST connectors) one sees song titles, artists, and albums only on COMAND, and not on the instrument cluster display. For D2B based COMANDs as well as instrument clusters for D2B and MOST, only track number is displayed. However, a new version 3 hardware release is expected, having an extra cable providing output to the CAN Bus, which should provide song titles on the instrument cluster displays for MOST units (as well as on the COMAND display). One of the Gateway 500 developers has indicated that CAN Bus output for instrument cluster display may also be provided (at a later time) for D2B units. Please don't PM me regarding this, I don't know more; check the Dension site for further information. The version number of the hardware is on the bottom of the metal electronics box; and the V3 hardware for MOST Bus units will have double (both sets of) MOST connectors. At the time of this post, version 3 hardware was just beginning to ship.

The photos below show you what you'll see during the initial setup.

In photo 1 after switching the mode selector switch rapidly 6 times, per the instructions, you get a menu labeled "Cfgdev," and a single line saying "No Text." Using the up/down arrows on COMAND, scroll down through a number of options (photo 2) until you see one that says "+Paging" (photo 3). Highlight "+Paging" with the up/down arrows (a highlighted line is brighter than others), then press and hold the "SEEK+" button (lower left of the screen) for 5 to 10 seconds or until the screen flickers. Now, your COMAND will display song titles, etc. when you have selected playlists, albums, and artists. If this is the very first thing you have done, you may have to shut the car down and restart (or turn COMAND power off and back on) before you see the text.

You'll only have to do this initial setup after initial installation, and possibly after a firmware update. Now, on to menu operation.

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 25, 2007 (Edited)

Basic Menu Operation

Menu selection is accomplished either by using buttons 1-6 on COMAND, to the right of the screen; or by using the left/right arrows below and to the right of the screen. Pressing button 6 will bring up the options for selecting the AUX input; the iPod, using the iPod user interface (playlist, artist, album, or song selections are made on the iPod with supplemental control of some functions on the steering wheel); the iPod, using the Gateway 500 interface (iPod controls are not functional; all selections are made on COMAND or the steering wheel); the USB input; Bluetooth audio (perhaps through mp3 cellphones; this requires an optional add-on); Bluetooth handsfree (for cell phone communication, requiring an optional add-on device); a video input device (possibly still under development); and audio from a personal navigation device.

I do not have any of the optional add-on devices, so cannot discuss them. Please refer to the Dension website (Dension Audio Systems) for further information.

The photos below show the screen display for the various options under Menu 6 (except for devices that are not installed in my car). Photo 1 shows the source selection folder. Scrolling brings up in sequence, the AUX, then the iPod User Interface option, then iPod Gateway 500 User Interface option (in my opinion, the best choice for the iPod), then the USB option (I had no USB device installed at the time, so it showed "no USB." Otherwise it would show the device name). Also, no other devices showed in the scroll list because I do not have them installed. The rest of this discussion will focus on the iPod Gateway 500 User Interface, which provides the fullest set of features for the iPod. If you understand it, using the other choices is fairly simple as explained in the user manual.

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 25, 2007 (Edited)

The iPod Gateway 500 User Interface

When the iPod is selected as the input device (using button 6), with the Gateway 500 User Interface ("iPod GW 500") chosen, Dension has now assigned the following functions to buttons 1-6 to the right of the COMAND screen:

1= "Scan Playlists"
2= "Scan Artists"
3= "Scan Albums"
4= not used for iPod (it is used for other input options as explained in the User Manual)
5= A parking location for whatever function has been chosen
6= Choice of input device or menu (as discussed above)

The main buttons that will be used with the iPod in the GW 500 User Interface mode are 1-3.

Button 1 will bring up the list of playlists on the user's iPod. It is easiest to think of each playlist being a folder containing songs in the order that the user has arranged them on the iPod itself; and the entire iPod library is also a folder, showing as a playlist with the name of the iPod as the user has named it, and containing songs in the order in which they appear in the iPod music library.

The first photograph shows the result of my selecting button 1. The first "Playlist" displayed is my iPod music library, displaying my iPod's name.

TIP 3: If you highlight a playlist, artist, or album, the Gateway 500 will begin playing the first song in the list, automatically. The first song's title will be displayed. As the next song plays, its title will be displayed. In order to display and scroll through all of the songs in a playlist, in an album, or by an artist, press and hold "SEEK+" for two seconds. Holding "SEEK+" longer is not required. The names of the first three songs will appear, and you can then use the up/down arrows to scroll through them - if you properly set "+Paging" in the initial setup.

The second photograph illustrates scrolling through playlists. At the bottom of the list is a line saying ">page1->2" - I have over 90 playlists on my iPod. The GW 500 organizes lists on pages, with about 25 items on a page. When you reach the end of a page, you see the entry indicating the display is moving on to the next page. I believe this is why the oddly-named "+Paging" feature is functionally "Text plus paging" - it enables both text and scrolling in extensive lists.

In the third photo, I have highlighted the playlist "Movie Themes." Unless I do something else, it will begin playing the first song in the playlist, and that song's title will appear as shown in the fourth photo (Che Valiers De Sangreal, one of the delightful themes from The Da Vinci Code). In order to display and scroll through the songs in that playlist, use SEEK+ held for 2 seconds to load the playlist's contents (photo 5) - then you can scroll and select other songs (movie buffs will recognize songs from the Children of Men sound track). Although I have grouped some movie themes in a catch-all folder, they could just as well have been organized as individual playlists, or as albums named by the movie title.

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 25, 2007 (Edited)

Artist and Album Lists

Selecting button 2 (first photo) brings up the iPod's artist sort; and button 3 brings them up the album sort (second photo). Selection of artist and album, and scrolling/selection of specific songs within each is done just as it is done in playlists. Again, when you select an artist or an album, and do nothing else, the songs sorted under that artist or album will begin to play starting with the first in the list; use SEEK+ to load the list of songs in order to scroll and select individual songs.

Please note that the actual sorting of songs within any folder (playlist, artist list, or album) is done by the iPod itself; it is not possible to change the sort order on the Gateway 500.

In addition, if there are too many selections in any sort - such as artists' names or albums - the Gateway 500 provides an alphabetical search feature that is fairly intuitive and is not discussed here.

I hope that helps folks get a good start with the Gateway 500.

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 25, 2007 (Edited)

And Finally

The various mix options (Random Play, etc.) are controlled from the COMAND unit just as they are for the CD Changer.

The iPod User Interface option at button 6 retains use of the iPod controls for sorting and song selection; volume control and certain other functions are retained on the steering wheel buttons as explained in the User Manual. However, if you know how to operate your iPod apart from the car, the additional steering wheel controls are easy to understand.

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 1, 2008 (Edited)

UPDATE: The Version 2.15 firmware update will show both song title and artist' if the song title is too long, the artist may be displayed when the "Show" softkey is pressed on COMAND.

In addition, a new menu has been added to button "4" - allowing easier selection of playing all songs on the iPod, random play, or sampling. There is no longer any need to go into the COMAND audio menus for these selections.

The full list of MB-related changes follows:

New features for the GW500
---------------------------
- Artist information visible on Mercedes Command Head Units
- GW jumps back to the root directory when holding the "Seek-" button for more than 5 seconds. This feature is dependent on the Head Unit
- Extra menu added to Disk #4
- iPod accessory information (firmware, car config, product type) displayed in iPod UI mode in "Settings/About" menu on the iPod

New features for the BTA1500
-----------------------------
- Phonebook compatibility is available for MMI Basic system
- In case of reconnecting the same phone, the phonebook content will be reloaded from RAM

Compatibility:
--------------
- Mercedes: Audio20, Audio 50 and Command Head Units are compatible with BTA1500

Bug fix
--------
- BTA: Phonebook alphabetical listing corrected

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anewbie

· #7 · Dec 17, 2009

Skylaw said:
UPDATE: The Version 2.15 firmware update will show both song title and artist' if the song title is too long, the artist may be displayed when the "Show" softkey is pressed on COMAND....

New features for the BTA1500
-----------------------------
- Phonebook compatibility is available for MMI Basic system
- In case of reconnecting the same phone, the phonebook content will be reloaded from RAM

Compatibility:
--------------
- Mercedes: Audio20, Audio 50 and Command Head Units are compatible with BTA1500

Bug fix
--------
- BTA: Phonebook alphabetical listing corrected

Hmmm ... do they not have the latest at this place?
BTA1500 - Dension BTA1500 Add-on Bluetooth Adapter for Gateway GW500 M.O.S.T - .Browse By Vehicle - Bluetooth® - Dension - Discount Car Stereo.com - Detail

Notice they have the warning: "2. Not currently compatible with GW500 in Mercedes and Volvo applications. Stay tune for updates" ...

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anewbie

· #8 · Dec 17, 2009

Can Dension AVR display DVD or other video on the COMAND or not

With all the bits and pieces I've read, it is still unclear to me whether I'm able to connect ipod or dvd video to the AVR and play movie on the COMAND display on my US version, 2006 e320 cdi, or not. Can someone clarify this? Thanks very much!

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Skylaw

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 17, 2009 (Edited)

OK, I posted this last week in the string dealing with the GW 500 equipment itself, but not in this string (dealing with MENUs).

The Gateway 500 Bluetooth setup (BTA 1500) works only with the MOST versions of the Gateway 500 and not with D2B versions. Dension did inadequate testing for the original implementation of the BTA 1500 firmware for MB, and there were problems; those were fixed in a firmware update quite some time ago, so any notices to that effect are outdated. Since the firmware fix, several contributors have reported good results with the BTA 1500 Bluetooth module. Read about it at http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=1237, but check the Dension site at http://www.dension.com/index.php?pageID=11 for current compatibility information.

A new AVR video output device is available for NGT-1 and NGT-2 COMANDs (MOST based COMANDs with DVD nav from MY 2004 through MY 2007). It allows iPod video input, backup camera, DVD player input and the like to be displayed on the main COMAND screen or on rear screens if you have an integrated rear entertainment system. It is compatible with all video iPods. Read about it at http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=1350

I have not seen anyone write in about the video output device (audio/video router), except for one contributor with an NGT-2 that has DVD video display when stationary, but not in motion (and for that I would investigate any of several override devices NGT-2; I do not have them bookmarked). Also, the U.S. NGT-1 was not designed to display DVD video, so I do not believe it has the video-in-motion lockout that NGT-2 has.

In the U.S. the GW 500 sells for about $450 to $500; the AV Router for about $260; and the BTA 1500 Bluetooth module for $195. http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=1062 is one source; Google will get you others. The AV Router and the Bluetooth module both require the basic GW 500; they are add-ons.

The GW 500 does not require you to give up your CDC, and the iPod, USB and RCA inputs provide a great deal of flexibility for what you connect to it - basically, any audio device with a USB or RCA output connector.

Now, hopefully, we can get back to questions on menu operation.

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anewbie

· #10 · Dec 17, 2009

Skylaw said:
OK, I posted this last week in the string dealing with the GW 500 equipment itself, but not in this string (dealing with MENUs).

...

Now, hopefully, we can get back to questions on menu operation.

I apologize for the off-topic questions. I was looking for the other string, but saw you made some remarks regarding BT1500. Sorry!

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Gateway 500 Menus in COMAND: Firmware 2.0x

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