Help please!! Can't connect phone to my car radio (through bluetooth)

[tripplesix]

Please somebody help me with a step-by-step.
I have a Kenwood KDC-X994 connected as my aftermarket car stereo (head unit). It has bluetooth capabilities and is supposed to be able to connect with my Droid 2 so that I can make and receive calls through it. However, i am unable to get this to work. I have the manual and i tried to make it work but i don't know what i'm doing wrong. I can't do anything starting from the beginning (pairing).

Can somebody pleeeeese provide me with a step-by-step of every exact thing i am supposed to do. Starting from when I switch the head unit source to BT Audio. All the way continuing through what i do with the Droid 2 phone so that all is recognized.

All help is greatly appreciated!

 

[newk8600]

Can somebody plese provide me with a step-by-step of every exact thing i am supposed to do?

1. Turn on stereo and press the [SRC] button

2.On the D2 turn on bluetooth. Settings>Wireless & networks>'check" bluetooth. 

3. Go into bluetooth settings: Settings>Wireless & networks> Bluetooth settings.  
While in their scan for devices.

4. select "KENWOOD BT CD/R-4P1" or "KCA-BT200" whichever shows up on the D2.

5. put in "0000" (all zeros) for the PIN.

According to the manual you should be paired and ready to play audio/ make calls.

Here's the link to the manual for more information.

After successfully pairing check the settings for the stereo (settings>Wireless & networks>bluetooth settings>"device name") and make sure the options you want are checked.

 

[tripplesix]

Got is paired

Thanks Newk.
i actually did all those things but i got confused because when i hit scan i did not immediately see the name of the Kenwood. I kept seeing "CK505ON" with a pic of headphones next to it. This time i just pushed it anyway and then the name of the Kenwood popped up. So i'm all good as far as it being recognized. And i know it works because while i was still trying to figure stuff out, a call came in and i answered it with the Kenwood and mic. Actually, i pushed "Answer" on the phone because i did not yet know what to push on the Kenwood. It still worked though.

But now my problem is that the phone book didn't sync automatically. When trying to do it manually the manual says:
1. by operating the cell-phone, end the hands-free connection.
-HOW DO YOU DO THAT??-
2. by operating the cell phone, send (download) the phone book data to this unit.
-HOW DO YOU DO THAT??-
3. by operating the cell-phone, start the hands-free connection.
-I WOULD ASSUME THAT ONCE I KNOW HOW TO DO #1, I WILL KNOW HOW TO DO #3.-

 

[sbergdor]

I was told by my installer the phonebook wont synch because the contacts are stored "in the cloud" and not on the phone itself.
I went into contacts and copied them all onto the SD card and have had no errors so far. Im not sure if theyre actually stored in the deck, I havent had time to look.

 

[tripplesix]

Thanks for posting.

I have just exported all contacts to SD card. So when i leave work, i will try it again and see what happens.
The crazy thing is, my radio read the phone book one time and one time only.... and then never again... just forever "downloading."
we'll see if this works.... please come back and let me know if it worked for you (i will do the same).

 

[sbergdor]

I was able to verify that all of my contacts have been downloaded into my stereo.

 

[tripplesix]

I tried it. Didn't work. :angry:
how annoying.

sbergdor, do you have a motorolla droid? and the kenwood kdc-x994 car receiver?

If you have both of there, and if you don't mind, could you please tell me exactly what you did??
-- what EXACTLY did you do with/in the phone?
-- what EXACTLY did you do with/in the car receiver?
-- what EXACTLY did you do with both phone and car receiver together?

EXACT STEPS...

 

[sbergdor]

I have a Thunderbolt. The thunderbolt is the only Verizon phone I know of that has a SIM card which may make a difference.
I opened the contacts and hit menu.
That allowed me to import/export my contacts.
I exported them to the SD card (not SIM card)
No bluetooth connectivity was done from the stereo. I did it all from the cell.
With the stereo in Standby mode I used the phone to connect with the bluetooth.
I went thru the synching process (had to type 0000 in the phone to connect)
The display read "Downloading" for about 30 seconds and they were all there.
You may need to shut off the bluetooth on the phone and enter the bluetooth menu in the radio by selecting the bluetooth in the sources menu then deleting the phone out of the stereo or reset the whole unit by deprssing the little button behind the front panel just below the CD eject button.
Turn Bluetooth back on on the phone and connect to the stereo via bluetooth using the phone.
Another window will pop up on the phone (you may have to drag down the notification bar to find it) that says the radio wants to connect to your phone book.
Check "always" then hit OK.
"Downloading" appeared on the radio display for about 30 seconds and Voila! It was all there.
I still cant get the music to stream though. Im hoping there will be a bluetooth update from Kenwood someday soon that will fix it though.
This is why they call it Bleeding Edge Technology!

 

[tripplesix]

Well... I guess i'm going to give up again.

I really appreciate you, sbergdor, posting exactly what you did. Unfortunately, I had done all of that numerous times. The only things I hadn't done before was export to sd card and to put the radio on standby. But i did those things this time... quite a few time actually.... and still, it's a no go.

This is what mine does over and over and over again... forever:
"HF Connect" (the only thing on the screen for a blink of a moment)
"Downloading" (the only thing on the screen for 3 sec.)
"Downloading" (next to the "Source" title on the left side of the screen for 3 sec.)
"Completed" (the only thing on the screen for 2 sec.)
"HF Discnnect" (next to the "Source" title on the left side of the screen for 4 sec.)
"HF Disconnect" (the only thing on the screen for a blink of a moment)

The last time I tried, I let is go on for 5 min. Then it was a wrap.

Only thing that ever works is that i can play the music from my phone onto the kenwood. big whoopeee...... i don't care about that. i want' to be able to utilize that dang kenwood mic and phone book together.

It's crazy to me how it worked only twice ever. The first time was when I first tried it and i got a call out of the blue, and i was able to talk with the kenwood. The second time, i kept trying and trying to sych and i left the bluetooth on on my phone. the kenwood kept repeating that stupid cycle and i eventually got out of my car. I returned to my car a few hours later and it didn't say downloading anymore and i was able to click on my phone book in the kenwood. other that those 2 times, NOTHING!

i could easily write more of what has happened in trying to do this, but this is long enough.

Hopefully, others will stumble upon this and maybe also have some ideas. BOOOOO!!!!

I hope the Droid Bionic won't have this same problem!

 

[mainarja]

Thank you for this thread. I just got a thunderbolt and the "downloading" on my stereo is driving me nuts. I will try this first thing tomorrow.

 

[mainarja]

I did everything except export my contacts, and it did not work "Downloading" still never goes away. I have some questions before I export my contacts to my SD Card:

Every time I add/change a contact, am I going to have to re-export my contacts?

Am I going to have two different sets of contacts on my phone?

Will my contacts on my SD card be the ones that sync with my computer?

Thank you,

Jim.

 

[mainarja]

I called up Kenwood and asked for their help. The tech told me to unpair and delete both devices from each other and start over fresh. The first time they pair the phone will prompt for access to address book. The tech told me to deny permission, which I did. THIS WORKED. I did not check the "apply every time" box, just because. So I turned off my radio and my Bluetooth and tried it again and of course I was prompted and this time I said "yes" to the phone book. Curiously enough, the download worked and has worked six times subsequently in the last 24 hours. I have since checked to not prompt me and to just download the address book.

I did not have to move my contacts to my SD card.

I hope this helps people!

Cheers!

Sent from my Verizon wireless thunderbolt.