Running just HVAC without radio?

[Fulgerite]

Just want to make sure you know all your options because complaining on here about something that won't be changed for existing cars is annoying. Especially when you start a new thread on a tired old subject instead of doing a search.

For the GM people that worked so hard to make such a revolutionary car against all odds, it's got to be down right depressing to read your whining about something so ridiculous. They deserve better.

I did do a search to seek an answer about this subject. I did not find a satisfactory solution in any of the discussions. I did discover that this silly radio issue is the number 1 complaint from Volt customers though. I also noticed my question prompted a lot of responses from people who agree with me. But I did not see any definitive remarks from GM that said it cannot be fixed on existing vehicles. (Perhaps I missed that.)

If it really is a hardware issue that cannot be fixed... so be it. I agree that it's a minor quirk on an otherwise fantastic car.

[KayFisher]

So how do I select AUX if it is grayed out?
Do I have to insert some dummy stereo plug into the aux input?
If so should the plug wires be open or shorted?

[DonC]

Pause does not persist when you get back in the car and start up.

Hey, I'm on your side on this issue! LOL If it's an iPod or iPhone I'd just pause that. And yes pause does not hold between sessions. My point to Scott was only that MUTE doesn't work for audio that has a sequence, and he's admitted that's a pain.

My frustration with this issue hasn't so much been that it there's now, in reality this is more a minor annoyance than a problem, it's that GM hasn't seemed to be listening. It has to be the number one complaint (trust me you're not the first person who has complained and this isn't the first thread about it) about the car. I think Rusty's post expresses this frustration. But from WOT's post it seems like they may be listening, which is really all we can hope for. If indeed this is a hardware related issue as WOT has said, then it's not changing in the cars you and I are driving. I'm OK with that. I just don't want this to be like the idrive where some idiotic German engineer lectures you on why the dumbest interface in the history of the auto industry is a great idea, which would be intuitively obvious if you're weren't too stupid to comprehend it.

EDIT: I think if you go back and read WOT's post he says that there is a different system on some MY 2012 GM vehicles and indicates the current system is at least partly implemented in the hardware.

[DonC]

Tell me all you babies aren't bein little b*tches because you absolutely need to be able to push a button to silence the radio instead of twist a knob?

What we who don't like the way it currently works are saying is that when we turn on the kitchen light we don't want the water faucet to turn on. Yes we can turn the faucet off but that begs the question: why should we have to?

[tboult]

What we who don't like the way it currently works are saying is that when we turn on the kitchen light we don't want the water faucet to turn on. Yes we can turn the faucet off but that begs the question: why should we have to?

Actually a better analogy is throwing the light switch for the living room which turns on the overhead light but also turns on the TV, ceiling fan and christmas tree lights (if they were all left on when the switch went off).
They are all on the same power circuit. But each of my devices has its own power switch (except maybe the christmas tree)

It would be nice if the radio selection had OFF as well as AM, FM, XM, HD,USB, AUX, (and I'll be that could be a pure software "fix", e.g. pointing at some non-existant input source). Or even it you could just select AUX when there is nothing there.

Someone else posted asking how to select aux. Though I've learned to use the volume knob, I still curious.
I too have AUX grayed out, and have even tried a dead USB stick (which it rejects and says cannot use this media).
What's the trick to use AUX?

[scottf200]

What's the trick to use AUX?

Just take any 3.5mm plug and plug it in. Old headphone jack, splitter, anything.



Mute / pause in my normal use. I've spent more times in these threads on the subject than I'll spend my whole life with my '11 Volt pressing Mute/Pause

[tboult]

Thanks Scott.. Guessed I should have tried that. I though trying a bad usb disk was being clever, but the volt realied it was not valid media and went back to music. I just presumed aux was equally as smart.

While I've used volume and mute from time to time, Aux is a nicer solution as it persists and is quick. My wife freaks out when she gets in the car, does something and my music starts blaring :-). Now HDD/AUX is my "off" button. With an old set of airplane headsets and wire cutters I had a clean "free" solution, shown below. (Maybe I'll go post it in the other dozens of threads so you don't have to...)

Aux-Plug.JPG

[domeyerj]

If you would learn to use the search, you will see that those of authority with GM have said that it's a hardware issue, not software.

Which would mean they lack creativity. Change the center stack to always be on, and change the poweer button to mute/pause the radio until it is hit again. This can be fixed via a software workaround instead of a manual workaround by the end-user. The option to use this functionality can be placed in the vehicle configuration. That fixes everyone's problem and beats the hell out of all of this headache.

A hardware problem is a physical inability. If it was a hardware problem, you could never interact with the radio at all. Forget turning it off, I'm saying even turning the station would be impossible.

In fact, another software workaround is to do just that, change the channel to a default blank channel and store the previos channel and settings until the button is hit again. I can come up with as many software fixes as you guys can manual fixes, but my fixes prevent an owner's frustration.

I have multple family members that work in gm, and this doesn't in the least make them feel like I'm dissing their work when I bring it up, that's because there's a huge difference between the peple who put the things together from the outsourced individuals who programmed the damn center console.

[WopOnTour]

Which would mean they lack creativity. Change the center stack to always be on, and change the poweer button to mute/pause the radio until it is hit again. This can be fixed via a software workaround instead of a manual workaround by the end-user. The option to use this functionality can be placed in the vehicle configuration. That fixes everyone's problem and beats the hell out of all of this headache.

A hardware problem is a physical inability. If it was a hardware problem, you could never interact with the radio at all. Forget turning it off, I'm saying even turning the station would be impossible.

In fact, another software workaround is to do just that, change the channel to a default blank channel and store the previos channel and settings until the button is hit again. I can come up with as many software fixes as you guys can manual fixes, but my fixes prevent an owner's frustration.

I have multple family members that work in gm, and this doesn't in the least make them feel like I'm dissing their work when I bring it up, that's because there's a huge difference between the peple who put the things together from the outsourced individuals who programmed the damn center console.

It's not really a hardware/software "problem" per se, it's a more a hardware "limitiation".

The center stack display cannot operate "stand-alone" it's just a display, it gets it's video data from the radio head unit. Much like the LCD monitor on your desktop computer, without something to provide a video signal, it doesnt display much other than perhaps a "wow" display and setup screen. (like the radio off "VOLT" screen)

So without a control signal from the radio (which is essentially the "video card" of the display) there isnt any data to display as this information is first "gathered" by the radio from the Onstar/Nav and climate control modules, via a network bus (of which the display IS NOT a member) and then relayed to the display via dedicated video circuits hardwired beween it and the radio.
The radio MUST be "ON" to do this.

So if your try to access the NAV or CLIMATE screens from the center stack buttons with the radio OFF, it automatically powers up the radio in order to be able to accomplish this task.
Software alone cannot chage this.

Like I said a limitation.
Did someone lack creativity?
Perhaps, but they were most likely at the mercy of the hardware dealt to them from the chosen supplier.
Should they change it?
YES! But that will likely have to wait for the Gen 2 version of the Volt.

HTH
WopOnTour

PS> Tip: You do not need to hit the "Climate" button to make minor changes in your HVAC settings. You can still control your HVAC temps (warmer-cooler), FAN speeds (uo-down), and select AUTO mode from the buttons on the center stack WITHOUT waking up the radio.

[Rusty]

So without a control signal from the radio (which is essentially the "video card" of the display) there isnt any data to display as this information is first "gathered" by the radio from the Onstar/Nav and climate control modules, via a network bus (of which the display IS NOT a member) and then relayed to the display via dedicated video circuits hardwired beween it and the radio.
The radio MUST be "ON" to do this.

No quibble there. I agree completely that the radio head unit must be powered up and operating for anything useful to be displayed on the center stack display. Absolutely the radio must turn on if any of the (non-autonomous) client, nav, dest, or what not buttons are pressed on the center console. That makes complete and total sense.

Why does it have to power up with the same volume it had the last time interest in playing the radio was selected?

If the radio is powered up by a press of a non-radio function button (which is must know, since it knows which screen to bring up), why can't the software turn down the volume to zero until a typical radio function button (like the radio band button) is pressed?

It can even save away the "radio selected" volume, so that when the radio is asked for it can bring the volume back up to the previous setting (it already obviously saves it away, since that's how it works now).

We're not asking for the radio to not turn on when we press the climate button. We're just asking for it to NOT MAKE NOISE after we do that.

Is that really that hard?