having fun with Uconnect at the dealership!

[Jabalone]

So, I finally took my truck into the dealer to see if they could explain why the voice command on my 5.0 Uconnect doesn't work for controlling the song, artist etc... I leave it with them for an hour and when I return the service guy says to me "Did you get instructions on how to operate the radio when you bought the truck?". I sort of look at him and he says "'cause the radio is working fine". Well, i'm pretty sure I know how to work the radio after owning the vehicle for 3 months (not to mention reading the online manual, downloading the Ram app and spending hours reading the 4G audio section on this site). But hell, maybe I was doing something stupid (it is possible!!!) so he sends me out to the truck with the stereo expert for an "instruction session"!!!. I immediately hit the voice command button on the wheel and start trying to give instructions as prompted. Nothing. So he says my thumb drive must be formatted wrong. "No problem", I say "lets try the iPod" as I pull it out of my pocket. Try again. Nope. "You try" I tell him. I hit the voice command again and he says "Play artist Rolling Stones". Nope, doesn't work. I try other artists. I try naming songs. He questions the formatting again. I said, "the formatting on itunes? the most popular digital music device in the world? He says maybe it's the USB port. "No problem i say, let's try the AUX using this cable I have". No voice control. "Okay how about bluetooth" I suggest. We try that to no avail. So I look at him and say "I'll tell you what. I'm trying to work with you here during this instruction session. I've got a variety of sources to try. You call it. Pick any source and get the voice command to work on any song or artist at all? You show me".

.............pause............


Instruction session over. They're looking into it and they'll get back to me.

 

[Casper]

D'oh!

 

[Jabalone]

Is there any chance he's right about formatting? I checked and 98% of my songs are mp3's but there are few m4a and AIFF files.

 

[hemi8lonestar]

Mine hasnt work since day 1 either. They tried for a day to get it working....new radio will be installed wednesday.

 

[Jabalone]

Is it just your voice command that doesn't work or other parts of the Uconnect too? Everything works fine on mine except voice control for selecting artist, song, album, genre..etc... I actually can change the source via voice, which is what's really weird, nothing else though.

 

[hemi8lonestar]

Is it just your voice command that doesn't work or other parts of the Uconnect too? Everything works fine on mine except voice control for selecting artist, song, album, genre..etc... I actually can change the source via voice, which is what's really weird, nothing else though.

Nothing works that is associated with voice commands. Initially thought it was microphone, but discovered i could make calls if i used the touchscreen.

 

[Lhemi]

My voice command worked for 2 days, been to the dealership several times and nothing.

 

[Jabalone]

@ hemi8lonestar and Lhemi, - can you give more details about what you're using for song sources for your Uconnect? Such as; are you using an Apple product with your Uconnect? What operating system? (ie. ios6?). Do you use iTunes to sort songs onto your digital audio device? How are you connected to the Uconnect (bluetooth, AUX or USB?). And how many songs do you have and what format (mp3, any songs that are M4A, AIFF?) Also, what Uconnect unit do you have? I'm on a 5.0.

I'm starting to figure this out through the process of elimination. I managed to get it to work under certain conditions but I need more info from other users to really narrow down what's happening. Don't know if our issues are all caused by the same thing, but they might be.

 

[S2kiHemi]

You should have asked if you could try and plug your ipod into another truck at the dealer and see if the voice commands would work in another truck. That way you could narrow it down to your ipod being the problem if it doesn't work in a different truck or if it does work in a different truck then the radio in your truck is the problem.

 

[hemi8lonestar]

My music is on usb, but thats not the issue. VR dosent even work when you say "help".

 

[Jabalone]

You should have asked if you could try and plug your ipod into another truck at the dealer and see if the voice commands would work in another truck.

True, guess I could insist on that next time. I did ask them to try another (eg. some employees) music device in my truck but they wouldn't. It isn't just an iPod that won't work though. A USB thumb drive won't work with VR either. If none of my music can be controlled with VR in another truck it would narrow down the problem to my files/formatting but it doesn't help me solve the issue or get them off the hook. Apple/itunes formatted songs seem to work for other uConnect owners and there's nothing unusual about my files/formatting as far as I can tell. Sounds like others are having more general problems with VR working at all, but my issue is only with controlling the songs, artist etc... in voice - regardless of source. I'm open to any ideas, if anyone knows what I could check as far as my music files/formatting.

 

[Ruiner]

My voice command worked for 2 days, been to the dealership several times and nothing.

Typical woman eh. Once you marry her (bought the truck), she quits listening to you.

 

[Jabalone]

So it's been almost seven months without voice control. I went to a new dealer this week. I told them whoever solved the voice control problem would get my warranty work, routine maintenance and my trade-in when the time came. They seemed to like that and said they'd looked the radio over. Seemed to take it seriously.

Their conclusion? Get ready for this..... they think the 5.0 uconnect stereo offers the prompt (voice prompt) for song, genre and artist control, but it can't actually do that. They compared it to buttons on a lower end stereo that serve no function but are there because they use the same plastic face on the higher end unit which offers more functions. So even though when pressing the button on the steering wheel, she (the digital voice lady) offers those functions, the 5.0 uconnect doesn't have that capability according to them.

If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny. ...actually it is still kind funny.

 

[WhiteExpress]

That sounds like something to call Ram on. I thought UC 5.oh had voice commands.

 

[milspecmark]

I had this problem and I downloaded the latest update and installed it on my truck and it fixed everything. You can find a thread about it in the section of the forum (audio and electronics) just keep scrolling. I think it is called uconnect update