Rns-e Woes

johnyfartbox

A2OC Donor
United-Kingdom
Im sure many of you know that I bought Toms RNS-E from him.
And so the saga begins........................................

Having ordered the quad lock system it dually arrived missing the Arial lead but he has since sent that to me.
And last Saturday, I think, Tom contacted me through whatsapp to advise me in a video chat how to connect it all up, me being useless with such things.

No worries John, Tom said, we shall have this up and running in no time.............................................almost three hours later.......................yip, it works .
Or should I say, yip, it works but only if I dont urn the key in the ignition, If I do, the unit goes into mute but then comes back on again (sound).
Also, on the DIS its showing the track that is playing from the SD card but moments later it shows, PHONE, then goes back to the track name and so on, turn the key back so that the dash is dead, just like it is before you put the key in and the unit no longer mutes.
At first we thought it may be the TELL MUTE wire, so I carefully removed it and plugged everything back together, but this time just pressed the on button and it kicked in playing the last track, turned the key to the first notch so the dash lit up and into Mute it went again also showing Track / PHONE/ Track / PHONE /.

Im sure Tom will add to this thread to explain in more detail what we have done up to now and express his thoughts.

So, Anyone out there with any ideas?
 
Evening all,

Yes this has been very frustrating. If only I was able to be there in person as Im sure this could be sorted in a rather short time. The only thing left to try (apart from getting the harness adapter replace by the seller) which I asked John to do was to trace all wires within the harness adapter to ensure the Pins from the car go through the harness adapter to the correct Pins in the Quadlock, by simply using the Pinout labels on both his Symphony and his new RNS-E. Trying to do this over poor quality video during dark evenings hasn't made it easy, but John understands what has been said.

Personally I think something is wrong with the harness and its grounding/shorting out on one of the Pins, without being there I just cannot diagnose it. Initial thoughts was the Tel Mute Pin so he removed that so this is not the problem. Removing the Tel Mute wire isn't an issue as its not required with the current set up.

As with quite a few harness adapters out there, the Bose Pin in the ISO connector went to the V Signal Pin in the Qualdlock, this was quickly moved into the correct place by using Johns beautifully engineered Pin Removal Tool.

What John says it pretty much on the money here, the RNS-E performs perfectly normal whilst the ignition is off, when the key is turned then the RNS-E continuously flicks between muted and unmuted, also the DIS is flicking between PHONE and the radio station/SD Card track name. This still points to the Tel Mute which I understand to have been removed:

@johnyfartbox, double check by using the Pinout labels to ensure it was the Tel Mute wire which was removed, it certainly looked like it to me but worth a re-check.

Whilst the above information is completely correct from our findings, it must be said that the RNS-E has been working perfectly in Johns A2 for well over an hour with the ignition both on and off. During our communications last night it was all working brilliantly and I could hear the sight of relief in his voice. This evening, after removing everything for the fitting of the late arriving aerial adapter it has gone back to the constant mute/unmute. To me this points to the ISO/Qualdlock harness adapter being disturbed from its 'good position' last night as its shorting/grounding at one of the ends again.

I really do recommend contacting the seller to get it all working with a replacement harness adapter. Hopefully he will accept that in this instance one of his items has left his place of business in an unsatisfactory order.

Don't think I've missed anything out. Does anyone has a 'spare' ISO/Quadlock harness adapter should a replacement somehow not be an option from the eBay seller. Id happily have the harness adapter sent to me to investigate and repair if a replacement didn't work out with the seller

A bit of extra detail: The vehicles harness has been proved perfect by refitting there Symphony unit and the RNS-E is coded exactly as it needs to be for the recipient A2.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Thanks Tom for putting it in words that I could not have done, if I had written it, peeps would have have nodded off.
Speaking to audifan, Graham, he suggested that the unit MIGHT still be looking for the Audi Bluetooth system you have in the car it was on before you sold it to me and this needs to be altered.
Thoughts?
 
Hi John,

It is worth checking the coding of the RNS-E to make sure all is in order but I know I recoded it the evening before dispatch to:

0509111, this should be perfect for you Bose equipped A2.

As you're having a few VCDS issues you can check (not change) the RNS-E coding by entering the engineering pages. I can assure you its coded as above though sir.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Ah so we did John,

Your memory is better than mine! Thats that ticked off the list then. The fact that it works perfectly with the ignition both on and off until the harness has been removed/refitted can only point to the harness itself. I would be onto that eBay seller and requesting a replacement.

Happy to have the harness sent to me though for rectification should it all go wrong on eBay.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
John,

I know you have this information on the RNSE Pinout label but please do check that the correct Pin was removed and all wires around the Tel Mute are fully sheathed:

conn.jpg


pinout_1070117697_image.png


Try to cover any Pin wires not fully sheathed with heat shrink to similar. You'll have to put your Pin Removal Tool into action again! Not that I think it should be an issue but whilst you may have the leg stabbing tool out, it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop any other possible interference by removing one of the CAN wires and twisting it together with the opposite CAN wire (create a twisted pair). This will of course reduce the length of the CAN H and CAN L wires though, I don't think this is essential (and not the problem here) as its only a short distance of not being twisted but good practice anyway.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
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I have never seen an off-the-shelf QuadLock adapter that's correctly wired for the A2, let alone an A2 with Bose. I consider (re)wiring a QuadLock adapter to be an integral and unavoidable stage of any RNS-E retrofit.

John, as you know, I'm fairly local to you. If you're willing to deposit your A2 on my driveway and step back by a few metres such that we're suitably socially distanced, I'll probably spot the cause of the problem very quickly. Happy to help.

Cheers,

Tom
 
I have never seen an off-the-shelf QuadLock adapter that's correctly wired for the A2, let alone an A2 with Bose. I consider (re)wiring a QuadLock adapter to be an integral and unavoidable stage of any RNS-E retrofit.

John, as you know, I'm fairly local to you. If you're willing to deposit your A2 on my driveway and step back by a few metres such that we're suitably socially distanced, I'll probably spot the cause of the problem very quickly. Happy to help.

Cheers,

Tom
Thanks for jumping in Tom,

There is something not right within the Quadlock harness, either incorrectly wired (the seller has wired harnesses correctly in the last though) or its grounding due to close proximity of incorrectly sheathed wires.

I just cannot see it at night during a degraded picture video call. I know this is something that you’ll see quite obvious when there in person.

Hopefully John can soon put this all behind him and enjoy his rather nice purchase.

PS: Is there room in your drive for my A2 sir?

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Evening all,

Just to put some closure on John’s RNS-E Woes.

The ISO to Quadlock adapter arrived at 2Work Towers yesterday morning and I could see the issue straight away. I didn’t do any of the remedial works on it though as yesterday was set aside for the Jurassic Park Collection with our boys. We got through the first 3 films with sizeable breaks in between. Boys loved them!

This afternoon I done the necessary adjustments to ensure it will work perfectly in John’s A2 (Deva).

The main issue with this harness was that the Tel Mute Pin was still connected in the Quadlock. This Pin had 2 wires coming from it, 1 went to Alarm Ground in the ISO connector and the other end was cut (by John) but guess it went to the Tel Mute in the ISO connector. This was the reason why John’s new purchase was muting. John did remove what he thought was the Tel Mute but actually removed the CAN Lo wire. The good thing was that the Bose Pin was located correctly from our video call last week.

To get this all working correctly I done the following:
1. Removed the Tel Mute completely
2. Fitted the Alarm Ground correctly
3. Fitted a new CAN Lo wire
4. Wrapped everything up in Tesa Loom Tape for added protection
5. Tested it in OEM with John on a WhatsApp video call to prove that all is now in order
6. Posted the harness back for fitting into Deva

168134CC-0D09-4406-A2E5-0A09CEFE5F2A.jpeg


20 minutes work and happy to report that all is sorted.

I won't go into details of Pinouts and where things were moved to as it may not be that useful for other members who might use this as a guide in the future, I'd hate someone to mess something up using my information from this post because their harness adapter and A2 are not the same spec as discussed in this thread. What I done on this occasion was for this particular harness adapter to work in Johns A2 which had a factory fitted Symphony 2 and Bose (possibly factory fitted but can't remember). I know the differences wouldn't be miles apart in other A2s though.

What I can say is that if you have a half decent set of Pin Removal Tools then you'll be half way there to making an incorrectly configured harness adapter work for your retrofit. All the information you need will be on the Pinout label on your old/current Audi head unit (Chorus, Concert or Symphony) and you just need to understand which pin needs to go to the corresponding Pin on the RNS-E. The RNS-E also has a Pinout label on it to help you out.

There are plenty of helpful tips and pictures available online if your old or new head unit doesn't have the Pinout label in a readable condition.

Failing that I am only a PM away to help out. I must add that I am by no means an expert but reasonably competent at this task. Taking on such tasks isn't something I'd normally do but really didn't mind on this occasion as it was to get a rather expensive item I sold working for the buyer. These sort of tasks are best placed with a very helpful person up in Lancashire (@timmus).

Its all turned out well and in the next day or 2 John will be pushing his recent purchase fully into it'd new home and enjoying the delights of a RNS-E PU with the latest firmware with the addition of SD Card maps, album art and all the other amazing things that is now available from Stuart.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
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Again Tom, many thanks for going the extra mile.
The bose was retro fitted by Timmus by the way..
Thanks for the added detail John and it was my pleasure.

As it was retrofitted by the master it should be classed as factory fitted I guess.

Hopefully you receive the package by Tuesday as it was sent the same service as you sent it to me.

Don’t hang around to get your purchase finally fully connected, pushed in and sit back to enjoy the wanders of the RNS-E. You know I’m always available if you ever get stuck sir.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
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Evening all,

I am very happy to report that John has sorted his VCDS issue and has since coded his Instruments to enable the Nav display page on his Full DIS display.

The RNS-E is fully pushed into its new home after I recently shaved some weight off of the Seat Media System E fascia.

Pretty sure he will be along shortly with big smiles all round once he’s finished navigation to the nearest shop and back home using the SD Card Maps.

A happy ending has been had.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Just to say a big thank you to Tom for his advice and guiding me through this, I would probably have given up on the second day trying to sort this out,

Again, cheers Tom.
A complete pleasure sir,

Always happy to help anyone one out with my limited knowledge. I’m just glad that all the things that have been against you throughout this was not the item I sold you. I was starting to think it had got damaged in transit or something.

All was obvious when I had the harness here which was quickly remedied.

Enjoy the delights of the updated firmware on your brilliant RNS-E PU 193G.

Before you know it you’ll be fitting an Audi BT and AMI module.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
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