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 FAQ #104
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Have an iRiver H340 paired with RD4 through auxiliary input on a Citroen C4.
After a month of ownership of my new C4 Hatch 1.4 Elegance Plus, I finally got to fit the auxiliary input cable that c4owner kindly sent to me (thank you a million times man! ).

If you remember my other thread "Another "Citroën told me" story, about line in!" you will remember that I was very upset lately, but fortunately the other dealer enabled the auxiliary input without taking me any money!

The process was easy and fast:

  • Take out the RD4 unit

  • Insert the cable at the back of it (you can't miss it)

  • Remove ashtray

  • Insert the lexia connector

  • Enable the option.

On the last step we scratched our heads a little but after 2 minutes we figured it out.

The (first) other dreadful guy was scaring me with wrong information. He wasn't the only one in Crete with the program, it didn't need internet connection to enable it and it could be enabled even without installing the cable. Of course my car still remains in perfect condition (he said that complications could occur and even burn the CPU of the car!!! ).

Fortunately the week before I got the cable, I did all the work to fit the mp3 player (iRiver H320 modded with a 40GB disk) and a cheap bluetooth headset in a base/cradle and hide all power cables in the dashboard.

Photo section

Starting with the cradle and wires:

The cradle is taken from iRiver H300's battery pack. The battery compartment was removed and I kept the cradle that hugs the player.



I removed the air-duct pliers from another cheap generic-pda-cradle and stuck them behind.



I took power from the cigarette lighter. I used a 12v to 5v USB adaptor which modded with a switch.
You can see a custom made cable that from one side is a standard USB plug (shortened because the arm rest can't be lowered all the way with normal USB plugs), and a standard 1/8 TRS stereo female connector.



The power cables are connected to a Y 1/8 TRS connector. One for the mp3 player and one for the SonyEricsson Bluetooth headset.



Here you can see the iRiver H340 mp3 player mounted on the cradle with the SonyEricsson bluetooth headset. This picture is in my home and not on the car itself.



Cradle mounted on the car:

Here is the cradle with the mp3 player and headset mounted on the driver's air-duct.



And a little anti-theft system. A small black cloth that will prevent strangers to know what is hiding behind it.



The power cables are inserted on the side of the dashboard and connect to the Y connector under the fuse box.



From there, under the wheel and the central console, until the cigarette lighter is reached.



Comments

My previous car was a Citroen AX circa 1992. A terrible car if you take account its age, but I had the about the same setup though (iRiver H115 instead and no bluetooth). Converting to an C4 was a magnificent change for me, but the lack of an mp3 player was profound.

Another great addition is that iRiver H340 supports Rockbox, rockbox.org an alternative firmware for mp3 players that enhances your user experience with digital audio players. A great UI with many options, fonts and even a voice user interface (great for in-car usage when you can't look at the screen all the time). Also I have CD like volume (not to much, I know) because H340 has a headphone and line-out socket.

A nice thing about C4 is that when you turn off the key the cigarette lighter stops giving power. That way when I turn on the key, the H340 starts automatically because it sees power from the cigarette lighter and in conjunction with Rockbox's Car-Adapter Mode when I turn off the car it stops too. The whole experience is very automated and transparent, just like using the CD of the car (even better cause of the Rockbox UI). Here is a video (sorry, the quality sucks, when I find time I will record a better one) that shows the concept.



Finally, the bluetooth headset is completely resident in the car and battery is not an issue anymore. All I have to do is remember to turn on bluetooth in my mobile phone and when someone calls I can continue driving safely.

Overall I am very very happy. I have finally completed the driving experience that I craved for so long. C4 is a quiet car with the comfort I was looking for. I can now listen to my favourite tunes (ALL my collection actually), talk on the phone safely, and enjoy a nice ride with a nice car.

The only downside is that I don't have more volume than the CD, though that can be alleviated somewhat with mp3gain and replaygain, or in the end I can just fit a small headphone amplifier.

Thank you all for helping me understanding the method to enable the auxiliary input and about the clear answers you gave me. Special thanks to c4owner for the splendid forum and of course the cable that kindly sent to me.
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FAQ Posted by XavierGr
Info Created: 09 October 2008
Last Updated: 30 March 2012