Bluetooth Options For 2008 Silverado

RayGMC · May 15, 2010

When I initiate hands-free calling it says I don't have any minutes left. I get that far so I assume it works. My confusion is that I believe I had minutes left prior to the swap. I guess they got deleted during the account transfer or something. I'll try to add some and see if it works.

C. Charles Hahn · May 15, 2010

When I initiate hands-free calling it says I don't have any minutes left. I get that far so I assume it works. My confusion is that I believe I had minutes left prior to the swap. I guess they got deleted during the account transfer or something. I'll try to add some and see if it works.

All you have to do is hit the phone button on the mirror and when prompted say "My number" -- and see if a valid number in your area code comes up or if something else comes up.

loach402 · May 16, 2010

One thing to note though: you do NOT have to say "Onstar" before saying "Bluetooth" when using the PTT button. Just say "Bluetooth" when the vehicle prompts you with "READY" and you'll get to the menu for pairing/etc.

That is not the case on Lambdas with factory Navigation. You have to say "Onstar" first. If you say "Bluetooth" without first saying "Onstar" it replies with "not recognized".

By the way, it's been almost 24 hours so I just went out and tested the blue button again. No change. It's still in demo mode but connects quickly with Onstar. Then I have to tell it whether I want a demo or want to talk to an advisor. This time I said "talk to an advisor" and the advisor answered and immediately said "are you calling to activate your account today?" I said no I'm just testing it and he said "yes, it looks like everything is already set up with your account". The fact that it was a call from a vehicle in demo mode must have made him think it was an account activation call.

So it looks like I will not achieve "working as designed" functionality without a trip to the dealer to run ONSA, and of course there's no guarantee that will even work, so I'm not sure I'm going to risk it. It really looks like I have full functionality - I just have to jump through a couple extra hoops to get to an Onstar advisor. I'm concerned that the dealer is just going to screw things up.

Brewboy · May 16, 2010

When I initiate hands-free calling it says I don't have any minutes left. I get that far so I assume it works. My confusion is that I believe I had minutes left prior to the swap. I guess they got deleted during the account transfer or something. I'll try to add some and see if it works.

All you have to do is hit the phone button on the mirror and when prompted say "My number" -- and see if a valid number in your area code comes up or if something else comes up.

Hey Charlie could you explain to us who dont understand the technical details of exactly why the vehicle diagnostic email functionality will likely not work for those who have done a Gen8 VCIM swap?

Im just confused as to the reason for some things working while some dont.

I thought once there is proper communication between the VCIM and the On* network its all or nothing.

C. Charles Hahn · May 17, 2010

Hey Charlie could you explain to us who dont understand the technical details of exactly why the vehicle diagnostic email functionality will likely not work for those who have done a Gen8 VCIM swap?

Im just confused as to the reason for some things working while some dont.

I thought once there is proper communication between the VCIM and the On* network its all or nothing.

I don't even fully understand the reasoning behind it, to be honest; I just know what I've read on the G8 forums from Chris on the subject. Basically he says that "most" of the diagnostics will come through, except for a few specific parts of the engine and transmission segments.

If I had to guess, this is probably because there have been changes in the ECM/TCM used in the newer vehicles, so the code enabling the Gen7 VCIM to read older PCMs is no longer present in the Gen8 module. I wouldn't bet my life on that being the reason why though.

Brewboy · May 17, 2010

Hey Charlie could you explain to us who dont understand the technical details of exactly why the vehicle diagnostic email functionality will likely not work for those who have done a Gen8 VCIM swap?

Im just confused as to the reason for some things working while some dont.

I thought once there is proper communication between the VCIM and the On* network its all or nothing.

I don't even fully understand the reasoning behind it, to be honest; I just know what I've read on the G8 forums from Chris on the subject. Basically he says that "most" of the diagnostics will come through, except for a few specific parts of the engine and transmission segments.

If I had to guess, this is probably because there have been changes in the ECM/TCM used in the newer vehicles, so the code enabling the Gen7 VCIM to read older PCMs is no longer present in the Gen8 module. I wouldn't bet my life on that being the reason why though.

So in theory to get the GEN8 09 VCIM and 07 PCM to be compatable after a GEN8 upgrade you would need 09 GMT900 PCM software upgrade?

VO1BMD · May 17, 2010

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the CAN network allow communications between ALL modules of GM vehicles? So, even tho they are all talking "English" if you put in a module thats talking "British" (older English) some communicatins are possible but some gets lost in translation.

'Gotta a Fag?' will get the looks, but 'What's the tyre pressure' won't, its close enough for govenrment work.

So, in theory, you would have to replace much more than just couple modules to get a complete network running 100% or maybe a couple main components would suffice? Again, looks like we came full circle... ALMOST 100% functionality!

I don't think all modules can be upgraded to the 'future' software, just based on past experience alone, newer items will have different components, newer programmng. Older hardware just physically not able to run newer softeware... but my wife usually tells me I am wrong soooo....

Who's the guinnea pig willing to swap some parts and see what happens?

C. Charles Hahn · May 17, 2010

So in theory to get the GEN8 09 VCIM and 07 PCM to be compatable after a GEN8 upgrade you would need 09 GMT900 PCM software upgrade?

Probably. However I'm willing to bet that the minute you tried doing that, you'd cause some other module not to work.

Essentially the take-away point is that by retrofitting newer parts into an older vehicle, we will NEVER get 100% perfect functionality, so more than anything it comes down to getting as close to 100% as possible and making sure the most important features work as they should.

Personally, the diagnostic component is the one thing I truly don't care about. I keep a close eye on my truck anyway, and if a trouble code is thrown I already have the ability to scan and reset OBD-II codes via HP Tuners.

Since by all indications we should be able to get everything except for diagnostics working properly, that's my goal.... and I think it's probably also the goal of most of the folks doing this swap.

loach402 · May 17, 2010

[Probably. However I'm willing to bet that the minute you tried doing that, you'd cause some other module not to work.

Essentially the take-away point is that by retrofitting newer parts into an older vehicle, we will NEVER get 100% perfect functionality, so more than anything it comes down to getting as close to 100% as possible and making sure the most important features work as they should.

Personally, the diagnostic component is the one thing I truly don't care about. I keep a close eye on my truck anyway, and if a trouble code is thrown I already have the ability to scan and reset OBD-II codes via HP Tuners.

Since by all indications we should be able to get everything except for diagnostics working properly, that's my goal.... and I think it's probably also the goal of most of the folks doing this swap.

So if you were me, given that I'm at about 90% functionality now as described in a previous post, would you take your vehicle back to the dealer to run ONSA and risk potentially screwing that up and taking functionality back down to 50% or below?

I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow morning that I'm not sure I'm going to keep. The type A, competitive part of me says go for it - this could be the final piece of the puzzle to get everything save for vehicle diagnostics working as designed. The risk-averse part of me says forget it - you can do everything you need to do right now including getting an Onstar rep using the blue button just by jumping through one more button press and a couple extra voice commands - why risk letting a clueless dealer mess with it?

C. Charles Hahn · May 17, 2010

So if you were me, given that I'm at about 90% functionality now as described in a previous post, would you take your vehicle back to the dealer to run ONSA and risk potentially screwing that up and taking functionality back down to 50% or below?

I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow morning that I'm not sure I'm going to keep. The type A, competitive part of me says go for it - this could be the final piece of the puzzle to get everything save for vehicle diagnostics working as designed. The risk-averse part of me says forget it - you can do everything you need to do right now including getting an Onstar rep using the blue button just by jumping through one more button press and a couple extra voice commands - why risk letting a clueless dealer mess with it?

I can't really answer that one for you; since it sounds like the only achievable thing still not working in your truck is that it's in "demo mode" when you press the blue button, I'd probably just live with it that way unless you use the service and hit that button on a regular basis. It's an annoyance for sure, but a very minor one compared to having the main services OnStar provides not working (hands-free phone, quick connection to the call center when roadside assistance/etc. are needed).

On the other hand, I'm a perfectionist and usually find it difficult to live with unsolved mysteries for very long (I've never allowed a measly piece of electronics/software/hardware beat me). Since you said they actually noted documentation in your account of how they got things working, it would probably be easy enough for them to re-apply what they did IF having the dealer run ONSA causes a reversal in your progress.

Really it just comes down to your preference in the matter.

Brewboy · May 17, 2010

[Probably. However I'm willing to bet that the minute you tried doing that, you'd cause some other module not to work.

Essentially the take-away point is that by retrofitting newer parts into an older vehicle, we will NEVER get 100% perfect functionality, so more than anything it comes down to getting as close to 100% as possible and making sure the most important features work as they should.

Personally, the diagnostic component is the one thing I truly don't care about. I keep a close eye on my truck anyway, and if a trouble code is thrown I already have the ability to scan and reset OBD-II codes via HP Tuners.

Since by all indications we should be able to get everything except for diagnostics working properly, that's my goal.... and I think it's probably also the goal of most of the folks doing this swap.

So if you were me, given that I'm at about 90% functionality now as described in a previous post, would you take your vehicle back to the dealer to run ONSA and risk potentially screwing that up and taking functionality back down to 50% or below?

I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow morning that I'm not sure I'm going to keep. The type A, competitive part of me says go for it - this could be the final piece of the puzzle to get everything save for vehicle diagnostics working as designed. The risk-averse part of me says forget it - you can do everything you need to do right now including getting an Onstar rep using the blue button just by jumping through one more button press and a couple extra voice commands - why risk letting a clueless dealer mess with it?

You and I are in the same spot, with same vcim hardware, although different vehicles.

I can tell you from first hand experience taking the Gen8 vcim to the dealership and running the ONSA TIS2WEB programming wont change what CW did.

I stood and watched what they did and I lost nothing, and CW told me that was OK to do as well.

Its probably worth a try as long as they don't soak you for shop time.

RayGMC · May 17, 2010

When I initiate hands-free calling it says I don't have any minutes left. I get that far so I assume it works. My confusion is that I believe I had minutes left prior to the swap. I guess they got deleted during the account transfer or something. I'll try to add some and see if it works.

All you have to do is hit the phone button on the mirror and when prompted say "My number" -- and see if a valid number in your area code comes up or if something else comes up.

I added more minutes and was able to use the hands-free calling to make a test call. I assume the lost minutes expired after the 12 month period.

loach402 · May 18, 2010

I'm at the dealer now. Unfortunately I made the mistake of giving Onstar one more shot at it first and they screwed up the calibration to where voice recognition no longer works again. So I have nothing to lose at this point except a few bucks at the dealer.

loach402 · May 18, 2010

OK, done at the dealer. No further success. They were able to get me back to the point where I was yesterday (Onstar voice recognition works again). But they had no success getting a complete activation on my account - they tried ONSA and even spoke to Onstar technical assistance, which basically told them the same thing they've been telling me - that the hardware is incompatible with my vehicle. The service advisor said they tried various things in ONSA and could not get a combination to work. So I basically just spent $49 + tax on a car wash LOL.

So this is apparently the end of the road for my retrofit and here's my status:

Bluetooth - seems to be working fine. Have both my wife's RAZR and my Blackberry paired and tested. I do have to first say "Onstar" when using voice commands before I can get to the "Bluetooth" menu, which seems to be a quirk of the Lambdas that have navigation radio.

Onstar Emergency button - works fine

Onstar blue button - still seems to be partially in demo mode as it greets me with welcome message each time I push it. Then I have to push it again to be connected to Onstar. When Onstar answers, the last couple times it has connected me with Onstar navigation services, which is odd because I don't even subscribe to Directions & Connections. The rep can tell who I am, what vehicle I'm driving and my GPS location.

Onstar Hands-free calling - Tested and found some really weird stuff. Outbound calling works. However, the phone number that it calls out on according to caller ID on the receiving end is NOT the same number as what the box tells me when I say the "my number" command. Inbound calling does NOT work using either number. If I call the number that the box tells me I have, it just "rings" twice and says "the customer you called is not currently available". If I call the number that showed up on caller ID, it "rings" twice and drops the call. When I say "rings" I mean the ringing sound in the caller's earpiece - there is no ringing in the car.

Onstar vehicle diagnostics - Almost certainly will not work. When I went to the Onstar web site to enroll - it says Onstar Vehicle Diagnostics are not available for this vehicle.

Onstar Turn-By-Turn directions - Don't know because I haven't tested. As I mentioned earlier, I don't subscribe to D&C, but one of the reps I talked to earlier gave me a 30 day trial of D&C, so I suppose I could test it if somebody wants me to.

That's all I can think of right now. I will live with the partial Onstar functionality for now. I may or may not renew Onstar when my subscription comes up in August. I have a feeling I may encounter other quirks before then.