Factory bluetooth

[Panzer Leader]

I don't thnk its the VCIM. I think that the problem is with On Star Headquarters in their underground bunker. I do not have the Turn by Turn Directions. But I have the hands free phone minutes and the other On Star Service (Guess Safe and Sound) At this point I think I will quit while I am ahead.

[Seattle09GT]

Yup. I'm 99.9999% sure the problem lies with our OnStar overlords and not the VCIM. I wasted another hour this morning with the OnStar drones. Long waits, beep, beep, beep, beep, finally got to a tech, hold for about 15 minutes got disconnected, no call back, called back in, more beeps, got to work and gave up.

One change that did happen after the tech did something is instead of several minutes of beeping to talking to an OnStar rep it is once again almost instant. They still can't send a route to me in my car because, "I'm in an area of low cellular coverage."

OK, the I-405 corridor of Puget Sound in Bothell is an area of low cellular coverage? If I was in an area with better coverage I'd be glowing in the dark. But this is better than attempt to send and no joy. So I'm going to ass-u-me that this is something to do with OnStar, give it another 24 hours and waste another morning.

The techs apparently go home at 8 PM EDT which is 5 PM my time. I'll just set the alarm early and jump on it at 7 AM. Yay! I love getting up early. ;-)

For the record, the Bluetooth side of things ROCK! Totally ROCK! The VIM to the head unit with Holden logo - also ROCKS!

[Seattle09GT]

Update:

Well it took four different techs from Friday until today but I finally got someone on the Batphone that either a) would or b) could do what needed to be done. Everything works, including turn-by-turn directions 100%. I don't know what OnStar did on their end but the behavior of my OnStar box changed after I talked to tech number three, and it started working A LOT better. Tech number four did some more magic voodoo on their end and my turn-by-turn is working 100%.

How to test to see if you're configured properly, or on your way. First, you'll need a steady green light on you OnStar status indicator, this is the LED next to the emergency button on your OnStar controls located on the rear view mirror. If the light is red, something is wrong (likely the OnStar backup battery is dead). Have OnStar test for a dead battery before going back to Chris White. Also make sure 100% you have everything connected right, pushed all the way in, and the Bluetooth antenna connected correctly. I've read that the Bluetooth antenna is delicate and not made to come on and off multiple times. On my original OnStar box the connection points for the two coax looking cables were not color coded, and apparently they color coded them at the factory with a Sharpie (lol). On the replacement box they were color coded and I connected the blue coax connector to the blue female connector to the blue connector and the purple coax connector to the purple female connector on the OnStar box. On my box the Bluetooth connection was lableled BT, stamped into the metal casing, and it was the center "coax" looking connector. The other two harnesses can only go into one plug and only connect one way. Easy - five minutes TOPS.

I did some research while trying to trouble shoot and found on the GM truck sites there were saying a quick way to test and see if the tech you talked to set things up right.

Press the phone button on your steering wheel or on the mirror, OnStar should say, "Ready," and play a soft tone. You will then say, "my number."

The phone number associated with your G8 for OnStar minutes will be displayed on the DIC and the OnStar voice will tell you the phone number. Jot it down.

If the phone returned by OnStar has a 500 area code, your system is not configured.

No matter what, even if you don't but a second of minutes ever, even if you have a Verizon Wireless account connected to your car transfered to the new box, you will have a valid OnStar phone number associated with the OnStar box and your car. This is the phone number that OnStar uses when you press the blue button for Directions & Connections, other services, the same number that will call 911 in an air bag deploy, etc. etc. etc. You would only give that number out (or need to know it) if you're buying OnStar phone minutes - but seeing how you're installing Bluetooth, you won't need to give a rats ass about this number, other than making sure you have a valid one.

I discovered that when I had an updated phone number that I could call into things started working right.

The way to test the number is to call the number given when you say, "my number," using a cell phone. The phone should start ringing in the car. If you HAVE OnStar phone minutes pushing the phone button will result in the call being answered and your cell phone number should show up on the DIC (at least it does on my OnStar box, your mileage may vary).

If you don't have any OnStar phone minutes and you press the button nothing will happen, the phone will start to ring again in the car, the phone call will show disconnected on your cell phone. What happened up to that point? Well you had zero minutes, key pressing resulted in your call being disconnected becuase you have zero minutes. The second ringing is your G8 trying to call the OnStar service center to sell you minutes. The Caller ID information from your attempted call from your cell phone will now display on the DIC of your G8 (pretty sneaky OnStar). Push the phone button a second time (don't touch your cell phone) and you'll get a message that you have zero minutes remaining, and you are being connected to OnStar. Just hang up (unless you want to buy minutes). If you got this outcome, very likely your system was configured correctly.

One part where I broke lucky is somewhere along the way they must have guessed or got entered into the notes that my dealer replaced my OnStar box. I certainly never corrected them on this point - and that possibly made things go smoother. I know different people are having various experiences. My advice is PATIENCE. Find a tech that knows what the heck they are doing. Use the above trick to confirm their work. Don't piss the techs off, it was clear to me that they are taking notes each step of the way, if you're being an arse, you don't want it in the notes you're an arse. Ya I know, shouldn't be this hard, and I agree 1000% but pissing off a person that is between you and what you want - usually doesn't go well.

Good luck to all - hope this helps someone.

[Panzer Leader]

Damn fine post Seattle! Now if I could get ATT to correct an email error code that would be great as well!

[alemanandrew]

Is all still good with this information?? Im going to purchase one of the boxes if this Chris guy is still producing...

[Panzer Leader]

Yes, get the box from Chris. He will give you step by step instructions of installation and howto tell On-Star that you now have the new box...After a few bouts with On-Star, mine worked great..

[pokey]

I'm up next, shipped out a module to Chris today. Looking forward to getting this mod checked off the list, I've wanted this since I first figured out why some G8's list price was more than another with what at first looked like the same options. Can't wait!