Secret menu in the 05's COMAND unit.

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by Baby Jocko Hasn't it been established that MP3 CD/DVD only works on 2005 US models? Yes it does, yes it does, yes it does.......... I went through HELL looking for solutions to play my huge collection of mp3's before I received my CDI. In the end, everything was built in. Just to clear the air once and for all, the North American standard COMAND units in the 2005's will PLAY mp3's burned on cd's AND DVD's. Period. Before that, I don't know. As far as playing VIDEO DVD's, so far, no one has found out for sure if the 2005's standard COMAND units can play videos.

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[ATS]

..and what about DVD in motion?

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by atssystems.com

..and what about DVD in motion?

As of yet, I don't know if it is able to play ANY video's, let alone the motion question.

It seems the 2005's are a Voyage Of Discovery. NOBODY at my dealership knows much about the 2005 COMAND capabilities yet.

[ATS]

I believe all units (with Command) will play DVD's although the N/A version will not play them in motion..

Throw a DVD in there and go a spin and let us know..

[Baby Jocko]

Originally Posted by atssystems.com

I believe all units (with Command) will play DVD's although the N/A version will not play them in motion.

Why would you believe that when those who have tried, failed? The only thing that hasn't been tried by someone in this forum is a Region 2 DVD (or a menu for changing the DVD region code)

[ATS]

I apologize.. I didn't realize someone with a 05 tried and failed.. I must be tired..

[ATS]

By the way Spartan.. I am in Toronto and have a Region 2 DVD if you are interested. Even better grab a non locked DVD (a region 0) DVD and give it a try. There are many out there. Just look for something that says, Not region encoded on the box.

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by atssystems.com

By the way Spartan.. I am in Toronto and have a Region 2 DVD if you are interested. Even better grab a non locked DVD (a region 0) DVD and give it a try. There are many out there. Just look for something that says, Not region encoded on the box.

I would be interested in trying it. Can you make a copy and leave it with Dave at the parts counter in the Lakeshore dealership? If you can, then I wll try it right away and report my findings to the forum. My COMAND unit is already set up as 211 ECE.

We should NOT assume that the DVD head unit can play video. It is highly likely that there is a hardware decoder and it may be lacking in the North American versions. The only way we will know for sure if we try it. So far, Shrek comes out as "cd error".

[alewifebp]

I was hoping that it would work by some strange act of God, but it did not on my 04, as expected. MBenzNL had done a comparison of the US and Euro spec COMAND units and found them to be quite different, in particular, a lack of a DVD drive. It would appear to me that MBUSA is preparing to offer the MP3 capabilities for the 211 in the US soon.

On a side note, I noticed a Developer mode as well. I wonder what can be done through that mode?

[krispykrme]

It does not work on 04. However, from looking steve's picture. It still appears that the toshiba version is also a DVD drive albeit missing some connectors.

The philips drive has a DVD decoder chip on it (SAA7816HL). And a ribbon connectors is used to connect it to the control unit.

From the picture it looks like the same connector is used to connect the toshiba drive to the control unit (if that is the case, it means that toshiba chip should be a DVD decoder chip). I can't read the toshiba p/n off Steve's website. So if anyone can give me that information, I can look into this further. I believe that if we can locate a SAA7816HL based DVD drive, it should be a direct swap of drives into US command.

It's not the laser that differentiate the drive, it's the decoder chip that comes with the drive. I am about to trade my Command for a euro one. So I am not going to mess around with my command. But I think there is a cheap solution to get this to work. However, we are still missing connectors for the video, which is a must for me.

So if anyone want to volunteer their 2004 US command and let me know the toshiba chip p/n on it. I can dig into this further.

[krispykrme]

you can create your own region 0 disc. go find the following two program will allow you to defeat region code issue.

ANYDVD- disables region code
clonedvd- burn backup copy of your dvd.

information is only intened to make legal backup copy only.

[NickIndy]

Originally Posted by Baby Jocko

Why would you believe that when those who have tried, failed? The only thing that hasn't been tried by someone in this forum is a Region 2 DVD (or a menu for changing the DVD region code)

I do have a 05 CDI and switched my n/a comand to w211ece and tried a region 2 dvd. got the cd error message.

[NickIndy]

Has anyone had any lucky with RDS on the 05 N/A COMAND? I have an 02 BMW that does it and just got rid of a Chevy Trailblazer for my 05 CDI and was very annoyed that the Trailblazer would do RDS but my Benz wouldn't. Any tips? Tried switching to euro mode but no luck.

[Baby Jocko]

Apparently, the software for the COMAND unit is universal, but the hardware (still) is not. When you switch to Euro mode, does it show video options? What happens when you press the SAT button?

I'm still shaking my head at MBUSA's logic.

[MBenzNL]

Originally Posted by alewifebp

I was hoping that it would work by some strange act of God, but it did not on my 04, as expected. MBenzNL had done a comparison of the US and Euro spec COMAND units and found them to be quite different, in particular, a lack of a DVD drive.

...This 357 thing has made it possible for us to install a SAT radio receiver AND TV in Scorchies 2003 E55 with Euro comand...he is able to watch DVDs and listen to SAT radio by changing the comand from ECE to US mode (which is quite unpractical as it involves being parked for at least 3 minutes at the side of the road)...while changing from/to US/ECE, the navigation voice also changes from US to britchick and back..

BUT...all of this is of NO USE to 95% of you people with a US comand as the US comand in NO WAY is able to play DVDs unless you are blessed with one of the very first US cars with a factory equipped comand. The US comand is NOT able to play DVDs (believe me, I have sacrificed two of those in order to get it worked out).
The US spec W211 comand can be forced to recognise DVDs (by doing a lot more then just the 357 trick) but the maximum DVD experience out of a US spec comand is a set of horizontal lines on the screen and that is it...the US spec comand is not able to decode DVDs NO MATTER WHAT REGION the DVD is (which is a complete different setting then the ECE versus US setting).

On euro comands with the latest software (MP3 compatible) the 357 trick no longer works...I don't know how that is on US spec comands as I have not been able to find software updates for those yet...

The 357 trick only works when the HU gets switched off, the car gets switched off completely as well and one waits for at least 3 minutes before the car gets started again...when first switching on the comand it will reboot and the display will stay black...if it powers up right away, the 357 trick wasn't succesfull.

On the older US spec comand that do have DVD playback acapbillity, I only could get the DVD to play while the car was not in motion...and could not get it to play DVD while the car was in motion. Whenever the HU was switched off, the DVD would start at scratch again when switched on...not at the spot where it stopped.
These older US spec comands with DVD playback are only used for a very short while before the real US spec comands were installed...so don't hold up your hopes too high of finding such a comand in your US spec car.

greetingz,

[MBenzNL]

Originally Posted by Baby Jocko

When you switch to Euro mode, does it show video options? What happens when you press the SAT button?

In ECE mode, it will have the DVD logo when inserting the update disc...in US mode it does not have the DVD logo on the screen when inserting the update disc...
The euro comand in scorchies E55 comes up with SAT in US mode and comes up with TV, AV1, AV2 and DVD in ECE mode when hitting the video (SAT) button

greetingz,

[Viesel]

OK I have tried the 357 in radio, cd, cdc, modes and can not get anything to happen. Am I doing anything wrong? I turn the key switch to the on position turn on radio and press and hold 357, nothing! I do not have the nav system, do you have to have it in order for this command to work?

[Spartan]

MBenzNL,

You should differentiate between DVD-video and DVD-audio. Some people are getting confused between the two. Some people are assuming if it can play DVD mp3’s then it should also play DVD video’s. Which is NOT true.

Just so some of you are not confused.....

DVD stands for Digital Versatile OR Video Disc. It’s a higher density data storage medium that can store anything digitally. The problems arise in decoding the stream of information that is read by the laser. It is not a stretch nor surprising that MB upgraded to a DVD reading unit since that is becoming the standard. Nor is it surprising that one can play mp3’s on it.

However……

The problem arises when you need to decode that digital stream into video. You can either do it through software and a fairly powerful computer or dedicated decoding chips. The easiest way is the decoding chip because it does not put as much “overhead” work on the computer itself. The chips themselves are fairly inexpensive but with the car manufacturers trying to save everything they can, they WILL remove them if it saves them a few dollars.

Anyway……

I am not saying anything new here. This discussion has already taken place in a few threads.

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by Viesel

OK I have tried the 357 in radio, cd, cdc, modes and can not get anything to happen. Am I doing anything wrong? I turn the key switch to the on position turn on radio and press and hold 357, nothing! I do not have the nav system, do you have to have it in order for this command to work?

Reread MBenzNL post.

[Viesel]

Originally Posted by Spartan

Reread MBenzNL post.

I did and I must be missing something. Cant get it to woark at all. Nothing happens when I press 357. BTW What is HU

[Baby Jocko]

Originally Posted by Spartan

The chips themselves are fairly inexpensive but with the car manufacturers trying to save everything they can, they WILL remove them if it saves them a few dollars.

I'll say this for the millionth time. It cannot be assumed that MBUSA configured COMAND without digital decoding in an effort to save money. The savings vs. the manufacturing and inventory of a separate unit would be negligible if not negative. If for some reason a brainiac in a suit within MBUSA figured it would save money, then that certainly would not have been the primary reason. As an available option, MBUSA would have made $Zillions -- a lot more than whatever savings they could ever possibly even dream.

Knowing why the decision was made won't do anything for my pocket or love life. It just irks me when an illogical deduction is used to pontificate an answer to even a trivial question, then repeated until it becomes an urban legend.

- Because it is illegal in the US
- Because MBUSA suits are losing it
- Because they wanted to pisss off their US customers

Jeopardy question: Why did MBUSA omit the DVD decoder chip in the US COMAND units?

Take your pick.

[Baby Jocko]

Originally Posted by Viesel

I did and I must be missing something. Cant get it to woark at all. Nothing happens when I press 357. BTW What is HU

You say you don't even have a COMAND unit. Why would you expect it to work?

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by Baby Jocko

I'll say this for the millionth time. It cannot be assumed that MBUSA configured COMAND without digital decoding in an effort to save money. The savings vs. the manufacturing and inventory of a separate unit would be negligible if not negative. If for some reason a brainiac in a suit within MBUSA figured it would save money, then that certainly would not have been the primary reason. As an available option, MBUSA would have made $Zillions -- a lot more than whatever savings they could ever possibly even dream.

Knowing why the decision was made won't do anything for my pocket or love life. It just irks me when an illogical deduction is used to pontificate an answer to even a trivial question, then repeated until it becomes an urban legend.

- Because it is illegal in the US
- Because MBUSA suits are losing it
- Because they wanted to pisss off their US customers

Jeopardy question: Why did MBUSA omit the DVD decoder chip in the US COMAND units?

Take your pick.

At this point in time, no one has been able to confirm if there is a software work around or a hidden menu to get the DVD-video to work. And as far as I know, none of us amatuers have taken a unit apart to find out if the chips are there or not.

So......

One can only use what is logical, reasonalbe and what is common practice in the automotive industry. We could debate the point but it will not give us any real answers.

But don't worry.....

I'm planning on stealing a fellow members car and giving it open electronic heart surgery.....

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by Viesel

BTW What is HU

Me no understand Engrish very good but me thinks he means Heavy Uunderwear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Head Unit.....or at least that is what I think he means.

[Viesel]

Originally Posted by Baby Jocko

You say you don't even have a COMAND unit. Why would you expect it to work?

I didnt say that I dont have a COMAND unit, I said that I dont have the NAV system installed, now is that the same thing? You guys are loosing me here. I dont know, I still cant get it to do anything with 357.