Car Dock and Car home app

[ptfd13]

I'm just wondering if I am missing something or not. When I place my phone in the car dock it does nothing. It does not launch any type of car home app, in fact it does nothing, as if it cannot even tell it is docked. Is this just me or are others experiencing this problem as well?

 

[Speeding Wheels]

I've heard somebody else mention this and I do not know the answer for sure since I dont have my car dock yet.
However, let me ask you this.. is the charger plugged into the port on the back?

 

[ptfd13]

I tried plugging in the power cord and it instantly activated the car home. I can't believe that it won't recognize being docked unless it is plugged in. My other droids have never had this issue. I guess it is just a minor inconvenience.

 

[Speeding Wheels]

from what I read, this dock does not have a magnet to activate dock modes. the device knows it's docked when the charger engages. dont know why they changed that

 

[MonkeyTime]

Are you using a case? I bought one because I was told they would fit now, it does. However, with the case on, it won't charge or initiate car mode. Without a case, it works just fine.

 

[Shadez]

The same here happened to me, and you are correct, there is no magnet. I went into the vzw from the parking lot 5 times saying its not going into car mode. Then they would play around with it and it would go into car mode. I also didn't see a car dock app anywhere. This morning when I put my phone in, it didnt go into car dock mode, I pushed down a little harder and it did. It seems to be a hit or miss thing, which I am sure will be fixed in an upgrade, or at least I hope. Although the car dock app really isn't a big deal since its ugly as hell anyways, I mainly use it to watch tv while driving via sling box J/K... but, I mainly use it for maps and nav which is on my home screen anyways, so Im not that worried about it. Also, I didn't notice it at first, but the clip on the top of the car dock comes down over to clamp the phone in place.. I have no idea why sometimes it works and sometimes it doeesn't. So its either, you have to press down on your phone for a secure connection, or its software.. but now thinking about it, it may also be the way you have your car dock adjusted, maybe if you have it an upward or downward angle it messes it up but in all honesty I'm not sure...

Just noticing another thread now, this may also be the problem, calibrating the bionic. I swear I turned the phone in every direction but don't know if it worked or not, 1/2 the phone was green other 1/2 same color ...I'll play around with it some in a bit.

 

[dberthia]

It looks like the Car Dock app is pre-installed as a system application that you can't run manually. IMHO it's a crappy application anyway, and I suggest getting Car Dock Home v3 from the market. The other thing you could do is root and use Titanium to change Car Dock to a user app.

Interesting information about the magnet (or lack thereof)...

 

[lanza_david]

Shadez,

Sorry but I have to respectfuly point this out.

" I mainly use it to watch tv while driving "

seriously?! I would not want to be driving around where you do friend. That is so not safe.

The same here happened to me, and you are correct, there is no magnet. I went into the vzw from the parking lot 5 times saying its not going into car mode. Then they would play around with it and it would go into car mode. I also didn't see a car dock app anywhere. This morning when I put my phone in, it didnt go into car dock mode, I pushed down a little harder and it did. It seems to be a hit or miss thing, which I am sure will be fixed in an upgrade, or at least I hope. Although the car dock app really isn't a big deal since its ugly as hell anyways, I mainly use it to watch tv while driving via sling box J/K... but, I mainly use it for maps and nav which is on my home screen anyways, so Im not that worried about it. Also, I didn't notice it at first, but the clip on the top of the car dock comes down over to clamp the phone in place.. I have no idea why sometimes it works and sometimes it doeesn't. So its either, you have to press down on your phone for a secure connection, or its software.. but now thinking about it, it may also be the way you have your car dock adjusted, maybe if you have it an upward or downward angle it messes it up but in all honesty I'm not sure...

Just noticing another thread now, this may also be the problem, calibrating the bionic. I swear I turned the phone in every direction but don't know if it worked or not, 1/2 the phone was green other 1/2 same color ...I'll play around with it some in a bit.

 

[Speeding Wheels]

you missed the "J/K"

 

[lanza_david]

you missed the "J/K"

Oppps, yes, missed that. Sorry Shadez, my bad. Sounded scary though!

 

[gsDroid]

My bionic immediately goes into car dock mode when I place it in the dock whether or not I am connected to power. I don't have a case so I put the insert into the dock for phones without cases. If using a case you can remove the insert for more room. I'm using the Moto branded dock included in the Costco bundle.

 

[Shadez]

ok ... so this is not a known issue as of now, I just got back from vzw, again, and of course when I took my car dock in to the store it worked fine and is working now. I submitted a trouble ticket anyways as the rep suggested I do, as this is the only way they know about it. Its not your phone. This is pure speculation, but when something is new, and you use it for the 1st time, lets use a puzzle for an example, the first time you try and put the puzzle together sometimes all the pieces don't fit right because there is residual cardboard on some of the pieces. It seems to me this is similar with the car dock, whether it be the usb adapter on the charger or the usb adapter on the phone, for lack of a better term, they need to get to 'know' each other. Meaning the first time you use it, its just getting to know each other, the more you use it, the better the connection you will get because they are balancing each other out, aligning if you will, till they are both equally adapted to each other.

Now some may not experience the problem because of the way they positioned the car dock (Tilted) which may make the connection easier for the phone to recognize. Say you slant it forward or backward, that may make a difference but eventually it will balance itself out. This may sound incredibly ridiculous but makes sense to me. I know with my old desktop cradle for d2g, it came to a point where it wasn't recognizing the phone in the cradle and I would have to put like a matchbook under the cradle in a corner to lift it just a little so that the connection was made, that eventualy 'balanced' itself out and works. I am pretty sure that is the same situation here, especially since its the only accessory I got and I went way out of my way to figure out why it wasn't. By putting your phone in the car adapter, doesnt have to be your car, you can do this in your house, and taking it out a few times should clear up any connection problems to both ends are happy with each other... again, this is just my opinion and I think it's right. If this does not work for you, you need to call motorola and vzw and submit a trouble ticket which I did anyways to be on the safe side.. anyways, just trying to help because I know how frustrating it is.

 

[wsbsteven]

I have the extended battery and for me the car dock works with or without the insert but with the insert I did have a problem one time with it not loading. I never had an issue without the plastic insert but the phone seems kind of loose in there without it but it didn't look like it would fall out.

 

[mdroid2g]

Mine worked perfect with the dock insert in place and no case on the phone. Now i have vzws fitted silicone case and took out the dock insert to compensate for the case, i just have to push it down a bit harder when i place it in and it works fine.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[MonkeyTime]

Are you using the stiff silicone, or the jelly one? I tried the silicone one, and I could not get it to charge or enter car mode. I think it may have had something to do with the power button. I noticed a little indentation on the silicone cover that was constantly being pressed.

It's too bad, I really liked the cover. Unfortunately, I had the same problem with the car dock, the laptop, as well as the home dock.