RAZR won't recognize OEM car dock

[DeadlyAP1]

I bought the OEM Moto car dock. It is the one that comes with the charger and Y cable.

For some reason, when it is in the dock, it will charge, but will not recognize that it is in a car dock and auto switch to the car app. Anyone know of a setting or possible app that I may have frozen that could cause this to happen? Thanks

 

[eidian]

Do you have a home dock? If your phone recognizes the home dock then maybe there's something wrong with the magnet in the car dock.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[DeadlyAP1]

No home dock. Also, from what I have read (which may not be true), the docks for the RAZR don't use the tried and true magnet method. Instead there is some type of circuitry that is supposed to trigger the dock mode. I noticed that it actually worked once or twice today. Very frustrating.

 

[smacinskyjr]

do you have a case on the phone?

 

[DeadlyAP1]

No, it's naked.

I've devised a work around using some Tasker rules but it's annoying and isn't as good as it should be.

 

[FoxKat]

No home dock. Also, from what I have read (which may not be true), the docks for the RAZR don't use the tried and true magnet method. Instead there is some type of circuitry that is supposed to trigger the dock mode. I noticed that it actually worked once or twice today. Very frustrating.

This is entirely correct. The Razr doesn't use magnetic triggering. There were numerous reasons why they moved away from the magnetic triggers, but the primary reasons were magnetic closures on carrying cases which would trigger one of the dock modes when placing the phone in the case, resulting in screens being on while in the case, and being limited to only two options for docs because there were only two sensors on the motherboard. By using the USB and/or HDMI connections and incorporating trigger circuitry the options are essentially limitless.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[skmaxwell]

How to Trigger Car Mode?

Thanks for your posts about car docks and car mode for the Razr. This thread has been very informative because I've been frustrated trying to figure out how to trigger car mode with my Razr Maxx. My old phone was a Droid X and I built my own car mount (for about $7 :biggrin, incorporating a magnet. It worked perfectly. I mistakenly thought it would be just as easy with the Razr.

Does anyone know exactly how to trigger car mode in the Razr? It looks like the Motorola car mount only plugs into USB, but that can't be the sole trigger because you plug in a USB cable all the time to charge it. Is it USB cable plus orientation of the phone? USB cable plus magnetism? Or is there something unique about the Motorola mount's USB plug that distinguishes it from a normal USB plug?

(For the record, I'm aware of the "Car Mode Control" workaround app and I'm looking for a real solution to automatically trigger car mode.)

-skmaxwell

 

[ahaynes106]

Thanks for your posts about car docks and car mode for the Razr. This thread has been very informative because I've been frustrated trying to figure out how to trigger car mode with my Razr Maxx. My old phone was a Droid X and I built my own car mount (for about $7 :biggrin, incorporating a magnet. It worked perfectly. I mistakenly thought it would be just as easy with the Razr.

Does anyone know exactly how to trigger car mode in the Razr? It looks like the Motorola car mount only plugs into USB, but that can't be the sole trigger because you plug in a USB cable all the time to charge it. Is it USB cable plus orientation of the phone? USB cable plus magnetism? Or is there something unique about the Motorola mount's USB plug that distinguishes it from a normal USB plug?

(For the record, I'm aware of the "Car Mode Control" workaround app and I'm looking for a real solution to automatically trigger car mode.)

-skmaxwell

skmaxwell - did you ever figure out the triggering? I just got the Razr Maxx HD and am just using a universal mount. I would like to know how to trigger vehicle mode, so, if you figured something out, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[YellowJacket]

I use an app called "CarHomeUltra". It costs a few bucks but is a really cool and functional to the stock vehicle mode that launches when the phone is docked. One of the good things about carhomeultra is that you can try it for free.

Launch the app and put the phone in any dock and it will switch back and forth between portrait and landscape depending on how the dock or car holder is positioned. You don't need to have the OEM dock for it to work.

David

 

[ahaynes106]

I use an app called "CarHomeUltra". It costs a few bucks but is a really cool and functional to the stock vehicle mode that launches when the phone is docked. One of the good things about carhomeultra is that you can try it for free.

Launch the app and put the phone in any dock and it will switch back and forth between portrait and landscape depending on how the dock or car holder is positioned. You don't need to have the OEM dock for it to work.

David

Yes, that is a great app. I used it with my droid x, but then the OEM docks magnet would trigger the app to start. Also, as I went to other apps from CHU, the home button would bring me back to Car Home Ultra (CHU). On the Razr HD, I had no magnet in my universal dock, but evidently, from previous posts and other threads, there is no magnet trigger. So a little while ago I poked around in CHU and found settings to launch it when Bluetooth with my car is detected (like Razr's smart actions), and finally found the setting that allows CHU to take over the Home button while the app is active. Glad to have CHU back in service and behaving like I want.

 

[skmaxwell]

skmaxwell - did you ever figure out the triggering? I just got the Razr Maxx HD and am just using a universal mount. I would like to know how to trigger vehicle mode, so, if you figured something out, please let me know. Thanks!

I found out that it's triggered using a slightly different configuration on the USB plug on the Motorola brand mount. What I mean is, when you look at a standard USB plug like your phone charger has, you see little metal pins inside. The Motorola mount has different pins than a standard USB cable, and so you won't be able to trigger car mode automatically unless you figure out how to mimic the USB plug of the Motorola car mount.

I wasn't ever able to solve this and now just manually start my Car Home Ultra app. Disappointing. Let me know if you're able to get it working.

 

[cybertj.2000]

You can also set a smart action to launch the app whenever it is plugged in, and if you don't want it to launch when you plug it in at night you set one of the triggers as an active time or only during these hours. There might be other ways in smart actions to limit it to only in your vehicle, but that depends on your setup and such

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