Last spring I bought a new car. My van broke down for the zillionth time and I just couldn’t deal with it any more. I cried for two days, then picked myself up, and went out in search of a new vehicle.
We spent a week researching vehicles until my brain went numb. I test drove a good dozen different vehicles. I went from minivan to crossover to nearly comatose in the finance department.
Lady Ozma does not spend money easily. Personally, I’d like to take out all my money in golden dollars and swim in them a la Scrooge McDuck.
One of the features I love in my car is the radio. First of all it’s outrageously large so I find it less distracting when driving. Second, I have controls on my steering column so again, I feel less distracted when wanting to switch channels. Third, I completely heart Sirius Radio with every fiber of my being and will cry when my year runs out in a month and a half.
I also really love that I have an input plug, a USB plug, and bluetooth so I can make my iPod (or smart phone) work through the stereo. Huzzah!
I totally wanted that feature, so it made me happy to get it.
The problem: My iPod screen completely gets taken over with “DODGE” on the screen and I have to use the radio controls and there was absolutely no way to access my playlists. I tried everything, even starting a playlist before plugging into the car. No dice.
I love my playlists. They are the greatest way to listen to music! I have playlists for long car rides, the 4th of July, Halloween, and let’s not even discuss my full day of Christmas tunes. That’s not even all of my playlists, I have three separate playlists for Sundays in a sort of “pick your pick-me-up” type thing.
As luck would have it, I’m not the only one that thought this was a grievous oversight. I received an email stating I might have an upgrade giving me playlist-ability! Huzzah!
Even more fun. I can do it myself. Sweet. Geek Gurl can upgrade her own bat toy. LOVE IT!
First I downloaded the software and loaded it onto my handy-dandy new 8 GB thumb drive I got for Christmas.
Ugly webpage left a lot to be desired but huzzah for update on my thumb drive!
Next, I went to my Dodge Journey to start this whole process. Because the car didn’t actually need the engine started, I chose to be far more comfy and sat in the passenger seat.
With the car started, but without the engine running, you can see my radio display comes on.
It’s easy to get the car to “run” without the engine turning over. You just push the Start button twice without pressing the brake pedal. Once the radio comes on, you are good to go to start the process. Yes, I love Hits 1 on Sirius! Sadly, The Morning Mashup was almost over and this process took over the radio. You may cry with me now.
After plugging in my USB stick (the center console compartment was not the easiest to photograph, sorry) I got this lovely screen as my radio silenced:
Hit that big ol' YES since the versions are different!
I tapped that yes and away we went:
That whole bar has to fill up. Prepare to twiddle your thumbs.
The very lousy and hard to read directions on the website told me this process could take a while. I think it actually went faster than advertised and without some of the theatrics warned about like the climate control fritzing and whatnot. Thank goodness.
However, I went prepared and I suggest you do as well:
Nestled under my blanket, I actually threw my feet on the dash and settled in with my tablet and book.
Before I knew it, the reflashing of the radio finished and I saw this:
Yay! It's done!
I just needed to tap the screen to finish!
Look, my software versions are the same:
I pressed that big ol' "NO" since my versions are now the same!
Time to try this all out. I unplugged the USB flash drive and plugged in the iPod. My stereo came right up with all my preset radio channels but quickly changed to iPod after it read the device. My iPod screen still went to the Dodge logo, and my screen filled with iPod goodness.
I tapped “Browse” and what do you know? A tab for “Playlists” appeared! Take a look:
That's right, I named my iPod "PixiePod". Got a problem with that?
SCHAWEEEEET! I even tested it out. And, I can even shuffle!
Everyday I’m shufflin’
Ok, not really. I’ll do the dance but I don’t really use the shuffle feature on my iPod.
So there you have it, my adventure upgrading my car stereo software. I did have to fix my clock, and I’m not sure why, but that’s super easy with the Uconnect system. Fairly minor hiccup if you ask me.
All in all, it was painless and super easy. I think even the most non-techie out there could succeed in this. Just be warned, reading their instructions might make you wanna cry.
Dodge, I’ll totally write the next set.
–Lady O
*Note* This upgrade is for the Dodge Journey and Dodge Charger Uconnect system. I love Uconnect very much but get no incentive to write about it. Also, the two vehicles with a special place in my heart , but again I get no incentive to write about them. However, Dodge, feel free to talk to me. I’m easy to please. Same goes for Sirius. I really just like writing about a darn good product.
Lady Ozma's Journey 