Is it possible to have both a Phatbox installed and get XM? I'm assuming you would have to run the phatbox directly to the headunit rather than use the SAT pre-wire?

And can anyone tell me if the SAT pre-wire is the same in the 2003 as the 2004?

And I've tried to search for this, but can't seem to get a sure answer. So please don't flame me. Thanks.

 

I would like to know about this also.

The phatbox connected with the beta sat cable uses the CD button, so i don't think there would be a conflict with the head unit. The question is, can the phatbox (with the beta cable) be connected to the other side of the Sat receiver. Or some other way, since the Sat radio will take up the prewire plug.

Has anyone actually connected both at the same time?

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

can anyone tell me if the SAT pre-wire is the same in the 2003 as the 2004

<hr></blockquote> yes, they are the same connector.

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

If you look at the SAT tuner there's a connector that's supposed to allow for a pass through. There's a cable that Nissan has that's a SAT to CD changer cable. Unfortunately we're not sure what the part # is or how to order one. Phatnoise has one of these cables, and I went to Phatnoise and tried this out. Unfortunately it does not work with the G35 with neither the Phatbox nor a Nissan CD changer, while that configuration does work on a Maxima.

We did find that there are some missing pins in the factory sat harness, that are there on the Maxima's working harness. It may be possible to make it work if those pins are connected. I'm working on this and another possibility, and will let you guys know the outcome.

Worst case, I'll connect a switch and relay to allow me to toggle between the two, although it would be "cooler" to just select it from the radio. On the other hand, if I do use a relay / switch, I could use the SAT firmware with title display.

 

I asked Phatnoise about it and this was their response:

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>


Thank you for your interest in the PhatNoise Car Audio System! We have
upgraded
our cables for use with the Infiniti SAT prewiring. However, you cannot
connect
both the PhatBox and XM radio simultaneously at this time.

Please let us know if we may answer any other questions you have.

Best regards,

PhatNoise Customer Support


<hr></blockquote>


03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

I'm working with Mike Woo from Phatnoise on it. Since we haven't been successful yet, the general response will be that it doesn't work "at this time".

-- Rob

 

That's great news, please keep us updated. I am very interested in this.


03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

If the phatbox beta cable uses the SAT pre-wire, then why does it use the CD button? Does the HU sense that the phatbox is a CD changer?

 

Yes. The CD changer and SAT cables are one in the same, they use the same connector. Before NIssan released the SAT harnesses Murano owners found they could buy far less expensive USA-SPEC Nissan "clone" cd changer cables and have them work to connect the SAT tuner.

I found the proper cables. If you look at the G35 SAT instructions it gives you part number B8377-5Y700 for "With cd changer". I even found a place where I could buy one. It came with a second cable that goes from the SAT box to the CD changer (which fits into the Phatbox also).

I installed it just last night. However, so far the setup doesn't work. The G35 radio may be missing either hardware or firmware required to arbitrate between the two devices. Haven't quite given up yet. Will keep you posted.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by djrobx on 08/22/04 09:06 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

So there is only one input on the back of the stock HU, correct? And the HU senses whatever you plug into it and makes you push the corresponding button, either SAT or CD. Just trying to make sense of it.

So if you have both Phatbox and XM currently, do you just manually switch them out?

 

Yes. It's a "generic" serial bus system called N-Bus. The head unit asks the device what type of device it is and acts accordingly. Nissans like the Infiniti M45 use this one cable to run both a changer AND a sat tuner, since the SAT tuner has an additional port on the back to connect the changer.

 

so it is sounding like this an issue with the headunit not being able to accept input from 2 seperate devices through the N-bus?

How about tapping into the power on the n-bus (prewire) cable and setting up a switch to toggle the power between the 2 devices?

03 6MT coupe, red/willow, premium, aero, splash guards, alum pedals, clear corners, limo tint, Phatbox 40g mp3 player

 

Okay. I had to go the switch route, but I have them both working.

There are some extra wires on the N-Bus cable that are used to trigger relays in the XM/Sirius tuner. The head unit is most likely lacking the hardware to drive those signals. Muran0 confirmed that his Murano's head unit is missing the electonic parts needed to run those extra wires, I suspect the G35 has the same problem. He is actually going to try installing parts to see if it will work.

Given Muran0's research and the fact that I already had the SAT to CD cable, what I did instead was mounted a switch into the ashtray, which runs to a relay which switches one wire (REQ), and turns on tose extra pins, simulating what the radio does when those lines are connected. Works great!

It'd probably be cheaper and just as easy to buy the N-Bus extender harness ($14) to give you a second n-bus end, and a couple 4-pole relays to accomplish the same thing without the expensive SAT to CD cable harness. However, I'm not aware of an inexpensive way to acquire a "male" N-bus connector,, so you'd have to cut your factory harness. And it'll void the hell out of your Phatbox warranty.

One bonus of doing it this way is I can still utilize the Phatbox SAT firmware so I can see the track titles. If you don't use the SAT firmware you have to power off the radio (power button is OK) when you go back to the Phatbox after having been on the SAT tuner. With the SAT firmware you can go back and forth.

It's unfortunate that Infiniti tried to save a few cents by omitting some parts that prevents the 'kosher' way from working, but I'm happy with my setup.

 

So I assume using the phatbox with the pac aai-nis is totally out of the question.

It ain't just a Nissan!