Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia, iPhone, iPod touch
iPhone OS 3.0 breaking video out
Last night I received an email from a friend who was irate. He's been using his iPod touch as a portable video solution with a dock and video out cable. The iPod and the cable got along famously until he updated to We looked around and found that he's not alone. There's a thread on Apple's Discussion Boards reporting the same thing. It's affecting both the iPod touch and the iPhone. Apparently 3.0 is specifically designed to reject 3rd party cables, strictly on the premise that they fail the "Made by Apple" test. One poster on the discussion board notes that the original Apple Component AV cable and dock work fine. Sure, you could restore and downgrade, but that seems silly.
Of course, no company has a responsibility to support 3rd party devices, so my friend is out of luck. But we're sympathetic. If you're affected by this issue, all we can say is it's probably time to pony up for a cable from Apple.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Josh said 4:16PM on 8-31-2009
What I want to know is this... how did he get his iPod updated to 3.0.1? That was an iPhone only update. Something else must be wrong.
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Dhave said 4:26PM on 8-31-2009
I agree, there is something fishy about this story.
TimH said 4:17PM on 8-31-2009
Companies may not have a responsibility to support 3rd party devices, but it's common courtesy, good customer service, and, well, just sensible, to not go out of your way to block them. Especially when the product is an A/V cable. I mean, c'mon. What did Apple do, hire a former Monster Cable exec who insists that a label on the outside somehow makes metal conduct electricity better?
Seriously.
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Grog said 4:23PM on 8-31-2009
Agreed with above: there's a distinct difference between supporting a 3rd party device and actively blocking it. Apple has every right to laugh if a 3rd party cable doesn't work or somehow manages to fry your iPod or monitor, but I disagree that they should be able to actually prevent the use of it.
SteveJr_Ri said 4:23PM on 8-31-2009
I was affected by this, and it sucks, frankly. Why do I have to buy a $30-40 cable when the $10 version does exactly what I need it to do? (until they blocked it of course)
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Josh said 4:30PM on 8-31-2009
I was just going to say that... however, Apple does have some regulations about their products. The $10 cables aren't authorized by Apple, as that chip probably costs somewhere between 20-30 extra bucks. I don't think Apple is wrong in cutting off access through these cables, as it directly violates their iPod accessory rule, but I think that this is only going to hurt Apple- they have had too many "lock down" issues as of late- let this one go, I says.
SteveJr_Ri said 4:36PM on 8-31-2009
I can understand it may not have all the "features" as the Apple cable, and I'm not asking them to support it either. But what makes me mad is that the cable WORKS. If i plug it in and play video it works for all of 30seconds until the dreaded "This Accessory is not supported by this iPod".
Thats where I'm angry, not that it just won't work period.
Stuff like this frustrates me and makes me think next time I go to buy a replacement for this type of device. Am I going to want something that I am going to have to dump serious $$ into or will I go with an alternative with not as many features. Unfortunately sometime the $$$ wins :(
supagold said 11:06AM on 9-01-2009
They put that chip in there specifically to block access to 3rd party accessories, which don't pony up license fees. It's just another example of apple trying to price gouge their customers. They do this at every opportunity. See: Not supporting flash on iphone, their active blocking of any other MP3 player on iTunes (software and DRM), their fee to strip the DRM from the songs you've bought, and the glorified service pack that is snow leopard. I own a ton of Apple gear, but why do we have to kiss their ass just because they make good stuff? They're just as greedy as any big company.
Oh, and grow some balls, TUAW. "We're sympathetic"? My thought is that probably translates to "We realize this is crappy behavior, but we're so afraid of the rabid fans and that we might lose access, that we refuse to call a spade a spade."
wes said 4:28PM on 8-31-2009
Its just like Apple to pull a dick move like that.
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Garrett said 4:37PM on 8-31-2009
I have a Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 from Logitech. My iPhone 3G used to place nice with it and the remote control could change songs etc. Now when I dock my phone it states "this device was not made for the iPhone" and the remote does not work.
It worked before but not since the 3.0 upgrade. Maybe it is related.
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HazyCloud said 4:39PM on 8-31-2009
I recently bought a "I3G" power cable for 8 clams. To this day with 3.0.1, my iPhone still charges with it. I'd honestly be a little pissed to update my firmware only to realize something I bought now doesn't work.
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bjhanifin said 4:49PM on 8-31-2009
Sounds very monopolistic to me!!! Apparently apple isn't making enough money, and needs to extort more money out of their customers. :-(
P.S. I have a MacBook Pro and am a fan of Apple quality, but I don't like hearing of anti-competitive behavior like this.
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Joey said 5:39PM on 8-31-2009
I agree. I'm an early iPhone adopter and avid consumer of all things Mac and although I love my iPhone and still insist that it's the best smartphone I've ever owned, I'm becoming less and less enamored with the iPhone OS and Apple in general.
So much so that I recently purchased a Nokia N800 Internet tablet running Maemo 2008 as in impulse buy ($99 refurb on Ebay!) just to see how the rest of the mobile space is evolving. It's got full multi-tasking, no ridiculous app regulations (it's all open source), two SD cards slots, USB host adapter that works with a standard USB keyboard, terminal, full FTP, Bluetooth tethering, bit torrent, Skype and a sexy OS... just wow.
If only Apple were even as remotely open about things I think we'd be seeing a lot more advancement within the platform.
EF said 5:09PM on 8-31-2009
If your iPhone/iPod touch is jailbroken, here is the fix:
Original post (seems dead now, but there is Google cache!)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="DealExtreme+Product+Forum:+Solution+for+OS+3.0+!!!!!"&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
------------------------------
Ok I've found a solution for this cable to work with OS 3.0, but you need a jailbroken iPhone 3G (more info about jailbreak: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ ).
So what you need to do:
1. download file: http://www.2shared.com/file/6511223/3592322d/iapd.html
2. ssh to your device and browse to:
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IAP.framework/Support
3. replace existing iapd in this folder with downloaded-one
4. set file attributes (CHMOD) to 755
5. reboot the device
NOW TRY AND BE HAPPY CUZ IT WORKS!
------------------------------
It works for my iPod touch OS 3.0 with the freaking cheap iPod Composite AV Cable playing photos on the TV screen! ;)
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jonathan said 11:07AM on 9-01-2009
that didnt work for me. i actually tried that last week.
unfortunately i purchased said 10$ cable last week, months after upgrading to 3.0
it was not until i received the cable, that i noticed the sticker on it stating "firmware
Wafa said 5:52PM on 8-31-2009
Yes Erica Yes
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EF said 5:11PM on 8-31-2009
Google Cache:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:nOPk-NhnexwJ:www2.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/Forum.20278~threadid.372039+%22DealExtreme+Product+Forum:+Solution+for+OS+3.0+!!!!!%22&cd=1&hl=zh-TW&ct=clnk&gl=us
Original Post:
http://www2.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/Forum.20278~threadid.372039
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Sam said 5:12PM on 8-31-2009
This is wrong. Microsoft wouldn't be allowed to get away with it nor should apple. The fact that you have conceded the fight without ever taking it is also wrong.
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Alex said 6:07PM on 8-31-2009
well, Microsoft pulls the same shit with the Xbox, so they DO get away with it.
Chris said 5:19PM on 8-31-2009
I had the same problem with 3.0. I've got a 3GS so I've never seen it work but when I went to plug my phone into my car port it would play music but not charge, it also said the same thing everybody else is saying. I bought a small adapter from sports chalet for $20 and it works fine now. I think the company is schosche or something like that. Seems to work with all the unauthorized cables as well.
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