XM Radio in Car HELP!!!

OK I'm at my witts end here. Two weeks ago i ordered a XM Direct box along with a XM Direct to USB converter box and a 12v converter thing from mp3car.com. They told me on the phone it would come with all the software and drivers needed for it to work. Of course when it arrived this was not the case. After a few phone calls I have managed to get a link put on there site for the driver and now I have the XM Direct to USB box working in windows. Next issue is controlling it. mp3car first suggested there streetdeck software but they will only let me use the demo version which does not allow XM use so then they suggested frodo's xm player and I downloaded and installed that and it picks up no signal, I have since attempted to download pretty much any player i can find including Mobile Impact, imobile, xm tracker, hybrid exem launcher, and every one of them gives me nothing...every one of the programs open and act like they are working but never change the channel or do anything with the XM connection. I have the line out of the XM Direct box going directly into the amp just to ensure i'm not having any line in issues putting it back into the pc and no sound whatsoever is coming out of it. I'm sure others out there have gotten this setup and gotten it to work... if so please tell me what software package you are using to control it.Yes I do have power to the device and the green light on it is blinking. Everytime i call MP3car they just sound more desperate and rattle off some other program to try that doesn't work.. I'm about to just send this stuff back.

Have you read the XM FAQ's? If not, click on the link in my signature and take a look at those to see if you've tried everything.

Yes been reading faq's and the forum all day now and found nothing that pertains to my situation or found a link to a peice of software that still exist... so many dead links.

I will step up and try to help. First off, what com port is the xm direct unit showing up as? Next thing, is the XM direct activated? Did you go through the activation process... Turn on the unit, turn to channel 184 and then wait the 20 minutes or so? You mentioned a green blinking light, the XM direct unit that I have worked with doesnt have any lights, what unit is it exactly? The last thing and most important is, you have to go into the volume control and select the line in from the recording devices. Let me know where you at on this. Thanks.

Have you read my XM faq?

Thanks for the reply Red... Yours was one of the main walkthru's I tried to follow and just couldnt' get it to work. The the Driver is mapping the USB device to COM3. Second did I get XM Direct Activated NO! What does that mean lol... After hours on the phone, going thru allt he instructions with the device and all the walkthru's this is the first time I've heard of activating the unit. Please let me know what I need to do in order to do this... thou it may not matter cuase part of your instructions already were to put it to channel 184 and at the present time it doestn' appear i have any control over the device whatsoever so that's not possible. As far as the lights... this is the device sold directly off this site. It's a little black box with 3 wires coming out of it. 1. USB to PC, 2. Direct XM Radio to XM Direct Box Cable, 3. and the power cable. There is also a single green light on this device that once the device has been loaded and working in windows this light begins to blink. I think the majority of the problem I'm having comes from using this device. All of the walkthru's your guys keep providing me are for making your own serial cables and such. I am NOT doing this... I have a separate USB converter that is doing it for me. I still have yet to find anyone who are using this device correctly and would love to find someone who has this device in operation. Thanks for your help Red... I look forward to any idea's you may have.

To add to this... i received a PM on these forums saying someone else had similar issues when they switched from there COM cable to the usb one i'm using and could not get it to work but after installing the program Timetrax everything worked perfectly in all programs. Well I tried this and for the first time every I now see a Signal in the signal metters so I know it's getting info from the box.... WOOT. Now I still am not getting any sound out. To answer a previously asked question yes i'm sure no sound is coming out cuase i have the rca outs of the direct box going directly to my amp so that it would play anything at all coming out of that box. So it just sits there in TimeTrax now saying waiting for Channel. Now what can i try? What's this activation thing i have to do?

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Originally Posted by CyberLogic

To add to this... i received a PM on these forums saying someone else had similar issues when they switched from there COM cable to the usb one i'm using and could not get it to work but after installing the program Timetrax everything worked perfectly in all programs. Well I tried this and for the first time every I now see a Signal in the signal metters so I know it's getting info from the box.... WOOT. Now I still am not getting any sound out. To answer a previously asked question yes i'm sure no sound is coming out cuase i have the rca outs of the direct box going directly to my amp so that it would play anything at all coming out of that box. So it just sits there in TimeTrax now saying waiting for Channel. Now what can i try? What's this activation thing i have to do?

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The XM unit wont work until it is activated, you have to go to http://www.xmradio.com/ Turn your unit on and make sure that you have a good signal, run the antennae out a window or something. Then open up Timetrax and tune the radio to channel 184. Then on the website click on the Activate your radio button on the left. This will take your billing info and radio ID and then it will get you working. Hopefully... Let me know how it goes.

OK This was obviously an important step... Thanks Red! Now I have it activated and the last page they sent me to said I needed to change it to channel 1 and wait 15 mins and to make sure it has a good signal. Well here is now my problem. All timetrax says is waiting for channel load. I have 3-4 bars of sat 1, 3-4 bars on sat 2, and like 6 bars on ground and the bars do keep changing so i know it's gettign that signal. Any idea's on what's going on now?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO T

I have XM!!!!! Thanks so much to Red and the people who sent messages stating to get it activated with Timetrax. Timetrax still does not work for me but it doestn' matter cuase now that i've installed timetrax all my other programs work!

For future notice! To those who purchase this USB product the installation is as follows.

Wire it up, Install USB Driver for device, Install Timetrax, Activate XM, Install third party program of your choice to control the device