A Sirius problem (won't activate)
 

My free three-month subscription to Sirius worked fine--no technical hassles. Yesterday, a day or two after the subscription ran out, I called them and activated a subscription, gave them the receiver ID info, etc. The customer service person was nearly incomprehensible (and I am very good at understanding all kinds of accents--not hers).

The Sirius subscription wasn't operative today, so I called them back again, and I ended up with the same person. Now she tells me that I have to go out in my car (which was in my yard), start it up and tune to channel 184. Well, you can't select any Sirius channels on our cars unless the subscription is activated. So the screen continued to show the notice that I should call Sirius to start a subscription. The woman tells me that her screen says my radio has been updated. I tell her no. She asks me if the car is in a clear location--yes, it is. Then she asks me if it's cloudy. I tell her yes, then she tells me that's the problem--even though the Sirius functioned fine when parked on that very spot in a heavy snowstorm.

She had me turn off the car's Bluetooth mode, turn the car off, open both doors(!), restart the car. Three rounds of this and no Sirius.

So, more experienced Audi owners: (a) Is my radio kaput and the Sirius lady handing me a line of B.S. about cloudiness, or (b) should I call her back when it's sunny?

You might try resetting your MMI. It might allow the activation to complete.


Restarting the MMI system (Reset)
You can restart the MMI system and restore full normal
operation by pressing a combination of buttons.

http://www.trick77.com/wp-content/up...7/audi_mmi.png

She's feeding you BS. I received a call from them to offer me a 50% off deal after I let the trial expire. I was unable to make sure the activation went through at the time, so I called the 1-800 # on the display a cpl of hrs later. I went through the automated menu to 'activate' my service. It went through w/out a hitch.

I thought that telling me to open both doors of the car to "reset everything" was BS (but who knows). It reminded me of a Dell tech who told me to pull the power cord out of the machine AND out of the wall "to let out the dirty power."

Tried it. Didn't help. Today Sirius told me that I should take the car to the dealer for a "hard reset" that takes 30 seconds. Is that different than the MMI reset procedure you suggested?

EDIT: Today the service mgr told me he asked three technicians if they had ever heard of "a hard reset," and they all said no. So I'm bringing in the car tonight.

I would recommend calling Sirius's 800 number and going through the automated computer prompts. It's how i re-activated my car.

That doesn't work. I tried that. I went to the dealer today and they spent 20 minutes on the phone with Sirius (normally it takes five min, they said). It was something wrong on the Sirius side. Now I have my music package but no traffic.


EDIT: I think Sirius has only one tech person that you get if you call about activating a radio that was installed by the manufacturer. This is the person named Marta that I have talked to SIX times. Finally, everything is working.

Can anyone please help me find the SID number? Sirius can't help me locate it and i can't get it during set up. It doesn't give me the option.
Even with the VIN they can't seem to find it. I see channels 184 and the message call Sirius. The only other things are "No Type" and a combination of letters, numbers and dashes like J --- 0
I din't buy from an Audi dealer so I hope maybe someone has experienced this. Sirius was of no help. It's a 2008 A4 Cab w/o navigation but with tire if this helps. I would really appreciate any assistance.
Thanks so much,
Hank

I had this same thing happen to me today and after an hour of messing around with the SIRIUS people the tech said my radio was faulty... how could this be when it worked perfectly before they cut off my signal? After the whole fiasco I cancelled my subscription. I'm guessing now though if I want the dealer to take a look at it I'm going to have to sign back up before taking the car in to the dealer... I hate dealing with those morons again if I'm not sure what the problem is.

Any suggestions?

I had the same problem getting Sirius to "activate". I tried various things and the following finally worked:

1) Start car

2) Turn the radio to Sirius (display shows the "to activate your Sirius call ....")

3) Leave the car running.

4) Log onto Sirius.com with your account/password. Click on the ESN link at the bottom of the page. Click the "Re-Send Activation Signal" link. Check the "check boxes" and then the "send activation request". (Alternatively, you could phone Sirius and have them re-send the signal).

I hope this helps.

-C.