Dear all,

I'm a new member to this Volvo forum but an avid Volvo fan. Two months ago I bought a barely used 2005 Volvo S60 R w/ 6spd manual and most of the bells and whistles (NAV system, rear parking assist, etc.). My two main reasons for buying this specific car were for performance and safety. I have absolutely no regrets in that department. The problem however arose when I started driving my car everyday and tried to play burnt cd's (which work on my home & office computers, home stereo, and my 2nd car-a nissan maxima). The Volvo HU-650 unit (it has 6 cd changer in front dash) tries hard to read burnt cd's but fails on almost all of them. Usually I get a "CD Error" message and the cd is ejected. I have tried burning cd's using Ahead Nero, Windows Media Player 10, and Easy CD Creator 5. None of them worked. I have also tried to change the burning speed from 32x all the way down to 8x. I also tried media from Maxwell, Verbatim, and generic Staples CD's with little luck. Once in a bluemoon a copied cd will work and even then it is sporadic at best. Now, this problem does not happen with my retail (store bought) cd's. All of them with the exception of a couple scratched cd's play well. As someone who takes a lot of long trips I really want to listen to custom cd's and not be stuck listening to the same ol' radio stations. Can someone please tell me if they've been able to play burn CD'S in the HU-650 unit and if so how they accomplished it.

Thank you,
Gytis

I suspect the CD in your HU is on its way out. Quite often with age, the motor that spins the CD or the laser that sits on a tracking arm, starts to wear, it still plays regular CD's fine but often has trouble with burnt CD's. My problem was partially resolved by burning a CD at 1x speed. Most new burners can't burn CD's that slow so you will have to hunt for one on ebay. I burnt mine using Nero.

Eventually I got an Ipod adaptor and never looked back. I figured it would probably be cheaper that buying a new (or even fixing) the HU. Not to mention the money I saved from burning new CD's everytime I wanted to add 1 song.

Hi poopbunny,

How can an HU-650 unit be worn out on a car that is 2 years old and has barely 14k miles? That is not possible.
As for burning a CD at 1x I have never seen a burner capable of doing that unless we go back 10 years. Nevertheless, I will hunt around to see if I can get an older CD writer from work that can do 2x burning and will get back with the results.

In that case your options are.

Hunt for an old CD-writer. I have one but probably not worth sending to you. A computer repair shop might have a couple lying around. Or ebay. You will spend a lot of time looking for one as you cross check model numbers with specifications on internet. And when you do find it, there are no guarantees.

Buy Ipod adaptor about $120 (+$40 if you need cables) and used Ipod 4th gen photo about $100. And save yourself a lot of pain.

My 99' C70 doesn't play burnt CD's either. I just figure that is the way it is and got a IPOD adapater

Are you talking about an FM Ipod adapter? If so those tend to have bad quality and there is interference from radio stations in an urban area. As for the Volvo adapter I really don't see where I could plug it in. While I know that year 2006+ S60 Volvo's have IPOD integration mine does not (it is 2005 model). Also, I do not see any type of jack in the arm rest....am I looking in the wrong area? Also, unless I completely remove the factory system and get an aftermarket system with with an auxiliary input I do not see the adapter working well. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Thanks.

FM versions are crap.

Go for one that hooks up to the din auxillary in behind the HU units.

Arm rest connection (Basically drilling a hole) has to be created. See pinned article.

See the pinned article on How to install Volvo Ipod Adaptor for
S80, S60, V70, XC70.

Well, that is the last option. I would hate to do any drilling and buying the IPOD Volvo kit and wiring harness is $100+ that I do not want to spend. Anyways, can someone on this forum PLEASE tell me if they have been able to play a burnt CD in their S60. If so please tell me what media you used as well as what software and burn settings. Thanks.

Well guys I finally solved this problem that has been bothering me ever since the purchase of my Volvo S60 R. It looks like the Volvo factory system is only compatible with the old type 74min 650MB CD's. I bought some Sky Extra Gold CD-R's and they are working like a charm. My only guess is that the new 700mb CD's that are today's standard might hold a bit too much information for the Volvo system to play properly.