SENA SMH10 upgrade

[TriumphTiger1050]

If you have a SENA bluetooth headset not purchased within the last month you can get the newest upgrade for only $49 and trade you old one back in.  You must however send your old unit back first then they will ship out the new upgradable unit.

I spoke with a rep for the company and they stated this offer will expire soon.  They also have a deposit option of $100 and they send the unit first then you send the old unit back.

Just thought I would pass this along.
 

[Cablebandit]

Just to clarify this is for any of the original models regardless of when you bought it.

Apparently the B version will soon have a firmware upgrade that will allow you to talk to multiple headsets at the same time.

[TriumphTiger1050]

Sent my module back for upgrade.  Should be there by Tuesday then hopefully SENA will do some quick turn around shipping back!

[RBEmerson]

I received my B unit today - the A(?) unit goes back tomorrow.  

Pairing up the new unit with my HTC Incredible 2 (running Froyo - DINC2) was not fun.  The BT app on the phone saw the new SMH-10 (too bad they didn't give the device another name), giving me two SMH-10's in my list of BT devices the DINC2 knows about.  I'd see attempts to connect but never saw a connection until I did a "factory reset" on the new SMH-10.  End of problem.  The old SMH-10, BTW, consistently connected even when the new unit didn't connect.  

The jog dial feels a little different, but otherwise the only difference between the two units is the power connector (round pin for the old main unit, mini-USB for the new unit) and the flap covering the plug (there's a USB symbol on the flap on the B unit).  

Stereo music over the phones was excellent (I use WinAmp as my music player app) and the phone was crisp and clear.  Plugging an MP3 player into the base plate, the music played cleanly, too.  This time, however, there were no clicks and pops from having the audio cable plugged in, just good sound.  

Sena seems to have made big strides with the new B main unit.  

[TriumphTiger1050]

Sena seems to have made big strides with the new B main unit.  

That is great!

[radon222]

I received my B unit today - the A(?) unit goes back tomorrow.  

Pairing up the new unit with my HTC Incredible 2 (running Froyo - DINC2) was not fun.  The BT app on the phone saw the new SMH-10 (too bad they didn't give the device another name), giving me two SMH-10's in my list of BT devices the DINC2 knows about.  I'd see attempts to connect but never saw a connection until I did a "factory reset" on the new SMH-10.  End of problem.  The old SMH-10, BTW, consistently connected even when the new unit didn't connect.  

The jog dial feels a little different, but otherwise the only difference between the two units is the power connector (round pin for the old main unit, mini-USB for the new unit) and the flap covering the plug (there's a USB symbol on the flap on the B unit).  

Stereo music over the phones was excellent (I use WinAmp as my music player app) and the phone was crisp and clear.  Plugging an MP3 player into the base plate, the music played cleanly, too.  This time, however, there were no clicks and pops from having the audio cable plugged in, just good sound.  

Sena seems to have made big strides with the new B main unit.  

Hmmm.... I've got a DINC2 as well.  Wonder if I'll experience the same pairing issues.

[vfroger]

I upgraded and received my new units this week. We have experienced problems we did not have with the old units' firmware. I use a Zumo 665 and anytime we initiated the intercom, the unit lost bluetooth connectivity with the gps. When it came back, it was in mono and nothing except turning off all devices and restarting would restore normal activity. This happens every time.

I have contacted tech support and they have changed priority of devices and say that the Zumo does not follow industry standards with bluetooth profiles. Their solution is for me to use a separate audio device (i.e. smartphone, MP3 player, etc). For me, this is not a solution because I have a paid subscription to XM and that is what I prefer to use for audio. Hopefully, they will come up with a solution, but as is these units are not useable as intercom AND audio (if ones audio is a Zumo).

If I had it to do over again, I would keep the old units as they worked great.

And, as always your results may vary, BUT Zumo users beware.

[Scratch33]

I upgraded and received my new units this week. We have experienced problems we did not have with the old units' firmware. I use a Zumo 665 and anytime we initiated the intercom, the unit lost bluetooth connectivity with the gps. When it came back, it was in mono and nothing except turning off all devices and restarting would restore normal activity. This happens every time.

I have contacted tech support and they have changed priority of devices and say that the Zumo does not follow industry standards with bluetooth profiles. Their solution is for me to use a separate audio device (i.e. smartphone, MP3 player, etc). For me, this is not a solution because I have a paid subscription to XM and that is what I prefer to use for audio. Hopefully, they will come up with a solution, but as is these units are not useable as intercom AND audio (if ones audio is a Zumo).

If I had it to do over again, I would keep the old units as they worked great.

And, as always your results may vary, BUT Zumo users beware.

Interesting.  Thanks for the heads up.

[TriumphTiger1050]

Damn..........I hate that because I have a Zumo 660!

[RBEmerson]

Hmmm.... I've got a DINC2 as well.  Wonder if I'll experience the same pairing issues.

My DINC2 paired up but it took a bit of fiddling to get there.  I think the best bet is to attempt to pair (you'll see SMH-10 appear twice in the list of known BT devices) and the power down both the SMH-10 and DINC2, then try reconnecting.  Once I got the first connection, it's worked fine ever since.  Also, the trick of pushing in the jog control and turning it will control at least WinAmp running on my DINC2.  

[Cablebandit]

The new version won't connect to my ancient LG VX8300.  It pairs fine but won't connect.  The original Sena's worked fine. Progress...

Maybe this will push me to upgrade my phone.  Probably not.

[vfroger]

The new version won't connect to my ancient LG VX8300.  It pairs fine but won't connect.  The original Sena's worked fine. Progress...

Maybe this will push me to upgrade my phone.  Probably not.

I didn't mention this in my post, but my Motorola Barrage did the same thing. It paired but wouldn't connect. I am far more irritated with the disconnecting from my Zumo everytime we use the intercom.

We leave for Alaska next week and these are likely to be a nuisance instead of a great resource.




Roger
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[radon222]

Our upgrade units came in yesterday while were out.  I'll being playing around with them this morning.  Fortunately I still have the Zumo 550 and use a hardwire for XM music.   Maybe there will be a firmware update available to fix the Zumo 665 BT issue by the time I upgrade  

[RBEmerson]

Try doing a factory reset on the SMH-10B and then it powering down.  Power down the phone, too.  If you want to get really thorough about it, pull the battery and let the phone sit for five minutes without the battery.  Put the battery back in and power up the phone, then make sure bluetooth is enabled.  Try connecting with the SMH-10B after that.  

One thing my DINC2 won't let me do is remove devices from the "devices I've connected to" list - something I would have done when thinks got hinky with two SMH-10's in that list.  If it's possible to do it with other phones (IIRC, the Razr did it, for example), go for it.  

I sent a note to Sena about the issue of conflicting duplicate names.  I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for changes in the SMH-10 firmware any time soon, though.  I'd bet more on the factory reset cleaning things up.  

[billo]

If I had it to do over again, I would keep the old units as they worked great.

And, as always your results may vary, BUT Zumo users beware.

+10 ⬆

That was $100 well spent.  NOT!
Similar problem plus a little reverb on the intercom we didn't have before. 

Zumo 660

Bill

[radon222]

Try doing a factory reset on the SMH-10B and then it powering down.  Power down the phone, too.  If you want to get really thorough about it, pull the battery and let the phone sit for five minutes without the battery.  Put the battery back in and power up the phone, then make sure bluetooth is enabled.  Try connecting with the SMH-10B after that.  

One thing my DINC2 won't let me do is remove devices from the "devices I've connected to" list - something I would have done when thinks got hinky with two SMH-10's in that list.  If it's possible to do it with other phones (IIRC, the Razr did it, for example), go for it.  

I sent a note to Sena about the issue of conflicting duplicate names.  I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for changes in the SMH-10 firmware any time soon, though.  I'd bet more on the factory reset cleaning things up.  

RB,

   Yes you can remove devices from your BT list.  Make sure that BT is enabled,  then Press and Hold then entry you want to get rid of.  A dialog will pop up with the option to "unpair" the device.

I did the above hoping to avoid some of the troubles you initially had on your first pairing.   It sort of worked.  The new Sena paired right away..BUT on the Phone profile would connect.  I couldn't get both Phone and Media profiles to connect until I did a factory reset on the new Sena.

I went ahead and did a factory reset on my wife's new unit as well before we tried pairing to her Iphone.  That one worked first try.   We're riding tomorrow and that will be our first field test.  Having gone for option B,  I still have the old units in hand if worse comes to worse.  But I'm really hoping the new ones work out better.

[tigertom1965]

When I first got my Zumo 550 and my new Cardo Q2 I had issues with my phone (I have tried several and all do this) and my Zumo interfering with each other. What I found is I had to turn on my Zumo, then turn on my headset. Connect my headset to my Zumo by bluetooth then connect my phone by bluetooth to my Zumo. If I connected my phone before I connected my headset I had problems. When I went to use my phone or answer it I would lose my headset connection to the Zumo. It would lose its connection then reconnect then lose it again then reconnect.
Maybe you need to try to connect the zumo to the headset first then connect the phone to the Zumo like I had to? Or maybe you need to connect the phone first then the headset? Just something to check out.

[RBEmerson]

RB,

   Yes you can remove devices from your BT list.  Make sure that BT is enabled,  then Press and Hold then entry you want to get rid of.  A dialog will pop up with the option to "unpair" the device.

I did the above hoping to avoid some of the troubles you initially had on your first pairing.   It sort of worked.  The new Sena paired right away..BUT on the Phone profile would connect.  I couldn't get both Phone and Media profiles to connect until I did a factory reset on the new Sena.

I went ahead and did a factory reset on my wife's new unit as well before we tried pairing to her Iphone.  That one worked first try.   We're riding tomorrow and that will be our first field test.  Having gone for option B,  I still have the old units in hand if worse comes to worse.  But I'm really hoping the new ones work out better.

Great thanks for the how-to!   I tossed an old BlueAnt headset and one of the SMH-10 entries.  FWIW, both of my entries show Phone and Media checked.  Unless you tinkered with the SMH-10B's settings a lot, a factory reset shouldn't pose any real heartburn. Once I had things up and running, both phone and media audio worked like a champ.  I have both an ear buds mounting plate and two speaker plates and all three work fine with the DINC2 acting as a phone and as an audio source (WinAmp).  One real gain is losing the clicks and pops heard on the audio side with an MP3 player plugged in.  Just having a cable in the jack was enough to cause problems which weren't just the hum and noise one might expect from an open audio cable.  With the SMH-10B, the open cable doesn't do anything.  Plug in the Zen player and all is well.  

The one thing I haven't tested is the intercom functionality.  I suppose I should have tried that before shipping the old main unit back.  Doh...

Enjoy your trip and ride safe!  

[vfroger]

I did factory resets on both units with no improvements. As to firmware coming, the Sena folks on Facebook say it is due this week to deal with BT compatibility issues. If not, then I may as well leave them behind for our big adventure. If I could do it over, I would not have upgraded. I even asked tech support for a firmware download of the old version that worked for us. I have not heard back from them.

Fingers crossed for new firmware.

Roger
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cougar8000]

Rogers,

Who did you talked to at Sena? On the FB looks like they have responded to you stating that fix is coming in a week. Please keep us updated. I will be calling my Sena Rep on Tue to get more info.