CD changer--doors must be closed to work?

I just dropped wife off in houston (02 NB)for her vacation and was loading the CD's for the return trip. I wasn't sure which side was up. Loaded disks, left hatch and door open to check if it was right. Monsoon msg: check [cartridge]. Turned disks over, same msg. turned 1/2 of disks over, same msg. Put them back to what I thought was up, closed hatch, same msg. Eventually I got it to work when the hatch and doors were all closed before I turned the key in the ignition.

The question is: do I have to close all doors before the CD changer will work, or is this an intermittent problem with the hardware that finally worked itself out? No probs with any disks on the way home.

Keith

Hrm, the changer in my 99.5 MKIV Jetta works fine with the trunk/doors open. I don't have Immobilizer /images/graemlins/smile.gif So that might be your prob.

Have you tried it both with the key in the ignition and out of the ignition? Just curious if there's a combination of things. I don't have a changer, so I can't check. I prefer my MP3 player with 12-20 albums on one disc. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I only ask because with the key in, you'd have the door chime going off, and without putting in the key you can use the stereo by just pressing power. It automatically shuts off in that case after something like 30 minutes.

A similar problem happened with mine once. I had to eject and insert the cartridge a couple of times before it would work It apparently was some sort of intermittent problem that had nothing to do with the doors. Just a fluke that I hope won't happen again.

Did you give it a while after you put in the disks? On our Jetta, if you put in the cartridge, then get in the car as quickly as possible, it will say CHK MAGAZINE for a little while (probably 30 seconds to a minute). After that, it works fine. It's always been this way and never had any trouble otherwise.

Just a thought..