A quick bit of background, I have recently sold my car that had a factory fit wince media centre fitted, and although locked down I miss the navigation and ease of use in my new car. The new car is actually a 10 year old Mazda MX5 NC (MK3) and currently has the stock radio which I'm thinking of upgrading.
I have figured I had 2 choices, either an all singing android unit, or a regular manufactures unit which supports Apple AirPlay. I figured that would still give me the basics of what I need, and probably with no potential for things to go wrong Anyway I like a challenge and the though of having more possible functionality I think is winning the argument for getting an android unit, but I have a few final questions from people in the know!
I have bene looking at a couple of units that look pretty similar spec wise (cornet me if I'm wrong) :-
Pumpkin AE0273B, XTRONS TE706PL. I was posting links to them but I'm not allowed yet So you will have to google for the exact details if needed.
So onto the questions :
1. I see a lot of the connectivity is via USB, and If I were to add several of the extras (E.g DAB+, 3/4G, DashCam, Phone) I would ned more USB ports than supplied (The XTRONS has 3, but the Pumpkin only 2). Can I just use a USB hub to get more ports like on a computer? If yes I'm assuming a powered one would be better as those accessories all need power.
2. I currently have a simple dash cam that just records video and audio in a loop onto an SD card all the time the ignition is on. Each file is about 2 mins long and I get about 4 hours recording before it starts to overwrite older files. This works great as I can forget about it and in 3 years, have never had to even look at the footage, and hopefully never will. But it gives peace of mind. I see you can get a USB one that I'm sure will have much better user interface if I want to play back footage. My existing camera has a phono out which I could connect to an AUX input to use the screen, but would still have the fiddly buttons to press on the camera behind my mirror.
Does the DVR app on the unit with the USB camera just crack on and record stuff in a similar I can forget about it way, and its just all there if I need it in the future. Or do I need to do something every time I turn the ignition on? Where does it record the footage, do I need to provide an additional SD card?
3. I see there are often 2 SD card slots, one marked for maps, the other presumably for music. Is there actually any difference, or are these just 2 mount points in the system that get used for anything? This question just came to me when thinking about the camera above. It wasn't actually on my list!
4. I'm worried that with a convertible car I'm not going to be able to see the screen due to the huge amount of ambient or even direct sun light. I have heard that there are anti-glare filters which could help a bit, but is this going to be a problem for me when it comes to navigating etc? Are the screens on the standard manufacture units (e.g. Pioneer etc) any better. In other words would I be better off sacrificing the cool stuff and getting a straight CarPlay unit that would be bright enough to see?
5. Lots os talk about rooting the device. What are the actual advantages of doing this? Are there some killer apps that make this a worth while exercise?
I appreciate its a long post and there are lots of questions, so a big thank you in advance for any of the questions you might be able to answer.
Regards
Ben
EDIT: forgot to mention — almost all units are identical to one another. They all have almost identical MTCD/MTCE MCU boards with the same audio/radio/wifi/Bluetooth chips (there are exceptions). And the main SoC is gonna be a PX5 with 4 GB of ram. So outside of that you want build quality (buttons, screen, plastic) and if it’s made to fit your car already.
First off, check out Joying units which have Carplay built in as well (and they have Octa core 4gb android 8.0 double din universal ones).
Next, yes you’d be able to use a USB hub and yes a powered one is best. Get one that works off of 12v and wire it in for a clean solution (so you always have a powered hub in your glove box for instance)
There are dash cams that the head unit manufacturers will sell you that you can leave plugged into your unit and they will auto record as you say. You basically don’t have to touch them, and just open the necessary app if you wanna change settings, or lock/save a file.
The 2 SD card slots are identical but one of them is meant to be always-in for GPS maps (for the Navi that the seller pre-loads sometimes). Also for firmware updates the GPS slot is the only one it boots from.
Glare depends heavily on the angle that your dash positions the screen at, so it’s hard to say. But yeah sometimes the sun hits it just right and there’s pretty much nothing you can do. Happens on oem units too.
Rooting isn’t super necessary but depending on how much you want to tinker it adds nice features like apps staying open after sleep, and the ability to customize the way everything looks. That said, there’s a lot in the way of customization that’s already available. Check malaysk’s custom ROM though. It’s pretty stable and the inclusion of viper4android alone is worth the hassle (in my opinion)
Hope this helps!
So it looks to me like there are 3 generic systems that have been badged up, one with a knob at the top, one with a knob at the bottom, and one without a knob.
The ones with the knobs seem to have the slightly newer TDA7851 amp chip, and the one with out uses the older TDA7850, which is a shame as I prefer the look of just buttons.
The Xtrons unit has a 3rd USB, which saves having to get a USB hub.
The Joying has the benefit of the built in ZLink, but as its software it does mean you loose that benefit if you use a different rom.
And there are various options on the back of the units, some have small wifi antenna built in, some have connectors for an external one.
It all make for lots of extra decisions!!
After getting Whitehouse support from Pumpkin, I would only buy Dasaita now. I just ordered a Dasaita PX5 4GB Oreo to replace my Pumpkin PX3 2GB.
Hi Guys,
I was thinking to get a Android head unit, which are so expensive. then I heard about the thing we could do with the Raspberry Pi.
So is there any way that we could install Malaysk ROM on a Raspberry Pi 3 b+, and then then install the other hardwares( like GPS, rear camera)
ZeeeYad said:
Hi Guys,
I was thinking to get a Android head unit, which are so expensive. then I heard about the thing we could do with the Raspberry Pi.
So is there any way that we could install Malaysk ROM on a Raspberry Pi 3 b+, and then then install the other hardwares( like GPS, rear camera)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Malaysk rom" is not something you should aspire to, which is not in any way to suggest that it isn't hugely beneficial for those devices that it works on.
Here is the thing; the chinese car radios come with the worst software imaginable, and it is completely closed source -- even parts like the kernel for which they are legally obligated to provide source, they do not. So any improvement is a real pain in the butt to implement. So hacked system images are useful in that they can make it "less terrible", but there is nothing you can do to make a chinese radio "good".
Raspberry pi, however, can run Android that is built from source, which makes the whole "hacked chinese software" problem vanish entirely -- it is COMPLETELY REDUNDANT.
Of course, raspberry pi hardware is also just not up to the task of running anything that is at all intense. Its pretty terrible/weak hardware.
Now here is the thing... what you are thinking of is *not* going to be cheaper than a chinese car radio (which are actually very CHEAP, so its confusing when you start off by complaining that they're "so expensive" -- the reality is that the ONLY thing that the chinese radios have going for them is that they are DIRT CHEAP).
So first you need an SBC, ~$50 for a pi3 (or if you want something that is actually adequate for the task, $200 for a Dragonboard 820c or $250 for a Hikey 960),
Then you need a touchscreen, ~$100.
Then you need a radio, and since you aren't going to be printing your own circuit boards, that really limits you to leftover stock of DMHD-1000, so ~$100.
There you are, already at $250+, which is already more expensive than a chinese car radio, and you haven't added GPS, amplifier, ADC, control signals, or any of a whole heap of other things you will need.
And then at the end of the day, what you will end up having with that approach is a wiring rat's nest jammed into your dashboard, with connections that sporadically flake out on you. Its not a good approach.
Which really leaves you in a tough spot, doesn't it? Because on one hand, you have CHEAP chinese radios that really don't work, and on the other hand, you have an expensive rat's nest that sporadically doesn't work. In fact, I've put a lot of work into this problem, and intend to shortly begin selling a circuit board that will help with this problem; it is a mezzanine board for a Linaro 96boards SBC (such as the previously mentioned Dragonboard or Hikey), which takes care of sound (including amplifier), radio, clock, I/O, etc., etc, etc., in a way that avoids the whole rat's nest problem. But once again, the problem, for you, is going to be the price, because if you don't like the price of a CHEAP chinese radio, you are definitely not going to like the price of high quality.
I was not sure where to post this because I kindof hijacked the Honda Connect Android thread with alternative solutions so I decided to create a new thread here as it seems more apropriate. I hope this will help others decide on an aftermarket unit that suit their needs.
The unit I bought and pictures with comments.
01.11.2018
I forgot to mention, there are no issues with porlarized sunglasses (vision impaired like I have, or regular). Usually LCD screens are polarized so if you have polarized glasses you only see the full display colors and brightness at a fixed angle 0 or 90 degrees (head straight or tilted to one side). This unit does not suffer from this issue like older phones did. (after posting I noticed I did mention this in my previous note )
28.10.2018
I'm really happy with the unit:
- response time is as fast as you expect it to be (as in touch - do stuff vs. click - you got it, hold on it's comming, almost there, just keep spinning windows/macos stuff)
- display is bright/direct sunlight, polarized sunglasses not an issue
- you can disable most of the inputs that source (steerwheel button) cycles through, except of A/V in (which I think is the LaneWatch camera)
- switching between radio, music, Waze and other apps is instant
- Waze only crashed once during a 450km ride, in the same area it crashes on my phone as well ... really Google ?
In the end I guess it's all about personal prefference about the preinstalled software which you can replace with apps from play store (or other sources) to your liking, so I'm not gonna comment on that as most of the defaults are fine for me it's fine. There are however a vew caveats to consider:
- Since I don't use my google account and created a new one for the unit I don't have access to my contacts. Altho the unit syncs your contacts via bluetooth to the phone app, 'OK Google' cannot use that.
- The default phone app does not have any favourites options, so your best bet is to use the last recent calls. But that list is not synced with your phone, it's only the list from when your phone was connected with the car (tried MTCDTelephonyBridge, did not work).
- There are some volume issues which I could not figure out (yet ). Navigation volume is set on MIXIN and has a range from -10 to + 10. At first I had it on -5, it was very low, then I moved to +7, fine for a while until it became too loud, lowerd to +5 and it was very low, bumped it again to +7 and it was the same low. I wish they would do the 'smart' thing like the original HU and just output navigation to front left speaker (that's the only clever thing I noticed in the decade old default Honda unit)
- Only one screw can be used to fix the unit, the original ones don't fit as they have huge integrated washers. You don't really need to fix it as it won't go anywhere but still, worth mentioning. Also I wanted to insulate all the cables with the same kind of foam that you find around air conditioning pipes, so that the cables don't touch the back plate of the unit. After taking the dashboard off again, I realized there is a ton of space there so the cables will not touch the back of the unit holding the radiator, which anyway is just for the TDA amp, so there was no reason to. If you go for a 2din unit, extra space will be smaller but still plenty of room on the bottom part.
24.10.2018
A few notes of my initial experience after installing the new unit:
1. First and most important for me, the 2 USB ports of the car have different connectors (mindblown). They look the same, but one of them has a different gap (or slit, not sure of the exact word) in one of the corners as you can see in this picture. The adapter provided only fits the gray connector. I'm not sure if the 2nd adapter that I ordered will fit the green one or not (maybe with some tunning it will fit). Now, it's not that important for everyone as you can still very easy pull the 2 other USB ports in the glove compartment (which I did), but now I have 2 unused slots: USB and HDMI.
2. For OCD types, the unit I got has a 9" screen (instead of 8" as described) so the frame that holds the part of the dashboard that you need to remove in order to install the HU stands on top of the screen covering the right part of the screen bezel and the 2nd mic instead of being around the screen (I hope that makes sense). The front pannel itself (bezels included) is a bit larger than the hole in the dashboard. This results in the actual screen being buried about 1cm below the dashboard line (about 5mm more than the original one). This interfeers a bit with the access to the 'hardware' buttons on the left side, but as a driver you don't need them as you can do all that from the steering wheel controlls. One side benefit could be that there is less sunlight hitting the screen. I will update with daytime pictures.
3. There are only 2 screws that can fix the new unit, but the original ones don't fit because of the embeded washers (which can not be removed from the screws ... why ????). The unit will not go anyware thanks to the fitting holes and the dashboard being linked with frame I mentioned before. I will still go look for some replacement screws, just in case.
4. Time for the good part. The difference between the original unit and this one ... day and night. Everithing is so fast and works as it's supposed to. Even the cold boot seems faster (20s or so) than the hot start of the original unit. I still have to test the ergonomics while driving and the long term stability of the whole system, but the first impressions are very positive. You would still have to configure a few things here and there to match you preferences or missing features (like proportion between navigation and music and sound level for different sources - like music and bluetooth, missing lane watch camera - which defaults to on and when you signal right unit will show a warning because of missing camera signal, direction lines when using the reverse camera - which are off by default etc.). There are a ton of options to configure. Plus you get some extra stuff like status of open doors, status of parking sensors, AC feedback (it also has an app for control but does not seem to do anything, I will dig deeper at some point but I don't find it that usefull, still cool tho), automatic door locking when you pass a set speed limit (I have not tested this yet), and probably some others which I am eager to discover.
I will update this post to share my experience with the new unit.
kind3r said:
I was not sure where to post this because I kindof hijacked the Honda Connect Android thread with alternative solutions so I decided to create a new thread here as it seems more apropriate. I hope this will help others decide on an aftermarket unit that suit their needs.
The unit I bought and pictures with comments.
24.10.2018
A few notes of my initial experience after installing the new unit:
1. First and most important for me, the 2 USB ports of the car have different connectors (mindblown). They look the same, but one of them has a different gap (or slit, not sure of the exact word) in one of the corners as you can see in this picture. The adapter provided only fits the gray connector. I'm not sure if the 2nd adapter that I ordered will fit the green one or not (maybe with some tunning it will fit). Now, it's not that important for everyone as you can still very easy pull the 2 other USB ports in the glove compartment (which I did), but now I have 2 unused slots: USB and HDMI.
2. For OCD types, the unit I got has a 9" screen (instead of 8" as described) so the frame that holds the part of the dashboard that you need to remove in order to install the HU stands on top of the screen covering the right part of the screen bezel and the 2nd mic instead of being around the screen (I hope that makes sense). The front pannel itself (bezels included) is a bit larger than the hole in the dashboard. This results in the actual screen being buried about 1cm below the dashboard line (about 5mm more than the original one). This interfeers a bit with the access to the 'hardware' buttons on the left side, but as a driver you don't need them as you can do all that from the steering wheel controlls. One side benefit could be that there is less sunlight hitting the screen. I will update with daytime pictures.
3. There are only 2 screws that can fix the new unit, but the original ones don't fit because of the embeded washers (which can not be removed from the screws ... why ????). The unit will not go anyware thanks to the fitting holes and the dashboard being linked with frame I mentioned before. I will still go look for some replacement screws, just in case.
4. Time for the good part. The difference between the original unit and this one ... day and night. Everithing is so fast and works as it's supposed to. Even the cold boot seems faster (20s or so) than the hot start of the original unit. I still have to test the ergonomics while driving and the long term stability of the whole system, but the first impressions are very positive. You would still have to configure a few things here and there to match you preferences or missing features (like proportion between navigation and music and sound level for different sources - like music and bluetooth, missing lane watch camera - which defaults to on and when you signal right unit will show a warning because of missing camera signal, direction lines when using the reverse camera - which are off by default etc.). There are a ton of options to configure. Plus you get some extra stuff like status of open doors, status of parking sensors, AC feedback (it also has an app for control but does not seem to do anything, I will dig deeper at some point but I don't find it that usefull, still cool tho), automatic door locking when you pass a set speed limit (I have not tested this yet), and probably some others which I am eager to discover.
I will update this post to share my experience with the new unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you asked for the correct unit or dasaita sent to you the correct unit?
Enviado desde mi SM-G950F mediante Tapatalk
ikerg said:
Are you sure you asked for the correct unit or dasaita sent to you the correct unit?
Enviado desde mi SM-G950F mediante Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you be more specific ? There is a link to the unit I bought and pictures in the first post. I asked the seller about compatibility and other stuff before purchasing and he assured me that all is ok. I'm not saing I'm not happy with the unit, the small differences don't bother me, but others might be bugged by those details. Overall I'm just sharing my experience while highlighting differences between expectations (aka product description) and reality
@ kind3r: bought one for my CRV also.. got the same issue with those 3 connections I think its the 2 usb & 1 hdmi connection in the console box of our car. I'm currently looking for a solution for the AC control, and IMID display setting for the steering wheel. I haven't really tinkered with the setting so maybe its just setting or connection issue. Could you pls. update me if you discover the AC thing or other features that you have unlock with your unit.
Is the wheel button works good??
hafidelbazdari said:
Is the weel button works good??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's a weel button?
Gesendet von meinem Redmi Note 5 mit Tapatalk
Wifi and Bluetooth..how to they going for you..
Internal speaker for hands free or using external?
What phone are you connecting to it..apple or Android?
kind3r said:
....the 2 USB ports of the car have different connectors...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe that's because one is for charging? So they separated them via different connectors.
kind3r said:
2. For OCD types, the unit I got has a 9" screen (instead of 8" as described)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the Dasaita Official Store they sell it as a 9" unit.
At the MTKNAVI Store they sell the "same" units.
Main advantage of MTKNAVI store: they ship from EU/Germany. Means no trouble about custom and taxes.
Thanks a lot for creating this thread. I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more from your Dasaita/HR-V experience.
HNDXCRV said:
@ kind3r: bought one for my CRV also.. got the same issue with those 3 connections I think its the 2 usb & 1 hdmi connection in the console box of our car. I'm currently looking for a solution for the AC control, and IMID display setting for the steering wheel. I haven't really tinkered with the setting so maybe its just setting or connection issue. Could you pls. update me if you discover the AC thing or other features that you have unlock with your unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's just so that they only fit one way so service people don't reverse them. Both did the same charging and connection, mirrorlink etc. so I can't really tell if there is actually a difference between them.
The only way I see a connection with the IMID display (mine is next to the speedometer) is via the canbus. I think that traffic is encrypted tho because I saw no mention about it anywhere so far. I'm not even sure if you can set the clock. I will do some more research on the subject.
My unit has an AC app, but it does not control anything. I will dig into that as well, tho I don't find it useful.
hafidelbazdari said:
Is the wheel button works good??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, all wheel buttons work but some with different functions. Hangup button also works as back, source switches between a lot of (some useless for me) apps like the ones for AV inputs but the navigation app is not included (I wish you could set a list of apps to cycle through), the task switcher that used to switch between nav, audio and phone now is the home button, the shortcut button acts as the old android menu button and the voice command does mute. There is no long press 2nd function except for left and right in radio app. I guess installing MTCDTools could improve the situation but I'm ok with the standard config.
dgcruzing said:
Wifi and Bluetooth..how to they going for you..
Internal speaker for hands free or using external?
What phone are you connecting to it..apple or Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a phone that sits in the truck for internet via WiFi, no issues so far. For bluetooth/handsfree I use an iPhone, sound quaility is very good both ways, way better than the stock one. Time will tell.
I'm not sure what you mean by internal speaker. It uses the car sound system and speakers and I also connected the external mic that came with the unit and placed it close to the ignition button.
Manfred.62 said:
Maybe that's because one is for charging? So they separated them via different connectors.
At the Dasaita Official Store they sell it as a 9" unit.
At the MTKNAVI Store they sell the "same" units.
Main advantage of MTKNAVI store: they ship from EU/Germany. Means no trouble about custom and taxes.
Thanks a lot for creating this thread. I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more from your Dasaita/HR-V experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the taxes thing was a big advantage for me as they usually ship with DHL so you have to pay custom tax and also DHL tax for handling custom tax for you. My unit was shipped from UK, still EU for the next 6 month or so . Also I initially wrote to Dasaita Official Store and I still have not got a reply. MTKNAVI replied within a few hours.
kind3r said:
I think it's just so that they only fit one way so service people don't reverse them. Both did the same charging and connection, mirrorlink etc. so I can't really tell if there is actually a difference between them.
The only way I see a connection with the IMID display (mine is next to the speedometer) is via the canbus. I think that traffic is encrypted tho because I saw no mention about it anywhere so far. I'm not even sure if you can set the clock. I will do some more research on the subject.
My unit has an AC app, but it does not control anything. I will dig into that as well, tho I don't find it useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wanted to change the date & time in my IMID display thats why im looking for workaround.. AC app? what's the name of the app? is it built in? i want to see the climate settings for novelty
kind3r said:
I think it's just so that they only fit one way so service people don't reverse them. Both did the same charging and connection, mirrorlink etc. so I can't really tell if there is actually a difference between them.
The only way I see a connection with the IMID display (mine is next to the speedometer) is via the canbus. I think that traffic is encrypted tho because I saw no mention about it anywhere so far. I'm not even sure if you can set the clock. I will do some more research on the subject.
My unit has an AC app, but it does not control anything. I will dig into that as well, tho I don't find it useful.
Yes, all wheel buttons work but some with different functions. Hangup button also works as back, source switches between a lot of (some useless for me) apps like the ones for AV inputs but the navigation app is not included (I wish you could set a list of apps to cycle through), the task switcher that used to switch between nav, audio and phone now is the home button, the shortcut button acts as the old android menu button and the voice command does mute. There is no long press 2nd function except for left and right in radio app. I guess installing MTCDTools could improve the situation but I'm ok with the standard config.
I use a phone that sits in the truck for internet via WiFi, no issues so far. For bluetooth/handsfree I use an iPhone, sound quaility is very good both ways, way better than the stock one. Time will tell.
I'm not sure what you mean by internal speaker. It uses the car sound system and speakers and I also connected the external mic that came with the unit and placed it close to the ignition button.
Yeah, the taxes thing was a big advantage for me as they usually ship with DHL so you have to pay custom tax and also DHL tax for handling custom tax for you. My unit was shipped from UK, still EU for the next 6 month or so . Also I initially wrote to Dasaita Official Store and I still have not got a reply. MTKNAVI replied within a few hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, For the bluetooth connection, did you use the built-in microphone of the car? if so, Did you add an adapter to operate the integrated microphone of the car?
hafidelbazdari said:
Hello, For the bluetooth connection, did you use the built-in microphone of the car? if so, Did you add an adapter to operate the integrated microphone of the car?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I used the external mic provided with the new unit.
kind3r said:
No, I used the external mic provided with the new unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you send me please a picture of this mic?
hafidelbazdari said:
Can you send me please a picture of this mic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can see it in this picture on the left side (near the speedometer): https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=cy04WUVYY3RrYTBYSXM0Q1RjSFEzd2RNM1h1ZEd3
Also you can see it in the description of the Dasaita unit at Aliexpress.
Manfred.62 said:
You can see it in this picture on the left side (near the speedometer): https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=cy04WUVYY3RrYTBYSXM0Q1RjSFEzd2RNM1h1ZEd3
Also you can see it in the description of the Dasaita unit at Aliexpress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thank you, if we have any idea to hide it .it will be better . What the you think?
hafidelbazdari said:
Ok thank you, if we have any idea to hide it .it will be better . What the you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using adapter cables. So one can use the inbuilt microphone and GPS module. We just have to find the correct cables via ebay, Aliexpress...
@kind3r
did you found a connector at the Dasaita harness with 12pin (instead of 14pin at EU version of Connect unit)? That must be connector D in the attached file. Found this info in a german HRV forum. He didn't use this connector (no problems so far).
hafidelbazdari said:
Can you send me please a picture of this mic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sligthly better bicture of the mic in the final position.
Manfred.62 said:
Using adapter cables. So one can use the inbuilt microphone and GPS module. We just have to find the correct cables via ebay, Aliexpress...
@kind3r
did you found a connector at the Dasaita harness with 12pin (instead of 14pin at EU version of Connect unit)? That must be connector D in the attached file. Found this info in a german HRV forum. He didn't use this connector (no problems so far).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, nice find. I was actually looking for that before buying a unit but could not find any schematics.
The back pannel arrangement of the connectors is not similar to my original unit see a picture of the back of mine here, but connectors seem to be more or less the same. Now, not all the connectors on the car have a corespondend on the harness and viceversa. The connector you are reffering to must be the Sirius XM receiver (? satelite radio) which as far as I know is not available in EU. Also, the USB connectors look the same in your document but in my case they are a bit different by just a small notch. What is the functionality you are interested in so I can tell you if it works for me or not.
On a side note, I have tested the unit during the last few days using the auto sleep feature, witch does not do a shutdown + cold boot so the unit starts in 1-2 seconds after you start the car. There is still a small delay after that when you get notifications about the SD card and USB stick that are being mounted so that's another 2-3 seconds until playback resumes, so it's still faster than the cold boot which takes around 25 seconds. But as android tends to be like windows on the long term, I will stick with the cold boot 'mode'.
As @HNDXCRV and others mentioned, I could not find a way to set the clock on the factory display. But as DST changed in my country, with a big bang I might add (earthquake during the night, could not sleep after that :/) to my surprise the car's clock changed as well. So I guess there is some communication from the HU, at least for time. My guess is playing in Factory Settings could result in AC being controlled from the unit as well. But I don't really see the point in doing that since dedicated hardware buttons are better than touching a display.
Some were concerned about the performance of the display in direct sunlight. Today was a sunny day, I took a trip to the seaside and I can tell you I had no issues looking at the display with my polarised sunglases on. Also the angle of the polarisation did not seem to matter as tilting my head did not do anything to the brightness level or colors, so kudos for that, it's a really nice display. At some point I was looking through the settings and realized it was only at 75% brightness.
Overall I really love this unit. Of course it's not perfect and there is some room for improvement here and there, but there are no words to describe the difference of (first and foremost for me) performance, sound quality, level of customization, size and quality of the display. Most of the small things that bother me are due to software ergonomics say like the radio app having a dedicated button for stereo lock, instead of something more useful (not that anything comes to mind right now). You have to customize a bit to your liking, I have uninstalled/disabled apps that cycle via the source button on the steering wheel, changed the volumes of navigation, radio, music, a2dp etc. to my personal preference. Also there are a ton of replacement apps for the stock ones, play store is full of choices if you have enough time to try them out, like launchers, dialers, music apps etc.
I still have to update to the latest Android version (unit came with 20180809, latest is 20181011, but with newer MCU 2.98_1) but since there is no reason to, I will hold off for the moment. I am tempted to do a full reset of the unit as there are some leftovers from the seller testing the unit like paierd phones etc. (not that it matters too much).
@kind3r
thanks a lot for your infos. Seems like this device is really worth it. I can not decide yet.
What I like to do if...
connect the original GPS (via adapter, found in ebay)
connect the original microphone (via adapter, not found yet)
Questions:
the radio has RDS fully working (channel names, radio text, traffic TP/TA) ?
is the Dasaita usable without internet connection (only radio or mp3) or does it throw error messages?
does "Ok Google" work? Or do we need the MtcDialer
Because of updates: maybe it's best to do it at the beginning.
For the GPS adaptor it will still take around 2 weeks to get to me so I can post some feedback about it.
I could not find any reference in the connectors for the integrated mic. I'm not sure if an adapter exists. At first I thought this will bother me but it tursn out it's not really that big of a deal. Sound quality is way better than with the original mic/HU combination.
RDS is working but unfortunatelly I cannot test traffic as it is not available in my country. The radio app has switches to enable disable TA and TP but since there is no broadcast for that ... they don't do anything for me.
It should not throw errors without an internet connection but for me the whole point was to use it with Waze for the realtime traffic information. There is a version of iGO preinstalled with Europe maps on an 8G SD card. I will probably buy a bigger card that can fit the iGO maps and music so I have an offline navigation as a backup just in case.
'OK Google' is working but unfortunatelly I think it uses the contacts from the google account and does not use the contacts synced via bluetooth from the paired phone. Since I created a new account for the car I don't have any contacts but I will add some just to test. MTCDialer did not work for me, it always crashes on launch.
Hi,
I'd like to introduce my project...
I'm building a vintage kit car using the BMW Z3 (2000 model year) as the base car. I want the car to have access to tech but for the tech to be hidden in the centre console, actually on the underside of the top of the console. The concept is that when no tech is needed (for example at shows) the car will retain its vintage looks but when tech is required (i.e. when being driven) the tech becomes available. I'm imagining a top section of the console which will hinge up and reveal the tablet. There isn't going to be much space on the underside of the console which is why I'm going for a tablet rather than one of the many Chinese android units.
As an aside, I've just ordered an Icebox Octa core 64G Rom / 4G Ram unit (TTF1983 ) for my facelift (2015) Vauxhall Insignia which I expect to arrive in the next week or so.
I've already researched other people's projects which has helped me to get to where I currently am. Where I currently am is ordering many of the bits and pieces which I expect to need.
My tablet project is intended to be a much simpler affair than the Icebox unit:
DAB and FM radio
Rear and, hopefully, front camera
Sat nav
OBD II
Mirror my phone if needs be
What I won't need includes:
Steering wheel controls
Air con management
Electric roof control
Pretty much everything else that an android head unit offers
What I might need is:
BT Phone but in a convertible that's going to be a bit of an issue any way
Because the car will only be used sporadically I need an effective power management system, one which will kick in after perhaps a month's lack of use.
My tablet of choice is a Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (SM-T800) which I happen to have lying around, it's currently running stock Android 6.01 . The tablet is a wifi model so the plan is to hotspot it to my Galaxy S8 when I'm on the road
I've already ordered
a 12V to 5V 3A dc-dc converter
a 4 port USB2 hub
an OTG Y cable to take power from the dc-dc converter to feed the tablet and to move data between the devices
an easycap UTV007 video capture device (for the parking camera units)
a USB to USB relay to allow the easycap to feed the video through to the USB when reverse is connected
an 'intelligent' video selector which has two video inputs (front and rear cameras) and one video output (to the head unit via the USB relay). The unit keeps the relevant camera connected to the output. I need to take delivery of this and play with it to see what it can really do.
an ELM327 bluetooth OBD II device
a NooElec Smart DVB+ device
a Creative Soundblaster DAC
I know that I'm going to need a decent amplifier between the DAC and the speakers (suggestions and recommendations welcome). I might also want a manual volume control, possibly with a push button mute facility. I've probably missed a bunch of stuff...
I've rooted the tablet and tweaked it (overwritten lpm) so that when the ignition is switched on then the tablet will boot. I've used MacroDroid to tell the device to switch off 10 seconds after the ignition is switched off (unless the ignition gets switched on again within those 10 seconds)
I'm looking very closely at the Agama Car Launcher to pull much of it together. There are some aspects of this launcher that I'd like to see improved. For example I'd like to be able to get back to the home screen from the maps screen (or other screens) CarWebGuru places a button on the screen to allow this. It would be nice also to have a split screen so that I can have maps on one side and Audio / OBD / any other app on the other side. I'm aware that I might not get all that I wish for
One thing I'd REALLY like to see improved is the cold boot time which is currently 50 seconds. I might consider a custom ROM if anyone knows of a ROM that will fire up quickly, or any other tweak which will significantly shorten the cold boot time. 10 seconds or less would be nice. I've looked at Cyanogenmod 12.1 or 13 with the quick boot utility but I understand that the quick boot is basically hibernate and may not survive a month without the ignition being switched on.
Hopefully I've given a reasonable overview of what I'm looking to achieve and hopefully there will be people out there that can help tie everything together and troubleshoot when the time comes.
Russell
nice project, good luck with it..
Keep us posted on your project progress...
Wondering how this is coming along?
My question for you is, will the tablet charge and use data via the OTG cable simultaneously? Did you need to run a custom kernel to enable that?
thanks.
Quite in consonance with what I've been wanting to achieve. Nevertheless, the plan was frustrated by other priorities. Would love to see how this emerges. Meanwhile here's a basic experiment I've tried.
Hi everyone, I basically have an ongoing project at the moment where I'd like to have a headunit in the open top kit car me and a friend are building. Everything is full on stripped down back to basics, no ABS, no powersteering but we're keen to have a bit of fimiliarities with the headunit. I'm struggling a little bit on exactly what to get, I don't know if an off the shelf solution exists or if I'd have to go down something like the rasperry pi route but effectively here's what I'm after from the unit. Don't mind the idea of a tablet of sorts as well, but it would need multiple USB slots (see below).
Android OS is probably best for what we're after however open to suggestions/other ideas
Multiple USB slots 3 minimum - 1 for ODB/ Diagnostic connection, 1 for Apple CarPlay and the other for DAB radio if required
Resistive touch screen - there's no roof on the kit car we'll do our best to weatherproof it but we'd like for the screen to be not effected by droplets of water if it does start raining
Something that's not incredible slow
The monitor and the OS can be two separate devices if required e.g Resistive monitor and then trailing a HDMI/USB to the computer which would be in a dry wiring tray.
Has anyone done this? Seen anything that'd suit? We're really open to suggestions and looking to find a solution asap.
Perhaps post in the Android head units forum, this thread is for specific "MTCD" units.
Most units I have seen are Capacitive screens not resistive, but rain does not affect either really when you dry them off.
If you are looking for reliable Apple CarPlay then Android head units are not the best bet.
I know that the Dasaita PX6 head units have a HDMI out which you can connect another touch screen to for dual touchscreens.
I have the Dasiata in a topless jeep which has had some (light) rain on it in the past with no ill effects.
Sorry all, new to the forums I'll post in the correct place now