Develop Bugs

Parrot Asteroid

Anyone know anything about this stereo -
http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/bluetooth-hands-free-car-kits/parrot-asteroid
Even, where it can be bought, how much it is? What OS it runs for that matter?

well it says that it has Android embedded, so the OS is Android
it looks pretty interesting too...
as for when/where/how much, the site says "Coming soon in 2011", so I'm guessing that it is yet-to-be-offered and they may not have decided their MSRP yet.
William

First, I don't know if I can post links yet. Second, I'm too lazy to dig it up. They had an article on Androidpolice during CES that included a speaker from Parrot showcasing it. I think he said a Q2 release. I'll be getting this the second its released, regardless of price.

anyone have any more details on this? Q2 is all they're saying...
I want one now!!

For the European markets, they say May. Hopefully the beginning of May
Hope they didn't get a developer team from Motorola, then it's going to takes at least another year

next week
i was infomrmed dynamicsounds expected to be stocked next week

wonder if its worth getting
i am currently considering getting it as i need a car kit any way
apperantly they are avalible as of today at 289 euro in the netherlands

I have one
I currently have an Asteroid sitting on my desk here
When I find some time tonight I'll take it for a testdrive and let you guys know!

Excellent. Please let us know.
What apps are available at the moment?
Im hoping for Spotify and proper navigation once the sdk is released...

Yay, someone that has the Asteroid!
Please, let us now!
And, tell us how the music player works.
I want to hook a big memory card, or if there's room a 40GB laptop harddisk to the unit.
Also, streaming from Bluetooth from your phone. Btw, what kind of phone do you have?
(And hmm.. Gorinchem.. That's not that far from my weekly commute.. )

Asteroid
Been driving around with the Asteroid for a while now and it's a pretty neat radio but not perfect.
Building it into the car was a breeze. With the radio came all the needed cables, like a 3,5mm jack, iPod cable, USB cable for usb-sticks, GPS dongle and microphone for the carkit. All cables were pretty long so you should have no problem routing them to whatever place you want them in your car.
Soundquality is pretty good and there are plenty of connections for subwoofers and external amplifiers so it should suffice even for cars with loads of fat speakers.
Connecting my phone, an HTC Desire with CyanogenMod 7.1 (nightly build), was easy through bluetooth and streaming music over bluetooth went without problems. Answering phonecalls and navigating the menu is pretty easy.
A few problems I ran into though. To use internet on the radio (for google maps, internet radio, coyote speed camera alerts) you can either use a 3g USB dongle (which costs you at least 10€ a month where I live) or tether your phone through bluetooth (maybe usb works, haven't tried yet). To do this, your phone needs to support the bluetooth DUN profile which android lacks. Nokia phones should be no problem though. I've tried using 3rd party apps like PDANet but to no avail.
Furthermore I found that the device lacks some tweaking capabilities. For example, when i'm navigating my contacts from my phone, the device tries to "read" the contacts for me using text-to-speech. I've found no way to turn this off. Furthermore I could find no option in the settings to turn off the traffic announcements from radio. The device now switches to radio when i'm listening to music from my SD card to bring me the traffic information (Which can be skipped by pressing the "back" button). Finally, the device came with a Dutch language setting and i've found no way to turn this to English, which is the language I prefer.
Please note, I have only used this radio for a short while and I might've missed some things! I think this is a very nice radio though and since it is the first model and only out for a week or so now I think there will be some updates from Parrot's side, perhaps expanding the capabilities of this device. The only major drawback is the lack of internet connectivity if you have an Android phone. This is not Parrot's fault though but rather Google's. I heard though that Honeycomb supports Bluetooth PAN and I think the Asteroid supports this for Internet tethering so i'm keeping my hopes up for Android Icecream to bring this feature to my phone.
Pro:
- Lots sources for music: Radio, USB stick, SD Card, iPod, 3.5mm Jack line-in
- Android with Google Maps
- Speed camera Alerts
- Large screen (for a single DIN radio unit)
- Lots of cables came with the Radio (With a Pioneer your need to buy overpriced iPod cables separately)
- Its a handsfree carkit, and Parrot knows how to make those by now
- Lots of tweaking possible with the sound
Con:
- Internet does not work with Android phones (yet)
- Lacks certain tweaking possibilities in the settings menu
Feel free to ask any questions

Thank you for the excellent review.
Those drawbacks are major issues,
but Im hoping Parrot will come up with some patches
soon.
The Asteroid is not on sale here yet, and it might take a while.
But I am going to Holland later this month..
Anyone know a place close to Schiphol that sell Parrot equipment?

I also have the Parrot Asteroid for a few days now. But I can't get thetering trough Bluetooth working on my HTC Desire Z (Android 2.2).
I used an app called "PdaNet" or something, with that I can enalbe "Dun - Dia-up Network". And I can make a connection with the parrort trough Settings > Network > Bluetooth. But as soon as I try to use an application that uses internet, it won't work and says I need a internet connection.
Anyone know how I can use DUN or PAN, because an Asteroid doesn't have WiFi and can't tether trough USB ??
Thanx!

RobertR21,
Android does currently not support PAN or DUN so using that is probably not possible without any 3rd party software. I tried PDAnet aswell but it did not work.
You might try connecting your phone to the 3G dongle port on your asteroid through USB, as android supports USB tethering, I have not tried this myself. I can verify though that DUN works, I tried it with my Nokia and it worked flawlessly.
I hear there's rumours on the Internets though that Android icecream is going to support PAN though, so maybe then we can use our android phones. Maybe before that time Parrot will find a solution.

Does anyone know which 3g USB dongles work with the Asteroid?
In my case: I have a Trekstor/Huawei MiFi which can also be used as a "Stick" - Will this work via USB? My Asteroid Device ships in (wish me luck) tomorrow. Pimpin' my Ride is planned at Saturday ;-)
ThX

Hi, I've got the this Parrot Asteriod also.
And For you guys I can use bluetooth internet though my old HTC Hero. I can do it also with other phones. but there is a trick for it.
First root your phone, this is absolutely nessasary.
Then download from the market 'Wireless Tether for root users'(it is a free app).
This one has internet tethering through bluetooth.
Go to menu and select bluetooth instead of wifi.
then go to access-control and eneble it.
Make the bluetooth visible in the tether program.
On the asteroid go to setting and then network and then bluetooth is will find your phone(again) and press the nice parrot butten and it connects.
then on your phone again give it authorization to use the tether and you have your internet.
One problem is that you have to connect manually every time. (your carkit does it automaticly) but not the internet. But at least you can then enjoy your live radio and google maps if you want to.
You only have to have the tether active and connect only through the radio other steps are not needed anymore after.
Internet through usb with your doesn't work, to bad.
One issue that I've encountered with this radio the front panel will become pretty hot after playing an half hour on a high volume. does anyone else have this problem also?

Hi,
I am also considering getting an Asteroid. I have several questions:
- Is there also offline navigation available?
- Can any app from the normal market be installed? Or is there a special Parrot market?
- What Android version is installed?
- Anyway to root it? (What ever functionality this would add?)
Greetings
karlv

Dysphoria said:
Furthermore I found that the device lacks some tweaking capabilities. For example, when i'm navigating my contacts from my phone, the device tries to "read" the contacts for me using text-to-speech. I've found no way to turn this off. Furthermore I could find no option in the settings to turn off the traffic announcements from radio. The device now switches to radio when i'm listening to music from my SD card to bring me the traffic information (Which can be skipped by pressing the "back" button). Finally, the device came with a Dutch language setting and i've found no way to turn this to English, which is the language I prefer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For disablieng the traffic information go to tuner, select a radio station then press the menu button there you can edit if you want traffic information on or of.
text to speech, try the menu button in the app contacts you can change it there. I like that so I didn't look at it yet.
The most options regarding a app can be found in the app it self. try to look for tweaking option there.
karlv said:
Hi,
I am also considering getting an Asteroid. I have several questions:
- Is there also offline navigation available? NO, not yet at least
- Can any app from the normal market be installed? Or is there a special Parrot market? Special Parrot market, apps that are avaible can be found on the parrot site then put on usb stick and then install.
- What Android version is installed? Android 1.5
- Anyway to root it? (What ever functionality this would add?) No, maybe also later.
Greetings
karlv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone can correct me if I'm wrong

anyone already tried getting in touch with the radios file system?
I assume those usb ports only are usb hosts?

there's a new firmware out:
http://download.parrot.com/Parrot_Asteroid_soft_update/asteroid_update_fr_FR.plf
It's nearly 90 MB, so it looks as a complete android software build.
can we get this extracted? modders, come on
EDIT:
there exist some plftools for other Parrot Devices. Maybe they can be used to extract useful stuff out of the Asteroid firmware files...
Links:
http://embedded-software.blogspot.c...howComment=1311293537224#c8852365956008835373
http://sites.google.com/site/repurposelinux/df3120
EDIT2:
part of the firmware update file:
parrotparts=nand0:256K(Pbootloader),16M(Pmain_boot),4M(Pfactory),241408K(Psystem) console=ttyPA0,115200 loglevel=8 update
maybe it is possible to divide the plf file into parts and mount them somehow? (http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=478.0)
EDIT3:
Serial output of AR Drone Update, wich also uses plf update files and is based on linux:
http://kapejod.org/download/ardrone_install.txt

Smartphone + Tontec7" + Bluetooth Touch

Hello All!
I recently bought a new car that has a stock head unit from Toyota in the middle console, but no USB or even an AUX input for sound. But as the electronics enthusiast I am I started searching around for solutions that would fit my needs in regards to compatibility and usefulness, I haven’t been able to find the solution making me pleased.
I bought a 7” Tontec screen with resistive touch overlay and the first idea was to run this Kodi build on a Raspberry Pi B rev.2 (Kudos to Andrei for the fantastic project!) engineering-diy.blogspot.fi
Altough I would be able to use android as OS, mostly because I want to use the electrical and networking tools bought in Play Store. And since adding an android unit to my existing “Internet of Things” setup would be fairly simple.
To my knowledge there isn’t any stable good working build for android on the raspi and it struck me that I have two old but still functional android phones in the drawer. So I would only need to connect the phone to the screen, and basically get the same solution as with the MimicsX2 and Smartphone Uplink (smartphone-uplink.com)
Units at my disposal
Samsung GS2, GT-9300 (Will be used as Head Unit)
Samsung GS4 LTE+, GT-i9506 (Will not be used, my backup phone if my S5 breaks)
Tontec 7" Display (itontec.com/product-detail/product-name-7)
Display controller board (HDMI/Component-In)
Resistive 4-wire Touch Overlay
Touch controller board supplied with overlay (USB-out)
Pioneer 1-Din Car Stereo (Aux & USB for sound input)
Sure Electronics Audio Amp
ELM327 OBD2 Bluetooth Adapter for ECU Readings
Units to be bought
Bluetooth slave controller [USB-BT] (For connecting touch controller to android phone)
Touch controller (USB) (Optional, adafruit.com/products/1580 To emulate mouse HID, would this eliminate the need of external android driver?)
Reverse Camera
Main Issues
What Bluetooth slave should I use? Other issues to be taken into considerations regarding Bluetooth?
How many Bluetooth devices may be connected to the phone at once?
External BT GPS for added accuracy.
“Hands free” connection to regular Smartphone with SIM-card. (How should this be implemented? Pause music etc.)
And finally attached a visual box diagram of what i meant to accomplish.
postimg.org/image/mbnjcve5t/
And since I'm completely new to using bluetooth communication, is this even a possible setup? Anything i should know? I would be very grateful for some help before ordering the bluetooth modules, or other needed components.

I need help understanding how bluetooth works on these MTCB HU's.

I've searched and looked, and I can't seem to find a complete answer to exactly how the bluetooth works on these things.
As far as I can tell; there is the native bluetooth manager that's built into Android, and then a Bluetooth app. Seems like the app is used to make calls and stream from the phone?
I've also read that there cannot be an OBD2 sensor and a phone connected at the same time? I remember reading somewhere that's because Android doesn't actually handle the bluetooth itself, so if I were to get a bluetooth dongle, would that fix this?

FYI, I have a joying headunit and I have been using the Torque app w/ a Bluetooth ODBII adapter and received calls while both are connected. But yes the Bluetooth profiles that come with these units are very limited and basic.

bsavoir22 said:
FYI, I have a joying headunit and I have been using the Torque app w/ a Bluetooth ODBII adapter and received calls while both are connected. But yes the Bluetooth profiles that come with these units are very limited and basic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your process in getting them to work together?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I remembered that I had another BT OBD2 adapter. I was using this one and couldn't get it to work, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011NSX27A/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_F0mqxbPZDQSQ5
I then pulled out my old one, (not this exact one, but looks identical) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EQ57BE8/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_b8mqxbA6SEVRV and now they both are working together.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Is it possible to get DashCommand working on these units? I like it better than torque.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Sure no problem, and what I did is just buy a self powered USB hub and stick an additional Bluetooth dongle in there (android compatible, costs about $4) and pair with both.
Never had a problem with any of them

Hello,
The BT module in these devices are not an internal device, rather an external BT chip. There is no direct data line between device and BT chip. Basically they send commands and share metadata over serial port. Thats all about so dont consider it is a native bluetooth device.

RK3066 / RK3188 Bluetooth compatibility with apps

I'm currently working with a software developer who produces an OBD2 reader and the associated app (Hondash). The device and app work perfectly on conventional Android devices, but not our awkward headunits. The OBD2 device connects and pairs to the headunit, however the app cannot detect it. It seems that the headunit's Bluetooth hardware is not visible to the app. The developer says he "don't know how or why the system doesn't deliver a Bluetooth device list to my app when requested". He goes on to say "For some reason the head unit doesn't expose a device list to my app, and without it it's blind and not able to initiate a connection"
My understanding is that the Bluetooth hardware is handled by the MCU part of the software, rather than Android itself.
Does anyone know of a way to convince the system to expose the Bluetooth device list? Or has anyone got access to the programming documentation for the head unit Bluetooth API?
What is puzzling here is that apparently Torque works on our headunits. Torque is compatible with our Bluetooth so it does seem possible. I assume that Torque isn't the only OBD2 reader app that is compatible, there's probably other too, so any tips on how he could get his app to work would be appreciated.

Dasaita wifi & bluetooth connection issues

I have PX6-HA5393-MAX10-CP updated with the VIVID10. Loving everything about that, however I purchased a Cobra SC201 dashcam with 5.0 Bluetooth and dual band 2.4ghz & 5 ghz wifi. My head unit cannot recognize either of the dashcam's Bluetooth or wifi networks to connect. The dash cam is visible and accessible with other devices such as phone and laptop. Only the head unit can't detect the dashcams wifi or Bluetooth networks to connect. The head unit is 2.4 ghz wifi only and the dash cam claims it's dual wifi (2.4/5.0 ghz). Both claim 5.0 Bluetooth. I have tried manually adding and connecting to dash cams wifi using different encryption keys with no success. Same issue before update to VIVID10 also.

LSmith3rd said:
I have PX6-HA5393-MAX10-CP updated with the VIVID10. Loving everything about that, however I purchased a Cobra SC201 dashcam with 5.0 Bluetooth and dual band 2.4ghz & 5 ghz wifi. My head unit cannot recognize either of the dashcam's Bluetooth or wifi networks to connect. The dash cam is visible and accessible with other devices such as phone and laptop. Only the head unit can't detect the dashcams wifi or Bluetooth networks to connect. The head unit is 2.4 ghz wifi only and the dash cam claims it's dual wifi (2.4/5.0 ghz). Both claim 5.0 Bluetooth. I have tried manually adding and connecting to dash cams wifi using different encryption keys with no success. Same issue before update to VIVID10 also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- The Bluetooth is crippled and only works for phones and certain obd adapters
- The max10 can't do 5ghz... only 2.4
- The camera software will not do wifi cams.

Bob_Sanders said:
- The Bluetooth is crippled and only works for phones and certain obd adapters
- The max10 can't do 5ghz... only 2.4
- The camera software will not do wifi cams.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bob,
Thanks for the follow up! Has anyone been able to successfully bypass the internal wifi/Bluetooth with USB wifi/Bluetooth adapter installs on these Android head units. I've read rumors of wifi bypass of others that know someone, but have yet to find any helpful links. Also not sure I follow regarding the camera software not doing wifi cams. Are you referring to Dasaita's DVR camera apps?

LSmith3rd said:
Are you referring to Dasaita's DVR camera apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know... yes. The app is trained to look for cams on usb and on the dedicated dvr cam plugin. I have not been able to get it to look elsewhere for cameras.
From what I understand, some people have had LIMITED success with usb bluetooth adapters. Some have managed to get them recognized, but then they operate in the same crippled fashion. The bluetooth regardless of what bluetooth system you use, will only recognize phones and some basic obd2 adapters and as far as I know, no one has been able to work around that.... and this is not just Dasaita... but pretty much all of them.

would rooting fix this limitation?

Bump - anyone out there was able to get Bluetooth for anything other than phones/OBD devices to work with any of these Android head units?
I have tried three off-the-shelf Bluetooth dongles and playing with the BT "drivers?" in the list for BT under Factory settings (i.e Head Unit > Settings > Car > Factory Settings > BT).
No luck!

shailentj said:
Bump - anyone out there was able to get Bluetooth for anything other than phones/OBD devices to work with any of these Android head units?
I have tried three off-the-shelf Bluetooth dongles and playing with the BT "drivers?" in the list for BT under Factory settings (i.e Head Unit > Settings > Car > Factory Settings > BT).
No luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you cannot. See above posts.
UIS7862 FYT based units work, including BLE.