Hello, for my new car ( Subaru BRZ 2015 series blue) i want to replace original headunit from Subaru with something better. I looked at marked, and only Parrot RNB 6 was up to the task, but it was only demo, no units will be sold.
So i started to search tablet/phone, that could be converted to headunit, most important, it must be fast, high quality large display, no buttons, drilling or anything on touchscreen, and so on. I was unable to find anythink that will fit inside 20x10cm space ( yes, nexus 7 would be good, but i don't like this device for some reason)
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So i get Nvidia Shield 16GB wifi model. Now i have a lot of skills in analog and digital electronics ( apart from usb/lan and other high level communication), so i want to get few ideas how to create/mimic original headunit features. i will name each with number, and if some one has good idea how to do it, please attach the number to message, to keep it simple.
1) Turn on with ignition and turn off with engine as normal head units do. I think i will add much larger battery keep it alive, and use MCU for voltage monitoring, so it will disable battery if it discharge main battery too much. like 13V cutoff.
2) Ability to connect to phone via blue-tooth, so it will use it's own speakers and mic for conversation. usual headunit functionality. I will connect mic to car original microphone location, same for speakers.
3) better audio, i will use original stereo speakers or microphone jack in order to get sound. I will do amplification myself. I will try to make my won audio dsp, that will handle some effects, and create small delay from original signal into back speakers, for 3D sound effect.
4) Use cameras as video registrator and backup cameras. Car does have reverse signal , so it will be nice to integrate it somehow, also will try to play with USB video class cameras, that could be used as video registration,just will it record in background and do video loop ? Or just delete original file after travel and use 32/64gb card.
5) motion based video/pictures capture, since Nvidia Shield does have multi-axis accelerometer it would be nice to capture images video when car is parked, and moved, this would be so nice to have
6) does any one have other simple ideas? Remember, i am good with power electronics, micro controllers ( high end ones, no arduino for me, too slow), audio dsp processors and so one.
kilohercas said:
2) Ability to connect to phone via blue-tooth, so it will use it's own speakers and mic for conversation. usual headunit functionality. I will connect mic to car original microphone location, same for speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean trying to turn the shield into what looks like a BT headset, my understanding is that this is POSSIBLE, but that it's a huge amount of work.
I think it's Qualcomm that has code for this, so it might be feasible mostly on Qualcomm BT/combo chips. The effort required seems to be akin to creating your own ROM. I think somebody, somewhere, may have done this once on some device.
I think your biggest need is software, lots and lots of software, requiring lots of work and tweaking to get exactly what you want.
Who is going to build and maintain this software ?
Best chances are with devices that are VERY popular, like Nexus 7 2013 (and yet I think nobody has ever turned an N7 into a BT headset equivalent), And 2013 is 2 years ago and Google no longer sells it (but $150 new on Amazon etc.)
More obscure devices have little chance of finding developers when MUCH more popular devices have found few devs.
Frankly I think you are much better off using one of the CarJoying.com , etc headunits. There is more than just an android tablet to them. There is quite a bit of additional hardware, and even a separate micro-controller running a whole bunch of firmware at a very low level, to tie it all together.
For the cost of these headunits ($200-$300) its not worth it at all to try to build your own, and whatever you have will never be as functional using a regular tablet as the base.
It would be nice to use tablet, because hardware usually is at lest one order of magnitude better than any car head unit. Display is full HD, not 800x480, also, it is larger, and is around 20cmx12cm ( so i will have to create my own front panel to mount it, but i think i can do a good job too)
Lookup Nvidia Shield tablet specifications, can you find any headunit, at least 2x less powerful ? No, you can't !
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® K1 192 core Kepler GPU 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU with 2GB RAM
Display 8-inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display
Audio Front facing stereo speakers, dual bass reflex port with built-in microphone
Wireless 802.11n 2x2 Mimo 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.0 LE GPS / GLONASS
Regarding power up/down, it looks like i could use original feature, to keep LCD alive if charging is plugged, just question how to clear all programs, so it would consume as little power as possible ?
kilohercas said:
It would be nice to use tablet, because hardware usually is at lest one order of magnitude better than any car head unit. Display is full HD, not 800x480, also, it is larger, and is around 20cmx12cm ( so i will have to create my own front panel to mount it, but i think i can do a good job too)
Lookup Nvidia Shield tablet specifications, can you find any headunit, at least 2x less powerful ? No, you can't !
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® K1 192 core Kepler GPU 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU with 2GB RAM
Display 8-inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display
Audio Front facing stereo speakers, dual bass reflex port with built-in microphone
Wireless 802.11n 2x2 Mimo 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.0 LE GPS / GLONASS
Regarding power up/down, it looks like i could use original feature, to keep LCD alive if charging is plugged, just question how to clear all programs, so it would consume as little power as possible ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 1024x600 screen is more then enough for an in dash. I'm VERY pleased with mine, I even bought a Nexus 7 with the same thoughts as you but to get even half the functionality that my CarJoying head unit has would have taken years. It's also got the quad core processor and is very quick, in fact it works better then my Nexus 7 does since Lollipop killed my 7.
kilohercas said:
It would be nice to use tablet, because hardware usually is at lest one order of magnitude better than any car head unit. Display is full HD, not 800x480, also, it is larger, and is around 20cmx12cm ( so i will have to create my own front panel to mount it, but i think i can do a good job too)
Lookup Nvidia Shield tablet specifications, can you find any headunit, at least 2x less powerful ? No, you can't !
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® K1 192 core Kepler GPU 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU with 2GB RAM
Display 8-inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display
Audio Front facing stereo speakers, dual bass reflex port with built-in microphone
Wireless 802.11n 2x2 Mimo 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.0 LE GPS / GLONASS
Regarding power up/down, it looks like i could use original feature, to keep LCD alive if charging is plugged, just question how to clear all programs, so it would consume as little power as possible ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not about power, it's about integration. I have 3 Shield LTE tabs in my household, along with a car audio install that I'm gearing up to compete in MECA's ModEx sound quality class next season.
I tried the Shield route. I wanted it to work, I really did. There were just too many small issues that added up to an overall big headache... The OTG integration just isn't there, for one. The Joycon for the steering wheel controls is, well, not the best. I was constantly having to unplug / replug the OTG cable to get an external drive and outboard DAC to recognize. EasyCap for the backup camera is kludgey at best. And, let's face it, it takes forever to boot up and running the thing sans battery with a direct wire connection is still an amperage hog even in standby.
I ran the Pioneer AppRadio 3 with AppRadio Unchained to get full Android access with an RK3288 HDMI stick for awhile, then upgraded to the Pioneer 8100 NEX with the same stick, but the occasional bluetooth hang preventing me from having touchscreen access on both decks wasn't cutting it.
I now use the Newsmy NU3001 and couldn't be happier. The display is perfect for the car, for competition I use an HDMI audio splitter to feed optical to my DSP to play FLAC files. If I need to play a CD, I have an Alpine changer with optical out also going into my DSP.
All I can tell you is good luck. I hope you have more patience than I did.
I understand, that for some users that will be hard to do.
my basic needs are very easy to integrate, navigation/music/power_up/power_down. This is very easy to manage with additional microcontroller ( and i am good at that), that takes control over volume buttons, power button, and i can do power management based on do i get power from car, and if yes, what is voltage on car's battery, so i could do intelligent decision will i keep tablet in standby ( locked screen) mode, or i should disconnect power all together to drain no power at all.
By looking at screen back light, and voltage levels on connection to the car, i can lock or unlock device, so this take care of basic functionality, i will also add few capacitive buttons for volume control on panel itself. And i know that were is a program, that will pause audio, if some one press power button, so i get last bit of functionality i need.
Car does not have any volume or other buttons on the steering wheel or anything, and original head unit from Subaru BRZ only could manage calls, sms messages from phone, and play music, and do navigations. So i can reproduce at least 75% of original head unit functionality simply by using 12V-> 5V USB charger. Original amplifier is in the back on th car, so i can use speakers output as my main audio. That it !
Related
I have found some new Android 4.4 car stereo head unit.
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Specifications from the seller:
CPU: FREESCALE i.MX6 ARM CORTEX A9, QUAD CORE 1.2GHz
8 inch Capacitive Touch Screen 800*480 pixels with dynamic GUI (1024*600 optional)
Rich periphery port (SD/MMC, Bluetooth, USB2.0 OTG, UART)
Built-in DDRIII 1G/2G (optional)
Built-in 16G/32G iNAND (optional)
Built-in DVD player, inhaled car special chipset
Built-in Radio PLL tuner with 36 FM/12 AM presets, high quality RDS reception
Built-in Bluetooth ( iPhone 4S/5/5S A2DP playback)
Built-in navigation (map in iNAND)
External Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n dongle/Built-in (optional)
External 3G WCDMA/4G LTE dongle (optional)
Support CAN-BUS of Europe Version (optional)
Support DVB-T, ISDB-T, ATSC, Compatible with PAL/NTSC/SECAM format (External or Built-in as optional)
Support iPod/iPhone (Audio/Video playback, charge)
SD card with maximum 32G
4-channel × 45W power output, 4.2-channel line-out: front, rear and 2 subwoofers 5-band equalizer
Parking brake control
Rear camera input
Illumination auto dimmer
Microphone internal & external switch
Support mirror link via USB
Support USB to connect computer
Works with steering wheel controls
All the usual stuff like car DVR, TV, etc.
It can be found on Aliexpress for about $550.
Don't know if there is any universal version but I have found some versions for Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Nissan ...
In Google can be also found as Carit head unit.
Some videos are also available:
Does any body have any experience with this head unit?
I wonder if it is worth those money as there is a lot of HU for less $$ (and huge threads here with bugs on them).
I'm interested as well, especially because of the 1024x600 possible screen definition.
I read other info concerning android double din radio but 800x480 was not comfortable for some applications (waze for instance)
This bigger screen resolution is optional. I wonder if it is possible to order it now or is it only a future feature to get more clients?
_arecki_ said:
I have found some new Android 4.4 car stereo head unit.
Specifications from the seller:
CPU: FREESCALE i.MX6 ARM CORTEX A9, QUAD CORE 1.2GHz
8 inch Capacitive Touch Screen 800*480 pixels with dynamic GUI (1024*600 optional)
Rich periphery port (SD/MMC, Bluetooth, USB2.0 OTG, UART)
Built-in DDRIII 1G/2G (optional)
Built-in 16G/32G iNAND (optional)
Built-in DVD player, inhaled car special chipset
Built-in Radio PLL tuner with 36 FM/12 AM presets, high quality RDS reception
Built-in Bluetooth ( iPhone 4S/5/5S A2DP playback)
Built-in navigation (map in iNAND)
External Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n dongle/Built-in (optional)
External 3G WCDMA/4G LTE dongle (optional)
Support CAN-BUS of Europe Version (optional)
Support DVB-T, ISDB-T, ATSC, Compatible with PAL/NTSC/SECAM format (External or Built-in as optional)
Support iPod/iPhone (Audio/Video playback, charge)
SD card with maximum 32G
4-channel × 45W power output, 4.2-channel line-out: front, rear and 2 subwoofers 5-band equalizer
Parking brake control
Rear camera input
Illumination auto dimmer
Microphone internal & external switch
Support mirror link via USB
Support USB to connect computer
Works with steering wheel controls
All the usual stuff like car DVR, TV, etc.
It can be found on Aliexpress for about $550.
Don't know if there is any universal version but I have found some versions for Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Nissan ...
In Google can be also found as Carit head unit.
Some videos are also available:
Does any body have any experience with this head unit?
I wonder if it is worth those money as there is a lot of HU for less $$ (and huge threads here with bugs on them).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found one universal version http://www.autopumpkin.com/new-prod...h-screen-3g-wifi-bluetooth-obd2-free-mic.html, it costs $389.99, but if you need 1024*600 resolution should pay extra $60.
anan2046 said:
I have found one universal version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But this is different unit. It is with dual core 1,6 GH Rokchip 3066, not quad core Freescale.
There is separate thread for those units on xda.
I've purchased a vehicle specific version of this and it's all fitted and up and running.
Does anyone know if this unit can be rooted?
I don't know if it can be rooted, but can you tell anything about this unit? How do you like it? Why do you want to root it, is there anything missing?
Where did buy it? Can you paste a link?
Chrisseh, is it the unit you have?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Pure...PS-Canbus-Radio-BT-IPOD-USB-SD/843511550.html
An older version of this device was easy rooted by z4root application. You can try it. You can easy unroot if needed.
Yup! That's the exact one I bought. I'll look into z4root, thanks.
Are there any risks? I can't brick my unit by a failed root?
To answer your other questions.. I love it so far! Everything is snappy and responsive. The actual integration with my car's controls is seemless.
I asked about rooting purely for the future.. Incase I come across an app that won't install and I have to use Market Helper or I want to look into altering boot animations or graphics for the system apps.
I just found that the z4root works with the old android version and most probably it will not work for this unit.
But it is good to know that you look it for the future case
If you don't mind I would like to ask you some more questions about this unit.
What about the bluetooth? Is it possible to use phone and another bluetooth device (like OBD2 interface) in the same time?
I have found your photos in another thread an saw that there was two bluetooth icons in status bar.
Is there good quality sound for the phone calls?
Is there good radio reception signal quality?
What about the audio, is it good or worse than original audio in your car?
What navigation application do you use? Was there any problem with GPS lock?
Have you tested the internet connection (GPRS/WiFi)?
Have you tested USB hub?
Thanks
_arecki_ said:
I just found that the z4root works with the old android version and most probably it will not work for this unit.
But it is good to know that you look it for the future case
If you don't mind I would like to ask you some more questions about this unit.
What about the bluetooth? Is it possible to use phone and another bluetooth device (like OBD2 interface) in the same time?
Unfortunately I don't have another bluetooth device to test this.
I have found your photos in another thread an saw that there was two bluetooth icons in status bar.
I can only presume this is because I was connected via bluetooth for handsfree and also streaming music via A2DP
Is there good quality sound for the phone calls?
Phonecalls could be better but for me they are totally adequate.
Is there good radio reception signal quality?
The radio audio quality isn't great if I'm honest. Doesn't bother me all that much as I rarely listen to the radio.
What about the audio, is it good or worse than original audio in your car?
The audio over A2DP sounds pretty much the same as the original unit.
What navigation application do you use? Was there any problem with GPS lock?
The default navigation app is Navigon. I've used it twice and it has been excellent. No GPS issues whatsoever.
Have you tested the internet connection (GPRS/WiFi)?
Unfortunately this unit doesn't come with built in wifi and I didn't buy the adapter at the time. I've since ordered one from the seller and it should be here soon!
Have you tested USB hub?
I haven't tested a usb hub yet.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope this helps!
Chrisseh said:
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely. Thank you for the response.
If you have any new thoughts about this unit please share
Root is available.
Our Russian friends did it already with the Root_Zhushou_v1.3.0_rus.apk application. It works.
File:
http://dusias.spaces.ru/files/?read=54056373
Instructions (one click):
Does anybody know how to fix FM radio in this head unit?
It is absolutely unusable. Not possible to seek next/prev stations from steering wheel and very poor radio signal reception.
Absolutely **** ... I having hell of a problems with my FREESCALE i.MX6 ARM CORTEX A9, QUAD CORE
No support of the seller at all . as I have been suggest to look in google .
I can`t restore it to the factory settings cos it ask me for password , looking for another way to get to the restore menu ,if is possible because is custom made Android I guess
milenmarinov78, to restore to factory settings you can try password: 110601.
I haven't tried, but found on some russian page.
Please give some feedback if it works.
_arecki_ said:
milenmarinov78, to restore to factory settings you can try password: 110601.
I haven't tried, but found on some russian page.
Please give some feedback if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes mate is working Thanks
I`m just worrying if factory restore it to lose some of the custom made apps , because is not pure android 4.4 system
My problem is Google play services and mainly Fused location , every time when restart my player pop up message tell in me that
" The fused location has stop working " I pressing OK then popping up again and then when using Goggle maps to navigate , don't want to recalculate and reroute my journey . Very annoying . Read about it a lot but there is no hoop .
I`ve try to downgrade Google play to lover version and is all working until update himself and going in the same circle .
Thanks. It's greate to hear that reset password works.
Regarding this "The fused location has stop working" issue I had the same problem.
I have downgraded Google Play and disabled automatic applications update in the Play Store application.
Since then I haven't seen this irritating popups.
There is also an option to disable google play service write rights (root required) but I didn't have to try this.
If you want I can search for description of this procedure.
_arecki_ said:
Thanks. It's greate to hear that reset password works.
Regarding this "The fused location has stop working" issue I had the same problem.
I have downgraded Google Play and disabled automatic applications update in the Play Store application.
Since then I haven't seen this irritating popups.
There is also an option to disable google play service write rights (root required) but I didn't have to try this.
If you want I can search for description of this procedure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the same thing , but after couple of restarts Google manage to update himself and then the same pop-up message again
Ok, the option with disabling google play updates:
Install Android Terminal Emulator
In Terminal, enter:
su
touch /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk
chattr + i /data/app/com.android.vending-1.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried this so I am not sure if this is correct and working.
Source
You can find there also option with LuckyPatcher, but is more complicated.
Hi there.
Long story short...
I got involved in a new project of Universal 2DIN Android Media Device.
The designers made their work and now theres 2 parralell ways of further development.
1. The definition of hardware. The new or some existing device. Screen resolution, processor, RAM, ROM etc... There are several firmware manufacturers in China that offer pure android 5.0
2. The User Interface.
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The plan is to use 7/8 inch full touchcreen with no buttons, no dvd.
Maby some functions that other devices dont have. Or the mix of most popular features from different devices?
3G support
DVR
rear camera
can bus
SWC (steering wheel control)
wi-fi+wi-fi hotspot
webcam for skype video calls
BT calls and conntact sync
companion app for phones with Music Folder sync and maby some kind of controll of the car
navigation
screen gestures for volume, playback controll without leaving the current app (e.g. navigation)
voice control
multiscreen
split view when needed (e.g. navigation goes to left and browser/ chat/ music player on the right)
OTA firmware update
cloud backup of the settings
So what are features that are nessesary in the NEW device?
What wolud YOU buy?
Leave the comments below.
Any ideas and help (software development/ firmware modification of future device) would be appriciated.
leave the links for your favourite Android Head Unit.
Build good hardware and open source everything
Bokomaru said:
Build good hardware and open source everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is good hardware for you?
playahate said:
what is good hardware for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tough question. I've been working with the Newsmy carpad hardware for a bit now and they basically handle everything I personally need but there are some improvements that could be made on that.
A few things I can think of offhand I would improve on that hardware
The HU has a microphone but that is only available to the bluetooth interface on the head unit and is not passed to the android portion
Having multiple options for audio output
Being able to pass audio/video to and from the head unit to android. I suspect plenty of people would want to be able to send different video to remote monitors to show movies to the kids but not have them displayed on the head unit
The biggest advantage that we have with the Newsmy carpad hardware is that there were source leaks for the android code base so we have been able to do a lot of improvements ourselves. If we had access to the head unit code as well we could go a bit further
Thanks for the anwer. The main thing i dont like in Newsmy is android box. Not everybody like to have the additional device in the glove box...
@Bokomaru by the way, how important is 1920x1200 screen?
or the 1024x600 is good enough?
playahate said:
Thanks for the anwer. The main thing i dont like in Newsmy is android box. Not everybody like to have the additional device in the glove box...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me Android Box is a great advantage of Newsmy. I can take box home and mess everything on TV screen sitting in the armchair using my BT keyboard and mouse. Cannot even imagine doing all this inside the car.
I would like to have the option of detaching a box from my car to work on it in the house. My unit doesn't have that and I have to do it all sitting on my driveway, but I'm not sure if tha twill be a big plus for regular users (not geeks like us). To me what these units need to improve on is the little details like the mic issue that @Bokomaru mentioned. Basically getting rid of the whole MCU side to keep everything accesible to Android.
One of the biggest gripes I have with m unit is that if I'm listening to the radio and I want to play something on PowerAmp I have to exit the radio app first and then go to PowerAmp and look for whatever I want to listen to because if I leave the radio app open in the background (so I can continue listening to it while I'm ready in PowerAmp) then I'll get both apps playing at the same time. This happens because of the way the MCU has direct access to the hardware without going through Android.
Optical output would make it an instant buy for me. I'd love to be able to run full lossless out to my DSP.
Actually, I would like physical buttons - at least for music playback. Volume up/down, Play/pause & next/prev would be enough - that would allow me to control the media playback without taking eyes off the road.
In my opinion, the perfect Android head unit could have been made by Parrot, the RNB6
So much very interesting features (such as front cam or OBD2 connector) and very nice interface
But production seems to be canceled.....
ant-11 said:
In my opinion, the perfect Android head unit could have been made by Parrot, the RNB6
So much very interesting features (such as front cam or OBD2 connector) and very nice interface
But production seems to be canceled.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. i like it too.
i think its not cancelled. they say its not for aftermarket coz theres a LOT of integration needed, depending of the car model, so they will be pre-installed in some cars.
The perfect head unit for me turns on instantly. All of these android head units take too long to turn on. Figure something out and you have my sale. I'm talking turn on as fast as my single din head units. The only reason I have a single din is because they are instant on.
starfox5194 said:
The perfect head unit for me turns on instantly. All of these android head units take too long to turn on. Figure something out and you have my sale. I'm talking turn on as fast as my single din head units. The only reason I have a single din is because they are instant on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This could be done faily easily by just having a battery inside the unit. I'm actually surprised theses manufaturers haven't done it yet. Before I bought my headunit I used to have a tablet on a stand that I always kept plugged in to the car (I didn't use it for anything else) and I set it up to go to sleep when it stopped charging (meaning the car was off) and to wake up when it started charging again (meaning I had turned the car on again).
The car charger was crappy so the tablet ended up using more power while in use than it was receiveing from the charger, but this would be easily doable with a better charger so a headunit that's specifically been designed with this in mind shouldn't be difficult. It might be a little more expensive because of the added cost of the battery, but it shouldn't be much more.
starfox5194 said:
The perfect head unit for me turns on instantly. All of these android head units take too long to turn on. Figure something out and you have my sale. I'm talking turn on as fast as my single din head units. The only reason I have a single din is because they are instant on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually while i've been searching all the information of all the possible devices, i've found the device that boots the android in 4 seconds. It was 1,5 years ago. Not the 4.4 but still...
They say there are many devices with this tech, but i didnt find real pictures on their site
Kriszilla said:
Optical output would make it an instant buy for me. I'd love to be able to run full lossless out to my DSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use optical out already on the Huifeis and the Newsmys if you get a USB sound card.
---------- Post added at 10:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 PM ----------
JakubAnderwald said:
Actually, I would like physical buttons - at least for music playback. Volume up/down, Play/pause & next/prev would be enough - that would allow me to control the media playback without taking eyes off the road.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, youre right, its good to have a touchscreen and having no buttons looks cool, but in reality its much easier to use physical buttons when driving.
playahate said:
yeah. i like it too.
i think its not cancelled. they say its not for aftermarket coz theres a LOT of integration needed, depending of the car model, so they will be pre-installed in some cars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ant-11 said:
In my opinion, the perfect Android head unit could have been made by Parrot, the RNB6
So much very interesting features (such as front cam or OBD2 connector) and very nice interface
But production seems to be canceled.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If its cancelled then good - if its anything like their last effort it will be ridiculously over priced, highly restricted rubbish.
EVERY Android HU in the XDA Android headunit section can do OBD and front cam and have been able to for years.
If i would build a car radio for my BMW E46, i will use the following parts...
1: A Odroid ODROID-XU3/XU4 with: 64GB eMMC with androit 4.4.4 or Lolipop, usb gps modul (Ublox 6010 chipset), Bluetooth 3.0, USB Audio Adapter with stereo out and mic in, usb IEEE 802.11b/g/n 1T1R WLAN module with Antenna, Lithium primary battery to back up the Real Time Clock, DC Plug Cable Assembly 5.5mm. hardkernel.com
2: A Chalkboard Electronics 7" open frame universal HDMI LCD with IPS capacitive multi-touch, ambient light sensor , a bezel for your screen . chalk-elec.com
3: A 5-24V DCDC-USB Intelligent DC-DC Converter with USB Interface and Metal Enclosure by Mini-Box for the Odroid and the Chalke Electronics screen. http://store.mp3car.com/
4:A resler Ibus can for steering wheel control. reslers.de/IBUS/
5: A monkeyboard FM/DAB+, DAB antenna, the app from Googleplay
6: And of course a good amplifier for the sound (i already have)
It's quite expensive, but you will have the fastest android car pc on the market.
playahate said:
Leave the comments below.
Any ideas and help (software development/ firmware modification of future device) would be appriciated.
leave the links for your favourite Android Head Unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Android Auto Headunit app I'm working on (see sig) makes me very interested in seeing nice hardware HUs.
I'm mostly targeting tablets at this point, but a hardware HU designed to be an HU can offer many advantages.
I've personally committed myself to working in the "connected car" space for the next few years at least. I'll be happy to try and help/enable anyone working on open source code and hardware for this.
Big HU companies and auto OEMs want to hold back features, and provide new ones every year to keep us on the upgrade hamster wheel. Example: None of the current aftermarket or auto OEM HUs are known to have Wifi. They will NOT be able to do Android Auto or Carplay over Wifi, despite that both seem imminent. (Wifi works with my HU app right now on Android Auto.)
Even IF some of those HUs have hidden Wifi capability, chances are low that it will ever be enabled in future firmware updates. Same thing is happening with Android Auto. Older HU and cars mostly will NEVER be retroactively enabled (despite that actually breaking some promises for at least one auto OEM). (I say mostly because Hyundai seems to be making retroactive upgrades possible for some cars. Props to Hyundai.)
My point is that open hardware and software will help enable retroactively adding features, without wasting money and filling landfills/garbage dumps with last years products.
(1) I'd love to see something as thin and compact as a tablet, but with power, USB and audio connections that are better than tablets offer.
(2) I'd also like to see something more traditional that is much deeper than a tablet, to hold more "stuff", but I think the concepts of CD's and DVD's are old enought that I'd prefer not to see support for them, meaning it doesn't have to be as deep as HUs with such support.
XDA user doitright has made a few posts on my HU thread about an HU he is building, and I've become rather interested in his thoughts. One such post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61988233&postcount=490 .
He is basing his HU on the Qualcomm design of a "96boards" called DragonBoard: https://www.96boards.org/products/ce/dragonboard410c/ . It's $75, supports Android 5.1, Linux based on Ubuntu and Win 10 support to come.
I REALLY, REALLY like that this is supported by Qualcomm and I think it's likely that it will support the latest versions of Android, shortly after Google release, probably for a few years at least, and at least to Android 7.x (IMO). It's built by Arrow, not Qualcomm though. The design is a reference design from Qualcomm.
There is an open "96boards" spec so other companies can easily build boards that follow the specs. There is also a HiKey board right now, so already there is competition. Qualcomm apparently has committed to ensuring boards based on their design are available for the next TEN (!) years, which is important to embedded system companies.
The idea that an HU could be abandoned after 1-2 years really annoys me. Being stuck on Android 4.x, as the popular Chinese HUs are now, also really annoys me.
Give me something that can run the latest Android versions for the next 2-3 years at least. Give me something like a 96boards design where I can easily upgrade the main board after a few years.
playahate said:
The plan is to use 7/8 inch full touchcreen with no buttons, no dvd.
Maby some functions that other devices dont have. Or the mix of most popular features from different devices?
3G support
DVR
rear camera
can bus
SWC (steering wheel control)
wi-fi+wi-fi hotspot
webcam for skype video calls
BT calls and conntact sync
companion app for phones with Music Folder sync and maby some kind of controll of the car
navigation
screen gestures for volume, playback controll without leaving the current app (e.g. navigation)
voice control
multiscreen
split view when needed (e.g. navigation goes to left and browser/ chat/ music player on the right)
OTA firmware update
cloud backup of the settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beyond what I wrote above about 96boards and specifically the Qualcomm designed Dragonboard...
- Worry about hardware first. Software can be done and worried about later.
- Use open hardware supported by open software as much as possible. IMO this likely means forgetting about Chinese SOCs etc. and going with Qualcomm.
- Make it modular so we can add and change stuff in future ourselves.
- Start with the simplest and cheapest (but good quality) possible minimum hardware. Example: touchscreen + SOC board + power board + connectors for power in, USB, and low power analog audio output.
Modularity should mean that we can add as much as we like, whether we build it ourselves or it comes as add-ons from the vendor of the base HU. Maybe a row of physical buttons that can be added at bottom of display. Maybe an FM/HD etc radio board. Maybe a power amplifier with speaker level outputs. Maybe a USB hub add-on that allows flash-drives, cameras and phones to be attached for charging or Android Auto etc.
What's the perfect head unit
Mostly, it's quality components. I would pay $1000 for a device that had support, warranty, and quality components like solid capacitors and properly soldered ICs that are rated for high temperature changes
What new head units need are bug fixes not new features.
That said specs can still be improved
The RK3066 doesn't have enough performance, I would like something a bit newer
I'd like recent versions of software, and an interface that looks modern, the latest 4.4.4 units come closer, but still pretty far from ideal.
Screens have a lot of room for improvement. I would like good quality IPS screens at least 720p
The apps that make use of the MCU need a good redesign, while they look a lot like current gen pioneer interfaces, pioneer isn't known for having a fresh taste in design.
I think it's essential for any head unit to have these features
Rearview camera trigger
steering wheel control support
GOOD sounding FM radio (properly de-emphasized, no static)
capacitive glass screen of course
On paper, these head units sound great, but the execution needs a lot of work. Extensive QA/UX testing needs to be done, components need to be of a higher standard, and there needs to be better communication, and a way for a certain headunit to stand out from the mass of other ones on the market. Give it a name instead of a 3 letter designation, market it properly, and focus on one product for a longer period of time instead of move to new projects so quickly.
I just received this unit:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
http://www.eds-fl.com/AndroidHeadUnit/1.png
Summary in case the link dies, it is a 2013/14/15 Altima specific radio, but the underlying hardware seems fairly generic. Similar units are available for a number of different car makes and models.
If you are considering an Android head unit for your car, you must first read these links.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Generic_Android_Head_Unit/MCU_Explained
Note that the links below go back to head unit designs that were available a few years ago and much of the comments and problems do not apply to current hardware.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Hui_Fei_Type
and
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660662
I like that it has a full 8" screen but also has buttons and knobs which integrate very well with the car's dash and make use in a car much easier and safer (touchscreen-only controls in a car is a safety hazard).
The price was very attractive and I was able to separately buy a PX5 core board (4GB/32GB) for ~$100 (not received yet) so I will have options in case the PX3 CPU is too slow.
The unit appears well made. I have been running it on the bench for about a day and most everything I tried seems to work as expected (caveats below).
The LCD is good, with very wide viewing angle (one of my concerns), the resolution adequate (interestingly, the 1000x600 screen is much better than the pokey 480pixel units on the $600 Pioneer unit I checked at Best Buy), the touch screen is very responsive.
One strange issue is that it takes A LONG TIME to download anything. The web browser (Chrome) works well, but downloading apps from the Play Store takes forever, even though if you are patient, they eventually complete. I have read in another thread that it may be due to insufficient cache space. Whatever the cause, it is irritating, but it is not something you do too often (aside from initial setup,) so it's not a deal breaker. I will report if the PX5 coreboard improves on that when I get it.
Aside from the downloading slowdowns, the unit seems to handle multitasking properly. I was concerned about the Px3/2GB RAM set being underpowered (which is why I bought the PX5 coreboard) but it seems quite usable as is. I suspect that earlier units with 1GB RAM do not fare as well.
Now some random observations:
The radio app works but the UI could use improvements. There does not seem to be a way to name the stations once they are memorized. They take the name of whatever is streaming out of the RDS system, so most stations I saved are named from the song they were playing at the time...
Navigation uses the iGo app with naviextras.com maps. The maps appear to be several years old. There is a particular issue in my street that has been fixed just about everywhere (Google maps and the various GPS nav units I have had my hands on) at least 3 years ago but it is still there on these maps. Not sure how to upgrade the maps since the radio is not registered on the naviextras.com web site. I have placed a question in the customer service area of their web site. They want a zipped copy of the license folder. I have found the folder but not managed to do that yet.
The music player is also adequate. I have not found how to transfer music from the thumb drive to the radio itself using the stock FileBrowser app . That will probably require a separate file manager app of some sort. There is an equalizer with separate sub setting. Interestingly, I have been using the radio with a set of inexpensive Harman Kardon computer speakers (using the RCA output connectors, not the speaker outputs) and the sound is pretty great with the equalizer set to flat. The noise level is extremely low (I am using a well regulated power supply, I will update once the radio is in the car with engine running.)
The radio does not shut down when "powered down", it just goes to sleep. Current consumption in sleep mode is very low (I measured 15mA.) I turned it off last night before going to bed, expecting it would take the ~20 seconds to boot this morning. To my surprise, the radio turned on as soon as I pressed the power button. This is even faster than my Altima's OEM radio! A pleasant surprise.
I bought the radio with a separate Bluetooth ODB scanner from the same vendor as it is advertised as supporting it. The Torque app is installed in the radio, so it seems it is ready to go (I have seen some older Android head units that could not access Bluetooth OBD dongles.) I have not tried it yet.
I connected the radio to my Android phone via Bluetooth last night but did not do anything else then. This morning, while eating breakfast with the radio playing music, the phone rings in the radio and I heard a voice mail from DHL advising me of the impending delivery of the coreboard. So I guess the phone link works too Interestingly the phone was a good distance from the radio (I have a big house) so Bluetooth range is plenty, much more than adequate.
I was reluctant to log into the radio with my main Google account (since it would be easy for anyone breaking into the car to have access to all my Google information, stored passwords and such, so I created a second account with simply the few phone numbers I am likely to want to call from the car and used that to log into the radio.
I have not been able to place a call directly from the radio via voice command or otherwise. I was able to make it read my phonebook from the Android 5.1 handset, so when I ask the radio to call my wife, it properly finds the number and it displays a green handset saying it is calling, but nothing is happening on the phone. A problem that I need to resolve before putting the radio in the car. Note: I also have a Bluetooth headset for my motorcycle helmet and I have no issue calling any number of the phonebook through that, so the issue is not with the phone.
When a call comes in, the phone app opens up and everything works pretty much as expected. Sound is pretty good on both ends. However, the phone app has a row of buttons at the bottom of the screen and some are semi-transparent while others are opaque, so depending on what app was running, those semi-transparent buttons are not legible. This is very strange. When the call was over, the radio which was running did not turn back on (but when I got the voice mail from DHL earlier, the radio turned back on after the call.)
Overall I am quite pleased. I have a couple of bugs to fix before I install the radio in the car. I will report then how that went.
Edit: The MCU version in that unit is MTCE_KGL_V2.70_2, Oct 22 2017
Update:
Attempted to install the head unit in my car today. Removing the trim parts, swapping the bracket between the old radio and the new one was fairly easy. The mechanical parts match well with the mounting holes and the look of the head unit matches the rest of the dash very well.
There are two small connectors that were plugged into the old unit that do not have a match with the harness that came with the new head unit. I suspect it is the XM antenna and the USB socket, so I plugged the connectors that did have a match to the harness, reinstalled the radio temporarily and turned it on.
The unit came up but no sound.
The small LCD display at the center of the dash (between speedo and tach) said "Audio is off" and indeed, nothing came from the speakers. I suspect the Bose amplifier is not getting the signal to turn ON. The cable harness that came with the head unit has an open wire labelled "AMP CON" going out (to the car's wiring) which I assume is for Amplifier Control that needs to be connected to 12V to turn the amplifier on. I need to try that.
All the steering wheel controls did work and operated as expected, so that was good news, but no audio is of course a bummer.
My car has the Bose audio system and I have read that these are not typically compatible with generic head units without some rewiring or an adapter, so unless I can find something on the internet in the next couple of days, I will take the car and the radio to the local installer and ask them if they can make it work. I am not sure what is the solution with the backup camera. I would really prefer to keep the original camera and I can't imagine it would be very hard to make it work. For now, it is back with the original audio system.
Here is more info about Bose audio systems: (can't post links so Google "understanding-factory-bose-system" which will point you to altimaforums dot net)
Edit: I found the blue connector that had no match on my harness goes to the USB socket and Crutchfield has an adapter (search for Metra-AX-NISUSB2-USB-Adapter-for-Nissan on the Crutchfield site, I can't post links yet). I called Crutchfield and they also do have an adapter for the Bose speakers, I ordered it with the USB adapter. They also said there is no solution to use the built-in camera, I will have to use an aftermarket one.
Edit2: Found out that the OEM backup camera is supported, the connections are there in the harness that came with the head unit, I just had to plug the right connectors together. So the only issue originally with the head unit as received was the Bose audio system support which should be fixed with the Crutchfield adapter, due next week.
Note: under the factory radio is a large white plastic box with a large multi-pin connector that has its own harness and does not seem to be directly connected or related to the head unit. It is mounted on the same bracket as the radio, so I reinstalled it in the car. I am curious what that box is for.
I received the PX5 coreboard (4GB RAM + 32GB Flash). It came with Android 6.0 compared to 7.1.2 on the PX3 board (which has 2GB RAM and 16GB Flash).
The PX5 board has a large heatsink over the CPU and memory while the PX3 board has the chips exposed. I would expect a higher current consumption.
Operation was very smooth, but since the PX3 board was already smooth, the change was just noticeable when switching from one to the other. The one major change is that downloading apps, while still not nearly as fast as it is on my phone, is considerably faster than on the PX3 board. Now it's just slow, compared to absolute molasse.
I did not time the boot time but there was no significant difference between the two, not enough to make a decision based on that. Both take 20-30 seconds and both restart immediately from sleep mode.
Android 6.0 definitely has more rough edges than 7.1.2. I particularly dislike the launcher which looks like this (this picture is not of my unit, but the same screen):
compared to the PX3 (Android 7.1.2) launcher:
I find it much easier to have the important icons at the bottom of the screen rather than on the side.
There are also fewer settings under Home->Settings.
I know I could reflash the Android version but right now, I put the PX3 coreboard back in the unit. I may keep the PX5 in case I would run out of Flash, but since the unit came with about 14GB available (out of 16), it is unlikely that I will run out (my music is on a flash card and there is also the USB port).
One observation: I have an old iPod 5th generation (the one with the 60GB hard drive, it is probably 10 years old) and neither unit recognizes it, so that is a little disappointing since it works very well as a portable music system and it works fine in the Altima's OEM head unit.
i also like that other launcher, my 7.1.2 unit didn't have that launcher
At the moment, I am looking at upgrading the Android version on the new coreboard but I will install the radio with the quad core PX3 this week end anyways.
Here are pictures of the installed unit and a little feedback after 4 months of ownership.
Short version: I love it!
Long version: I installed the radio in the car and found out there was no mechanical issue, the radio fit without having to pry or push anything and it looks great. The finish and texture of the facia and buttons perfectly matches that of the car. The only hint that this is not an OEM system is that it is way too nice
However, my car has a Bose audio system that needs to be turned on when the radio turns on and the Bose system has low level differential inputs. The radio has low level outputs on RCA connectors which do not directly interface with the differential inputs of the Bose system so I bought the audio cable adapter from Crutchfields (along with the USB cable adapter) and I took the car and radio to the local installer (I did not want to have to mess with) to have it installed the second time.
Of course, the "professional" installer connected the Bose system to the radio's speaker outputs so when I got the car, with the volume control in position 1, the level was enough for highway driving. In position 2, it was too loud. I can't believe they thought that would be OK. Anyhow, I took the car back and told them that was the reason I gave them the audio cable adapter. 2 hours later, the car was ready (again) and all is now good.
Everything is working (steering wheel controls, bluetooth, backup camera, USB connector, WiFi) and the audio sounds really great.
Navigation works well. I am not sure how I will be able to upgrade the maps. I asked the vendor and they sent me a link to a recent version of the map for the US. Not sure how long they will keep doing that. Of course, I can use the phone in hotspot mode and run Google Maps on the radio via the phone's 4G data connection, as long as there is 4G signal that is.
The nav application has the annoying habit of notifying me when I go more than 3 mph over the speed limit. It only does it once, until the speed limit changes or I turn in another street. I looked through the settings and I have not found how to turn that off. I guess one could consider that a useful reminder. In this area, most traffic goes about 15 miles over the limit so it is annoying.
I bought a Bluetooth OBD-II adapter and that works well with the Torque app to monitor engine and emission parameters.
I somehow expected the FM radio to be cheaply made and with average (or lower) performance. I am very glad to report that the FM radio works at least as well as the OEM radio. My favorite radio station is 50 miles away and with most cars, I do not get good reception everywhere in town, there are areas where the signal is barely there. This radio has not experienced a drop out yet in town. Not only that but the audio quality is actually excellent. The local public radio has outstanding sound quality and it definitely comes through on this set.
The only remaining irritation is the radio app itself. There is no way to set the name of the stations saved in memory. The radio automatically captures the RDS stream and uses the last 5 characters received as the name of the station in memory. I assume that Chinese FM radio stations only broadcast their name via RDS and it works for them. Over here (US), the RDS stream is also used to indicate the program currently playing, so the "name" of the stations in memory is useless.
The head unit came with a dual core/16GB CPU board and Android 7. I also bought a quad core/32GB CPU board but it comes with Android 6 and the launcher is not nearly as nice, so I kept the dual core card in the radio (I tried the FCC launcher and did not like it.) The dual core is fast enough, honestly the quad core was not noticeably faster and I believe 16GB will be enough since there are two micro SD sockets (one used by the maps) and two USB connectors for additional music or video storage.
Finally, a slight disappointment: my iPod will not work when plugged into the USB port. I have a lot of music on it (60GB device) but the radio apparently is limited to 32GB storage devices on USB.
Note that the screen protector is still on the LCD for the pictures above. The display is really good and usable in most conditions, unless the sun comes through the rear window directly on it, not a frequent occurrence.
Hi. Interested on your radio. Can you post the link where you bought that? Is there any way to make it to work with the stock reverse camera? Thanks
I have found how to disable the warning from the navigation system. It is much more pleasant now.
You have to go into the factory settings, password 126
Since the Altima was totaled last year, I kept the radio because it is so nice I was hoping I could find another Altima V6 to put it in, but I could not find a car I liked so I eventually bought an Acura TL therefore I just put the radio for sale on eBay.
PHP:
Stevenlim said:
Hi. Interested on your radio. Can you post the link where you bought that? Is there any way to make it to work with the stock reverse camera? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works with the Nissan camera, I just had to connect it, simple as that. I bought it on AliExpress, here is the same unit from somebody else:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32865581547.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.3b353585OJGe9o
Note that you still need to buy the Bose and USB cables to connect to the Nissan harness.
Just got one of the Binize 7" 2x32 android 9 head units. Not really impressed with it so far.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VHD4B23/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also have one of the Podofo 7" 1x16 android 10 2020 versions. Screen looks the same but there are more connectors on the rear. It is much faster. Noticably to the touch. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GKBQ1X5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Are there some better units out there right now I should be looking at?
Really want a DUAL din and able to load offline maps to if for BackCountry Navigator, Google Maps, and a couple others. Maybe use one of my external USB Drives for music videos, music, and other movies.
I just modified the dash of a Discovery 1 to fit a dual din. Now I want a large screen to fit in there to utilize the space I made.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
View attachment 5126247
They are all botched/buggy in someway, but it's not easy to know who makes these units and what they are just from the reseller verbiage.
Like the previous poster says. Pretty much every android head unit has issues. Each one is a different set of issues. Nobody out there seems to be doing proper reviews on these that focus on what does and doesn't work.
I've been through four so far. Every one has issues.
So I tried to switch to a Pioneer and guess what, it has issues too. I'm disgusted with the whole car audio industry. All I want is what's on my phone to be on my dash, without having to whip my phone out of my pocket and wire it up every time I go for a drive.
Apparently that's asking too much of the industry.
Fwiw the features I need/want are:
1. Supports modern digital steering wheel controls (they all seem to only support analog SWC which nobody has)
2. Either have a proper bluetooth phone feature with voice commands and quality audio OR trigger when it detects incoming audio on the aux in from my cars built in bluetooth (currently the best option I've found is I have to tap aux in every time I receive a call)
3. Pair and STAY paired with bluetooth OBD dongle for dashboard data logging. So far not a single one has been able to do this reliably, they tend to disconnect randomly and require constant re-pairing. Best if it supports newer profiles of dongles like the OBDLink which has a faster refresh rate, but so far only one of the four I've tried does that, and it requires repairing every bootup.
4. Have a screen DPI thay doesn't freak out common apps. Some of my apps don't work because of screen DPI issues on some devices.
5. Don't randomly reboot, 2 of the 4 devices I've used have this issue.
6. "Dancing" Gps or GPS that can't get a lock. One device I used the GPS jumps around randomly, the other can't even get a signal half the time.
7. Static/noise/audio problems. One has a hiss, one had loud static when no audio was playing, and another the audio would randomly cut out.
Dunno what I'm gonna do next.
skygear said:
Just got one of the Binize 7" 2x32 android 9 head units. Not really impressed with it so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll tell ya.... I'm on my third android head unit (all Dasaita's) and I have not had one yet which produces good clean sound without a low grade white noise (the noise which you are describing). The Dasaita I have now in fact is top of the line... cost $700US and it has the same low grade white noise the rest of them do.
I love these android head units for what you describe.... large screen, good off line maps display, engine data display... yadda yadda. They make really great overall information centers, but they ALL seem to just suck for good clean sound.
At this point I'm really considering running two head units, a double din dasaita with a 10" screen for my information center, tv, videos... etc, and a smaller single din Pioneer or Kenwood for all the audio, and the bluetooth phone connection. This is the only answer that I can see if you want to run an android head unit.... and have clean sound at the same time.
I'd also Like a to have an actual readout of what ALL the connectors are for on the back. If I plug in ALL the connectors they sent. I still have 2 ports which are empty. I can imagine maybe one is for a Wired OBD2 port cable and maybe the others for Environmental controls or steering wheel interface? Wherever these are originating from, they are not including all the features with them. Might put an amplifier on these and see how they perform. The audio isn't the best..
Main issue I had was the Binize keyboard wouldn't show up. I had to factory reset the device to enable it. I am beta testing Android 11 on my Note 20 Ultra 5g. Had NO issues with it until I paired it with this radio. No keyboard would show on my phone either. then the screen froze on my phone. Next, my storage corrupted/ disappeared, then reappeared and the phone reindexed everything so all my media (photos, video, etc. ) is all out of order now since it re scanned.
I'm thinking a USB drive with all the content might be the way to go. But are these really limited to just 32gb external storage? Shouldn't these be able to read ANY external storage formatted properly?
skygear said:
I'd also Like a to have an actual readout of what ALL the connectors are for on the back. If I plug in ALL the connectors they sent. I still have 2 ports which are empty. I can imagine maybe one is for a Wired OBD2 port cable and maybe the others for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The extra ports are a little different from machine to machine but Dasaita puts in extra ports for TV, TPMS, DAB, Dashcam, and auxiliary a/v input. You can take a wild guess at the what the inputs are judging by the software which comes on your machine. The dasaita line for example comes with a TV app, TPMS app, DAB apps, A/V in app, and a DashCam app.
Wired obd2 works through usb and will only work with apps (like torque pro) which support usb connections
For what it's worth... I already have (3) external amps connected. 850 watts to the front, 1000 watts to the rear, and 2250 watts to the subs. Still get that low grade white noise.
Bob_Sanders said:
The extra ports are a little different from machine to machine but Dasaita puts in extra ports for TV, TPMS, DAB, Dashcam, and auxiliary a/v input. You can take a wild guess at the what the inputs are judging by the software which comes on your machine. The dasaita line for example comes with a TV app, TPMS app, DAB apps, A/V in app, and a DashCam app.
Wired obd2 works through usb and will only work with apps (like torque pro) which support usb connections
For what it's worth... I already have (3) external amps connected. 850 watts to the front, 1000 watts to the rear, and 2250 watts to the subs. Still get that low grade white noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried putting ground isolators on everything?
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
skygear said:
Have you tried putting ground isolators on everything?
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not ground loop noise so ground isolators wouldn't do much. This is a low grade white noise like what you would hear from an FM radio when not on a station. Both my PX5 and PX6 have it. It's not very loud... but it's there.
Hello, which brand would you recommend ? I've been reading topics here and narrowed it down to maybe those two. It is for Opel Insignia 2008 . I browsed some "tesla" style with the bigger screen which replaces my whole front panel of the cd which controls the partonic and has sport and tour buttons and they say it doesn't support them. Since my old cd is behind the buttons and the new one is only where the screen is , i disconnect the old one, will those tour and sport buttons work in a normal smaller multimedia system? Thanks in advance
ownice:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002790860130.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4dd850d8O4zHWS&algo_pvid=73080daf-43b1-4c04-9f45-49a0eed39069&algo_exp_id=73080daf-43b1-4c04-9f45-49a0eed39069-2
teyes:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001652199168.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.1f79d486reoitB&algo_pvid=32aed0ab-39a9-4731-84d6-fcc49b1bd355&algo_exp_id=32aed0ab-39a9-4731-84d6-fcc49b1bd355-1
what i want most from this upgrade is a seamless and easy connection of my phone to the car - listening to spotify via bluetooth. Android auto to use the phone trough the multimedia would be nice. I see those units provide fast charging via USB which is also neat. I want fast boot ups and not to drain my battery - i see this mentioned a lot. And hopefully not to lose any options for my car like comfort settings - sport, tour buttons, steering wheel buttons.
ivosto said:
Hello, which brand would you recommend ? I've been reading topics here and narrowed it down to maybe those two. It is for Opel Insignia 2008 . I browsed some "tesla" style with the bigger screen which replaces my whole front panel of the cd which controls the partonic and has sport and tour buttons and they say it doesn't support them. Since my old cd is behind the buttons and the new one is only where the screen is , i disconnect the old one, will those tour and sport buttons work in a normal smaller multimedia system? Thanks in advance
ownice:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002790860130.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4dd850d8O4zHWS&algo_pvid=73080daf-43b1-4c04-9f45-49a0eed39069&algo_exp_id=73080daf-43b1-4c04-9f45-49a0eed39069-2
teyes:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001652199168.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.1f79d486reoitB&algo_pvid=32aed0ab-39a9-4731-84d6-fcc49b1bd355&algo_exp_id=32aed0ab-39a9-4731-84d6-fcc49b1bd355-1
what i want most from this upgrade is a seamless and easy connection of my phone to the car - listening to spotify via bluetooth. Android auto to use the phone trough the multimedia would be nice. I see those units provide fast charging via USB which is also neat. I want fast boot ups and not to drain my battery - i see this mentioned a lot. And hopefully not to lose any options for my car like comfort settings - sport, tour buttons, steering wheel buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Android auto to use the phone trough the multimedia would be nice."
Neither of these are Android Auto.
I like the quick charger USB, ambient light control and IPS screen of Ownice. Plus, it does have Android Auto and CarPlay but you need to pay extra cost.
I normally don't answer these kind of topics as it is a never ending story, but maybe I or others can use it to copy around in likewise questions.
They are more or less the same when it comes to the software. They are FYT based and have support for the several versions of hardware.
But anyway, for all units be it FYT based, MTCx, TSx, AC8227, etc., etc., FIRST compare the hardware:
Check whether the screen is TFT/IPS/QLED (in increasing quality=readability). Go for nothing less than 1280x720 (1024x600 is not good enough anymore, but in the end it is up to you).
Check which FM-chip (from low to high):
TDA7786x or Philips (NXP) TEF6851 => budget chip without RDS.
TDA7708x => middle segment but good enough
Philips (NXP) TEF6686 => top FM chip
Check which audio chip (low to high):
TDA7388 -> budget, not good.
TDA7850/TDA7851: Both good. 7851 has slightly less power output with slightly less heat dissipation. Less chance of overheating. The TDA7851 has almost everywhere been replaced with the TDA7838, which should be identical in quality/performance (no idea, google around)
DSP: nowadays mostly ROHM BU32107. (Earlier ADAU chips are not so good but seem only to be used in MTCx units.)
CPU (fast to slow): UIS7862 (Unisoc ums512), SC9853i and PX6, PX5 AC8257, PX30, AC8237 and PX3.
This order is a bit discussable, but the uis7862 is definitely the fastest currently.
Memory: minimal 2GB, 4GB is fine. Some prefer 6GB but that is actually not necessary.
Now back to the FYT models you are mentioning. They are more or less comparable. It "seems" T'eyes support is better, but I leave that to the owners (Don't want to start a flame here )
ivosto said:
what i want most from this upgrade is a seamless and easy connection of my phone to the car - listening to spotify via bluetooth. Android auto to use the phone trough the multimedia would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? Android Auto?
You are going to buy such an expensive high-power full-fledged full functional Android unit and use it as a cheap emulator for the restricted Android Auto?????
I really, really don't understand these kind of arguments. If you want to use Android Auto, for which you indeed sometimes need to pay separately, then choose a cheap unit which supports this as well.
ivosto said:
what i want most from this upgrade is a seamless and easy connection of my phone to the car - listening to spotify via bluetooth. Android auto to use the phone trough the multimedia would be nice. I see those units provide fast charging via USB which is also neat. I want fast boot ups and not to drain my battery - i see this mentioned a lot. And hopefully not to lose any options for my car like comfort settings - sport, tour buttons, steering wheel buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android Auto is crap
When people think about buying these android head units I don't think they quite get the idea that these are pretty much full-on android tablets complete with their own android operating system. There really is no need to run android auto. Things like spotify.... youtube... siriusxm... etc... can be downloaded from the google playstore and run directly from the head unit itself. All you need to do is supply a wifi hotspot from your phone, or fit the head unit with its own 4g card.
Thanks guys, really useful answers! About android auto - I have, had no idea it wasn't that good. I never had a car with more than a single colored screen and always see adverts about new cars which specify they have android auto or apple car play as such a huge extra. After all isn't this to link the phone to the car system and operate the phone from the display? What if I receive e call ? The Bluetooth/wi-fi connection will allow me to answer it from the car media? And lastly i really want to have it lazy - for example i get in the car - my head unit and the car connect somehow , can i make it play Spotify automatically ? is there something like Bixby routines or.. can it happen at all? Or actually i can do it from the phone - when connected to that head unit to play Spotify like I have a program to play automatically when it connects to a certain speaker? Thanks very much again!
ivosto said:
Thanks guys, really useful answers! About android auto - I have, had no idea it wasn't that good. I never had a car with more than a single colored screen and always see adverts about new cars which specify they have android auto or apple car play as such a huge extra. After all isn't this to link the phone to the car system and operate the phone from the display? What if I receive e call ? The Bluetooth/wi-fi connection will allow me to answer it from the car media? And lastly i really want to have it lazy - for example i get in the car - my head unit and the car connect somehow , can i make it play Spotify automatically ? is there something like Bixby routines or.. can it happen at all? Or actually i can do it from the phone - when connected to that head unit to play Spotify like I have a program to play automatically when it connects to a certain speaker? Thanks very much again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a simple bixby routine set up to turn the phone wifi hotspot on for use with the head unit, and then off again when I turn my jeep off. Of course the head unit automatically connects to that hotspot when it sees it. It's all automatic. I don't have to pull the phone out at all.
You can downlaod a tasker to start Spotify automatically if you wish.
Yes, your phone's bluetooth will connect automatically for phone calls.
Bob_Sanders said:
I have a simple bixby routine set up to turn the phone wifi hotspot on for use with the head unit, and then off again when I turn my jeep off. Of course the head unit automatically connects to that hotspot when it sees it. It's all automatic. I don't have to pull the phone out at all.
You can downlaod a tasker to start Spotify automatically if you wish.
Yes, your phone's bluetooth will connect automatically for phone calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bixby is Samsung only.
You can also use Tasker/MacroDroid/Automagic/Automate/etc. to do what you do what @Bob_Sanders is doing with BixBy.
When you switch on the unit it connects via BT to your phone. That triggers MacroDroid/Tasker on your phone for that BT device (the unit) to switch on the hotspot, which the car unit on its turn then automatically connects to.
And when you switch off the car/unit, your BT connection is broken and the phone hotspot is stopped.
Works all the time for me.
Wow!
The Ownice has a HUGE array of inputs/outputs on top of the normal ones... pretty impressive
Dual sub outputs
HDMI output
Quick charge usb
two rca video outputs
Atmosphere lighting control
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