Android Head Unit

[StatusRed]

I'm liking Funky Melon and Gouty's solutions... makes me want to try it... maybe...

[Gouty]

Originally Posted by Gouty

Finished fitting mine today (ignore the plastic on the screen, I promised my partner they could remove it!)


It works really well. The only thing I don't like about it is once it's booted it makes a god awful chime that can't be turned off (which can be heard here). I will probably physically block up the speaker holes or disconnect the speaker if it continues to bother me.

You can update the boot logo to something more suitable by putting a 1600x600 pixel jpeg called "boot_logo.jpg" and a zip of it called "boot_logo.zip" onto an SD card and plugging it in when the unit is powered on. The process is described in more detail in the comments of this reddit post. I made a simple one.

To power the screen I used a generic 12V to 5V 3A USB C converter and plugged it into a switched 12V accessory power cable. The USB C cable comes up behind the hazards switch and between the vent and dash (you have to at least partially remove the vent to do this)

I wouldn't recommend using the radio broadcast function for audio. You could use any Bluetooth receiver plugged into the aux. I used one of these that you plug in behind the radio, unfortunately the Bluetooth receiver is powered by a wire that is constantly 12V even when the car is off. So you will have to cut that wire and also use it with accessory power.

I designed a little mount for it in fusion 360 and got it printed it in ASA, It uses the spare adhesive pad that the screen comes with but the curve isn't perfect and I'm not sure how well it's going to hold. I've bought some 3M VHB tape to try and mount it a little better.



I put it on thingiverse but new accounts can't add anything for 24 hours, I'll post tomorrow with a link.

Here's the thingiverse link. As I said before it's not perfect, but it seems to be holding ok.

[Haizum74]

You should be able to find the boot tune by looking through the folders in the file manager (if it has one) or download one (file manager) from the play store.

Are you able to reproduce the plastic surround on the original dash (where it shows AUX) in your pic and add some sort of addition to it, maybe in the centre strip above the LCD display to connect to the back of the head unit?

[Gouty]

Originally Posted by Haizum74

You should be able to find the boot tune by looking through the folders in the file manager (if it has one) or download one (file manager) from the play store.

It's not a full android experience, in fact I'm not even 100% sure it's running on android at all, could be some custom linux thing. In any case, it's quite locked down, no file explorer, and certainly no play store, I wouldn't even know how to sideload or get root access. If you have any insight on this I'd be interested to hear.

Originally Posted by Haizum74

Are you able to reproduce the plastic surround on the original dash (where it shows AUX) in your pic and add some sort of addition to it, maybe in the centre strip above the LCD display to connect to the back of the head unit?

I mean, you could, but you'd end up covering CD slot, your vents, and/or the inbuilt screen. and it would sit very proud of everything else on the dash

Also printing the shroud is difficult, clips are hard

This was my previous solution, it was not ideal

[Haizum74]

Originally Posted by Gouty

It's not a full android experience, in fact I'm not even 100% sure it's running on android at all, could be some custom linux thing. In any case, it's quite locked down, no file explorer, and certainly no play store, I wouldn't even know how to sideload or get root access. If you have any insight on this I'd be interested to hear.



I mean, you could, but you'd end up covering CD slot, your vents, and/or the inbuilt screen. and it would sit very proud of everything else on the dash

Also printing the shroud is difficult, clips are hard

This was my previous solution, it was not ideal

If it's running google maps and other googley things then i would expect it to be android OS with an overlay which itself is based off linux.

I guess to see is to find out if you can activate devleoper options in the menu settings. Usually it's activated with the following steps if you can try.

1 Go to "Settings"
2 Tap "About device" or "About phone"
3 Tap “Software information”
4 Tap “Build number” seven times. ...

Root access will be difficult but if you can get to dev options then it's easier to sideload.

As for your previous solution, that's the idea I had except making the holder so it only covers the CD slot (is it really needed now a days).

[Gouty]

Originally Posted by Haizum74

If it's running google maps and other googley things then i would expect it to be android OS with an overlay which itself is based off linux.

I guess to see is to find out if you can activate devleoper options in the menu settings. Usually it's activated with the following steps if you can try.

1 Go to "Settings"
2 Tap "About device" or "About phone"
3 Tap “Software information”
4 Tap “Build number” seven times. ...

Root access will be difficult but if you can get to dev options then it's easier to sideload.

As for your previous solution, that's the idea I had except making the holder so it only covers the CD slot (is it really needed now a days).

It doesn't "run" google maps etc, it's android auto and apple carplay which afaik, means that everything is running on your phone, and it's just a display.

I tried the developer mode thing before to no avail. I've mostly got used to the noise now. It's running really well, hasn't missed a beat.

Edit: I tried tapping developer mode again, a lot, and something did happen, it came up with a number pad, I assume to type in some sort of pass, I tried the usual, 1234, 0000, 123456, but they did not work

[StatusRed]

I've got my fianceé's sister's boyfriend of Sprogley Motorsport to 3D print me the holder... Now to order the display itself >

[Haizum74]

Originally Posted by Gouty

It doesn't "run" google maps etc, it's android auto and apple carplay which afaik, means that everything is running on your phone, and it's just a display.

I tried the developer mode thing before to no avail. I've mostly got used to the noise now. It's running really well, hasn't missed a beat.

Edit: I tried tapping developer mode again, a lot, and something did happen, it came up with a number pad, I assume to type in some sort of pass, I tried the usual, 1234, 0000, 123456, but they did not work

Hmm, having a look through the net there is a suggestion of typing in 7890+the time of day in 24hr format so say it's 1422, it would be 789014 (just the hour). Worth a punt.