Database Develop

[Q] Modify car cradle to automatically enable car mode ?

Hi there,
I just bought an active car cradle for the Htc HD2 (Carcomm), no problem, working as expected.
Then I began wondering why the phone would not go into car mode when connected to the car cradle... If it's a car cradle, it should put the phone into car mode, right ??
So I was wondering what could possibly trigger the phone into car mode when connected to a charger.
Found this in another thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767961):
To the person who wanted to know about connecting pins 2&3 to 4 to create a car doc? Looking at the USB spec datasheet It's not that simple. You need to insert a voltage divider across the data lines and tie it back into the 3.2v of the device. A little more trouble than it's worth unless you are doing it for the learning experience.
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Click to collapse
and also from user dabigcheezze :
unfortunately it is a problem with froyo, whenever the phone is placed into dock mode, no matter what the charging input, it will only show up charging in usb mode, i have a homemade dock cable with pin 4 to ground, when i hook that up to my 1 amp charger it only shows usb, using a normal cable it shows ac charging, it has nothing to do with the HTC dock, it will happen whenever the phone is placed into dock mode, it also locks the vol output on the 3.5 jack 3/4 up....sooooo stupid.
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Does anyone know about grounding pin 4 to enable car mode ? what about power, is the charger powering enough the phone while using BT, GPS and navigation ? Also, the limitations in Froyo are they gone in Gingerbread or could it be fixed ?
Thank you for sharing your experience, I would really like to have a car cradle working 100%

Nobody ?
Sent from my HD2 using XDA App

Come on, I'm sure somebody did the modification... or tried to do it
Willing to share ?

Hi !
Just wait I can contact the guy I wish to buy that second hand HD2 first, then find an appropriate car charger craddle, and I'll look for a solution.

Don't know how to automatically enable car mode, but just solder the 2 middle wires in your USB cable together and you'll get 1A instead of 500mA, which charges way faster. Your car charger needs an output of 1A, of course, else it's just gonna remain 500mA.

StephanV said:
Don't know how to automatically enable car mode, but just solder the 2 middle wires in your USB cable together and you'll get 1A instead of 500mA, which charges way faster. Your car charger needs an output of 1A, of course, else it's just gonna remain 500mA.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. Yes, it's true. I've seen this small hack to enable AC charging for cheap chargers that are charging with USB mode (400mA I think).
My charger was good enough to provide AC charging (1A), which is great, but not enough to enable the car mode...
What I would like to confirm is if grounding pin 4 will really put the phone in car mode when plugged into the car cradle, before doing it myself...

Do not hack the hardware!
Use a software
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8178010

Thank you for your response.
But... is it a software for windows only ?
I run Android on my HD2

Unfortunately, the software only runs on Windows Mobile :-(
So you have to try that:
http://translate.google.at/translat....cz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=73&p=1037#p1037
seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx0zPFQtyxs
I personally ordered the original car holder from htc and it is really a very good one!

Excellent !!
I think that if the mentionned modification works with a HD2 AND a Desire HD, the official Htc android software should work also, like the windows software in the video.
Thank you, it's great ! I will post here my results when done

Even easier - try using PhoneWeaver (can't add a link as a noob)
It's basically an app for setting your phone's parameters, based on all sorts of external influences, such as time, date, power source etc.
So, for example, I have the following settings:-
6:15 am - turn phone on, set volume to Normal
8:15am - set volume to low (for when I'm in the office - its a personal mobile)
4:45pm - set volume to Normal
6:45pm, turn wireless on (as I'm at home, and browsing is much faster)
10:00pm - turn phone / wireless off, set volume to low, start SPB Time (my alarm clock)
Additionally, I have the following:-
If external power is detected AND Activesync isn't running (ie it's not connected to a PC) then turn on Bluetooth and increase volume (this is because the only other possibility for this environment is when its in the powered car cradle)
If external power is detected AND Activesync IS running, turn Bluetooth off, but turn wireless on
It's completely brilliant - never fails and I never have to remember to do anything

Would a Desire Car Dock work with a N1?

HTC seemed to indicate that these are no longer available for the N1.
If I want a car dock, what are my options?

milomak said:
HTC seemed to indicate that these are no longer available for the N1.
If I want a car dock, what are my options?
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Umm, okay...you might think this is kind of ghetto...but it works for me.
I use this dock:
http://lifehacker.com/5747897/how-to-build-a-car-mount-for-your-cellphone-from-office-supplies
And then I use Tasker to tell my phone when it is in "car mode," which is when it is being charged and when I have my auxiliary cable plugged into the head phone jack. When Tasker senses this, I have my volume maxed up and Pandora starts...and then I have exit tasks set up for when either the headset is unplugged or it is not being charged anymore.
Anyway...the "dock" is at least usable with other phones.

I'll give that a bash

Galaxy Tab car dock - hi temperature

I have recently purchased the original Samsung car holder.
After my tab reaches the 100% full charge, it beeps and advise me to disconnect.
If I don't do it, the tab itself begins to overheat after some minutes.
It oveheats really hi ! On the right side of the tab.
It seems like the car charger is not able to stop charging, differently from the house 220V charger.
Have you experienced something like me with your car charger ?

I have been using the car dock, sinds the beginning. Cannot say that i have noticed any excess heat. Note: i have used a brodit clip to install it on the air vent. Nicely in front of me without blocking line of sight.
All the phones i had "overheated" when connected in a car dock, having a forced air flow over it quickly eradicates this problem!

I use my tab in my car using the usb cable and a generic usb 12v adapter and it doesnt overheat, even when using the tab heavily (screen full bright, Torque app, and Pandora).
Sent from my GB Galaxy Tab using Tapatalk.

Ok, thanks for all your answers.
Could I ask you all, if you use bluetooth in your car?
I use bluetooth ON to stream music from SGT into my car stereo.
I mean it could be an overheat problem caused by the bluetooth antenna, isn't it ?
Bruno

I never use bluetooth.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

I have bought the original dock nearly one year agoand it overheated only one time (car standing in the sun). I use my tab with Bluetooth and wifi activated.

New experiment:
I have put it in the car dock, no wifi, no bluetooth. Only 3G + Google Navigator were ON.
It reaches 100% and after become very hot (in the right side)!
Now I need to try again with display off, and 3G off; only power charge.
And finally I will understand (as I suspect) there is something it's not ok in my car dock (I remember you that with my original home plug cord all is ok !)
Brunino

Adding to my post earlier, and answering your question, my audio is through bluetooth while I am running those apps.
It's even two bluetooth connections... Pandora and Torque at the same time.

brunino1967 said:
New experiment:
I have put it in the car dock, no wifi, no bluetooth. Only 3G + Google Navigator were ON.
It reaches 100% and after become very hot (in the right side)!
Now I need to try again with display off, and 3G off; only power charge.
And finally I will understand (as I suspect) there is something it's not ok in my car dock (I remember you that with my original home plug cord all is ok !)
Brunino
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Yeah, i think you're right. Without being an expert: Sounds to me, like it doesn't deactivate after the battery has reached 100%. As I understand.d you, it becomes hot after it is loaded to full capacity, right?
You should try to exclude all functions, that may be the source of this malfunction. Put it into flight mode and just try loading the tab. Then start activating single functions like wifi etc. After that, you can try combinated function.s like Bluetooth and wifi.

Tasker In-Car power issue

I have built a Nexus 7 into my car and I have a small issue.
I need a tasker profile:
When I turn the car on, the screen turns on and music plays.
When i turn the car off, the music stops and the screen turns off. (along with other stuff)
I have created a "test" version of all this so when I connect a power cable (i.e when charging) it turns the screen on and plays music.
When I disconnect the USB (i.e. stops charging) the screen goes off, music stops, bluetooth off etc and all this works fine.
However, the USB will always be connected with power coming through so I cannot use this option. I need another way to detect if the car is on and when it turns off so I can run the correct tasks.
One option i thought of is buy a wireless charger and build it into the car. When my phone is placed on the charger, send a text message to the tablet to turn it on, and when i turn the car off the charging will stop, then the phone will send a text to the tablet to turn the screen off etc.
However after purchasing the wireless charger, i realised everytime i get a call or take my phone of the charger for whatever reason, the screen will go off and music will stop, so this isnt an option either.
So the question is, what can i do so tasker can detect that the car is on or off so the nexus can perform the tasks?
Hope that makes sense

idi_idi said:
ISo the question is, what can i do so tasker can detect that the car is on or off so the nexus can perform the tasks?
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Click to collapse
You do realize that you really have two problems, right? The Nexus 7 will not know when the car is started, or stopped. Unless you can disconnect the power, manually etc.. If you can do that, you can send a command in fastboot to force the N7 to power up when power is connected, otherwise you'd have to boot it up manually.
You could unplug the USB charger.. Or have the tablet turn off after N hours of inactivity, although how do you detect "new" activity if there's no change when the car is started.
If your car has bluetooth, you could detect that as the "turn off" task perhaps, but turning on is probably your bigger issue.

Will the wireless charger idea work?

idi_idi said:
Will the wireless charger idea work?
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No idea what you mean by wireless charger (2012 model has no wireless charging), or how you'd control it with the phone. And unless your tablet is a 3g one, I don't know how you'd directly communicate with it either.

I just put my phone back to stock so I had to uninstall Tasker, however your tablet does not pull power once the car is off correct? I had a power based one as well, I remember testing it with a surge protector. I could leave the USB connected but flip the surge protector on and off (to mimic power to the phone being halted). To my knowledge when the car is off your USB shouldn't be drawing power therefore you could run the profile off that. Export the profile and post here. I'd like to help test it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

elpeterson said:
To my knowledge when the car is off your USB shouldn't be drawing power therefore you could run the profile off that. Export the profile and post here. I'd like to help test it.
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My last four cars (current and previous of wife and my cars) the lighter plug stays powered when the engine is off.
I think it's getting increasingly common for the plugs to stay powered. So there's no way for the tablet to know the car is off unless the car has bluetooth and you can look for that.

khaytsus said:
My last four cars (current and previous of wife and my cars) the lighter plug stays powered when the engine is off.
I think it's getting increasingly common for the plugs to stay powered. So there's no way for the tablet to know the car is off unless the car has bluetooth and you can look for that.
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I have actually found the exact opposite to me true. My wife's 2014 Pilot goes off as well as my 2012 Veloster whereas my 2001 Sable and her 2007 Passat left them on. I'm not sure if you can resolve your issue then. I'll keep looking into it. You could trigger it based on speed I think
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

elpeterson said:
I have actually found the exact opposite to me true. My wife's 2014 Pilot goes off as well as my 2012 Veloster whereas my 2001 Sable and her 2007 Passat left them on. I'm not sure if you can resolve your issue then. I'll keep looking into it. You could trigger it based on speed I think
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Click to collapse
I suppose that could work.. Find out the speed for several periods in a row, if it's zero, assume it's time to shut down. But that'd mean it's playing music etc during that period etc.
IMO bluetooth, or a plug he can turn off, is really the only way if his USB is powered up all of the time.
Also remember, he has no way to know when to power UP either. I still maintain that's the bigger problem, especially if it's a fixed install and he can't poke the power button

At the moment, its connected so when the car turns on, the USB is powered up and when the car turns off, the power in the USB stops. So at the moment, my tasker profile works on "when charging" do Task A, when not charging do Task B. And it all works fine at the moment.
However I am having issues with charging, (The device is not charging fast enough when turned on and the battery drains over a couple of days) so i planned to keep it always charging, so the power in the USB will always be there regardless of if the car is on or off. So i cant use the "when charging" on tasker anymore. So i needed a new way to it to figure out when i got in the car.
Here are my ideas:
1. Have a wireless charger in my car for my phone. (Not the tablet). When i get in the car, i could put my phone on the charger, have the phone send a text to the tablet to turn it on. When i remove the phone from the charger, send a text to the tablet to turn it off. Simples
2. Connect a wifi router in the boot or something and have it start up only when the car starts, and turn off with the car. It doesn't have to be connected to the internet, it just needs to power up. Then i can do a 'When wifi near' on tasker to see if the car is off or on, and turn the screen off accordingly.
3. Connect the tablet to my phones bluetooth. Whenever i get in the car, they will connect and the tablet will power on. when i leave the car, it will power off. (Not the best option since it will stay on even if i am near the car)
4. Similar to option 1, but have a nfc sticker in the car. when i swipe my phone on it, it communicates with the tablet and turns it on, n then off when required. but i dont want to do this since i know i am going to forget to turn it off one day.
I don't really want to do the speed option, since i want it to turn on as soon as i enter the car, not when i start driving, and i want to be able to park up and use it when i need to put an addess in the sat nav etc.

idi_idi said:
However I am having issues with charging, (The device is not charging fast enough when turned on and the battery drains over a couple of days)
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If your charger isn't charging fast enough, you're using a crappy charger or one that isn't designed for Android. If your car has a built-in USB port, those are usually super slow, maybe 500mA, most less.
Anyway, glad to hear that your power follows the car state, that makes it all simple.

khaytsus said:
If your charger isn't charging fast enough, you're using a crappy charger or one that isn't designed for Android. If your car has a built-in USB port, those are usually super slow, maybe 500mA, most less.
Anyway, glad to hear that your power follows the car state, that makes it all simple.
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Click to collapse
I've tried about 20 different chargers, up to 2.5amps. The problem isnt the charger. The problem is i dont drive the car long enough to give it time to charge. So if i drive the car for about half an hour a day, for the other 23.5 hours, its on standby. so the battery is always going to go less. So thats why I plan to connect the charger directly to the battery so it will always be charging.

idi_idi said:
I've tried about 20 different chargers, up to 2.5amps. The problem isnt the charger. The problem is i dont drive the car long enough to give it time to charge. So if i drive the car for about half an hour a day, for the other 23.5 hours, its on standby. so the battery is always going to go less. So thats why I plan to connect the charger directly to the battery so it will always be charging.
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Oh, I thought you had the tablet turning off when the car went off. If I were you, I'd set up a profile that turns off the tablet if it hasn't had power in a few hours, pretty simple to do. On Power, set a time var, every so often check that time var to see if it exceeds your threshold, and power down if so.
If you don't have much installed, it should be a fairly quick power-up, especially the plug goes hot when you start the car.
BTW I hope you're considering cold and heat if you're leaving the tablet in the car. Leaving it in the heat all summer will will the battery.

You can use Timur's kernel, it senses power to turn N7 on or deep sleep it.
Also charges N7 while using OTG.
It;s designed for car install.

khaytsus said:
If your charger isn't charging fast enough, you're using a crappy charger or one that isn't designed for Android. If your car has a built-in USB port, those are usually super slow, maybe 500mA, most less.
Anyway, glad to hear that your power follows the car state, that makes it all simple.
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Click to collapse
I agree, you need to get at least a 2A charger for your car. My wife would watch Netflix on long drives and my car USB port or the normal USB charger I got for the cigarette lighter worked until I up'd it to a 2A charger. I can have screen on for hours while streaming video and still fully charge the tablet in a reasonable amount of time.

[Q] Car Mode Cable

So not sure I'm going to have any luck with this but it's worth asking - maybe someone has done the same thing.
I tried to follow the following thread to make a cable that will start the phone into car mode:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1475272
I have a working OTG cable and a USB A-A. When I connect the cable to a charger and plug it into the phone I just get a notification that says "The USB host cable is plugged in. Unable to charge the device"
So I did a little more looking and people said to trigger car mode pins 4 and 5 must be connected. I hacked up a cable and jumped them together. Plugging in the hacked up cable gives the same notification - "The USB host cable is plugged in. Unable to charge the device"
So apparently my OTG cable is working as intended but doesn't launch car mode.
Does anyone know what the M7 uses to detect the car dock? I don't want the stock HTC car dock since it goes on the windshield and I want it clipped into a vent.
Edit: Looks like this may be in the source somewhere...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=820275
Anyone familiar with the kernel source able to help? I'm going to do my own searching but I'm hardly familiar with linux.
Edit 2: Found values for HTC One X. Just don't have resistors handy:
10kOhm triggers auto dock mode
68kOhm triggers desk dock mode (also, a 47kOhm triggers desk dock mode)

ShadowDrake said:
So not sure I'm going to have any luck with this but it's worth asking - maybe someone has done the same thing.
I tried to follow the following thread to make a cable that will start the phone into car mode:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1475272
I have a working OTG cable and a USB A-A. When I connect the cable to a charger and plug it into the phone I just get a notification that says "The USB host cable is plugged in. Unable to charge the device"
So I did a little more looking and people said to trigger car mode pins 4 and 5 must be connected. I hacked up a cable and jumped them together. Plugging in the hacked up cable gives the same notification - "The USB host cable is plugged in. Unable to charge the device"
So apparently my OTG cable is working as intended but doesn't launch car mode.
Does anyone know what the M7 uses to detect the car dock? I don't want the stock HTC car dock since it goes on the windshield and I want it clipped into a vent.
Edit: Looks like this may be in the source somewhere...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=820275
Anyone familiar with the kernel source able to help? I'm going to do my own searching but I'm hardly familiar with linux.
Edit 2: Found values for HTC One X. Just don't have resistors handy:
10kOhm triggers auto dock mode
68kOhm triggers desk dock mode (also, a 47kOhm triggers desk dock mode)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never had a desire to put my phone into car mode and maybe I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but couldn't you just use an app like trigger to program an NFC tag and place it on your car dock so when your phone is placed in the dock and touched the tag, BOOM, phone is in car mode.....then just touch the tag again when exiting car to exit car mode?

mcerk02 said:
I never had a desire to put my phone into car mode and maybe I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but couldn't you just use an app like trigger to program an NFC tag and place it on your car dock so when your phone is placed in the dock and touched the tag, BOOM, phone is in car mode.....then just touch the tag again when exiting car to exit car mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm leaning towards doing if this all fails. It would just be nice to use what I've already bought - and sliding the phone into the dock would automatically trigger this mode once it was plugged in and charging. An NFC tag would accomplish the same thing maybe.
Car dock mode will be nice since it'll toggle bluetooth on for me and start playing music automatically. It's in a nice location in the car for viewing and could be used as GPS without having to dig it out of my pocket.

Bumping a reply up to this since I finally got around to putting some more time into this project...
10k ohm resistor puts the phone right into car dock mode and takes it out of car dock mode when unplugged. Exactly what I was looking for. 47-68k ohm likely triggers desk dock mode so I'll save that one for another day.
Just going to cut up a USB cable and throw the resistor between the two target pins and I'll have a working car dock cable. Happy hunting all.