I'm looking into buying an Android head unit, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the many options. As my car (Peugeot 207) has a CAN bus, one of the things I'd like to know a bit more about is the CAN bus functionality that Android head units provide.
I'm seeing that some units do have a CAN bus connection and can be configured for a specific car model (e.g. Peugeot 207, or Honda Jazz, etc). I do have some questions about this:
The most basic function would be to be able to use the steering wheel controls, so I assume this works? But what buttons do work (Volume up, down, next, previous, ffwd, rwd, source, and I also have a sort of scroll wheel (for menu navigation))?
A more advanced function would be the climate control (dual zone). Is this possible? I've seen it on some Volkswagen-specific units?
I have a multifunction display in the car, which is also operated by CAN bus. Do Android head units also provide functions to display data on such a screen (like song metadata, etc)
It would be nice to be able to manually configure the CAN bus mapping, in a UI or maybe in a file. Is that possible?
The Peugeot radio works on a comfort/fault tolerant CAN bus at 125kbps. Is that supported (I have had some problems with devices that only support high speed CAN bus which is not compatible on a hardware level)?
If such functions exist, does it differ per unit/brand? Can it be copied or migrated in a custom rom or apk?
I realise this is quite a broad question, but I hope you guys can share some of your experiences. Of course, experiences with a Peugeot (a 207 even) would be best.:good::fingers-crossed:
This is with a Px3 unit and a VW Eos, but... on my vehicle with CanBus, the steering wheel controls worked with no configuration - volume controls, back / forward buttons, the phone button launches the dialer, I believe, and there's a mic button that was for (a thoroughly useless) voice activate command on the original head unit, this acts as a mute button. At least on my vehicle with Canbus, there is NO ability to custom configure the wheel keys - they do the above, and that's the only option.
The multifunction screen doesn't have a page from my head unit - moving horizontally went between car data (speed/consumption/etc) <-> Setup <-> Radio, and with the new h/u, it just flips between setup and car data.
I haven't figured out climate control yet.
Sent from my Lenovo YB1-X90F using Tapatalk
Related
A few weeks ago I ordered this unit direct from xtrons, and just tested in with a bench top power supply. It's running lollipop out of the box. This weekend I finally got around to installing it into my car. Everything works great, minus these issues:
There doesn't seem to be anyway to remove paired bluetooth devices. There's no gear cogs for each listing, and holding down on the device doesn't give you any options to remove or forget the device.
The Xtrons OBD2 dongle pairs with the head unit, and a blue OBD icon appears in the top status bar, but both Torque and Dashcommand see no OBD2 dongles.
When in the radio app, it will display the station and volume on my cars dash board (via canbus). But these messages don't always update, and get stuck with stale data - like after exiting radio app, whatever was last displayed will be stuck there. Also the volume adjusts don't update when I adjust them... it seems random... but when the radio app changes stations, it seems to work correctly.
Radio reception isn't as strong as my stock radio. Which is fine... it is what it is, but would be cool if it worked the same.
Steering Wheel app doesn't show any buttons to map/remap. Only shows save and reset. So I can't change any of the button functions....
Other than those things I'm pretty happy with it.
links to head unit for reference:
http://xtrons.com/pf75attar-7-inch-...-mirroring-function-obd2-for-audi-tt-mk2.html
http://www.ugsage.com/default/7-and...-mirroring-function-obd2-for-audi-tt-mk2.html
I figured out issue #2 after I did a factory reset. Before the reset, there was a list of about 6-7 mac addresses. after reset, there were just 2 (phone and OBD2 dongle), which made trial and error easier.. would be nice if it listed device name rather than mac address. Also, sometimes the list will be blank.. then only option is to close torque, or other app you use, then retry.
Also, grab one of these http://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Co...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 so you can use your car's build in GPS antenna (the shark fin on car's roof). Works good
Luxferro said:
There doesn't seem to be anyway to remove paired bluetooth devices. There's no gear cogs for each listing, and holding down on the device doesn't give you any options to remove or forget the device.
The Xtrons OBD2 dongle pairs with the head unit, and a blue OBD icon appears in the top status bar, but both Torque and Dashcommand see no OBD2 dongles.
When in the radio app, it will display the station and volume on my cars dash board (via canbus). But these messages don't always update, and get stuck with stale data - like after exiting radio app, whatever was last displayed will be stuck there. Also the volume adjusts don't update when I adjust them... it seems random... but when the radio app changes stations, it seems to work correctly.
Radio reception isn't as strong as my stock radio. Which is fine... it is what it is, but would be cool if it worked the same.
Steering Wheel app doesn't show any buttons to map/remap. Only shows save and reset. So I can't change any of the button functions....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for the quick review, I bought the same and wanted to add some information as yours was helpful to me.
Bluetooth - same, I can't remove them from the list however, tapping them allows to "disconnect" them.
The only app I got to work with the OBD dongle from Xtrons was Torque Light. The pre-installed dashcommand did not work (I tried many times), also I'd like to use dash.by -- which also does not work unfortunatly.
With the radio, I have the same "problem" for the info area in the main dashboard. Some other apps (eg. CD player also seem to display stuff, but as I never use the radio, I don't really care. Would have been nice however to have the master volume displayed.
Radio reception seems okay to me. However, I loose the saved stations after restart. No problem, since I almost never use the radio and would invest in the DAB+ if I was.
Steering Wheel app -- same, I got the left part running with MTCD tools (here in the forums) to skip tracks. However, I can't remap the voice button and the mode button.
After updating the google app, the "voice search" feature is really slow.
Original shark fin GPS does seem to work fine with the adapter you linked, thanks!
Sound quality is way better than I thought it would be (eg. with Apple Music) as people wrote about low volume of rear speakers, hiss and noise. I only have minor static noise when nothing is playing and that is acceptable for me. Rear speakers are fine and the equalizer works great (put on loudness for warmer sound). (I have the nine speaker non-bose setup.)
Overall after a fresh boot or reset, the device is -- compared to eg. an iPhone 6 -- quite slow. Loading stuff (especially Maps) takes really long. Not sure why that is, but the device is way slower as you would expect from current Android or iOS hardware.
I am going to add if I found out more. Please do so, too -- especially if you find out someting about the steering wheel buttons.
did you guys figure out how to change the panel keys?
can get to them via extra settings and 123456, and can see them but seem to be unable to change or do anything to them ?
I am thinking about replacing my car stereo with an android head unit.
I have been reading the forum but do have some open questions:
1. How good are these head units?
2. Most head units seem to run older versions of android so I am concerned that the playstore and apps are not going to be supported for much longer. Which headunits are somewhat modern (good specs) with good developer support. I assume there are no treble supported headunits yet?
3. My primary use case for an android headunit are:
- listen to podcasts (PocketCasts?)
- GPS navigations (Google Maps or Waze)
- see my reverse camera when backing up
- listen to music (Pandora, Spotify, youtube, or stored music)
- listen to the radio (probably nice to have)
4. I am planning to get a dashcam and I saw that some headunits integrate with dashcam + reversing camera
5. Would be nice to be able to use a Bluetooth or something remote on the steering wheel. Ideally something discreet/small that can be glued to the back of the steering wheel ...
6. I am not planning to install a separate SIM card in the head unit (thanks ridiculous carrier prices in the US). How successful have people been getting their headunit to rely on Wifi at home and tethering to the phone when driving.
7. I saw some threads about headunits "sleeping" when the car is off - I drive an electric car, so I definitely want the unit to be OFF when the car is off. Don't care if it takes 10-30 seconds to boot.
8. Any recommendations for single DIN headunits that match the above requirements/use case? Don't need or want a gigantic screen and certainly do not want a motorized screen ... there seem to be some nice headunits where a 7" screen is mounted to a single DIN unit and the screen can be moved up and down depending on where you need it in the car.
You are actually considering an Android head unit, not Android Auto.
This is Android Auto:
https://www.android.com/auto/
Android headunits have several dedicated sections here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/android-head-units
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/mtcb-android-head-units-qa - for older units running Android 4.4 or 5.1
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/mtcd-discussion-questions-development - for newer units
Since you do not seem familiar with Android headunits and their specifics I strongly advise against gambling on Chinese units. Getting an Android Auto/Car Play compatible unit from an established manufacturer (the Sony XAV AX-100 seems pretty popular) would be a much safer option at similar price.
Hello, I'm using Android Auto 3.1.581054 on my Honor 8 smartphone, and the Sync3 v3.0 multimedia system on a Ford Fiesta mk8.
If I don't use AA, i can push the voice activation button on the steering wheel, and dictate commands to access some of the car's functions (for example, change FM radio station).
When i connect my smartphone via USB and enable AA (e.g., to use google maps on the car's screen), the google assistant overtakes the steering wheel voice activation button; I can therefore only use it to dictate Android functions on the phone (maps directions, send whatsapp message, etc). I can't control via voice the car's functions anymore, at least until I disconnect the USB cable, because obviously Android knows and can nothing about the car's FM radio or whatever.
This is a very unfortunate behaviour, because to change the FM radio channel I now have to fiddle with the car's touch screen controls, that is very distracting while driving.
Is there a way to manage this problem? I heard that, on some previous versions (of what? AA? Sync3?), pushing the steering wheel voice activation button once triggered the car's Sync3 recognition, while pushing it for 3 seconds would trigger the google assistant recognition. Is it true? What happened to this function? E.g., see https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-auto/SNCguGKYiZE
Doesn't answer your direct question, but I'm also using a Mk8 Fiesta, and wanted to point out that if you're already on one of Radio audio sources you can use the steering wheel next and previous track buttons to switch between stations within the preset group you're in. I've only tried this on DAB but it probably works on FM as well.
I've also found that sometimes it's possible to select whichever source and station you would like from a list using the steering wheel menu button (provided you're looking at the audio screen on the instrument cluster - not sure if all the trims have this functionality?). This works all the time without Android Auto connected, and sometimes when you're within Android Auto, but not always. I think this might be to do with starting up a radio source before connecting the phone, and making sure not to start any audio playing within Android Auto. Haven't had chance to properly test this yet.
Let me know if you discover any tricks!
Is it possible to emulate CANBOX Decoder by Arduino?, there is CAN Shield and some exaples of arduino sketches that work with it
I can imagine handling signals like ACC, Reverse and Illumination, but I dont know how to deal with CAN TX/RX singnals on Canbox decoder.
On my HeadUnit i can choose in factory settings car make and type so i assume that MCU can recoignize car specific messages. But i cannot find format wchich CanboxDecoder and MCU talking - is it simple serial connection?
Why I am asking. I have Peugeot 508 - my canbox decoder is broken - i have problem to buy it - aliexpress sellers told me that they not selling decoders separatly. It is serious problem because in Peugeot there is no buttons on HeadUnit - it utilize car buttons on central console and steering wheel - they work on CAN Bus. The same story is for parking sensors - they utilize factory audio unit speakers.
When my original Canbox works there are some problems on Android Head Unit for example parking sensors works in opposite direction starting from nearest point from a car so i thint maybe if my HeadUnit cannot racoingnize signals properly maybe i can manipulate signals by arduino canbox decoder to modify signals .
Same problem here
I am starting from scratch. I can not get a cantus decode for a Maserati. I know the cantus codes for each button, but don't know how to transfer that to the radio.
This one is really annoying me - with my new Dacia Jogger, I've found that Android Auto always thinks I'm driving, even when parked, with the engine off. The problem with this is some navigation apps completely disable the ability to search for a destination, so I can't progam in a route once I'm connected! Also Gameshack is disabled because AA thinks I'm driving too.
There any way to fix this or stop AA from disabling interactions?
Your headunit has a wire connected to the handbrake sensor in your car, and this way it knows if you're parked and can't restrict some activities. This information is passed from the headunit's firmware to Android Auto internally, and this way Android Auto can restrict or allow you to do some stuff like use the touchpad, use certain buttons, etc.
In order to save money (or due to a bad Android Auto implementation), some headunits don't send handbrake status information to Android Auto. This way you can use the onscreen voice button all the time (in the lower corner of Android Auto) even if the car is moving, but the downside is that some Android Features get broken, like Gamesnacks or alphabetic search in lists. They can do this for a number of reasons, like not having a dedicated voice button in the steering wheel or headunit, but it's not the ideal case.
I suggest you to find other people with the same car model and see if their cars behave in the same way. If so, then this is a headunit problem and the carmaker should release a fix. If this only happens in your car, I would check if there's a wiring issue in the handbrake or something similar is happening.
you might also want to check if there's some settings menu in your headunit with some option to check this.
You can also try to sync a new phone over bluetooth to your car headunit while parked. If it refuses because the car is moving (even if is not) then it could be a wiring issue.