Develop Bugs

How to make a xda2 car kit

Hi,
I'm planning to make a car kit for my xda2 using a second-hand car kit from another phone, a spare cradle and some creative thinking.
My aim is to make an installed car kit with the following features:
1) Charge the phone from the car battery.
2) All phone and pda audio to come from the car speakers, not the pda speaker.
3) Easy to put in and take out of cradle.
4) Able to use voice activated software via installed car mic.
I will document what I do (with photo's) here and try to put together a step-by-step guide, but I could use some help.
Has anyone tried this with any amount of success? I have seen the connector pin diagrams etc on the wiki site. Can anyone add to these?
Just as imporantly, has anyone tried this and fried their xda2??? :?
Please post your advice here and I'll let you know how I go.
Cheers,
Hooligan

Have tried it with a nokia cark91 but with no succes because the nokia cark91 uses the FBUS to activate certain features.
Didn't have enough knowledge of both to write a program which could emulate the FBUS protocol.
Will be watching your progress. Very interesting!
Success.
Mark

T-mobile can't build one, O2 can't build one, Catcomm can't build one, even i can't build one :roll: :mrgreen:
Why do you think you would succeed ?
Serious : All the info needed is on this site, and/or in my head. Theoreticaly it should work, but it doesn't.... Biggest problem is that the XDA2/MDA2 ONLY gives audio trough the bottom connector if you're in Call, so forget voicedialing or TomTom over the carkitspeaker.
Easyest solution is to build a carkit with you can connect to the headset connection.

Connectors ?
Hello
I seek the diagram of the connector 22 pins for XDA II
je fabrique un Kit main libre avec GPS
MERCI MERCI

Hi Alain,
Look here:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/wiki/Connectors
Hi Jpiek,
thanks for the words of encouragement! :wink:
I'm studying the circuit diagrams for the nokia car kit I have obtained. I'll let you know how my experiments go...I have to agree, I think that the earphone jack may be the best way to go....
Hooligan

I spent many hours doing this with an XDA I, and got something sort of working but not what I really wanted. Here are some notes...
The XDA I has a horrible ground loop problem on both the input and output. I don't know if the II has the same problem, but I imagine so.
The output is very low, requiring a pre-amp. And because of the above, it had to be ground-isolated, which adds a lot of complexity (for someone like me who is MANY years past high school electronics class...).
Ericsson and Nokia car kits require some proprietary signalling in order to function, so they were useless as a starting base.
The built-in mic is actually quite usable in-car, producing a slightly hollow and distant sound but not horribly so. It has quite effective echo cancellation.

Thank you very for this address
who my permi to produce a connector for a SPV E200
but the stitching of the SPV M1000 does not correpond I
continue my research
goodbye

OK, looks like zapro has beaten me to the punch.
He has updated the connectors page in the wiki with a car kit wiring diagram and has started a new post - "Finally !!! DIY car-handsfree for XDA"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=11063
I'll keep experimenting as I don't think he has all of the audio output through the car stereo yet.
Well done Zapro!

hooligan said:
OK, looks like zapro has beaten me to the punch.
He has updated the connectors page in the wiki with a car kit wiring diagram and has started a new post - "Finally !!! DIY car-handsfree for XDA"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=11063
I'll keep experimenting as I don't think he has all of the audio output through the car stereo yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ofcourse not, his solution allready worked over here, but it wasn't good enough for me. For phone i use a BT headset. I want all audio !!
(Yes, i'm still trying..)

Yes it DOES work !!
Hehe, my homemade carkit DOES indeed work flawlessly !
I Have an extra box besides the electronics shown in the diagram, a box with a amplifier and some relays. when the phone rings, i press a button, that powers the amplifier and the relays, disconnecting the speakers from my car-radio and over to the little amplifier. i promised you some pictures here a day ago, but i don't think it's nice enough to show off yet. i need to make a new case for the amplifier and relays. the one i am using now is just a box from the junkcase.
I Will be back soon !
// Per

My XDA carkit was relativly easy ;
I opened the Tomtom cable on the XDA side and wired pin 2, 3 and 4 to a general Car-amplifier...
I used the internal mic, with a brodit holder: perfect!

how to listen to all sound via a car kit

i dont know if anyone ahs noticed this before. I had a xda 1 and the o2 car kit. i fitted a switch on the radio mute, and wired the kit,s speaker jacks into my stereo,s aux input. this allowed me to listen to wmp, or any other app. Then i bought an xda2 and everything went wrong. so i decided to try sort it out.
My plan was to modify the car kit to accept the phone, and cut out a notch so that i could use the headset, and cut it up and wire it direct to my stereo,s aux input.
however, after i did the cradle mods, i had the phone sitting in, testing it. At this stage my kit was still wired as per my xda1. The phone works fine, including mute. Then, i tried wmp. As reported , there was no sound. I then plugged in my headset, whilst the xda was in the cradle, and IT WORKED!. Sound from the wmp went out via the car kit and into my aux input! I Bought a new2.5 jack, with no wires, and i just insert it, before cradling the phone and i have the exact same functionality as the xda1!...its really kool, as my Haicom gps works fine too. I havent tested Fonix, ie., does the mic work before u activate the phone, but im hopeful.
Now, my final problem is the charging issue, and id appreciate advice. My proposal is: to purchase an appropiate universal lapto car power adaptor,
To purchase a 9 pin lead, which will sit between the carkit and the cradle lead. Then all i have to do is patch the power adaptor into the 9 pin lead, deleting the original power. Will this work, and what size power adaptor will i need [v/curent], and whats the wiring mod?........id love to know if the headphone jack trick works on all kits/.....it may be posssible to buy and modify a jack plug so that it fits in wiyhout modifing the car kit....
N

re the charging issue
ok..ive read all posts concerning this issue and there appears to be some confusion....can the original xda car kit supply enough current to satisfy an xda11 and wired haicom gps. Some posts imply that there is a wiring difference which makes the unit appear to be charging whilst there not, whilst some posts say its because the original unit can only supply 1 amp.......can someone please advise?

I gues you have to get the 2.5mm plug out when you leave the car in order to use the mic/speaker?

charging issue
ive just tried the unit in the car, both with and without the haicom connected. both times it said it was charging, but both times the battery level actually fell.....this indicates that there is a wiring difference between XDA2, in the charging cct. funny thing though is that the xda2 charged using a cheap cigarette lighter type charging lead....can anyone explain this?

must be the charging circuit. I found that even a 400mA charger is enough to charge the Himalaya.

My XDA II Car kit has a jack plug on the bottom, but if I use that no sound comes out. I'm assuming this takes audio out from the 22pin connector at the bottom of the XDA II.
When you say you've plugged a 2.5mm jack into your XDA you mean the socket on the actual XDA itself right? And that enables audio through the 22pin connector or does it just output audio through the jack?
My problem is now that I'm going to have to rip my (very expensive when I bought it) XDA II Car kit to pieces to put a 2.5mm jack into the bottom of the phone when it's in the car kit!
Is there nothing at all that anyone's got to force the XDA out of in-car mode or anything or is that completely hard-wired?
God this is annoying! Why is there always something wrong, even with the coolest gadget in the world!

I have the same problem.
It used to work with rom 1.03 (as I remember) but after an upgrade, the sound from MDA2 except phone call went through the build-in speaker.
HTC knows this problem, but dont do anything about it.
A conspiracy agains carkit mod'ing.

This issue is known since approx last april.
It MUST be the carkit:
XDA2/iMate carkit only supplies in-call phone audio via the carkit speaker
MDAII/Qtek2020/Yeti carkit supplies all audio via the carkit speaker (dis-advantage: It continuously mutes the radio when ie using TomTom, but that can be fixed by using an alternative radio-mute circuit/switch)
Both carkits only use the 22-pin bottom connector of the Himalaya to accomplish this.
Until now (afaik) no one has succeeded in finding a solution for this.
I wish I bought my carkit 2 month later, at that time the MDAII carkit was sold for approx 170 euros (compared to the 140 for the XDA2 carkit). The extra functionality is really worth the extra 30 euro.

Alternative radio-mute circuit/switch
@edsub
edsub said:
(dis-advantage: It continuously mutes the radio when ie using TomTom, but that can be fixed by using an alternative radio-mute circuit/switch)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few weeks ago I bought the MDAII-carkit and am still preparing to install it in my car. I will use it with Alturion navigation software, but expect that this will create the same proble as TomTom (constantly muting the radio).
Could you elaborate on the "alternative radio-mute circuit/switch". I.e. how to create it/where to buy it?
Thanks in advance, regards
Albondigas

You can buy an audio-mute box.
You place it between your car-speaker leads and connect the carkit audio out to it (mono or stereo).
As soon as the mute-box detects a signal on the carkit audio out, it switches the car-speaker from radio to carkit.
It seems to work quite well, but since it is based on detecting a signal an then switching, i can imaginge you lose frist 1 or 2 seconds of the carkit-out.
No idea how that works out with TomTom . . . .

XDA II Car Kit
eayuwna said:
Is there nothing at all that anyone's got to force the XDA out of in-car mode or anything or is that completely hard-wired?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check pin 19 of the plug wiring. This is the pin used to tell the XDA II it is in the car. When using the XDA II out of the car, in the Sync cradle etc... this pin is tied to ground.
I am about to experiment with making a car kit... If I have success with the audio, I will let you all know!
Recrem.

Audio mute with MDAII-Carkit
@edsub
Thanks, eDsuB, I get the principle and will look around where I could get the audio mute box.
And now I understand why Mocki in the german forum of ppc-welt inserted a one second 63 Hz tone at the beginning of the TomTom-audio files:
http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/showthread.php?t=40190&page=2&pp=50 (in german)
It would be embarrassing to miss the first three words of the message "in three kilometers turn right" :lol: .
How do you think about another solution on this forum and that is disconnecting pin 9 (orange/white) from the connector on the MDAII Carkit II. Apparantly that would also solve the problem with the permament mute of TomTom? See thread (it looks like you've been there also) http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/showthread.php?t=47131&page=1&pp=28 (in german).
Thanks very much,
Albondigas

I went in that forum a couple of times (especially when xda-developers was down), but since I have an XDAII/iMate carkit my problem is to get all audio thru the bottom connector . . . .
And even Mocki doenst have an answer . . .

xdaIIs/GPS

I am thinking of purchasing a TOM-TOM3 GPS system has anyone got any experience using the BT ?. Is it as Temperamental as the headset. Would it be better to use a wired GPS.
Thanks

I have wired and bluetooth GPS and would say that most of the time I use the wired GPS because I use it mainly in the car and it charges my MDAIII at the same time.

tomtom 3 and BT is fine on my MDAIII
No problems here with the bluetooth connection to tomtom's own GPS.
Never lost the connection.
Left the MDA's BT on one night and woke up to an empty battery and no data though!

I am using BT TomTom no problems at all with staying connected.. you can get them for under £100 on ebay now, best gadget i've got, except the IIs of course.
Richard

Anonymous said:
I am thinking of purchasing a TOM-TOM3 GPS system has anyone got any experience using the BT ?. Is it as Temperamental as the headset. Would it be better to use a wired GPS.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using a TOMTOM BT GPS for a few weeks now and had no problems at all infact as with another post its my best purchase so far.

I have just got my XDA IIs, I have Tomtom 2 (Wired version), is there a cable kit that will allow me to use my existing Tomtom with the XDA IIs?
If so can someone tell me what the part number is and who stocks it?

I've got a powered holder in my car, powers the XDAIIs and the GPS antenna (Holux 210 I think!). The holder also feeds Tx & Rx to the XDA on serial port 1.
I've also used the holder to just power the XDA and BT antenna and it also works fine.
Got it from www.nemesisgb.com - they are the importers
The actual product can be found here
www.brodit.com and type in 970612 into the quicksearch box on the right hand side
...Spence

I have used ToTom 3 with their branded BT GPS for ages now and it works a treat, best accessory I had for my XDA II and it works just as well with my XDA IIs

s93ncer said:
I've got a powered holder in my car, powers the XDAIIs and the GPS antenna (Holux 210 I think!). The holder also feeds Tx & Rx to the XDA on serial port 1.
I've also used the holder to just power the XDA and BT antenna and it also works fine.
Got it from www.nemesisgb.com - they are the importers
The actual product can be found here
www.brodit.com and type in 970612 into the quicksearch box on the right hand side
...Spence
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, sorry been a long time before I got a chance to read it, busy christmas. That sounds like just what I need, I have a couple of further questions though.
1. The connections it talks about is a PS2-cable with RX, TX, 5V is this the connection that looks like an RJ11 modem cable or is this the same as a PS2 connection for a PC keyboard/mouse? My cable looks like a modem style RJ11 connector.
2. Does is come with a windscreen suction mount, I couldn't see it in the description and there were no specific pictures?

1. The connections it talks about is a PS2-cable with RX, TX, 5V is this the connection that looks like an RJ11 modem cable or is this the same as a PS2 connection for a PC keyboard/mouse? My cable looks like a modem style RJ11 connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The connection I've got is a PS2 like a Mouse/keyboard.
The antenna you have sounds like a Leadtek which is branded as TomTom - looks like a flat silver square?
As it happens I now work for Nemesis and we are working on a connector to connect your antenna to the holder we supply.
2. Does is come with a windscreen suction mount, I couldn't see it in the description and there were no specific pictures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a bracket that fits your vehicle and then you screw the holder to the bracket.
There is another option though.
If you have a lead that plugs into the cigar lighter, powers the antenna and the XDA (I found one at www.handnav.co.uk ) then you can do something different.
Get a bracket for your car
Get holder number 849612 from Brodit
Use the lead to power the holder and the antenna
I have attached pictures of the above config for a XDAII as I had to use the IIs to take the pictures!!!
Hope this helps
..Spence

Thanks again, how soon do you think Nemesis will have a compatible cradle or adapter ready to market?
It might be worth waiting depending on time scales involved?
Or maybe the Tomtom cable, the 1 at the bottom of the pics laid out like a W is already ok, I have one like this to fit my HP Jornada 545 (an old relic from Aug 2000). This cable looks a lot like the cable shown in your pic except for the PDA end, which splits into 2, 1 is for data the other for power. The power part looks similar to a Sony Ericsson telephone charger cable, so again I'm not sure if this will suffice.
I wish there was a shop I could just go into with these things, as it all seems harder to explain when I don't know what all the bits are called. I can't really expect ppl to find a peg for a hole if I can't tell them what shape the hole is, and with hole on my PDA and my GPS receiver it gets doubly confusing!!!!

I'm using Navman 4100 BT GPS, the singal is great and never drop BT connection. It comes with a Y cable that can charge both the IIs and Navman.
But check out the all-in-one solution from Brando... Cheapest alternative I've ever seen.... http://shop.brando.com.hk/universalgpscarholder.php

CL55 said:
I'm using Navman 4100 BT GPS, the singal is great and never drop BT connection. It comes with a Y cable that can charge both the IIs and Navman.
But check out the all-in-one solution from Brando... Cheapest alternative I've ever seen.... http://shop.brando.com.hk/universalgpscarholder.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know where I can get one of these in the UK?

Which GPS receiver for O2 XDA1 car kit?

Can anyone tell me which GPS receiver I should get to plug into my o2/XDA1 car kit?
Thanks in advance.

Any serial gps will wire to the kit as far as I know, I dont think you can "plug" a gps into it, it will use com 1 so make sure under settings/connections that the beams box is unchecked.

Does that mean I'll have to butcher an existing receiver in order to make it connect? I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that... :?
It seems strange that the car kit has a connector for GPS and yet there doesn't seem to be a dedicated receiver that just plugs straight in.
OK, next question then - in the absence of a dedicated receiver, what receiver would you recommend, bearing in mind I have to hack it to make it fit?
Thanks.

Get a cheap haicom SERIAL gps or any other serial gps that has the wiring diagram, here is a link for Haicom gps to xda car kit.
http://www.vanhemert.biz/Car_Kit_GPS_Connection.htm
http://www.vanhemert.biz/XDA.htm

Okey dokey, I bought a Haicom 204 and wired it as per that diagram - so far so good.
I've plugged it all in and nothing seems to work. I won't have any SatNav software installed until 2moro, but I was expecting the LEDs to light up on the receiver...?
Is there any way I can tell if the receiver is connected right?
I've unchecked the 'receive all incoming beams' box under Connections, do I have to do anything else for the XDA to see the receiver?
Thanks in advance, and for your help so far.

The light may not come on until it is initialised by a program, why dont you download gps dash or another freebie just to see if everything is ok. You can get it here.
http://gpsdash.com/files.php

Great, thanks. I'll let you know what happens...

Nope, nada.
Do I have to make any speacial settings in GPSDash? What about withinn the XDA itself?
Remember, you're talking to a complete novice here...
Thanks.

settings would be nmea 4800 and com 1 in gps dash

Still nothing.
I presume the receiver takes it's power directly from the carkit, right?

Yes it takes the 5 volt feed as per the diagram, I have heard that sometimes you need 5 volts on the tx line to wake up the gps, I wouldnt do that yet though until you check the wiring. Also a common error is getting the rx tx reversed, try reversing these.

It's funny you should mention the TX/RX. I noticed on that diagram you linked that those connections were labelled the opposite to what's in the 204S manual.
In the manual the pin labelled TX (Pin 5) is labelled XDARXD on the diagram. I figured what's RX to the XDA is TX to the receiver so I went with the diagram wire for wire.
Will I do any harm by swapping them and trying it that way?

No harm at all

IT WORKS!!!
I finally got it to work - turns out I had a faulty receiver. Put a new 204S in and it worked straight away.
Thanks again for your help.
D.

Nice one Deke, isnt it great when things go so smoothly

Wired TOMTOM GPS receiver.

I am contemplating on getting a wired TOMTOM GPS receiver.
I read a few posts ago that a wired one would be better than bluetooth if you want to use a bleutooth headseat and a bluetooth receiver at the same time. The call disconnects?
Anyways, I just wanted to verify this before I buy the wired TOMTOM receiver from ebay.
Also, I need to know how it will connect to the XDA IIs. The websites say its SERIAL port. How do you connect a serial port to the XDA?
Also need advice on GPS as well. I have the TOMTOM 5 software and all the maps installed on the SD card. All I need is a device now.
SHould I go for bluetooth?
Should I go for wired GPS?
Which is the best brand of GPS receivers?
Would I face any problems if I operate bleutooth headseat and gps receiver at the same time?
Thank.s

No replies? Guys come on.. you must know something. TOMTOM gurus all over.

Wired GPS
Alitech
I have a wired receiver, not a TOMTOM one but one I got from Expansys. It works fine and I imagine the setup is the same as when I setup TOMTOM I had to select TOMTOM Wired receiver.
My collegue has a bluetooth receiver and I tested it outo n my phone. It worked fine but took a while to boot up (the receiver, not the phone)
The benefit that I find from the wired receiver is that it charges the phone as well. I use a bluetooth headset occasionally but due to the issues with the in-call volume going I tend to use a wired handsfree (but I'm about to upgrade the ROM to the imate one if I can find it)
Connecting to the serial port on the XDA - use the power supply port and ensure that you turn off your infrared port. this then allows you to use the COM1 port on the phone (having the IR active means that it uses the COM1 instead).
I found the receiver from Expansys fine to use and quite cheap. It has a quick warmup time and, like I said, charges the phone at the same time. My collegue with the bluetooth one can't charge the phone and the gps at the same time.
Hope this helps. My phone is the SPV M2000 btw.

So which is the best wired GPS for the XDA IIs ?

problems with wired
I have just got a wired gps for tomtom5 and i can't connect it to my spv m2000.
I have switched off ir beam done hard resets and so on but still it doesn't work. So be a little careful...other people seem to have had no trouble but something is causing trouble

Tom Tom GPS's
I bought the wired GPS with with the software from TomTom, and it works perfectly.
I also got bored and managed to wire up my XDAIIs to my Road Angel via the same RJ port as the TT wired GPS uses.
Plus, when I'm in other peoples cars, I have a generic BT GPS.
They all work as good as one another.

Ok once again, a lot of confusions.
Which is the best GPS receiver? Which one should we go for. Something that will work with the XDA IIs and fit into the charging and sync port.
Models and makes ?

Go for Wired
I currently use and XDA IIi with a wired GPS Receiver, You can purchase a good cradle at http://www.pdamods.com/products.asp?cat=23 which enables you to charge the handset and power the GPS receiver through the cradle, the GPS receiver connects via a RJ socket in the cradle. You have the option to buy the cradle and the receiver as a package for around £85 which comes complete with various mounting options. Personally i went for specialized mounting bracket called a safety clip which is completely non destructive and is available from www.brodit.com. Hope this helps.

Ok.. now I got it. So a good option would be going for a tomtom mount.
Upon research, I found this one.
http://www.pdamods.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A11XDA2SMNT&cat=23
It has the option to buy a FUZION GPS receiver with it.
I think I will go ahead and order it.
Will I need another mount of some sort? I believe the tomtom cradle is already a mount with various mounting options.

FYI: I use this:
- Rikaline GPS-6010-X5 (approx. € 70)
- Brodit active holder (approx € 60)
The holder will both charge the pda and the gps reciever. Quality of the reciever is very good.
Also FYI: I do have a bluetooth carkit from Parrot. You will find out that bluetooth on this pda means trouble, probably also with the GPS.

Can you provide any urls for these products.
cant find the broadit holder on the website.

I have the TOMTOM BT
I have no problems with my XDAIIs .... but i also dont use a BT headset ! i just use speakerphone !
I love the BT, i can take it from car to car and mountain bike
I have the xda charging on a usb car lighter socket and 1 charge of the gps lasts 4 hours - enough for my journeys ... but a car charger for this is only 6quid anyway and i can mount it in the boot!
i agree the BT is crap on this device, but i hope a rom will fix it.
Rich

I'm using a Holux GPS cradle with an Orange SPV M2000. Has some issues when you first buy it but if you look for my input on the thread you'll see how I got around it and I now use it daily in my own car and also hire cars without issue. Wouldn't say i'd recommend it wholeheartedly but if the advantages are suitable for you and you're prepared to mod it a bit it might work for you. http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modul...opic&t=13307&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Thanks for the comment. Seems like an interesting product.
Does anyone know where I can buy the Brodit Active Cradle For GPS for the XDA IIs?