Develop Bugs

PDA2K - Car Kit / In-Built GPS Comms

Hi All,
I have a i-Mate PDA2K-EVDO with the following specs:
ROM:2.03.00 WWE
Radio: HA01_140
Ex ROM: 2.03.11 WWE
Currently with eXpansys FSE9 Car Kit (Includes integrated GPS reciever) URL"http://www.expansys.com.au/product.asp?code=124312", with ALK (Travroute) CoPilot Live 5 for PPC.
The issue that I am having is that when the phone is docked in the car-kit all call functions work fine (except for volume being a little low, but that may be spk position), however I cannot get the GPS software to communicate with the reciever. I am not sure whether the com-port that is used to communicate with the reciever is only being half-opened (or not remaining open).
I have tried modifying the selected COM settings and am currently using (COM 1, 4800) which appears to have some communication with the device. When the unit first is powered-up the GPS recieving light is on (steady) and when GPS location is established the light starts flashing. I have installed GPSInfo (for WM5) and am able to scan ports to establish COM1, 4800 as the connected port. When I then press the "Cold Start" button the GPS reciever resets, and then goes through the re-establishment phase, but no GPS data is being parsed.
To top things off, I did manage to get the CoPilot software to work for all about 5 mins. So I am thinking that this may be a port issue (or something with the reciever).
Can anyone provide some help with the following:
1 - A utility that can check com port activity, and see what is happening at this level.
2 - Some insight as to what other programs may use the same ports as COM1 - As I believe that it is serially emulated as a COM.
3 - Any other insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

pro-integrator said:
Hi All,
I have a i-Mate PDA2K-EVDO with the following specs:
ROM:2.03.00 WWE
Radio: HA01_140
Ex ROM: 2.03.11 WWE
Currently with eXpansys FSE9 Car Kit (Includes integrated GPS reciever) URL"http://www.expansys.com.au/product.asp?code=124312", with ALK (Travroute) CoPilot Live 5 for PPC.
The issue that I am having is that when the phone is docked in the car-kit all call functions work fine (except for volume being a little low, but that may be spk position), however I cannot get the GPS software to communicate with the reciever. I am not sure whether the com-port that is used to communicate with the reciever is only being half-opened (or not remaining open).
I have tried modifying the selected COM settings and am currently using (COM 1, 4800) which appears to have some communication with the device. When the unit first is powered-up the GPS recieving light is on (steady) and when GPS location is established the light starts flashing. I have installed GPSInfo (for WM5) and am able to scan ports to establish COM1, 4800 as the connected port. When I then press the "Cold Start" button the GPS reciever resets, and then goes through the re-establishment phase, but no GPS data is being parsed.
To top things off, I did manage to get the CoPilot software to work for all about 5 mins. So I am thinking that this may be a port issue (or something with the reciever).
Can anyone provide some help with the following:
1 - A utility that can check com port activity, and see what is happening at this level.
2 - Some insight as to what other programs may use the same ports as COM1 - As I believe that it is serially emulated as a COM.
3 - Any other insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
Not too sure if this'll help but with TomTom 5, you need to disable incoming beams on the Start\Settings\Connections\Beam to enable the Hard-Wired GPS to be read..
Try it and let us know the outcome..
Cheers!

Still No Good
Hey Mr Philly,
No luck with the Beam Settings. I even went as fas as Hard Resetting the device :x as Active Sync to Exchange stopped working this morning....
Any other ideas?
Thanks again for your response.
Paul.[/quote]

Paul, you mentioned specificaly that you loaded GPS Info (for WM5) is this the OS you have on the device? if so the GPS applet in the control panel / connections tab might need playing with - BTW I should have mentioned as its a wired GPS unit leave the Receive all beams OFF on this device - Mike

Interesting Point
Hi Mike,
Thanks for joining in on this thread.
I have disabled beams on the device.
THe GPSInfo app loaded was WM5 although I only have WM2003 SE. I have searched through multiple ng's to find a 2K3SE version, but all seem to point to the new version.
This was also the file provided my the distributor of the car-kit & cradle. The GPS unit is integrated into the Car Kit, so that is what i refer to as hard-wired (opposed to GPS).
As for the applet, I do not have a GPS applet in the connections section :?:
Can you provide any more informationon this point.
Thanks again,
Paul.

Disregard it then, I thought you might have loaded up a 2005 OS by chance , this has no bearing on the problem on your device - more thinking time required - Mike

Re: Still No Good
pro-integrator said:
Hey Mr Philly,
No luck with the Beam Settings. I even went as fas as Hard Resetting the device :x as Active Sync to Exchange stopped working this morning....
Any other ideas?
Thanks again for your response.
Paul.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Paul..
Apologies.. I also need more thinking time.. :lol:
If I think of anything else, I'll get back to you..

Smartphone + Tontec7" + Bluetooth Touch

Hello All!
I recently bought a new car that has a stock head unit from Toyota in the middle console, but no USB or even an AUX input for sound. But as the electronics enthusiast I am I started searching around for solutions that would fit my needs in regards to compatibility and usefulness, I haven’t been able to find the solution making me pleased.
I bought a 7” Tontec screen with resistive touch overlay and the first idea was to run this Kodi build on a Raspberry Pi B rev.2 (Kudos to Andrei for the fantastic project!) engineering-diy.blogspot.fi
Altough I would be able to use android as OS, mostly because I want to use the electrical and networking tools bought in Play Store. And since adding an android unit to my existing “Internet of Things” setup would be fairly simple.
To my knowledge there isn’t any stable good working build for android on the raspi and it struck me that I have two old but still functional android phones in the drawer. So I would only need to connect the phone to the screen, and basically get the same solution as with the MimicsX2 and Smartphone Uplink (smartphone-uplink.com)
Units at my disposal
Samsung GS2, GT-9300 (Will be used as Head Unit)
Samsung GS4 LTE+, GT-i9506 (Will not be used, my backup phone if my S5 breaks)
Tontec 7" Display (itontec.com/product-detail/product-name-7)
Display controller board (HDMI/Component-In)
Resistive 4-wire Touch Overlay
Touch controller board supplied with overlay (USB-out)
Pioneer 1-Din Car Stereo (Aux & USB for sound input)
Sure Electronics Audio Amp
ELM327 OBD2 Bluetooth Adapter for ECU Readings
Units to be bought
Bluetooth slave controller [USB-BT] (For connecting touch controller to android phone)
Touch controller (USB) (Optional, adafruit.com/products/1580 To emulate mouse HID, would this eliminate the need of external android driver?)
Reverse Camera
Main Issues
What Bluetooth slave should I use? Other issues to be taken into considerations regarding Bluetooth?
How many Bluetooth devices may be connected to the phone at once?
External BT GPS for added accuracy.
“Hands free” connection to regular Smartphone with SIM-card. (How should this be implemented? Pause music etc.)
And finally attached a visual box diagram of what i meant to accomplish.
postimg.org/image/mbnjcve5t/
And since I'm completely new to using bluetooth communication, is this even a possible setup? Anything i should know? I would be very grateful for some help before ordering the bluetooth modules, or other needed components.

[MTCD/E/P] CanBus app reverse engineering

I have started reverse engineering the HCTCanBus app.
The reason was that I wanted to display the outdoor temperature in my custom launcher.
But one thing in advance that was only possible because I built my own cunBus box. The radio can only process data it receives and the original canbus boxes only have a very limited number of canBus messages integrated.
The data from the box is transferred to the Android system via the serial port "/dev/ttyV0".
What I found out was that the steering wheel buttons are not transmitted to this serial port.
But all other data with the correct format is transferred there and processed by the HCTCanBus app.
So we can use it to implement our own messages.
I also managed to send data back to the box.
The serial port is not used for this...
The original app processes data on the door contacts, air conditioning, parking sensors and TPMS.
These are at least the things I've found out so far.
In the original app is the handling of the data for the different settings in the factory settings for the canBus.
For each manufacturer there is a file that decides what the message means and how it is to be processed.
I own a Chrysler 300C and use the setting "30 CHRYSLER(Bagoo)".
I have only worked on this. Because I have no access to the data of the other manufacturers.
To read this data from the code is almost impossible with decompiled code, at least for me...
So far I only integrated the door contacts as activity.
For the other displays my car simply does not provide any data (air conditioning) or I have not yet been able to identify the correct can messages (TPMS, radar sensors)
What I have integrated, because of which I have built my own box, is a settings window where I can for example set the events when the radio is switched on or off.
I have uploaded the current state of my work to github.
Even if I am still in the middle of my work it might be interesting for some people.
I would be happy if others would join in and we could integrate the canBus message for the other manufacturers.
github.com/zebbel/MTCD-E_CanBus
Sorry but it's annoying to post stuff here when you can't even insert links...

Hey, zebbel.
You're up to a pretty good start, keep up the good work!
I've also started research in that direction, decompiled HCTCanBus.apk with apktools and started looking at smali code.
(It's pretty readable to my surprise)
But soon I came to the conclusion that there is not much we can do from only the android side.
Canbox itself translates commands it gets from UART into CAN messages using custom firmware on the box. And that is the problem - we don't have access to it.
So, to extend the functionality of "HU-CanBox-Car" system we would need to re-engineer not only CanBox hardware (I've seen some reverse-engineered schematics laying around the forum somewhere) but also it's firmware. A hell of a lot of work, if you ask me...
PS: I personally own Citroen DS5 with HU from Peugeot 508, PX6 platform 4G/64G and PA-SS canbox module. The good thing that almost everything working oob. The sad thing is my pretty "analog" dash clock are not working - That's why I start digging into this, just to find that Canbox App ignores the Time changes completely (e/g not sending to CanBox any information on Clock updates)

Hi All,
I have been doing work on this already, see my post's here, we already have the canbus apk sources.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=81859661
darkspr1te

Hi, totally new on this just a questions with a new head unit 8227L and steering control. My car is a jeep compass 2008, the android unit os 9.1 XY Auto 3.3 seems to have some factory set options with can bus for many models but not for the jeep compass, I already identify the cables can high and low and imagine they need to be connected to key 1 and key 2 on the head unit but at the moment no luck with the right can bus selection, any ideas?

Hector114 said:
Hi, totally new on this just a questions with a new head unit 8227L and steering control. My car is a jeep compass 2008, the android unit os 9.1 XY Auto 3.3 seems to have some factory set options with can bus for many models but not for the jeep compass, I already identify the cables can high and low and imagine they need to be connected to key 1 and key 2 on the head unit but at the moment no luck with the right can bus selection, any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it an MTCD and is the question related to canbus reverse engineering or solving a problem with your headunit.

No, 8227L units are not MTCD/E.

Alternate BT that can connect to XGPS160? [Rockchip PX5 A53 | Android 9.0 | 4GB RAM]

(@Admins I think this is the correct forum to post this in, but please feel free to move it if I've chosen the wrong forum. I'm still figuring out exactly what category my device is in)
TL;DR - Trying to figure out if it's possible to get an external USB Bluetooth dongle working on my radio instead of the built-in one, so I can connect to all types of bluetooth devices, not just streaming audio
Hi all,
I'm searching for a possible solution that would allow me to connect my Android radio (AUTOPUMPKIN AA0495B, using a PX5, MCU CSN2_06252019_163051) to a Dual XGPS160 device. I installed this stereo in my track car for the purpose of running Harry's Lap Timer; currently the app is running perfectly, with a wired OBDLink EX in use for OBDII data and also connecting to a GoPro via WiFi to control the camera. The last piece of the puzzle is I want to get an XGPS160 connected for better GPS data capture (10Hz vs 1Hz of the radio's GPS). After hours spent trying to get it to pair and connect to the device, I emailed AUTOPUMPKIN support and they confirmed that this radio cannot connect to such devices, as the Bluetooth module in the radio is essentially a glorified bluetooth headset and can only connect for streaming audio (I haven't been able to determine the model number of the bluetooth module it uses). My hope is there is a USB Bluetooth dongle that I could plug into the radio and then have the radio use that instead, which would then allow it to connect to the XGPS160 (and any other type of bluetooth device).
When I go into the Car Settings on the radio, it has the following options available for bluetooth:
IVT i140
IVT i145
FC6000TN
GOC_BC5
KD6
KD6 is what is selected from the factory. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is this list is basically the different bluetooth hardware models the radio has driver support for? If I'm correct on that, then I'm also guessing if I were to plug in a bluetooth dongle using one of the other models and change this setting, the radio would use that instead of the built-in bluetooth? I don't use the bluetooth audio streaming or phone tethering feature, so I don't care if I lose those features if it allows me to connect the radio to the XGPS160. As long as the WiFi keeps working I'm ok with it.
Sorry if I'm asking any stupid questions; I'm a programmer by background, but even after hours of reading this forum my knowledge about the hardware in these Android radio units is still very limited. That being said, I'm not opposed to modifying config files to get this working. I have Android Developer mode enabled and I can connect to the radio via ADB; I spent some time looking at the file structure and various config files so modifying those if needed shouldn't be a problem for me.
thanks!

There was another (lengthy) thread on the subject of bluetooth dongles around here somewhere. You will have to do a search for it. If I remember correctly you had to open your head unit and physically disconnect your original bt module... and even with that there was limited success in getting the thing to actually work....and of those who claimed they did get it to work also said they couldn't get anything more to connect to the dongle than what the original BT could handle
It's too bad too. I have a sound processor on my system which uses an app through BT on my phone to make adjustments and I was HOPING it would connect to the head unit. It won't
BTW... your obdlink ex usb will also work with Torque (Pro). I use it with torque and it's blazing fast and reliable.... a lot more than a BT connection!

deja100 said:
(@Admins I think this is the correct forum to post this in, but please feel free to move it if I've chosen the wrong forum. I'm still figuring out exactly what category my device is in)
TL;DR - Trying to figure out if it's possible to get an external USB Bluetooth dongle working on my radio instead of the built-in one, so I can connect to all types of bluetooth devices, not just streaming audio
Hi all,
I'm searching for a possible solution that would allow me to connect my Android radio (AUTOPUMPKIN AA0495B, using a PX5, MCU CSN2_06252019_163051) to a Dual XGPS160 device. I installed this stereo in my track car for the purpose of running Harry's Lap Timer; currently the app is running perfectly, with a wired OBDLink EX in use for OBDII data and also connecting to a GoPro via WiFi to control the camera. The last piece of the puzzle is I want to get an XGPS160 connected for better GPS data capture (10Hz vs 1Hz of the radio's GPS). After hours spent trying to get it to pair and connect to the device, I emailed AUTOPUMPKIN support and they confirmed that this radio cannot connect to such devices, as the Bluetooth module in the radio is essentially a glorified bluetooth headset and can only connect for streaming audio (I haven't been able to determine the model number of the bluetooth module it uses). My hope is there is a USB Bluetooth dongle that I could plug into the radio and then have the radio use that instead, which would then allow it to connect to the XGPS160 (and any other type of bluetooth device).
When I go into the Car Settings on the radio, it has the following options available for bluetooth:
IVT i140
IVT i145
FC6000TN
GOC_BC5
KD6
KD6 is what is selected from the factory. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is this list is basically the different bluetooth hardware models the radio has driver support for? If I'm correct on that, then I'm also guessing if I were to plug in a bluetooth dongle using one of the other models and change this setting, the radio would use that instead of the built-in bluetooth? I don't use the bluetooth audio streaming or phone tethering feature, so I don't care if I lose those features if it allows me to connect the radio to the XGPS160. As long as the WiFi keeps working I'm ok with it.
Sorry if I'm asking any stupid questions; I'm a programmer by background, but even after hours of reading this forum my knowledge about the hardware in these Android radio units is still very limited. That being said, I'm not opposed to modifying config files to get this working. I have Android Developer mode enabled and I can connect to the radio via ADB; I spent some time looking at the file structure and various config files so modifying those if needed shouldn't be a problem for me.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No; it must be a specific BT type MD725 realtek device. No, you cant connect all manner of devices due to the hacked BT implementation.

Bob_Sanders said:
There was another (lengthy) thread on the subject of bluetooth dongles around here somewhere. You will have to do a search for it. If I remember correctly you had to open your head unit and physically disconnect your original bt module... and even with that there was limited success in getting the thing to actually work....and of those who claimed they did get it to work also said they couldn't get anything more to connect to the dongle than what the original BT could handle
It's too bad too. I have a sound processor on my system which uses an app through BT on my phone to make adjustments and I was HOPING it would connect to the head unit. It won't
BTW... your obdlink ex usb will also work with Torque (Pro). I use it with torque and it's blazing fast and reliable.... a lot more than a BT connection!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh I found that threat in my searches, but no one in there quite mentioned this specific scenario (Selecting one of the other options in the Bluetooth settings) so I wasn't sure. And I'm definitely not opening up the unit and cutting on the hardware; hacking config files I can do all day long, but I have no skills when it comes to soldering so I'd probably just destroy the radio in the process of trying to cut that module :laugh:
Yeh I've run the OBDLink EX with Torque as well for data logging temps on track and it worked flawlessly for that as well. BT is definitely more convenient, especially since most are running apps from their phones, but if you have a dedicated radio like these then it's a no-brainer to permanently wire up a USB device.

marchnz said:
No; it must be a specific BT type MD725 realtek device. No, you cant connect all manner of devices due to the hacked BT implementation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say "hacked BT implementation" I'm assuming you mean they don't use the standard Bluetooth stack built into the Android OS? That would make sense, as when I try to do anything with bluetooth from the standard Bluetooth settings menu, it doesn't do anything, doesn't see any devices available for pairing, or anything else. You can only see other devices and pair to them from the PUMPKIN Bluetooth app; the funny thing is it will go through the first steps and show the XGPS160 as being paired, but none of the apps that use the GPS actually see it as a paired device (my OBD dongle shows up, but not the GPS).
I don't understand why they didn't just use standard bluetooth that's already part of the OS, rather than use some hacky custom solution

Quick update since the last post. Spent some time tonight on google looking up the information I could find on those other bluetooth modules in the list of options on my stereo. Based on technical manuals and FCC documents, it appears the FC6000TN and BC5 are audio-only bluetooth chips that only support A2DP profile (basically the same as what I have now with the KD6); Now the IVT i140 and IVT i145 on the other hand appear to be full fledged bluetooth chips, and do support the SPP (Serial Port Protocol) that is needed by the XGPS160 (and many other bluetooth profiles) so in theory that would work. Unfortunately after searching for both of those, all I can find are ones in bare module form (i145 and i140) that would have to be soldered onto the board (assuming the pins are even compatible) and there are no USB versions of them that I could just plug in to my radio's free USB-A slot. The only thing even remotely close that comes up in Google in USB form is this adapter and I'm pretty sure it's not based on the i140 or i145.
Given that my soldering skills are non-existent, it seems I'm pretty much out of luck on getting this to work. Disappointing for sure, as I would gladly have paid more $ for the unit to come with a fully functional bluetooth module instead of this hacked audio only junk they put in it :/

deja100 said:
Quick update since the last post. Spent some time tonight on google looking up the information I could find on those other bluetooth modules in the list of options on my stereo. Based on technical manuals and FCC documents, it appears the FC6000TN and BC5 are audio-only bluetooth chips that only support A2DP profile (basically the same as what I have now with the KD6); Now the IVT i140 and IVT i145 on the other hand appear to be full fledged bluetooth chips, and do support the SPP (Serial Port Protocol) that is needed by the XGPS160 (and many other bluetooth profiles) so in theory that would work. Unfortunately after searching for both of those, all I can find are ones in bare module form (i145 and i140) that would have to be soldered onto the board (assuming the pins are even compatible) and there are no USB versions of them that I could just plug in to my radio's free USB-A slot. The only thing even remotely close that comes up in Google in USB form is this adapter and I'm pretty sure it's not based on the i140 or i145.
Given that my soldering skills are non-existent, it seems I'm pretty much out of luck on getting this to work. Disappointing for sure, as I would gladly have paid more $ for the unit to come with a fully functional bluetooth module instead of this hacked audio only junk they put in it :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, It wouldn't matter which BT you use from the supported BT types, BT implementation is non-standard to do stuff like act as a BT hands-free.

marchnz said:
Unfortunately, It wouldn't matter which BT you use from the supported BT types, BT implementation is non-standard to do stuff like act as a BT hands-free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh, that's extremely disappointing Does anyone know of any Android based radio units that have full working bluetooth? I don't mind buying a new unit for the car if I know it will work with everything.

The old intel sofia units (mtcd as well) had the bluetooth & wifi ibtegrated into the soc...and they had a standard (or at least more profiles) implemented
Enviado desde mi SM-G975F mediante Tapatalk

ikerg said:
The old intel sofia units (mtcd as well) had the bluetooth & wifi ibtegrated into the soc...and they had a standard (or at least more profiles) implemented
Enviado desde mi SM-G975F mediante Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bummer they don't make those units anymore :/ Then again, they may not have been powerful enough to run my track timer apps anyway.

Hal9K Android Head Unit - New User, with out a user's Manual

Greetings XDA Forum,
I am writing from Australia. A few days ago, I purchased a 2nd Hand Car.....a VW Multivan. This car has the Hal9K v3.1 Head Unit. (px5 Android Version 8)
The seller showed me some of the features with this Head Unit, when I did the test drive........Before buying the car, the seller said that he will remove his information from the Head Unit.....Upon collecting the car, he informed me that he Reset the Head Unit.....Now all of the wonderful features that he had shown me are gone.....He did not give me a user's manual, (he doesn't have it)......I have been able to discover some videos on Youtube.....but nothing that really shows me how to set up the Head Unit, and customize it to match my car, and my desires.
For example:
In the Head Unit Set-up, will like to Select the VW and Mulitvan setting, so that when I reverse, it displays a Multivan......I can easily locate the VW symbol, but can't find a Multivan/Transporter option, in the selection of cars in the list....at the moment, the visual shows a normal car. On the Test Drive, the reserve image displayed a Multivan, and the seller made a strong "Selling Point" of the positivity and customizing ability of this Head Unit. I will like to Customize the Head Unit to my specifications.
The Audio-input (3mm socket) doesn't respond, and there is no audio-in App, but there is an AVIN app (Audio-Visual-input).....so I cannot use my iPod (yes, an iPod...I am Old School).
I will like to set-up Apple Car Play, so that I can:
use the TomTom navigator app from the iPhone, onto the Head Unit.
make calls from the iphone contact list.
...........but I can't seem to understand how to create the connection between the Android Head Unit, to the iPhone.....Perhaps I need an app that will let the two Operating Systems work together. (iPhone connecting to Android Head Unit)
Prior to discovering this forum, I have been using the head unit. I am connecting the iPhone to the Head Unit, using "Bluetooth" & an internet "Hotspot"...I can receive & make calls, I have my iPhone attached to the windscreen, and I can select a contact from the iPhone, which then appears on the Head Unit as a number, not as the Contact name. I am using my gmail account through the Head Unit for Navigation purposes, which works great......But I wish to Customize it, to operate the TomTom navigator which is already on the iPhone.
I hope that you guys & gals can help.
All advice, suggestions and ideas, are truly appreciated.
Thank you.
Stephen

You need to look at this section of xda. Find your correct model from the "about" section of of settings, find the operating system installed for that model and follow all the guides.
This section will have all the answers you need
Head Units
forum.xda-developers.com

jbgooner said:
You need to look at this section of xda. Find your correct model from the "about" section of of settings, find the operating system installed for that model and follow all the guides.
This section will have all the answers you need
Head Units
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply jbgooner......I clicked on the link that you shared, and I couldn't locate the MCU that matches the system in my car. The MCU in my car is: MTCE_HA_V3.30_1
I then completed a search for MTCE_HA_V3.30_1 and received no matches.
I am a complete beginner with these Android Head Units.....it seems that a person does require some computer skills (perhaps in computer programming??) to set up and customise these Head Units for the Make & Model of the Car......I am slowly researching what I can and realise that I have entered an entire new world of technology, that I didn't know existed. It will be pretty cool to understand this technology and use it accordingly.