Need to maintain a log of Motor Vehicle costs and usage.
I've been trialling Personal Vehicle Manager from TwoPeaks and not that excited by it.
Anyone got any better suggestions (be nice )
TIA
Related
Brief background: I am very car electronically savvy; from installing car stereos and remote car starters to building custom car wiring harnesses & programming various control modules + electronics repair/building.
A few months ago I purchased a generic touch screen headunit from Amazon.ca. While it did most of what I wanted it to the fit was bad, there was no provisioning for an external microphone (and the internal one sucked) and there were a few other quirks. I opted to return it.
After some research I found the "Autopumpkin" brand of Android Head Units; they seemed to have an online support presence and they even had a direct fit unit for my car (mkiv VW Golf). In my car I had the factory head-unit with steering wheel controls (which worked nicely) and I had some reservations about it - so I contacted the company via their website:
2016-02-26
Comment: I am looking at purchasing a 11-C0363-US-A for fitment in my 2002 VW Jetta. I have factory steering wheel controls and I am wondering if I require a separate module to make them function properly with this unit?
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2016-02-26
AutoPumpkin <[email protected]>
Dear Customer
Thank you for your interest in our product.
Please don't worry. The power cable slot of this product is like the original radio. So you can just plug and play.
Secondly, this product supports original steering wheel control. Could you pleas check the link?
(URL Removed so I could post)
Any further questions, please feel free to contact us,we'll do our best to help you!
Take care &Have a nice day!
Best Regards!
Eric
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As you can see they got back to me right away; I was quite surprised and happy. The unit is supposed to be direct plug & play with my car and will work with my factory steering wheel controls. I went ahead and purchased my unit:
Thank you for your order from AutoPumpkin. Once your package ships we will send an email with a link to track your order. If you have any questions about your order please contact us at sales @autopumpkin.comor call us at Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm PST.
Your order confirmation is below. Thank you again for your business.
Your Order #100004246 (placed on February 26, 2016 4:31:01 AM PST)
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There was some confusion with regard to my Postal Code and the City in which I live; the folks at AutoPumpkin had some very old data somehow which was listing me as being in a wrong city. This delayed the unit being shipped by a week and a bit:
2016-03-07
Pumpkin Car Stereo Support Center <[email protected]>
to me
Hi,XXXXXX
Thank you for your message!
The "XXXXXXXX" works,thank you for your supporting.DHL will ship out your package as soon as possible.
Any more question,please feel free to contact us.
Best Regards,
Cherry Autopumpkin
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I received my headunit about a week later (understandable given it was coming from China) and had to pay duties on it (also wasn't unexpected).
Out of the box I could tell I was going to have an issue; the unit looked great etc but the adapter for the antenna was different than what was in my car. I have an early VW so I have the single smaller round disc connector (later cars apparently have some sort of dual plug amplified setup). Fortunately I had a spare antenna adapter harness for my style of car and I was quickly in action.
While the unit came with two different harness adapters for the two different plug configurations I realized right away that the adapter harness for the early style didn't have wires connected for steering wheel controls. With my early style harness the control wire is in a separate harness; I figured I would have to wire it up manually.
I installed the unit and was quite happy with it all things aside; it works great and as I intended. Shortly after plugging it in for the first time I realized the supplied harness wasn't quite right. The IGN and +ve Constant power wires were reversed. Every time I shut off the ignition the unit would die completely and loose all radio presets etc. I swapped the pins in the included harness and was in business. Things were working as expected; but the "Instrument" dimmer wire also wasn't connected. I hooked this up to the instrument dimmer wire but it has no impact on the lights being on/off nor the screen brightness.
I hooked up a USB webcam and configured it for use as a dash cam; I played with software etc. I plugged in the external Mic but it appeared to be dead to the world (no impact at all) and, through my brief research, discovered it was common for terrible mic quality but people were unhooking the front facing mics and soldering leads on the Bluetooth module directly for excellent quality results. I was not scared of doing this; when I had time.
I, unfortunately, was pretty busy with other things in life and didn't have a whole lot of time to play around with trying to make the steering wheel controls work. When I finally got around to it I wasn't having any luck at all making them work. I scoured the internet looking for people having similar issues but didn't run across any information specific to my issue; so I sent an email directly to the original email reply I got from AutoPumpkin assuring me everything would work.
2016-03-16
Hello!
I have received my AutoPumpkin unit (11-C0363-US-A) and have it (mostly) installed. One thing that I am having some difficulty with is the Steering Wheel controls. My car is the "early" style wiring and it is not plug-and-play with the harness that is pre-wired for the steering wheel controls. I also had the following problems:
- IGN & +12 wires were backwards (I was able to fix this)
- My antenna is not the same as the included adapter, fortunately I had the necessary one from another stereo.
Can you please help by telling me what wires/pins I should use to connect my stereo to the steeringwheel controls?
Thank you,
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Attached Image:
*Can't attach images yet due to not enough posts*
2016-03-22
Hello,
Thanks for your interest in our pumpkin items.
Could you kindly take a photo of your harness of your original car, (see image)
Then we will help you to check the SWC function
Thanks and waiting for your sooner reply.
Best Regards,
Monica autopumpkin.
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Attached Image:
*Can't attach images yet due to not enough posts*
2016-03-27
to AutoPumpkin
Sorry for the delay, here are some photos.
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Attached Images *Can't attach images yet due to not enough posts*
I waited a few days and sent them another email.
2016-03-30
to AutoPumpkin
Any advice?
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I waited a week(+) and sent them yet another email.
2016-04-08
to AutoPumpkin
Could I please get some sort of indication on how I should proceed? It has been nearly 2 weeks and I have not heard from you. I was assured this would work with my car before I purchased it and I am unable to get it to do so.
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It has since been several more days and I have yet to hear anything from the company either way.
This past weekend I disconnected the internal microphone from the face of the unit (cut a trace) and have determined that the provisioning for the external mic doesn't work at all. I've tried several different mics and can't get even a hint of static out of the thing when plugging/unplugging the mics in (Called a buddy's cellphone from my paired phone and listened). The internals of my unit are a fair bit different than anything else I've found online & my Bluetooth module/main boards aren't as conveniently labeled so no soldering happened.
Ultimately I have 2 outstanding questions to be happy with this unit:
How do I get my Steering Wheel controls working?
How do I make the external Mic work with this unit?
I should also add that I received the following:
2016-03-29
Dear Customer,
This is Cherry from Autopumpkin.Thank you so much for your order on Autopumpkin.
We would like to build cooperation with you and promote our products at the website (URL Removed because I'm a n00b and can't post it)
Could you please tell us how much will it cost to publish 3 to 5 posts per week at these two websites or maybe we can offer you discounts if you still wanna purchase from us?
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Cherry AutoPumpkin
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To which I replied:
2016-03-29
I'd be more inclined to help if my issues with my unit were resolved.
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I haven't heard back from this email address either...
i'm new to the forum but have been lurking and reading up for quite a while on these android head units.
I need to replace the head unit in my 2009 Subaru Forester. I kind of a gadget freak, so these android units caught my eye. I was interested in the DSP units from androidautoshop.com but they warned me away from them and recommended their FX8 units (though they didn't really say why except that they were better quality).
The option I was looking at before the DSP unit was a new XTRONS unit which I could get from amazon. They seem to be well regarded from what I've read and the sound quality sounds like it's pretty good with the new amp chips they are using. Now just the other day I ran across a Dasaita unit on amazon that is specific fit for my vehicle so it wouldn't need an installation kit and BONUS has a 9" screen!
Does anyone have any insight on these units? If I go with an android unit it's going to be to satisfy my tech geek so I'm going to want to be able to customize it.
I need it to have good sound. Doesn't have to be audiophile quality, but good.
Decent to good FM reception.
good connection for Bluetooth (i've heard in particular that some of these units have both connection and sound quality issues with bluetooth)
ability to connect to an ODBII sensor for my car. One that I choose, not dictated to me by the head unit company prefereably.
ability to connect to an aftermarket rear view camera.
able to use Waze and Google maps. preferably with audible directions. also offline mapping for those occasions when I don't have a cell connection.
Ideally I would be connecting these direct to speakers, with the possiblity of adding external amplification down the road.
AndroidAutoShop.com FX8 - I have concerns about them and they don't really say much about why this unit is the best.
XTRONS - seems to be popular from what i've read, though i'm not sure about the bluetooth
Dasaita - love the look of the 9" screen with no ugly install kit. Quite a bit more expensive but possibly worth it? I just can't find much info about these. I think I read somewhere on this site that they were pretty good, but I don't know where and it wasn't about this specific unit.
I'm not allowed to post links to the 3 units above yet, but the first one is on androidautoshop and the last 2 are readily available on Amazon.
Are any of these a good choice for me? or possibly a different recommendation? or should I just forget it and go with a higher end Kenwood or Pioneer head unit with Android Auto and use an HDMI for any video needs? I'm not against tinkering and these seem like a really cool option (possibly saving money over traditional head untis as well) but I don't want to get a giant headache that just never works right.
any help from you guys is greatly appreciated.
I recently purchased a chogath a7 for 03 Accord first is it any good secondly I cannot get the climate display to show for anything the buttons work but no display for it. It's running Oreo with octa core also when I connect to WiFi the time goes back to something not my region in USA NJ I'm willing to pay anyone who can help me.
If
you mean that the AC is not displaying, there is a couple of things you could try but it's not guaranteed it will work. Go to settings, then find car settings and in that menu go into the Factory Settings option. The code is something that you need to find out from the manufacturer. In there there is a canbus menu option. I suppose it will say "No" in there so just try to find the one matching your car. Then press apply and restart the unit. Try to see if the wheel controls work. If not then try to find an app called vehicle information or something similar. Enter that app and see if you get any info. If you dont then get back to the factory settings again and try another CANbus setting. There might be 2-3 that work on your make/model.
If nothing works and you lose the wheel controls, just change that setting back to "No" and you will need to live without AC and open door information
About the steering wheel controls... You mean that you dont get the volume changer graphic on your head unit?
For the wifi issue, you can just disable the auto time setting in the settings and it will never revert back again
Yes and no
With climate my ac works when I got the button but as far as coming up on the screen I just don't know how high or low it is. Like fan speed whether it's dash or dash and feet. The temperature it's set to those things. I get WiFi. And when I go into my settings I don't have any user settings and I do see ether canbus model selections but only one for 7 gen Accord. Is this something a update would fix or a custom rom
Anyone ?
[email protected] said:
Anyone ?
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Did you ever find a solution? I'm in the same boat as you.
N
Nope i went on eBay and asked other sellers to help me but in the mean time the control for climate stopped working completely. It was only the display but now it don't even control it the lights don't light up when i push the button like they used to either. You can't get any help for these units anywhere. It's frustrating. I can't find ROMs updates help information. Apparently all winner makes cops for more then just head units. The brand don't really mean much because underneath there all the same. I have been trying to find any help at all for one of these units and a 03 Accord ex that has factory navigation and i can't get any help and this site is usually pretty good with help. I learned allot about phones on here but it got nothing with help for the head unit or wiring or anything.
You're best bet is to take it to a mechanic, or a person who deals with chinese head units in real life, and get them to set it up for a small fee
Chinese headunits are pretty wierd, you'll most likely be having to experiment on your own..
[email protected] said:
Anyone ?
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I may have a solution for you. Solution is a new CANBUS deocder , the one that supports all settings from your car MCU (decoder interacts with your car computer, some cheap Chinese stuff that came originally with multimedia device are somewhat limited - cheap but expensive in hole multimedia order).
Had similar problems and my seller choosen one of the expensive ones, but I did not order it yet, but told me that this one limited in my car cannot get all the functions from car MCU.
It gave me specs for a most possible replacement so all of you in need of a new canbus to resolve your issues look on Ali Express by this :
- origin : CN
- Year : 2019
- External testing certification : CCC
- Model name: ASPI decoder
The Store on Ali Express is called NEVEGETOR STORE
NOTE: generally this one described works with ALPS multimedia devices
Good luck and tell me if your problem is fixed, post here !
No CANbus, just a bus.
We're doing camper conversion on a 7m long 29-seat Toyota Coaster. It's a 2000 MY. There are no pre-made installs for this model, but we've got 2x3DIN slots (deep) + acres of dash to work with.
We want the usuals, a unit that's responsive and has decent DSP and amp, loads of I/O, google maps, DAB, android auto, but also a 360 camera system that stops us banging into stuff when driving and doubles up as a remotely accessible security system when we're away from the bus (so we'll need to hook into our main power or run two separate camera systems). Don't want to shell out for a cloud subscription when we can host that ourselves. Would also like OBD and TPM to keep an eye on the vital signs on the old girl.
The rig is already going to have 4G/5G wifi and ethernet, a pi cluster SAN, automation with Blynk, Node Red, IFTTT, Google etc. and I want this unit to play nicely. Ideally good quality well implemented hardware, and either open/flexible software or good root/mod support from here. An intuitive modular front dashboard that can be split between nav/radio etc. and either does its own 360 or works well with another system.
I was originally thinking full home baked pi with open auto, etc. but we've got enough going on with the build already and there's more bang for buck with pre-built tech. Then looked at T'Eyes cos it seems to cover the functionality (i.e. the extras are well promoted compared to navigating most stores on AliExpress/Alibaba) but put off by price and proprietary lock-in of software. At this point I'm not even sure whether FYT or MTC_ will suit our purposes best.
Does what I want even exist without me going back to plan A and getting really down and dirty with code and solder? What's the closest I'll get? Happy to hunt around and build up the system from various sources but want to know where the pit traps are and that what I get will fit together.
Thanks
I found this site from a comment on a youtube video where I was researching options for getting a head unit that is better than Toyota included for my Toyota Highlander Limited Hybrid. I'm sorry for the length of this post but I spent hours reading and watching youtube and I think I'm on right path, but I feel like I just need a little validation...
For reference, I'm an Apple mobile and tablet user but I owned a Samsung phone for about 3 months so I know what an Android launcher and the marketplace is. I know there are stores for hacked products, but I ended up with ads all over that phone so I prefer not to go that route. I'm not a big tinkerer - once I get something set where I want it, I won't usually change the settings unless I find a need.
I think my post will give you a good idea about what level of knowledge I have - at least you know I tried. If there is highlander or hybrid specific feedback I'm overlooking somewhere, please let me know. If I'm missing something key to decide between systems let me know.
1. When I look at the forum categories, they are broken up into terms I'm not familiar with. I believe FYT Android is where I need to focus because I see references to the units I'm researching there. But I don't understand why they are considered FYT.
2. I'm trying to stay in the $500 range and get something that works well enough that I'll use it for more than just the radio - without breaking functionality but the canbus thing is new to me. I get the concept - my car's personal IoT/LAN. But does the dash operate independently of the headunit? I sort of feel like somethings will be independent and others will not. For example, I suspect the dash display will know my speed, trip miles, direction (compass), when I need an oil change. But I feel like the option for the radio is fed from the head unit. I feel like anything that appears on my dash when I'm using the GPS (like turn next left) is fed from the head unit. Is that correct? If yes, do those functions usually stop displaying on the dash with a replacement head unit?
3. I have buttons on the dash for different features on the car. I suspect most of those work independently of head unit - like the mirror heaters. But what about accident avoidance features? Those tend to display on my dash - are those possibly affected by a different head unit? And I have a button so I can turn on 360 video - I mainly use it to see how close I am to the car in front of me when parking in a tight space. I suspect that button will work with any head unit that has front camera and/or 360 degree integration.
4. From my research, I have been focusing on units that are 4 GB/64 GB although it sounds like 2 GB/32 GB would work just fine as long as I don't store over 32 GB of apps and data.
5. Items that don't differentiate: I expect these options to be the same result across all units. Please let me know if you know differently.
-Apple car play - All have it & should function exactly the same. (I don't need android phone integration but I know this does differ on units)
-Phone call integration - looks like all use same default android app. I am very interested in how clarity of calls might differ, but I think all are using same default android function and all are able to use an included external microphone.
-Toyota OEM microphone integration - it's unclear if any will integrate with existing Toyota mic but I suspect this won't yield a result I'm happy with in either case.
- Toyota speaker button on wheel control - I think this button fails to work on every integration. I would like this to work but even the Toyota system is so unreliable I don't use it.
- Marketplace apps - All should integrate with marketplace apps exactly the same.
6. So here is my list of options I came up with in order of most likely to least. Is there another brand I should research...
- Teyes CC3 (for highlander 2015-18) - It looks like it matches integration with the best out there. I don't care about the "Porsche simulator", but it still looks like the easiest to use launcher on the market & they are actively updating it. I cannot find the same level of highlander specific details I find on the SYGAV, but reviews seem overwhelmingly positive so I suspect it'll work just as well. My concern is that I have to order directly from alibaba and wait a month to receive and they seem to send wrong parts. I haven't used alibaba but it looks like the customs costs are included in the price of $435 (364+70.76). Does anyone know if this is accurate or if there are other fees? The main complaint I hear with this unit is that it is locked down, but I think that means for adding launchers and the like that I am not interested in.
- SYGAV (for highlander 2015-18) - I don't really love the user interface on this one. But this one is the one I have found most highlander related data on and it gives me some comfort I might have less issues getting it to work. I can find nothing close to this level of detail on the other brands about highlander installs.. I have read user responses that Carplay & android auto require no additional parts to install, 360 degree camera works as well as front camera view, Hybrid info displays. For the camera inputs, it sounds like I can use my OEM cameras but I may need a camera cable adapter (unclear if included in package). One user stated that to get it to work in a highlander, I need to get the Motorola 1 M 2 F & GM adapter to Motorola (for reception). One user states that they have TPMS working, but it's unclear if they connected to the TPMS already in tires or if they had to buy separate TPMS tire plugs. The main complaint is the GPS mapping if basic IGO.
- Dasaita (for highlander 2015-18) - This brand seems like the next most popular after Joying. It looks like they have 3 launchers they develop and you can install whichever you like best. In regard to the UI, I feel like this brand comes in 2nd after Teyes. But I can't find as detailed user experiences with highlander and which functions work and which do not.
- Joying - I am not actively researching this one but everyone seems to be using this one. I was considering this one but I couldn't locate any highlander option anywhere - not even from their website (joyingauto.eu). That sounds like I'd have to figure out the canbus thing on my own and find the plastic frame to put it in my dash & I don't feel like I'm knowledgeable enough to go that route. I really don't understand why this one is so popular above competition - it is one of the highest priced if I buy from the US markets. Everyone that uses it seems to add a separate launcher which makes me question whether Joying's UI development isn't all that great. I know some others lock down their products so you can't tinker as much. Is that why it's popular - because it isn't locked down? If so, I see similar hardware on cheaper units. It sounds like the UI development/support/upgrades is quite a bit of what one is paying for when buying these.
7. Maps - this is one of my major complaints from my Toyota unit . I do not see anything that makes me feel that the maps included with ANY of the units are any better. Most seem to use IGO GPS which seems to get the same complaints I have when using my GPS. I believe the only solution is a unit that includes apple car play. Or am I overlooking any with better mapping functions?
8. JBL audio - I know I have the JBL system in my car and on regular car head units this seems to make a difference with integration, but from my list above, I can't find anything to indicate that any will not work with the JBL system. I'm assuming it is because the car based units have hardware incompatibilities that android based do not, but it's really unclear to me. Can someone provide clarification? On the SYGAV unit, I read a review that it needs an amp to sound as good as an OEM unit, but I think that would apply to all of these units equally. In either case the Toyota JBL system has an AMP under my center console. I can't find this level of integration information but I think all units will connect to the amp.
9. 12 speakers - I feel like this will determine which system is best if I can figure it out... The JBL audio has 12 speakers (one of which is a subwoofer) in 10 locations in the highlander. I can't locate specific details on any of these if anyone gets all the speakers to connect successfully. I did see that one of these brands have 5.1 outputs but I don't really know what I need to be looking for in descriptions to figure this out on each unit. Any suggestions how to figure this out.
10. Video playback - All of these support video playback but it sounds like auto carplay may block mirroring while the car is actively moving. Is the behavior going to be the same across all units? I sort of feel like this is something that works differently across different brands, but I can't find details to figure out which allow video playback when car is moving.
11. Hybrid integration - SYGAV is the only unit I've seen where someone has hybrid info working on a highlander, but I feel like all the systems may work very similarly. I believe the dash display will work independent of the head unit so I can always switch the dash display when I want to see what the hybrid system is doing. I think another brand states it has hybrid integration but I couldn't find any responses where someone had it working successfully.
12. Daytime/Night time modes - I need to validate across all, but I know multiple have tried to integrate this. I do not think any have integrated without a bug. I feel like the ones that are likely to get this right first are Teyes and Dasaita since they are actively developing their UIs. Since these are all android based, I feel like all will have an android setting to dim the display even though the color scheme may not change.
I'm really leaning toward the Teyes because if I imagine myself driving, it looks like the easiest interface to use and they are actively developing. When looking at default display, it looks like the most 'modern' design also.
In case someone else reads this thread trying to figure all this stuff out, XM and HD radio integration may differentiate these units also. I know it doesn't work on some but I don't use either of those so it isn't important to me.
I'm mainly responding to my own post in case someone else is considering a T'eyes unit. I purchased one and I highly under estimated what is involved with getting these units to work. The T'eyes cc3 in my car may go up for auction - just too much of it is unusable.
Note that if you do not like tweeking your cell phone, you might not like these units to begin with - don't expect they'll just work out of the box. Consider hours if not days to configure these things. Also, look at the back of the units - this one came with a 'Toyota" harness which is a bunch of wires to convert all the cables in the back. And it isn't a single harness of wires - it's multiple bags of cables that you have to pick and choose from. You have extra cables and I'm pretty sure the set is missing cables. My car has 2 cables where I only have one adapter that matches them in all harness wiring. So one is unplugged. I have no idea what each cable from my car is used for. But most of the wires only have a single place they can connect in the primary harness. It's all a confusing mess even though I think I have 90% connected to the correct spots.
Not all units are made this way. There is going to be something converting the cables, but some units have some sort of box on the back that has all the cabling converting done for you - so it looks like the cables from the car attach into the unit directly. After my harness was attached, I did not have cables that match everything coming from the car. I feel like that is why things like my my surround cameras do not work. I also have no back up camera working now. That is a pretty big deal.
Also, car play isn't all I thought it would be. It seems to only mirror Apple written apps to the device. I can install apps onto the unit and connect to my phones hotspot, but the connection is very flaky. Unless you are willing to connect the unit with its own sim card, you may be severely limited. I wanted to be able to stream youtube and such while making a weekly 90 minute drive I make. Well, this just doesn't happen because half the time the unit will not connect to my hotspot. It usually connects within 30 minutes of me driving, but I haven't found a reliable way to get it to connect to the hotspot. Usually I'm driving with my phone playing through my phone speakers because audio streaming won't work with wifi/hotspot.
All in all, I wouldn't purchase this again. If I were going to attempt again, I'd go with one of the models that removes the 'harness' from the equation.