Hi All,
I received my new unit VL 131N2 (Intel 2GB 9 Inch VW unit) for VW Passat 2012 B7 Kombiwagen and few preliminary thoughts on it if it helps others :
Ordering Process and unpacking :
Placing the order was a breeze and got a 7% discount on the unit totalling to 303 Euro from Germany warehouse. Unit was shipped next day and was at my door step in 2 days.
Unit was shipped with relevant cables as outlined and nothing was damaged or broken. Good packaging !! There were 2 radio cables and i have no idea why. Anyways in short everything went good.
Installation :
To replace the unit with my existing RNS310 unit took hardly 10 minutes after i studied the cables and connected them. However routing the 2 USB cables to Glove box took more than 2 hours as i struggled
to route it via small ducts in my Passat. My hands were swollen trying to reach the cable via those small openings ! In the end i used a kitchen utensil with hook in the end to pull the cable
Another difficulty i found was tucking away all those cables behind the head unit ! Due to the additional CAN bus and GPS cable etc, i had to literally push the cables with force since there wasnt much room
behind the head unit holder and the cables were stiff. All in all , i was satisfied with the fit and finish of the unit. It is worth the money !!
Initial Impression :
For 300 euro chinese unit, i have to admit it is built solid and the casing is very sturdy. The cables are strong enough and seems robust. The screen is glossy and seems responsive enough. However not close to
the sensitivity of an actual nexus tablet or anything but good enough for a car head unit. The very first boot was just few seconds and subsequent boots are also fast (since it is in standby mode).
I was shipped the unit with December firmware and home screen looks untidy. I will do the firmware upgrade and replace the home screen with " Car launcher Pro " which seems very nice.
Google Play service crashed couple of times when i was trying to open Google maps, i think i will also update the play services. Now for some Pro's and Con's :
Pros :
Solid build , 9 inch real estate , responsive enough screen , fast installation , perfect fit (mine was VW specific unit) , fast launch of apps , no lag between apps, plenty of memory to have both Navi and music
simultaneously, 128GB USB drive support, Sound quality seems on par with OEM, Steering wheel control support
Cons :
Screen color calibration is awful !! The whites are so white that it looks washed out when i load Google maps or applications with light UI --> Any fix for this ? Searched the forum but couldn't find anything. Can i use " Screen Calibrators " from play store ? Do i need to be rooted ?
Park Assist Sensor support --> The front and rear sensors are supported but the " visualization " of CAN bus data is ****ty. The image only appears if there is actual obstacle else it goes back to home screen even if the reverse gear is engaged. The visualization keeps popping up whenever there is CAN bus data and this is extremely annoying. Will inform Joying about this and hope they fix it by retaining the image as long as reverse gear is engaged
Delays and design of on screen information --> The color of the Climatronic , Door open information information is bad. It is orange and looks ugly with overlay. Wish there was an option to change it to Black
The information takes some seconds (2-3) to appear on screen which is not good. Anyways hope the new firmware has fixed at least some issues.
Things yet to check :
Bluetooth call quality, Software tweaks viz. replace music app with poweramp, rooting , Home screen change etc etc.
Anyways hope this post helps in case somebody is purchasing this unit for VW Passat and thanks to this forum which gave me lot of information about these Chinese units
Here are some pictures for reference..
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Hi,
nice review,
I also bought this unit, I'm not sure but I think you can change colors in settings (not the Android settings, it's the joying settings app, I can't remember the name at the moment)
I agree with the terrible can-Bus information visualization, so I disabled it (root necessary)
At last I can say, if you buy this item from Germany, you can get it on ebay for about 280€ via price request (maybe cheaper?)
Hi everyone,
Due to the lack of (and dispersed) information about these particular head units, here's a thread where we can discuss and help each other out to make the most of these units. Please note this thread is not for Sofia or MCDB/C/D/E units, there are ample threads about those. I am not a full-time software developer, so please do correct me if you think I'm wrong about something. Please do think twice before experimenting on your unit, no one else is responsible for it but yourself. I'm also dying for a custom ROM, if there's any dev making one for these, please know I'm availing my unit for experimentation. It is a powerful Unit which unfortunately is plagued by software problems which is why I believe a dev can make a better job than the manufacturer.
Also, special thanks to @surfer63 for his Joying Extra Tools (JET apk) which has been a critical tool for rooting, among other things.
I will be taking the unit out of the car and opening it up to install a heat sink and take some pictures of the insides, let me know if anyone's interested in close-ups of anything on the board.
{Reserved for Hardware}
The unit was advertised as compatible with BMW X5 and E39 (5series 1996-2001). My car is a 1997 520i with the low-end dashboard so that's the context I'll be speaking in. The unit shipped complete with adapter cables which connect to the original connectors for the radio, magnetic GPS antenna, external mic (more on the internal mic later), 2 USB ports which are permanently attached to the unit (as well as an sd card slot), a couple of flimsy brackets which screw in place of the original radio holder. However 2 screws which attach the unit to the brackets were not provided and i had to rummage around until i found 2 screws that fit. Unfortunately the original radio antenna cable on the car doesn't fit the unit, however the bundle of cables has an antenna plug with it, it's just a matter of replacing it (someday, as I don't really use radio at all).
The Unit is reporting to have an ARM64-v8a architecture and an rk30sdk board, 4GB RAM as well as 32GB of internal storage. External storage is detected almost immediately as well and I had no problems with files stored on a pendrive. The CPU tends to run hot, occasionally going beyond 80degrees Celcius, I therefore have a small fan and heatsink ordered which I will try to squeeze into the single-DIN box. Worth mentioning it has buttons and a knob on either side of the screen which are backlit and positively responsive. Regarding the in-built microphone, it "works" in theory, ie. it hears you if you tap on it, but it doesn't hear my voice even with the engine idling, let alone cruising down the autobahn. Fortunately it comes with an external mic, I'll hook it up when I pull it out for the fan job.
{Reserved for Software}
This is the latest ROM & MCU update from the manufacturer:
Android Version: 8.0.0
Build number: px5-userdebug 8.0.0 OPR5.170623.007 eng.bsp.20181107.190240 test-keys
System info: APP 1024x600 2018-11-23 08:48:14
MCU Version: 2018-11-23 16:12:28 JY_(R68*)__26_C26_CAN(All)
BT Version: BLINK_8723DS_RELEASE/2018:10:08:17:05:26
DigitalAmp Version: Unknown
CAN Version: Unknown
Serial Number: 00000000
I'm not going to give the Wifi Mac address for obvious reasons.
Cold boots are pretty quick, it's usually done in half a minute. It has a rudimentary "recovery" mode which is achieved by pressing the reset button with a needle 3 times, and after a pause, a countdown is shown under the boot logo, at which point one has to insert the SD card into the right hand slot. If it identifies the ROM on the SD card as equivalent or better, it starts flashing. If it doesn't recognise it, it does apparently nothing and leaves you with a black screen until you remove the SD card and boot it up again.
I have on several occasions attempted to flash TWRP recovery image as well on the unit, with no success.
Description of operation & issues:
Ever since the latest ROM Update, I've been having issues with the WiFi: despite the dozen wifi hotspots around the neighbourhood including my phone and home wifi, the unit doesn't "see" any until I completely reboot it.
The ROM provided by the manufacturer doesn't have a proper bluetooth menu. Despite being equipped with Bluetooth 4.0, as it stands for now, there is no proper bluetooth menu like you get on your phone/tablet/etc... a bluetooth app shortcut does open this menu but the menu doesn't offer any options or work at all except for the on/off toggle.
The CPU runs hot, it is a well known issue and I'm intending to install a heat sink and fan on it.
Several other settings menu items usually found on phones are also missing.
There buttons of course are lit up but the colour options are just 7. There is no way to choose your own colour and I don't know of any app that can do it on this particular model.
So I've opened up the unit and took some pictures before i stuck on a few small heatsinks on the FYT6026 bigger metal heatsink as well as a small fan. I've not taken pictures of what I've done, but you can all suppose how it's set up. It's pretty easy. I've got more closeups of the board for whoever wants to see them, just ask.
Hey @surfer63 or @gtxaspec @xxRaiyanxxYT do you know what the connector circled in red (4 pins) is for? It was not connected to anything in my unit. The other 2 are USB (5 pins) and the one on top (2pins) is microphone.
Sorry didnt upload for some reason.
Kyle M. said:
Sorry didnt upload for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connect those Plugs Red, Green and Blue
Wondering that myself... Could it be power for a fan?
I have the same unused plug in mine.
Any info would be appreciated
Cheers,
xxRaiyanxxYT said:
Connect those Plugs Red, Green and Blue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? No you didn't understand. I disconnected the plugs before i took the picture to get a clearer view of the board. The 2 plugs in the Blue circle are both for USB cables that go out from behind the unit, and the green one is for the external microphone which I also use. The one I don't know about is the one in the red circle. it was not connected to anything when I opened the unit and I'd like to know what it might be useful for.
Junior_1967 said:
I have the same unused plug in mine.
Any info would be appreciated
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking the same thing, I was going to hook the fan up to them but I needed to measure the voltages across those pins and my car is downstairs in the basement and I don't have a proper kit to power the it up on the bench. I would've made one but I was in a hurry yesterday. I need a whole day to mess around with it properly and find out what each part does but right now I'm working through the weekends until the end of the year. Until I get some time like that, I'm trying to gather some more info about it so I won't take it out for nothing (it's a ***** to install this unit back in the car).
Kyle M. said:
I was thinking the same thing, I was going to hook the fan up to them but I needed to measure the voltages across those pins and my car is downstairs in the basement and I don't have a proper kit to power the it up on the bench. I would've made one but I was in a hurry yesterday. I need a whole day to mess around with it properly and find out what each part does but right now I'm working through the weekends until the end of the year. Until I get some time like that, I'm trying to gather some more info about it so I won't take it out for nothing (it's a ***** to install this unit back in the car).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will see what I can do.. Running my unit on the bench right now with a CPU power supply...
Might be able to test it tonight.. If not it will go to this weekend I'm afraid..
Junior_1967 said:
I will see what I can do.. Running my unit on the bench right now with a CPU power supply...
Might be able to test it tonight.. If not it will go to this weekend I'm afraid..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good stuff, that'd be great, thanks! Which unit have you got? (specs) And have you managed to change the bootloader or flash a custom rom on it? Feel free to share pics of the motherboard.
Kyle M. said:
Good stuff, that'd be great, thanks! Which unit have you got? (specs) And have you managed to change the bootloader or flash a custom rom on it? Feel free to share pics of the motherboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the JY-HOS01P4
8.8" 4GB/32GB
No Hardware button at all. Not reset hole.. nada (Will make it easier to weatherproof.. )
Will at some point put a heatsink on it.. But being single DIN the room is limited...
So far I have only have it rooted and JET installed on it.
I do not think I will mess with the bootloader/custom ROM as it does pretty much what I want out of the box.
Testing different software now.
And the unit will be installed in my HD Roadglide.
So basically the sound output will be 2 fold:
Speakers driven by an external AMP so I can shut of sound by turn the amp off thru the settings
Bluetooth comms headset connected to a bluetooth transmitter taking it's input from RCA jacks
My requirements are the following:
Launcher: CarWebGuru
Radio -> will use stock app
MP3 -> Still testing players but for now I'm happy with google play music
GPS -> Osmand+ with data on SD card
Phone-> Android Auto + Headunit Reloaded (will finish testing and probably will buy.. Do not link ZLink.. even thought it works sort of ok) At this point I'm able to dial/see the phone on the radio and hear/talk with my BT headset
That is pretty much it.. Might attempt to put a DVR at some point...
I'll take a pic tonight of the board but aside from the location of that big capacitor (Mine is beside the wall of the radio) it is pretty much the same as yours.
Junior_1967 said:
I have the JY-HOS01P4
8.8" 4GB/32GB
No Hardware button at all. Not reset hole.. nada (Will make it easier to weatherproof.. )
Will at some point put a heatsink on it.. But being single DIN the room is limited...
So far I have only have it rooted and JET installed on it.
I do not think I will mess with the bootloader/custom ROM as it does pretty much what I want out of the box.
Testing different software now.
And the unit will be installed in my HD Roadglide.
So basically the sound output will be 2 fold:
Speakers driven by an external AMP so I can shut of sound by turn the amp off thru the settings
Bluetooth comms headset connected to a bluetooth transmitter taking it's input from RCA jacks
My requirements are the following:
Launcher: CarWebGuru
Radio -> will use stock app
MP3 -> Still testing players but for now I'm happy with google play music
GPS -> Osmand+ with data on SD card
Phone-> Android Auto + Headunit Reloaded (will finish testing and probably will buy.. Do not link ZLink.. even thought it works sort of ok) At this point I'm able to dial/see the phone on the radio and hear/talk with my BT headset
That is pretty much it.. Might attempt to put a DVR at some point...
I'll take a pic tonight of the board but aside from the location of that big capacitor (Mine is beside the wall of the radio) it is pretty much the same as yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see, so what they're doing is basically hooking up a different screen to the same single-din box. Have you had any issues with the wifi since the last update?
Kyle M. said:
Ah I see, so what they're doing is basically hooking up a different screen to the same single-din box. Have you had any issues with the wifi since the last update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not seen any issues.. Mind you I only have an internal network.. Still waiting for internet to be installed ^%@%#
I had to hotspot my phone for connectivity when needed but it is chewing my data!!!
I did all my downloads from work and brought the files/apk home to install.
What kind of issues are you seeing?
Which version of the latest do you have? the first 2018-11-7 or the 2nd 2018-11?
(I hate how the have they same file name.. Joying is pretty bad naming stuff...)
Hi,
I tested the header last night and got nothing. 0 power
Now, I have not had the time to play with the settings in the radio so I do not know if something would turn that on.
Cheers,
haven't tested it myself, but from my memory this red-circled connector has something to do with audio (either Ins or Outs).
Here is the picture of the inside of the single DIN unit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dnf4p64l5a1gizc/20181212_202622.jpg?dl=0
Cheers
Junior_1967 said:
Which version of the latest do you have? the first 2018-11-7 or the 2nd 2018-11?
(I hate how the have they same file name.. Joying is pretty bad naming stuff...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't realise they published the 2018-11. I downloaded the previous update, 2018-11-7. I think they published the second one after the first november update gave us issues and somehow forgot to put the full date on it. I'll try flashing that update at some point and see what happens.
Hi all.
I came across a dead Joying Sofia 1 Din 10.1 device (with SOM FYT6021) recently and would like to ask for support to maybe get it back to live. Do not know exact type of device as model ID is left empty on the device label. Did some research on the web and in the forum already, but without success ...
Device is totally dead. No output on the screen, no backlight on the buttons, nothing. Already tried to reset via button - but nothing happened. Tried to measure power output on USB pinout - but there is nothing.
Anything else I can do ? Any tips how to proceed or what else to measure?
Thx & regards,
Oli
Joying Sofia models are by now 2 or more years old. If we take the Chinese build quality into account, it can very well just be dead: end of life.
but one thing to always try is the fuse in the back side of the radio. Is that one still OK?
Direct hit :good: Was simply missing :crying: Was not aware due to missing model type & documentation. Along with a white screen issue, some touch issues and screen buttons not working at all, I was finally able to get it back to live by reseating cable and recalibration of touch panel.
Now I have a light white border around the whole screen which seems to get mostly away the longer the device is running. Any ideas ?
Besides that - nice device. Need to play around a bit with it and maybe install a custom rom ...
Are there replacement digitizer panel's available on the market ? I have a crack in the upper left corner which is not yet impacting the usability, but if there is a replacement available I might replace it … In addition would be nice to know if upgrade SOM (FYT6026) is somewhere available fore upgrade ? I only found FYT6021 on aliexpress …
audischrauber said:
...screen buttons not working at all...
Now I have a light white border around the whole screen which seems to get mostly away the longer the device is running. Any ideas ?
Are there replacement digitizer panel's available on the market ? I have a crack in the upper left corner which is not yet impacting the usability, but if there is a replacement available I might replace it … In addition would be nice to know if upgrade SOM (FYT6026) is somewhere available fore upgrade ? I only found FYT6021 on aliexpress …
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
W.r.t. screen buttons: Somewhere in the Settings menu or Car Settings menu (can't remember anymore for the Sofia) there is a "MCU Key Panel" On/Off setting. This determines whether the on screen or hardware buttons are active.
Just contact Joying. They do have screens and motherboards. I do not know what they cost byt the way.
After having some chat's with Joying and doing a lot of research on the web I am still not any step forward
Candy from Joying is not able to provide me any spare SoM … nor a spare digitizer/glass panel for a reasonable price.
Any other ideas where to get a FYT 6026 SoM ?
What is the manufacturer of those boards ? FYT / SYU / carsql ? Can't find any web presence …
Furthermore I found some hints that there are Winca/RoadNav S200 units based on FYT as well ? But no details …
Any other ideas ?
Hi guys,
Complete and utter noob when it comes to most of these things but XDA have helped me out many times so I'm hoping somebody can at least guide me in the right direction here.
I have an android aftermarket unit in my BMW X5 e70 (came with the car so details are vague) that has never worked.
I can see the android screen just about (clearer in some light than in others) and vaguely make out the BMW idrive behind the android screen, as if they're overlaying one another.
I've attached a video to try and demonstrate what's happening.
https://imgur.com/a/OV4bFRd
Basically, is this unit screwed or is there anything I can try and do to save it, reflash any firmware the MCU? Reflow a couple of chips maybe? (I assume this is not caused simply by something being loose but I am about to check all connections) I'm in a but if a rush because if it can't be saved I need to order a replacement ASAP to get it fitted before the car is due in the garage for some warranty work (this is not covered unfortunately)
Many thanks in advance!
Try calibration of screen, search the net for how to calibrate for that unit. Usually it is activated by pressing each finger on every corner of touch screen till see calibration windows and guidance for completion.