Database Users

Xtrons PB7890BP - BMW E90

Hello,
Not sure how common this unit is, but I'm just trying to gain some details about it. I bought it at the weekend, it arrived yesterday and I am keen to work out what is going on. Hopefully some of you experts can help.
1. The instruction manual states that I must connect the long yellow wire to the battery, which will preserve the memory for the clock and radio settings. However, I've seen this on XDA for a similar Eonon:
Settings
scroll down to factory settings
password:126
default power status; memory of last status
apply
exit
yes to reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which essentially means all radio settings are written directly to the NAND. Why wouldn't this be enabled by default as surely it would remove all requirement for that power cable from the battery, unless that power cable is simply powering the clock? I'm wondering if using GPS time might be better for me, rather than spending an age finding a place for this cable to go. Thoughts? I will continue experimenting tonight.
2. So far, the unit has absolutely no problem connecting to my home Wi-Fi but simply won't connect to my S7 Edge Wi-Fi hotspot. Are there any tips to make this work? Perhaps it's something to do with 5GHz or something? I just need it to work with my phone otherwise it's kinda useless
3. This is probably specific to BMW E90 owners, where are you guys hiding your GPS antenna? Nobody really wants it on the dash do they as it looks nasty. I've been reading about places to hide it but some are ridiculous, like running new lines via the roof lining. Surely there's somewhere within the dash that has limited visibility of the sky, but just enough?
4. Steering controls work out of the box, but I am unable to actually set manual ones? Is there any trick to this?
Thanks in advance.

Looks like I'm going to be the crash test dummy for this unit then. So I'll give my thoughts so far:
Audio Quality - Good. Very good actually considering it's a cheap aftermarket jobby. I've not had one that wasn't a Kenwood or Pioneer sound this good. My Erisin was okay, but nothing on this. The Amplifier app (which is a really a glorified Equalizer) allows a fair amount of twiddling, and I used the optimum settings that I was given by a BMW expert and my word, it blows the OEM radio out the water. Great start.
Screen Quality - It is what it is. Its clearly not high def but then they don't claim to be. It's clear enough though and when navigating earlier I had no problem.
Touch Screen - Jury is still out. I've had a few occasions where taps wouldn't register, but you can never tell if its the CPU lagging or not. Other than that, it seems fine.
Wi-Fi - I was sceptical of how this would perform, as it's one of the biggest complaints on these forums. No problems so far though. Connected perfectly to my phone hotspot and I listened with pleasure to Spotify for a good half an hour.
Installation - Easy enough. There is a surprising amount of wiring though so you need to get a bit inventive to get it fully recessed into the dash.
Does it need the yellow wire to the battery or fuse box? Well, I'm not sure. I found the setting I spoke about above, and so far it does appear to be preserving settings correctly. The only thing that is lost is the clock so far, but the clock is automatically picked up from GPS, so it's possibly a none issue.
Bluetooth A2DP - Jury's out. I tried it with YouTube on my phone and felt it sounded a bit thin, but then music on YouTube always sounds a bit dull and lifeless I find. I really need to use Spotify, but then Spotify works well on the unit, so there's no point.............
Bluetooth Calls - Only made one. Positive feedback though. The person on the other end said it was clear and that's always good. My end, well it wasn't as good as my previous Kenwood, but it was clear enough.
Reversing Sensor Integration - Game changer. It's brilliant. I don't have the camera, and I really can't be arsed to fit one. It's a shame I can't disable the stupid triangle that appears informing you that no camera is present, because the unit displays a car with coloured sensors on the back and that's top draw. Very impressed.
I skipped out on the tyre pressure monitoring, but I've got the DAB antenna and hopefully a piece of kit that will make DAB work with my OEM aerial, coming all the way from Germany.
I now need to resolve a few issues with installation. I wanted to route the USB cables and what not to the glovebox, but how the hell I'm supposed to do that I am not sure. I will get onto a BM forum and find out. I will post some photos up when I'm finished. Also, you do have to file a bit of the climate control part, so it fits smooth. Currently, I've wedged it in without the surround but it looks a bit cruddy, so I will do that probably at the weekend.
Current unit issues I am trying to resolve:
- Cannot get the steering wheel app to work at all. The steering buttons work, perfectly fine, but the actual app itself does nothing, so I cannot configure the voice setting for example, to open OK Google.
- FM Radio is dreadful. It was never good to begin with, but it's horrific now.
- Making the previous audio source come back after a cold boot.

ok, so almost had my first snafu tonight. CANBUS integration was 90% broken. no reversing sensor functionality, other than the original beeps, and steering controls not working. I was all but ready to send a snotty e-mail to Xtrons, when I tried booting up the hardware, turning on the ignition, disconnecting the CANBUS box, and then reconnecting it. I think perhaps the car has a fail safe if it thinks something is not right with the CANBUS and just disables it. Disconnecting the CANBUS caused the unit to switch off, I then reconnected it and the unit instantly returned and importantly the clocks sync'd up.
I've noticed if the CANBUS isn't working, temperature and clocks are lost. Hopefully this won't be a recurring theme. I was messing about in factory settings earlier, so I don't want to throw any blame at Xtrons just yet.

OK, so it seems CANBUS Integration is broken when you switch the car off and then return to it after a few seconds/minutes. I am guessing this is because the unit immediately goes into sleep mode when you shutdown the car and the car doesn't like this. I can't be sure until I return to the car in a few hours as not all the subsystems power down immediately. I am going to experiment with setting the unit to power down after 10 minutes. I suppose it's about finding a happy balance. You don't want to drain your battery excessively, but you need to be able to pop into the shops without losing almost 100% of the canbus functionality.
The games continue. I will do some more research.

Right, another update. Returned to the car after an hour. Canbus working fine. Switched it off and on repeatedly and for some reason I couldn't break it. Was solid as a rock. God knows why it failed this morning then. Perhaps it's the unit rather than the car then I will keep an eye and nagg Xtrons if it's problematic going forward.
I've set the ACC delay to 10 minutes but it doesn't seem to make a difference. It still powers off :| I don't think it does it any favours it powering off though.

Another update. So, if you leave your car for a few minutes, the canbus goes dead and is nonoperational until the next time you leave it for a while . I've not timed it specifically, but it's definitely happening. Wonder if it's the car or the radio causing these problems?

I will eventually merge this all into a single reply which can form the basis of the thread for this device. I'm guessing the price is somewhat blocking it's widespread popularity. I must admit, it's not easy throwing 300+ quid at a Chinese head unit.
Anyway, another update on this Canbus issue. I think the problem is both the car and the head unit. The head unit is 'half' going into Deep Sleep when I switch the car off. It's not fully entering deep sleep. Hence when I get back in the car within a few minutes, the device is still 'powering down'. It then immediately wakes up and usually, canbus functionality is lost. I wonder if there's a command that's not being sent or something and the canbus then falls into a bad state. Once in this state, it's nearly impossible to get out of it. You just have to wait until the car is fully powered down (about 30-60 mins).
The only thing this could be, other than a software bug, is because I've not wired that yellow wire in. Now the guys at Xtrons said it's just for the memory and clock, but I've proven that you don't need that wire to store the memory and the clock can be updated via GPS. So, could it be that the yellow wire also acts as a secondary 'accessory' line? God knows. Before I start tearing my car apart to run wires or trying to access the fuse box to tap them, I will run it through the cabin and to the battery which sits in the boot. Sounds lethal and very dirty, but this to me is the simplest way of finding out what the crack is.

Bingo. I've potentially found the fix/hack for CANBUS bugs and it might not require the yellow wire to be connected. I think the issues are probably caused by not connecting up that wire, but doing so is a bit of a pain. I'll need to route it to the fusebox or battery etc. blah blah. I'll maybe try for academic reasons at the weekend.
It definitely is the unit rather than the car I think. It appears to trigger some kind of 'bad state' when you switch off the ignition. What I have observed is that the unit never quite reaches deep sleep, you then enter the car a few minutes later and the unit is essentially half powered down, at which point it continues into deep sleep then immediately 'unsleeps'. At this point, all canbus integration has been lost, SWC, PDC, all dead. I think perhaps because it's continuing to enter deep sleep when you re-trigger the ignition, it is effectively powering down the canbus subsystem. This is then dead for the next hour unless the unit will power it back on, which is surprisingly awkward.
So...... the fix/hack, at least, so far, is to set Shutdown Delay when ACC OFF to 30 seconds, rather than Auto Sleep. The auto sleep mode never fully powers down the unit and that is the whole point I guess. If you set it to 30 seconds, the unit continues to power down after you've left the vehicle and perhaps it continues the correct shutdown of the canbus system. When you re-enter and trigger the ignition, it then powers it up again properly, or so it would seem anyway. One thing I will say, in auto sleep, if you don't fully engage the ignition, this also caused issues. With it powered down, I think the unit will not come back on until ignition is at least in accessory mode, so hopefully that problem is also gone.
The ONLY negative of this fix, is the fact that the unit boots from cold every time you start the car. Booting takes, I don't know 20-30 seconds ish? Not ideal, I'll admit, but it's definitely better than losing all CANBUS integration and not being able to operate steering controls and having your parking sensors work correctly. They're important after all.
I will test, as I say, for academic reasons at the weekend and if it does work, maybe the ends justify the means, but only if I can get the wire into the bloody fusebox

Skeeza,
Thanks for posting and tracking all of your work. I have the PE9890BPL (9in screen, no cd/dvd) and have been encountering some of the same issues as you. I do believe there are issues with the CANBUS integration as I have multiple issues associated with this harness. More than 75% (installed 2 days ago so 3/4 trips) of the time I have no steering wheel controls and the unit does not link (time and temp) to the center console. I do have the yellow wire connected in my fuse box but I just discovered that the fuse I tapped into may not be always on. I found a fuse that is reportedly always on listed on XDA so I swapped it and I will report if that does/does not correct my issue.
My time also does not display correctly. I do not have it connected to 4G/LTE and I would prefer not to if I do not have to, but I will. I manually set the time and it still loses it. The radio presets have also disappeared once. Perhaps swapping the yellow wire will correct this as well.
Finally I agree that music via bluetooth is "thin." Volume is very different than the FM radio and there is no base.

FYI I just received an email back from Xtrons about my intermittent CANBUS. They didn't ask any questions about installation or suggest any firmware changes, just said they would send me a new one.

jerkeife said:
Skeeza,
Thanks for posting and tracking all of your work. I have the PE9890BPL (9in screen, no cd/dvd) and have been encountering some of the same issues as you. I do believe there are issues with the CANBUS integration as I have multiple issues associated with this harness. More than 75% (installed 2 days ago so 3/4 trips) of the time I have no steering wheel controls and the unit does not link (time and temp) to the center console. I do have the yellow wire connected in my fuse box but I just discovered that the fuse I tapped into may not be always on. I found a fuse that is reportedly always on listed on XDA so I swapped it and I will report if that does/does not correct my issue.
My time also does not display correctly. I do not have it connected to 4G/LTE and I would prefer not to if I do not have to, but I will. I manually set the time and it still loses it. The radio presets have also disappeared once. Perhaps swapping the yellow wire will correct this as well.
Finally I agree that music via bluetooth is "thin." Volume is very different than the FM radio and there is no base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally, nice to have a friend on this forum with the same unit I was starting to think I was the only person who had ordered it. Essentially we have the same unit, mine has the smaller screen + drive, yours has the bigger screen and no drive, like you said. Internally, they're essentially identical. Interesting you mention about the yellow wire perhaps not being connected. I think this is what we both need to resolve, and how important it is.
Let me know how you get on. I plan on running it through the cabin direct to the battery today as an experiment, but this isn't anything long term, merely an experiment. Realistically, I'll need to do this properly or not at all. I notice all of the same problems as you though. Temperature invisible, clock wrong, steering wheel controls, broken park distance controls too (you've maybe not spotted that). I installed mine Monday, so I'm equally a novice. Which fuse are you planning on using? I've been on the BMW forum, and it seems that finding one that is constantly live is a bit of a minefield. I figured the most obvious one is central locking, or maybe ECU ? Central locking would be preferred. It's a non critical system after all.
http://fusesdiagram.com/bmw/fuse-box-diagram-bmw-3-e90.html
Potentially this shines some light on it. Is yours an E90? Mines an 2007 E90. Fuse 56 and 57 are central locking, 15amps. I will check if they correspond to that tonight and if so, they will be the ones I use for my tap.
Good to hear I'm not the only one with the CANBUS issue. I am hoping we both resolve it by connecting up that yellow wire. Like I said, only one way to find out I did have a micro fuse tap somewhere for my previous motor, but I can't find it now, so I'll order another.
The immediate hack/fix for CANBUS is to set Shutdown Delay when ACC OFF to 30 seconds, rather than Auto Sleep. Trust me, it'll work 100% of the time after, but it will also boot from cold after. I think that's the problem. It's not shutting down correctly, quite possibly because of that yellow wire.
What do you think so far? I'm pretty impressed with everything else. Did you have to file down the climate control to fit it in?

skezza said:
Finally, nice to have a friend on this forum with the same unit I was starting to think I was the only person who had ordered it. Essentially we have the same unit, mine has the smaller screen + drive, yours has the bigger screen and no drive, like you said. Internally, they're essentially identical. Interesting you mention about the yellow wire perhaps not being connected. I think this is what we both need to resolve, and how important it is.
Let me know how you get on. I plan on running it through the cabin direct to the battery today as an experiment, but this isn't anything long term, merely an experiment. Realistically, I'll need to do this properly or not at all. I notice all of the same problems as you though. Temperature invisible, clock wrong, steering wheel controls, broken park distance controls too (you've maybe not spotted that). I installed mine Monday, so I'm equally a novice. Which fuse are you planning on using? I've been on the BMW forum, and it seems that finding one that is constantly live is a bit of a minefield. I figured the most obvious one is central locking, or maybe ECU ? Central locking would be preferred. It's a non critical system after all.
http://fusesdiagram.com/bmw/fuse-box-diagram-bmw-3-e90.html
Potentially this shines some light on it. Is yours an E90? Mines an 2007 E90. Fuse 56 and 57 are central locking, 15amps. I will check if they correspond to that tonight and if so, they will be the ones I use for my tap.
Good to hear I'm not the only one with the CANBUS issue. I am hoping we both resolve it by connecting up that yellow wire. Like I said, only one way to find out I did have a micro fuse tap somewhere for my previous motor, but I can't find it now, so I'll order another.
The immediate hack/fix for CANBUS is to set Shutdown Delay when ACC OFF to 30 seconds, rather than Auto Sleep. Trust me, it'll work 100% of the time after, but it will also boot from cold after. I think that's the problem. It's not shutting down correctly, quite possibly because of that yellow wire.
What do you think so far? I'm pretty impressed with everything else. Did you have to file down the climate control to fit it in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an 08 e90. I was initially tapped into fuse 57 as specified on what you posted (56 and 57 are central locking fuses on my car's fuse diagram) but found that the radio would intermittently start up for a few seconds when I would unlock the doors. When I got to work this morning I switched to fuse 47 as shown on what you posted (fuse 2 on my car's diagram) based on a post I found on Bimmerpost but I did not get a chance to test that fuse location. I could go hook up my DMM to it and check after work to see if it is still powered. Both drives I took at lunch today the radio presets and clock have not been stored but my CANBUS seemed to be functioning properly. I think the yellow wire is used for more than just retaining presets and time. Where is the Shutdown Delay? I keep seeing a mention of a Factory Settings menu but I have been unable to find it.
I do like the radio and as long as we can iron out these few issues I will be happy. The previous Xtrons I owned had a horrible bluetooth echo for anyone who was talking to me while I used the radios function. So bad that my wife would not even talk to me unless I disconnected, which made it a show stopper for me and I returned the unit. I did have to file down the climate control to get it installed but the bottom sticking down farther bothers me less than I thought it would.

Shutdown delay is under Extra settings. It'll be set to Auto sleep by default, which essentially prevents the unit from shutting down. Set it to 30 seconds and you'll be laughing, except you'll be a tad annoyed because everytime you start the car, your head unit will reboot, but canbus will work 100% of the time. I believe the auto sleep could be one of the reasons we're having issues. I think the unit isn't powering itself down properly and then perhaps the canbus integration app is crashing? Would need to debug, but really, this is what they should be doing, not us.
Early signs are not positive with the yellow wire. I went out and ran the yellow accessory wire all the way to the battery. No idea if anything has changed functionally on the unit, but after re-enabling auto sleep, I was able to get the canbus to fail again fairly quickly. They've offered me a new canbus box as well, so I might take them up on that. I'm leaving the car for an hour or so now. I've disabled writing presets to memory so I can be sure the permanent live is working. It should be, I've run it direct to the battery, but there's a join in the middle and perhaps I accidentally disconnected it, we'll see..... in an hour Did you lose your FM Presets then? That's the first place I'll go then to be sure.
Frustrating.
How much did you file off? I'm looking at my climate control and I'm working out where to start. There's a plastic clip which goes into the metal bracket included with the unit. I assume we leave that but you file all the obscured plastic that surrounds it?

Bad news, wired in the yellow wire and disabled the writing the memory to NAND storage. Tested it by removing the wire, all presets lost, reconnected it and they were stored. Left for an hour, canbus working fine. 5 minutes? No, the canbus is completely broken..... the issue is definitely related to the headset powering down when you open the door and I think it's triggering the canbus on the car to deactivate. I've recorded the symptoms and will forward it to Xtrons. It's a combination of the two. Once the canbus is powered down, even having the 30 second ACC fix won't bring it back. You must wait for an hour until the car shuts down all the other subsystems. I think the reason it works with the 30 second ACC fix is because it's like a sequence, off, on, off, on etc.
In the meantime, I will request the new canbus box as they've offered. Did they ask you to return yours? They've not said to me yet, better not be back to China though. More frustratingly, this unit doesn't even work without the canbus box..... I don't think anyway.
Ultimately, if this doesn't work, you have to ask yourself what's more important...... the functionality this unit brings (which is plentiful) or the ability to boot it in 1 second. Personally, the functionality outweighs being able to boot in 1 second. It's just a shame we can't figure out what the **** is going wrong with it. Can I live with 20 second boots? Probably to be fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgYOHwAe04
Video of the canbus failing.

I just got this unit and installed today. I also have canbus issues. I am going to try a second canbus unit from my old android head unit I have to see if it helps at all. I think most of this is software though, as my previous android 6.0 unit px5 had none of these issues. Didn't connect the yellow wire and it never lost memory.
Ill keep you updated on my findings as well.

erronr said:
I just got this unit and installed today. I also have canbus issues. I am going to try a second canbus unit from my old android head unit I have to see if it helps at all. I think most of this is software though, as my previous android 6.0 unit px5 had none of these issues. Didn't connect the yellow wire and it never lost memory.
Ill keep you updated on my findings as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it is software too. I think the car is reacting to something that the unit is doing. Like I said, with it on 30 second shutdown, CANBUS works everytime. I've been sent a return address and will return the canbus box tomorrow. It has to be worth a punt, but I'm pretty sure without it, the unit won't function at all, which isn't ideal, although perhaps if I go into factory settings and disable canbus it will? If not, it becomes a £300 paperweight for a few days, but there we go. Need to at least give it a try, don't I?
I wonder if it's a problem with the MCU, perhaps it's shutting down a critical piece of software? Ultimately, the MCU is what handles canbus right?
Do you experience the symptoms in the video above?

skezza said:
Shutdown delay is under Extra settings. It'll be set to Auto sleep by default, which essentially prevents the unit from shutting down. Set it to 30 seconds and you'll be laughing, except you'll be a tad annoyed because everytime you start the car, your head unit will reboot, but canbus will work 100% of the time. I believe the auto sleep could be one of the reasons we're having issues. I think the unit isn't powering itself down properly and then perhaps the canbus integration app is crashing? Would need to debug, but really, this is what they should be doing, not us.
Early signs are not positive with the yellow wire. I went out and ran the yellow accessory wire all the way to the battery. No idea if anything has changed functionally on the unit, but after re-enabling auto sleep, I was able to get the canbus to fail again fairly quickly. They've offered me a new canbus box as well, so I might take them up on that. I'm leaving the car for an hour or so now. I've disabled writing presets to memory so I can be sure the permanent live is working. It should be, I've run it direct to the battery, but there's a join in the middle and perhaps I accidentally disconnected it, we'll see..... in an hour Did you lose your FM Presets then? That's the first place I'll go then to be sure.
Frustrating.
How much did you file off? I'm looking at my climate control and I'm working out where to start. There's a plastic clip which goes into the metal bracket included with the unit. I assume we leave that but you file all the obscured plastic that surrounds it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try and take a picture of it tonight showing how much of the tabs I filed off. I did not want to completely remove them in case things didn't work out again.
skezza said:
Bad news, wired in the yellow wire and disabled the writing the memory to NAND storage. Tested it by removing the wire, all presets lost, reconnected it and they were stored. Left for an hour, canbus working fine. 5 minutes? No, the canbus is completely broken..... the issue is definitely related to the headset powering down when you open the door and I think it's triggering the canbus on the car to deactivate. I've recorded the symptoms and will forward it to Xtrons. It's a combination of the two. Once the canbus is powered down, even having the 30 second ACC fix won't bring it back. You must wait for an hour until the car shuts down all the other subsystems. I think the reason it works with the 30 second ACC fix is because it's like a sequence, off, on, off, on etc.
In the meantime, I will request the new canbus box as they've offered. Did they ask you to return yours? They've not said to me yet, better not be back to China though. More frustratingly, this unit doesn't even work without the canbus box..... I don't think anyway.
Ultimately, if this doesn't work, you have to ask yourself what's more important...... the functionality this unit brings (which is plentiful) or the ability to boot it in 1 second. Personally, the functionality outweighs being able to boot in 1 second. It's just a shame we can't figure out what the **** is going wrong with it. Can I live with 20 second boots? Probably to be fair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They sent me an RMA to return my old canbus. I've requested they send me the new one first so I can still use the radio; no response yet. I attempted the off after 30 seconds but it did not work for me. If what you've worked out is correct, whatever is causing my unit to briefly power up and then shut down when I open the door is killing my steering wheel controls. I left the off after 30 seconds on but I need the radio to not turn on when I unlock/open the door for me to test it. Or I supposed I could just sit in the car for a minute. I don't know what I didn't just try that...
Edit: Tried it twice...so far it worked both times.
erronr said:
I just got this unit and installed today. I also have canbus issues. I am going to try a second canbus unit from my old android head unit I have to see if it helps at all. I think most of this is software though, as my previous android 6.0 unit px5 had none of these issues. Didn't connect the yellow wire and it never lost memory.
Ill keep you updated on my findings as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a post here that mentions changing which car is specified for the canbus integration. I found that setting when I finally found the factor settings/car settings. I may try all that say BMW on them (which is 24, 89, and 99) just for ***** and giggles.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...d-units/canbus-decoders-manufacturer-t3670266

jerkeife said:
I'll try and take a picture of it tonight showing how much of the...................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy to file down the tabs, but yeah, like you said, the unit really needs to be working before I start making wholesale irreversible changes. At least a new climate control unit is only £49 off eBay. Could be worse.
They've sent me an RMA too and offered to pay for postage; like you though, I'll end up potentially having no radio while they fiddle and piss around for a few days. I don't think the radio works properly (or even at all) without the canbus box either. If it works partially, I can live without it, but I really don't want to be driving around for a week while they fanny about sourcing a new canbus decoder for me. I'd need to look though which I'll do tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'll update once I know. If it does work, I will get it posted tomorrow so I can get a new one back next week. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't fix it though.
The other option is I could rip it out completely and put the OEM one in loose or partially re-fit it, but hardly ideal is it? I never had these problems with Erisin Mind you, that had no canbus at all
Did you watch the video I recorded? The fact, your description sounds exactly the same as mine, means I'm pretty sure our problems are the same. Are you a UK customer as well? Be interesting to see how quickly they operate.
The 30 second ACC fix should work, assuming your canbus hasn't bugged out already!! It's really really important to note that. Once you've bugged your CANBUS, it's done. Dead..... and it'll be dead for half an hour to an hour or so regardless of this setting. I'm not uber clued up on the car, but I found an article discussing BMW canbus and aftermarket radios and essentially, there's some kind of lockdown system. If any kind of discrepancy is detected, the canbus circuitry for the radio is shutdown. So with that in mind, I think the car detects the unit powering down, but the unit should be powering up as the door has just been opened. This then puts the car into a fail-safe and canbus into a shutdown mode. You could disconnect the battery for a quick answer, I suppose, but no point. Just wait an hour or so. Then you'll have working canbus everytime you enter the vehicle, assuming you have that 30 second mode activated.
This isn't a fix though is it? This is simply booting the radio from cold everytime you enter the car and that really shouldn't be necessary. It was one of the selling points of this particular piece of equipment.
I will try those settings tonight/tomorrow before sending it back. Has to be worth a try.

skezza said:
I believe it is software too. I think the car is reacting to something that the unit is doing. Like I said, with it on 30 second shutdown, CANBUS works everytime. I've been sent a return address and will return the canbus box tomorrow. It has to be worth a punt, but I'm pretty sure without it, the unit won't function at all, which isn't ideal, although perhaps if I go into factory settings and disable canbus it will? If not, it becomes a £300 paperweight for a few days, but there we go. Need to at least give it a try, don't I?
I wonder if it's a problem with the MCU, perhaps it's shutting down a critical piece of software? Ultimately, the MCU is what handles canbus right?
Do you experience the symptoms in the video above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used the unit with the canbus disabled. The radio worked, that is all I tested. I was trying to figure out why my canbus stopped before reading this post.
As of now, I don't have the 30 second thing selected and since swapping my canbus to my old one ive kept canbus working. That being said, I havent done a quick turn off/turn on. I will try that shortly.

PX5 FYT 4+32GB Head Unit from Joying - Improvements & Upgrades

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.

Chinese Android Headunit HVAC Issues - Acura TSX

So I purchased a Chinese headunit from AliExpress. It is a direct fit plug and play replacement that goes in place of the radio and also replaces the HVAC controls.
Ever since the install the HVAC controls have not been acting properly. I was wondering if maybe someone here would know a solution. I'm not all too familiar with these units but maybe there's a software solution with an upgrade or change. Basically when first installed it will blow out cold air when set to Low (or cold.) But when I put the temperature up to hot and back to cold the system does not want to switch back to cold. No matter what I do from that point it will not switch back to cold.
I've read that this unit used for the 2004-2008 Acura TSX is actually just the same unit made for the Honda Accord 7 (2003-2007). So when going into Can Box (or Bus) settings the chosen CAN BUS is for Honda Accord.
I’ve tried resetting the unit to factory settings. I’ve tried different CAN BUS settings that are built in. Usually disconnecting the car battery for a bit and putting it back will allow for cold AC again. The seller from AliExpress sent me a new AC board which had to be installed by taking off the back of the unit and soldering a few wires on. It still does not function correctly after the new board. With the stock radio installed there is absolutely no issues with the HVAC controls.
I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem or if anyone knows a solution. I really wish I could use the headunit especially that I spent almost $400 on it and now it’s useless. I haven’t tried updating the Android OS or CAN BUS or MCU. I’m not 100% sure where to find the correct one but I’ve heard it’s the same unit used for the Accord 7 by Joying.
Any help would be appreciated!

j.goose said:
I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there. I actually have a similar problem. I have a 2007 Honda Accord Euro here in Australia, which is the same as the Acura TSX in the US.
The aircon controls were perfect on the stock climate control system but on this unit it's just a bit annoying. It seems to have fewer steps in the fan speed selections but the main problem is that the pop up controls keep coming back on the screen as if I've adjusted something. Every 2-3mins I need to back out of the air conditioning controls.

I think that $400 for a chinese headunit from Aliexpress sounds too much. I was always thinking that it can cost around $150 but never $400. I think that with $400 I will change the whole A/C system in a small car and it is going to work perfectly a lot of years. So think about it. I think you need to check this page, usually here are a lot of professionals that know everything about A/C systems and things related to it. Otherwise you need to go to local services and pay them to install everything normally.

Next time try to Purchase from HVAC Parts Direct as it provides genuine branded products ranging from Aaon Capacitors to Actuators.

Did you ever find a solution to the AC screen poping up all the time, mine does it and it’s really annoying

whitehall said:
Hi there. I actually have a similar problem. I have a 2007 Honda Accord Euro here in Australia, which is the same as the Acura TSX in the US.
The aircon controls were perfect on the stock climate control system but on this unit it's just a bit annoying. It seems to have fewer steps in the fan speed selections but the main problem is that the pop up controls keep coming back on the screen as if I've adjusted something. Every 2-3mins I need to back out of the air conditioning controls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever fix the AC screen poping up all the time? Cheers

Tony180793 said:
Did you ever fix the AC screen poping up all the time? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately not. At least not completely. I have a feeling it pops up because either of the temperature dials is slightly off notch. Ie, they're ****ty Chinese dials and probably only cost a couple of cents. Try adjusting the dials to be on the notch (you'll feel it) and see if it helps.

whitehall said:
Unfortunately not. At least not completely. I have a feeling it pops up because either of the temperature dials is slightly off notch. Ie, they're ****ty Chinese dials and probably only cost a couple of cents. Try adjusting the dials to be on the notch (you'll feel it) and see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eyyy, that seemed to have worked, just wish there was a way to disable to screen coming up all together as it’s not needed

Tony180793 said:
Eyyy, that seemed to have worked, just wish there was a way to disable to screen coming up all together as it’s not needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can! But you have to disable the integration which connects the head unit to the AC controls altogether. Go into the setup menu with password 8888 and clear the setting (sorry, I can't remember what it's called right now). But it means you'll be adjusting temperature, fan, and modes blind.

whitehall said:
You can! But you have to disable the integration which connects the head unit to the AC controls altogether. Go into the setup menu with password 8888 and clear the setting (sorry, I can't remember what it's called right now). But it means you'll be adjusting temperature, fan, and modes blind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really! That’s awesome, if you remember the name of the setting, hit me up, I would really appreciate it… I live in a cold climate and rarely use AC or the heating at all… Thanks for your help

Tony180793 said:
Oh really! That’s awesome, if you remember the name of the setting, hit me up, I would really appreciate it… I live in a cold climate and rarely use AC or the heating at all… Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just in the car and took note of the settings for you!
Open the Car Settings page (different to Android Settings)
Go to Factory Settings and enter the password of 8888 and click OK
Go to Protocol Settings, take note of what it's currently set to so you can revert (mine is Changyuantong - Honda - Accord 7)
Swipe all the way to the top of the left menu and choose NO CANBUS.
Back out of the settings pages and you won't have any integration between the head unit and the car's AC unit. You can still make adjustments to temperature, fan speed, etc, but you'll have no info on the display to show you what you're changing.

Sorry. I have installed new tesla style head unit and have same problem with my CRV 2010. The a/c control seem work but only blow hot air and won't cooling interior. Did anyone find that fix?

kakahoho said:
Sorry. I have installed new tesla style head unit and have same problem with my CRV 2010. The a/c control seem work but only blow hot air and won't cooling interior. Did anyone find that fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did contact seller for support

marchnz said:
Did contact seller for support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent pm to seller but won't get respond from
him.

Well I have the same issue on my 07 TSX. When I am in dual zone I have the most issues. I set the driver's side to Lo and passenger's side to 80 and driver's side stays cold and speed is higher while the passenger's side is still cold and a little slower on the blower (this is on the lowest setting). If I cycle through the modes and go back to the front, both sides are warm. Something is really off with the A/C controls. I've contacted the seller and will try to work this out. If not they will need to somehow pick up the unit at their expense or I will be doing a chargeback.

Help with Android Head Unit install in 2013 Audi Q5 (p60? Android 10?) (backup camera, mmi controls, air bag light)

Hello, I hope this is the right place, I keep finding this forum every time I search trying to trouble shoot my issues. Long story short, I had been eyeing these head units for my Q5 to add CarPlay, a local installer recommended the same model, and I thought great, so I ordered it and they installed it. I am however having 3 issues, and while the seller has been helpful, they are on a completely different time zone and it’s not progressing well unfortunately. The installer can’t find anything wrong. Little did I know what I was getting into, and I can’t find a manual or even a specific model number to search on.
My Car:
2013 Audi Q5 MMI (3g, gps nav, etc built in, AMI port in glove box, but everything else is in the center console under the screen)
Unit I installed as recommended by installer:
Android 10.0 Head Unit for Audi Q5 2009-2017 Car GPS Navi Stereo Radio 4G BT RDS 732910618142 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Android 10.0 Head Unit for Audi Q5 2009-2017 Car GPS Navi Stereo Radio 4G BT RDS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
My 3 issues:
1) My OEM backup camera does not show video. The radar sensors work. When I put the car into reverse the unit changes to backup mode, but the video image is black. There are multiple backup camera options in the software, I have tried them all. The after market selections at least give me the radar visual and lane lines, but still no video feed. The OEM option only shows me a black screen with a picture of a Q5 on the right.
2) The audio from the head unit is not coming through the car stereo. None of the center console controls work. The right 2 control buttons around the knob are both always flashing slowly. Only Radio works and can be controlled by steering wheel. My phone seems to be synced to car‘s original Bluetooth, and audio takes over when I get a call.
3) My airbag light in the dash is on. I am certain this is because the bezel they sent me only has the hazard light switch.
The unit otherwise is getting better and better as I learn to use it and CarPlay, which I ultimately bought it for, is working well too. My wife and I though are really struggling without the backup camera, and I fear I’ll be ripping the whole thing out and putting the original unit back in if I can’t fix that.
I have pictures of everything inside and out I can share. I’ll add them later as I can. But since this forum keeps coming up in my searches, I thought I would get a conversation started and see if anyone could help me. Really appreciate any assistance in advance. At this point I’ve become versed in taking the car apart and can get behind the entire vertical stack in the center and have confirmed what I can. I’m pretty handy with software as well.
(At the very least to start, a picture of my backup camera options in the software, I’ve tried them all)

jcapxda said:
Hello, I hope this is the right place, I keep finding this forum every time I search trying to trouble shoot my issues. Long story short, I had been eyeing these head units for my Q5 to add CarPlay, a local installer recommended the same model, and I thought great, so I ordered it and they installed it. I am however having 3 issues, and while the seller has been helpful, they are on a completely different time zone and it’s not progressing well unfortunately. The installer can’t find anything wrong. Little did I know what I was getting into, and I can’t find a manual or even a specific model number to search on.
My Car:
2013 Audi Q5 MMI (3g, gps nav, etc built in, AMI port in glove box, but everything else is in the center console under the screen)
Unit I installed as recommended by installer:
Android 10.0 Head Unit for Audi Q5 2009-2017 Car GPS Navi Stereo Radio 4G BT RDS 732910618142 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Android 10.0 Head Unit for Audi Q5 2009-2017 Car GPS Navi Stereo Radio 4G BT RDS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
My 3 issues:
1) My OEM backup camera does not show video. The radar sensors work. When I put the car into reverse the unit changes to backup mode, but the video image is black. There are multiple backup camera options in the software, I have tried them all. The after market selections at least give me the radar visual and lane lines, but still no video feed. The OEM option only shows me a black screen with a picture of a Q5 on the right.
2) The audio from the head unit is not coming through the car stereo. None of the center console controls work. The right 2 control buttons around the knob are both always flashing slowly. Only Radio works and can be controlled by steering wheel. My phone seems to be synced to car‘s original Bluetooth, and audio takes over when I get a call.
3) My airbag light in the dash is on. I am certain this is because the bezel they sent me only has the hazard light switch.
The unit otherwise is getting better and better as I learn to use it and CarPlay, which I ultimately bought it for, is working well too. My wife and I though are really struggling without the backup camera, and I fear I’ll be ripping the whole thing out and putting the original unit back in if I can’t fix that.
I have pictures of everything inside and out I can share. I’ll add them later as I can. But since this forum keeps coming up in my searches, I thought I would get a conversation started and see if anyone could help me. Really appreciate any assistance in advance. At this point I’ve become versed in taking the car apart and can get behind the entire vertical stack in the center and have confirmed what I can. I’m pretty handy with software as well.
(At the very least to start, a picture of my backup camera options in the software, I’ve tried them all)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to say, issue 1 and 3 are quite sure installation issues.
For the first one: Quite clear and could be measured: The backup camera has no power. There should be a connector for the power feed. --> instructions.
Third one: They removed the connector for the airbag, while checking the unit with ignition on. Can be reset at the dealer or by someone who has the right tooling.
Second one: Look into the settings of the unit and check the settings for the CAN box. 2 possibilities here: You got the wrong CAN box or the setting is not set to external amplifier.

@rigattoni thank you
rigattoni said:
Sorry to say, issue 1 and 3 are quite sure installation issues.
For the first one: Quite clear and could be measured: The backup camera has no power. There should be a connector for the power feed. --> instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well installation issues, at this point I think I can fix (famous last words). Getting parts / seems to be harder with communication challenges. (was instructions supposed to be a link?)
I pulled things out last night, I didn't find the RCA yellow video in I expected (there are 2 but they both seemed to be for aftermarket and are disconnected. There wasn't the obvious yellow <-> yellow rca adapters I see everyone else have with the power feed to the reverse lights. I'm assuming it's (in theory) feeding in through the primary adapter (block of plugs) going in to the back of the Android unit. I was able to account for all other connectins.
rigattoni said:
Third one: They removed the connector for the airbag, while checking the unit with ignition on. Can be reset at the dealer or by someone who has the right tooling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They reset it, it keeps coming back on. My original had a light, this bezel doesn't. As I understand there is likely some resisitance that's supposed to be here ...
rigattoni said:
Second one: Look into the settings of the unit and check the settings for the CAN box. 2 possibilities here: You got the wrong CAN box or the setting is not set to external amplifier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will check settings. There's a "key settings" and offers 4 & 8. It's the only major configuration section I don't understand. But I think I've tried both. Will look again.

jcapxda said:
Well installation issues, at this point I think I can fix (famous last words). Getting parts / seems to be harder with communication challenges. (was instructions supposed to be a link?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No link, the seller should at least provide some installation instruction with the unit.
As I don´t know the unit and don´t know what has been provided with the unit itself, I am not able to help.
Your backup camera should have a video output which needs to get connected with the head unit. Where to put, needs to get from the seller. If he is not able... send this crap back.
The same for the airbag error message... If the seller is not able to give clear instruction... send the crap back.

Seller finally agreed they didn't send me all the right cables. Specifically they mentioned I need an AMI cable, but also the LVDS plug (in the photo above, in the top left) ... should have an adapter. Which I've specifically asked them about a few times in pictures, but as I suspected it, it can't just be unplugged and needs an adapter to plug into the rest. So... those are on their way, we'll see. I suspect the OEM backup cam video comes in via that cable based on my research and wiring diagrams, but again, we'll see.

jcapxda said:
Seller finally agreed they didn't send me all the right cables. Specifically they mentioned I need an AMI cable, but also the LVDS plug (in the photo above, in the top left) ... should have an adapter. Which I've specifically asked them about a few times in pictures, but as I suspected it, it can't just be unplugged and needs an adapter to plug into the rest. So... those are on their way, we'll see. I suspect the OEM backup cam video comes in via that cable based on my research and wiring diagrams, but again, we'll see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know.
Did they give you a guide how to fix the airbag issue?
Just to let you know: In case of an accident, the airbags can be activated or not without control. This is a severe security issue, you should take care of.
The AMI cable just provides audio and is normally used for external audio sources like iPod, IPhone and such things. May be they use it to get the head unit speaking to your OEM amplifier. I don´t know your unit and the specs. At least Audi is not that easy with these kind of units.

Well, predictably, nothing's easy.
They sent me a splitter cable for the airbag (passenger occupancy light) and hazard button. (but there's only one input to split into ....
LVDS cable was missing, so that connects the LVDS feed -> back of android. I do finally have some sight to the OEM UI, but only briefly, and I can't interact with it with any buttons. The backup camera will come on but only briefly, and only the first time. After that it cuts to OEM nav, and then only for a second.
AMI adapter (straightforard) would in theory help audi, but I suspect the priori issue with the oem system and lack of mmi buttons working is somehow blocking control / and thus "aux" audio.
However, at the least, I was able to remove the OEM occupancy / hazazrd button, and attach it to the splitter they gave me. Tucked it into the dash (meaning I can't... see the light but for now fine) and cleared the Air bag code. And yes, air bag stays off. Finally. So that's better.
I'm awaiting their reply on all the rest. Driving me crazy. Based on searches, I'm starting to wonder if this is programmed for the wrong baud rate? I only vaguely know these terms, but have stumbled across similar symptoms of people retrofitting MMI 3G+ and issues witht the controls not working, flashing red lights.

jcapxda said:
Well, predictably, nothing's easy.
They sent me a splitter cable for the airbag (passenger occupancy light) and hazard button. (but there's only one input to split into ....
LVDS cable was missing, so that connects the LVDS feed -> back of android. I do finally have some sight to the OEM UI, but only briefly, and I can't interact with it with any buttons. The backup camera will come on but only briefly, and only the first time. After that it cuts to OEM nav, and then only for a second.
AMI adapter (straightforard) would in theory help audi, but I suspect the priori issue with the oem system and lack of mmi buttons working is somehow blocking control / and thus "aux" audio.
However, at the least, I was able to remove the OEM occupancy / hazazrd button, and attach it to the splitter they gave me. Tucked it into the dash (meaning I can't... see the light but for now fine) and cleared the Air bag code. And yes, air bag stays off. Finally. So that's better.
I'm awaiting their reply on all the rest. Driving me crazy. Based on searches, I'm starting to wonder if this is programmed for the wrong baud rate? I only vaguely know these terms, but have stumbled across similar symptoms of people retrofitting MMI 3G+ and issues witht the controls not working, flashing red lights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello where did you put the splitter into?
1 goes to the original cable
1 goes to the new framepanel (without the air bag light)
and where goes the third cable?
Please help thx

Audi S4 Headunit from AliExpress (Nunoo)?

During a recent sale at AliExpress, I ordered an Android headunit that replaces the factory screen for my 2016 B8.5 Audi. I ordered from the "Nunoo" store due to them listing a Snapdragon 665, and I ordered the supposed 8 GB/128 GB model for my MMI car.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805118631091.html
The unit hasn't shipped, so I messaged the store asking what's up and making sure that the order was going to fit my particular car (needed an Air Bag light relocation cable and AMI cable). I also asked to confirm it actually had the Qualcomm chip. The seller messaged me back saying that it would instead ship with a 8581 processor due to issues with the 665:
"The cpu will become 8581, because 665 CPU with some problem"
I'm getting sketchy vibes. Is there any hope that these units are worth messing with? Since ordering this, I've done some more reading around and see where Chinese sourced units often mis-report hardware, versions of OS's, etc.
I'm currently running an android box that attaches to the stock, non-touch screen in the car and allows for wireless Android Auto. It connects to Canbus and the MMI audio system, and is generally OK. It just has no touch screen, so I thought I'd upgrade. Should I bail on this order before they try to ship and look around for another seller?
Is there a Android head unit issues for dummies I should read to catch up on the state of these things?

Heya, the Listing only mentions an 8 Core Processor in the Pictures itself. It mentions the Snapdragon 665 Version down below but that is not selectable. I only know that because I myself just ordered one of those for my A6 4F MMI 2G. I had to search a bit for that Version. Just click a few different Listings on Aliexpress if you want that version.
I myself used an Android Head Unit in my Older A6 4B with a generic 8 Core CPU and that was more than enough Performance. it never had any lags or other things.
My Unit used an UIS7862, the 8581 seems to be a less powerful version of it. It could be Powerful enough to work without Lags but if you want to be really sure maybe search for reports of Headunits with the Spreadtrum UIS8581 CPU or try finding the Snapdragon 665 Version but be prepared that it's gonna be a whole lot more costly. And don't settle for the 625 Version, that is a pretty old CPU and all I could ever find about those Versions where lackluster performance and other issues

My unit finally shipped, so we'll see what I get.

Sweet, please report about that CPU Version Performance and stuff
It's sadly quite hard to find any Information about the Nunoo Headunits.
I'll try to keep this updated about the 665 Version that I just bought too

Well..... don't keep us in suspense.
Report back because i'm looking to buy a Nunoo 665 as well.

Sure, I put it in a couple of weeks ago. I did receive the 8581 chip version.
Some notes on use:
Install went about as expected, with the exception that to mount the included dash bezel that the screen attaches to over the old hole, you can only access two screws on the new mounting plate instead of 3...unless you want to drill into your original dash to pass the third screw. I doubt I do that as I want it to be reversable.
I did have problems with an ABS light. My car has the combo hazard button and passenger seat Air Bag light (to show if passenger AB is disabled due to not having enough weight in the seat). Once confirmed the wiring hookup configuration for the hazard button relocation harness, I was a bit frustrated that the light was still on. It might have eventually cleared itself after a few ignition cycles, but I really wanted to figure it out so I used my OBDEleven OBD2 scanner to reset the code (ABS ground fault). No problems since.
I haven't 100% put the dash back together yet because I'm going to try a GPS splitter cable to tie into the stock antenna instead of using the included one. I tried the included one with a GPS testing app and could never get acceptable signal strength vs what I could get on my phone, even if I ran the included receiver all the way to the top of the windshield. This probably is irrelevant as it doesn't affect Android Auto/CarPlay, which rely on the phone GPS. I'm just curious about the built in navigation and it wasn't a bunch to spend to try out. Once that comes in, I'll put the main dash bezel back in the car. If it doesn't work, that's not a deal breaker. Was just curious if I could improve things. If it does work, I don't know why this wouldn't really be the included option vs a whole receiver. (BTW, if anybody else goes this route, get the right angle SMA connector. The straight one won't fit in the space available.) https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...st_main.5.1c3518024jcmmd&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
Wireless connection is iffy at times. Sometimes it's great, sometimes I can watch the bluetooth connect on my phone then try to hand off to wifi for Android Auto and it will just cycle the wifi connection to the head unit over and over. Other times it works right away and stay stable. Can't figure out if there's something that can resolve this. Still playing around. Wired Android Auto is fine. According to the seller, I have the latest software and Zlink versions. Is there a way to update Zlink OTA if a new version becomes available? I can go into the settings and check and it says I'm up to date, but just wonder if that's possible in the future. I've not done a ton of research, but what I have says Zlink licensing might be weird. This inconsistency is my biggest annoyance with the unit.
Unlike my old unit that just tapped into the factory screen, I can't long press the steering wheel phone button to activate the assistant. That's annoying. Have to do verbal commands only or use the touch screen button. Not the end of the world, I just got used to using the hard button.
Just like my other unit, the Audi console volume knob allows you to skip forward and back (by pushing sideways on the knob) just like the stock MMI, however, pushing it down only mutes audio. It does not behave like the MMI and pause streaming audio. So whatever you're listening to plays in the background during the mute. Annoying for podcasts and books. You can touch the screen, but having that hard button work would be nice.
This unit tries to emulate the HVAC temp changes that happen on the stock interface. Audi shows whichever side of the car is turning up or down the temp and what the setting is on the screen. However, this unit just puts up a graphic that instead of the temp shows "HI". So half done UI. My old unit had no HVAC interface at all when in Android mode.
I've still got the protective film on the screen right now until I take it back off to put in the stock bezel, but I could do with a bit brighter screen. It's not unreadable, but 20% brighter would be nice for sunny days.
Just like the old box I had for Android Auto, this one doesn't change the day/night mode on maps. You have to manually set it to dark or night if you want it to change depending on lighting conditions. At least it's easier to access in the menu now that I have a touch screen.
I logged into my Google account on the stock Android part of the unit to install a couple of apps (GPS tester, etc.). Somehow the thing deleted ALL my google contacts when the account synced up. I restored them from trash and could see the device that did it, so I know it's this unit. It was fine for a few days, then did it again. Might be when I connect to wifi at home to go to the Play store that it does it. Probably a setting to turn off sync, but I haven't looked into it yet.
It currently mutes Android Auto if I switch to one of the stock screen views except I think the backup camera. I think that it initially did it on the camera, but there's a setting to change that. I just need to find that for if I look at one of the other screens like drive mode.
Overall, the navigation speed is good enough. If I can get the auto-connect wifi cycling resolved, I'll feel a lot better. Would I buy this unit again? I might try one of the other brands honestly. Just because this one feels ALMOST there, but just cheaped out a bit on processor and screen. But if you get a good deal, it's totally functional with a few quirks.
The other brand I was considering seems to have more sales. That is Coika. Who knows if they're really the same thing from the same factory. Wouldn't be surprised, but it would be good to compare back to back. I'm just not going to do it Either of these options are half as expensive as RSNAV or some of the other more Audi forum prominent brands.
That in depth enough?

Conveniently the GPS cable arrived today that allowed me to tap into the car's GPS antenna. Big win if you ever want to use the built in navigation. Works great, although the cable I ordered is a bit tight. Now I can pull out the other GPS antenna that I had routed behind the glove box to go up the A pillar.
While installing, I googled B8.5 MMI GPS hookups to make sure I had the right cable off the back of the MMI unit. Apparently I wasn't exactly an original thinker, at RSNAV already offered these cables. This is the way to go and the AliExpress sellers should 100% include these instead of the full antenna that you have to mount somewhere.
Audi Original GPS Antenna Splitter Cable for S2, S3, S4
Audi Original GPS Antenna Splitter Cable for RSNAV S2, S3, S4 Android system on Audi Vehicles with Audi Navigation System only. - Best reception of GPS signal for your RSNAV S2,S3, S4 Android system - GPS hot start, super faster time sync - Work both for Audi MMI system and S2, S3, S4, This is...
rsnav.com
*I have not tested the stock nav yet, but I never use that anyway. I'll try to remember to look to confirm that's still working. Might be some kind of time interface into the car that it grabs from GPS, so it might still be important. I'll do it before I reinstall the dash. I just wired it enough to verify via the GPS testing app that it was better than the included antenna (it was).

Thank you Andy, much more detail than i expected.
Really appreciate the quick writeup esp the notes on the gps issue and getting a splitter.

Andy S said:
This probably is irrelevant as it doesn't affect Android Auto/CarPlay, which rely on the phone GPS. I'm just curious about the built in navigation and it wasn't a bunch to spend to try out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great review and very interesting because I'm looking at getting the same car. Just a small point, Android Auto does in fact use the car's GPS where possible. Waze uses the phone GPS but Google Maps and Sygic can use the car's GPS, for example.

Cutprods said:
Great review and very interesting because I'm looking at getting the same car. Just a small point, Android Auto does in fact use the car's GPS where possible. Waze uses the phone GPS but Google Maps and Sygic can use the car's GPS, for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt it would in this case, as Zlink as I understand it is kind of a hack to make AA work. On a truly integrated solution, I'm sure you are right.

Andy S said:
I doubt it would in this case, as Zlink as I understand it is kind of a hack to make AA work. On a truly integrated solution, I'm sure you are right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with the Headunit Reloaded app, that I use on my older PX5. I don't know if you can use that on your new HU? Zlink and Easy Connection never worked well for me.

Cutprods said:
Works with the Headunit Reloaded app, that I use on my older PX5. I don't know if you can use that on your new HU? Zlink and Easy Connection never worked well for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might try it to see if it will solve my wireless issue. This is my first real Android head unit other than the pass through box I used before that isn't really a head unit. Is there a best way to install? Just from the Play store?

Heya, sorry I completely forgot to post about my Qualcomm 665 8/128GB Unit that I bought after putting it in.
Here's my thoughts:
Short TL;DR seems to be: Don't buy Nuuno or the other brands, according to BMW Forums get a Navifly Unit. (They seem to cost as much as the Nunoo or others but give far better configurability thanks to mods and seems to be more known):
The Configurations to look for seem to be Qualcomm 450/625 with 2GB/32GB or 4GB/64GB
For REAL Android 11 and from what I read even Android 12 it would be: 4/64, 6/128 or 8/256 (Look at the 6/128GB, all the other Units normally have 8/128GB)
Here's for more Information on how to get one and being sure that yours is legit and where I got this from (I hope XDA allows the Links, if not Google for "BMW KSW Android 10" and use f30.bimmerpost):
10.25" Android 10 HU discussion
10.25" Android 10 HU discussion
f30.bimmerpost.com
10.25" Android 9/10 HU theming and discussion
10.25" Android 9/10 HU theming and discussion
f30.bimmerpost.com
Android 11 HU discussion
Android 11 HU discussion
f30.bimmerpost.com
But since we're here about the Nuuno let me add some stuff about mine:
The Package with the radio arrived pretty swiftly and pretty much everything you need to tear apart my A6 4F was included.
Sadly the new Plastic Insert for the Radio/Dash is the wrong color (My older 4F uses a dark gray and the new one is silver like for the newer 4F) but that's not much of a issue, still looks good. BUT the fit is not that well done, it has quite a few bigger gaps all around compared to the original plastic. You tend to forget about it though the longer you have it in your car up to the point you won't even notice it yourself anymore or even care.
Same problems with GPS here, the Signal is pretty bad to okayish at best so also need to try to get the original GPS antenna connected but it's not a huge breaking deal since using Android Auto it still works well and I dont care about the built in one.
Android Auto Wireless is also iffy here, sometimes it tries to connect, the fails and never tries again until I disconnect and reconnect my Phones Bluetooth connection to the headunit, then it works first try. What also seems to help is immediately after the Unit is booted up opening the zlink app, Then it also seems to work 90% of the time for me. Wired Android Auto works 100% of the time.
Using the Steering Wheel Controls is perfectly fine, I can even skip songs ahead or go back with the left one that normally selects the Input. That is something my older Android Auto retrofit module couldn't do.
NEVER EVER LOG INTO YOUR MAIN GOOGLE ACCOUNT ON THESE "FAKE" OR OLDER UNITS. That is sadly a well-known practice in most of the Android Car Radio Forums since many seem to have that annoying bug that deletes your Contacts. The Navifly/KSW Android Radios seem to not have this/or it got fixed.
Better be safe and always use a throwaway account on these things.
The Muting Sound when going to one of the original Car Menus is pretty bad, or well on mine it doesn't actually mute, it stops playback. If I start the music again from my phone I can listen to my Music and go through the original Car Menus. It sadly aslo cannot be deactivated this "Feature". Only on the Navifly/KSW Units mentioned in the BMW Forums you seem to be able to do it which is probably why I will get me one of those. Hopefully I won't forget to write a bit about that one too.
Lastly the AC: On my MMI 2G 4F the Display shows the correct Temperature that I set on my AC in the Display..
I hope this also helped a bit since these Units don't seem to be well known about only or atleast reported biut if you look on Aliexpress they're pretty much the first 10 you get shown when looking for Audi

Thanks for the info @Darthsternie. Do either of those brands make a unit that works with Audis? I briefly looked and couldn't find anything. I hate to end up buying a third unit for my car, so I guess I'll keep this one for the time being. I just really want to get the wireless piece figured out.
I just went out and put my stuff back together to confirm the GPS splitter cable did not interfere with stock nav, and it doesn't. So whatever the car might use GPS for should still work. While doing that, I confirmed what Darthsternie said about switching to the stock interface, it does pause playback. Not just mute. I assumed that was correct, but wanted to confirm on my unit. Backup camera has an option to disable this, but if you go into anything else from the Audi MMI, it pauses.
Also, thanks for the info on the temp. I'm on the 3g MMI "High" on my 2016 S4 (B8.5). "High" I believe means has stock NAV. Might ask the company about my issue. To be honest, since I have the dual temps shown on the temp dials, it's not really something I care much about.
I did log out of my google account and used an abandoned account I used years ago for a specific purpose that I no longer need. Should have known better. My concern was for apps I may have purchased like Torque. Don't really want to buy again. Wonder if I can put my other account in my family? Will look up how many people can be in a family. I think I'm at 2 right now.
As to the wireless, once I get in a bad state where it's constantly looping the connection attempt, I've been unable to solve it without a reboot. I can kill Zlink. I can cycle bluetooth on the phone. I can manually navigate to Zlink, but that's not the problem because I can even auto-launch Zlink at start and it still does it.
Will have to investigate a replacement for Zlink if that's possible on these. I just haven't really dug into Android head units enough to know anything at this point. Need a good wiki or something

Navifly is not a guarantee either, they also sell snapdragons as well as MTK units, you want the legit snapdragon with the KSW software if you want to have a compatible unit with what most of the modders are using. I got mine a few years ago from Navifly and it is a P60 cpu MTK unit and it works well and gets the job done, but I would much rather have a KSW based unit.
I also have a B8.5 Audi.
You should download Device Info HW from the play store and it will give you a breakdown on the unit and let you know if they are faking the android version, etc.
Device Info HW - Apps on Google Play
Hardware and software information app for Android devices.
play.google.com

twist said:
Navifly is not a guarantee either, they also sell snapdragons as well as MTK units, you want the legit snapdragon with the KSW software if you want to have a compatible unit with what most of the modders are using. I got mine a few years ago from Navifly and it is a P60 cpu MTK unit and it works well and gets the job done, but I would much rather have a KSW based unit.
I also have a B8.5 Audi.
You should download Device Info HW from the play store and it will give you a breakdown on the unit and let you know if they are faking the android version, etc.
Device Info HW - Apps on Google Play
Hardware and software information app for Android devices.
play.google.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suspiciously, Device Info HW will install, but fails to run on launch. Will dig a bit more.

I finally heard back from these guys and got a screenshot. Here is the link for the unit.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803161214499.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.3a3738dazQvvo3&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
And here is the screenshot he sent. This is the newer KSW software and it should be a legit snapdragon 662.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Talking to these guys through their aliexpress translator is almost futile. I ended up sending him a screenshot with the APP Ver highlighted on a different older KSW unit and then he sent this back.

I have just bought this one for my Audi A6 C6 from 2005.
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005005240382533.html
I hope it's a real 662 Unit but according to the seller and a screenshot from them it is.
I will try to report back again when it arrives and compare it to the Nuuno Unit that I have now

Hi,
Ive just ordered 2 weeks ago a Nunoo 12.3 128+8GB device with Snapdragon 665 for my A5 B8 Pre-Facelift. Ive asked the seller to confirm if its really 665 and he did. I can also confirm, that my device have a 665 if i can trust CPU-Z this device info software shows also Android 12S. I dont know, if its better to have this MTK8581 CPU like on the COIKA devices or the Snapdragon 665. I just can say i was focused on the 665 because this is that, was RSNAV uses.
I had before an RSNAV S1, so the first generation in 10.25". This unit was also for sure not bug free and i switched it because it was now fully bricked. I got random bootloops and blackscreens, even after factory reset. My brightness control was buggy, it was inverted and dark at day and bright at night. Support from RSNAV haven't helped me with that. Finally, I also had no GPS reception any more. I had used the roof antenna from the A5 for the S1, without the splitter. However, as the roof antenna is a known problem and tends to break down overnight, I assumed that this problem had now also affected me. But that's not true, because the roof antenna now showed 15 satellites when connected to the MMI again After research, I found out that this was also a known problem with the RSNAV S1, that the GPS transistor burns out and that this is not repairable.
I don't have any further experience with the new Nunoo device yet, I need a few more days for that. I can report back then. What I noticed is that the frame that was sent to me has a much worse fit than the one I had with the RSNAV S1. Let's see if the support team can do something about that.
By the way, some people have already reported that the RSNAV firmware runs just as well on the Nunoo devices. I have not yet tried this out myself. However, this could fix some bugs and possibly bring a few more options.

RSNAV was a major rip off IMO, they are just selling the same Chinese units at a markup and the markup is not worth what little support you might get, that is just my opinion and I know many will disagree.
The snapdragon is going to be way better then the MTK I had an MTK previously and it worked fine but I was unable to change launchers or do anything outside of what they supply, the MTK units are super locked down and proprietary, the snapdragons have all kinds of fun mods and capabilities so you can really dial in your head unit how you want it to be.
I don't personally know anything about nunoo but these units are almost all made by Mekede / Navifly and being resold by multiple different stores just rebranding. I am sure there are some other companies making fake units, but a lot of the chinese stuff all comes from the same factory and then a ton of other companies rebrand them and resell them.
Even my previous Mekede MTK unit was fake android 10, it was really android 9, the fraud and scams on aliexpress is so unacceptable, which is why I buy very little there, these headunits were the only 2 purchases I have made on there in the last 2+ years.