ZedZed

Do you have Bose or Burmester? Or just the standard Porsche sound setup?

You have a connection problem but we need more information to help diagnose it.

Haidang

Hey Zed!
I have Bose, bone stock. My system looks the as PCM that you posted.Thank you very much.

ZedZed

OK - with Bose you need a MOST adapter box. I assume you have installed one? The things that can go wrong with this part of the installation, which will result in no sound are:

1. The MOST box has been incorrectly installed and the red, black and yellow wires are not connected properly. Red is 12v ACC (switched power), black is ground and yellow is 12V BATT (constant power). If you are certain that you have connected these three wires correctly, proceed to 2 below.

2. The fiber optic cable (orange usually) must be installed correctly into the MOST box. It is theoretically impossible to insert it the wrong way around, but I have seen that done. So be sure that the fiber optic cable is installed correctly.

3. The RCA connectors from the HU to the MOST box must be correctly installed. You should connect the AUDIO OUT LEFT and AUDIO OUT RIGHT to the LEFT INPUT and RIGHT INPUT on the MOST box. The RCAs are coloured RED for Right and WHITE for left. See the photo below:


It is easy to get this wrong. You must connect the RCAs marked AUDIO OUT to the MOST box. Note that there are usually more than one set of red and white RCAs - as you can see in the photo, there is also a set marked AUX IN and AUX OUT, but you do not want these. Connect the red AUDIO OUT to the red RCA on the MOST box and the white AUDIO OUT to the white RCA on the MOST box. I have marked the ones you need with a red arrow.

Some amps require a 'turn-on' wire to be connected to 12V from the HU, but I do not think this is the case with BOSE systems, so we will ignore that for now.

It is likely that your problem is one of the issues above. Please check and report back if you have taken the various steps discussed and still have no sound.

ZedZed

^^^^

Here is a graphic of how to connect the MOST box, which may be helpful:



BTW, do NOT use the Chinese wire connection method in the photo! Use some good connectors (eg T-Taps) or solder the wires in place, with the joint protected by heat-shrink tubing, or at worst electrical tape,

Haidang

Great! I’ll try then report…
Really appreciate your help.
Thank you very much.

ZedZed

You're welcome. I forgot to add: if you are sure you made the connections of the MOST box power wires correctly, do check the connections. I once messed around for hours trying to troubleshoot a problem - I eventually decided to start over and make all the connections from scratch, and I discovered that one of my connectors (3M type) had failed to make the proper connection. I made a new solder joint and the problem went away. So do check any T-Taps or Scotchlok connectors.

I don't recommend Scotchlok-style connectors for these installations as the wires are very small and the blade on the connector can easily miss the wire altogether.

I dislike these (for very thin wires):



I like these:



And these are OK, but do be VERY careful if you are using a heat gun inside the car. I think these are best for working on the bench, not inside an easily meltable car. Same goes for a soldering iron, but I find that is less dangerous than a heat gun.



This is without doubt the most secure method of all, but it does require some practice and skill to get it right:

andy2111

An update in the DAB radio for anyone who wants to use the ERISIN box - this is the adapter:


The DAB box has a very small MCX connector and this adapter works perfectly. I have not yet tried to connect the adapter to the Fakra into the antenna in the car, but it looks like its the right male connector that the PCM has and so will connect to the female Fakra antenna.

andy2111

An update on my "brightness" issue where the digital speedo, odometer and also the AC/fan display in the centre console all max out.

As well as the 3 displays mentioned above, I am also convinced that the main beam light and maybe others also go extra bright because of the new HU - I drove in the dark last night and they are all crazy bright, whereas the "background" instrument lighting has dimmed nicely using the instrument cluster adjustment, as advised by Zed.

On my second night journey I noticed this:

• When I first put the key in the ignition the digital speedo, odometer and AC display are all quite low and as I'd want them - most likely matching the low setting for the instrument cluster
• Within a second or two of putting the key in the ignition, the andriod HU lights up as it comes out of sleep and those displays instantly max out - I was quite luck to spot this as the HU wakes up very fast

So my assumption is it's definitely the new HU causing my displays to go supernova. My thoughts are:

• If I twist the **** that adjusts the instrument brightness when I put the key in can I use that initial second to dial down the lights and will they stay low when the HU kicks in?
• If I remove the HU can I make an adjustment that is retained when I reconnect the HU?
• If I refit the PCM can I make an adjustment that is retained when I reconnect the HU?

Zed and Chuck both report the issue where you can't adjust the displays I mentioned, so they have part of my problem but are not reporting the supernova, so somehow I must be able to dim my displays down so they stay dim.

I'll experiment at the weekend..

ZedZed

Interesting observations. Now you remind me, in my wife's Cayman, which has (essentially) the same HU as you have, I had to put a 'DIM' sticker over the position of the high beam light as she complained it was too bright at night. I had totally forgotten this (and I had no need to do this on the Panamera, which has a different style of HU). The DIM was meant to be a quick fix while I figured out what the issue was, but since she never complained any more, I guess I wiped it from my memory cells

If you are not familiar with the light-blocking stickers I mention above, here is a link to them. I have used these for years to dim down various LEDs etc.



The digital speedo and odometer have never been mentioned as a problem, but they exhibit the same behaviour as yours. I haven't checked the temperature/AC readout, but that may also be affected. Now that you have reminded me about these issues, it would be good to find a solution. I currently have no ideas. Maybe selecting a different canbus setting would do it?

Chuck245

I need to check if I have the same issue with the AC/Fan and main light panels lighting. I drive often in the evening, and they have not drawn my attention so far but will check.
One investigation path is the "CAN" setting in the new HU as these settings seems to be the ones that interreact with the car lighting and other cabin settings. Note that I updated the CAN module in the HU using the update feature in the HU "Settings" menu. They have replaced the usual Android update menu by their proprietary menu, but it's located in the same "Settings" menu of Android.
If my car behaves differently than yours and I'm right about the CAN bus interactions between the HU and the car, the update might explain the differences of behavior. I'll check my car and will provide and update.

ZedZed

^^^^^

I have checked the situation on my Panamera. This car has a totally different HU (wide screen type) running, of course, a version of Android that will have been customised differently to the unit in the Cayman. This is evident from the totally different menu layouts etc, with the (much more expensive) Panamera unit having a significantly greater amount of settings and controls. I am seeing no issues with the lighting in the Panamera. FYI the Panamera speedo and odometer do not change regardless of whether the car's lights are on or not. Yet, oddly, these two displays seem to be 'right' in daylight running or at night, with the car's exterior lamps on. I just tested this by taking the Panamera for a coffee when it was light as I set out and dark on the return journey. So all is OK with the Panamera.

It seems evident that the issues Andy has found, and which, to a lesser extent, Chuck and I have confirmed, is due to the HU itself, or more specifically the customised version of Android.

To recap - in our Cayman, we are finding that the digital speedo, the odometer, the centre console display for temperature/AC and the high beam light are not dimming as they should (eg when the car's lights are turned on). As far as we are aware, this behaviour has only started since the fitting of the new HU.

I am reaching out to two knowledgeable members who have helped me in the past, and wonder if they are experiencing the same, or similar issues, and if they have any suggestions that may help us.
I am looking at you @Sidvicious7 and @Santirx All suggestions gratefully received.

ZedZed

This would be a big help, Chuck. The HU settings has numerous different canbus options, and I am wondering if we need to try them and see if a different setting sorts this out.

Chuck245

OK, I checked and same issue: the digital speedo, the odometer, the center console display for temperature/AC and the high beam light do not dim on my car. I tried with the new HU on/off and changing the “Brightness” setting on the “Base” settings of the new HU with no change.

On the bright (if I dare to use this word) side, we have a consistent behavior. Note that I was wrong and there are no lightning control options on the HU CAN settings.

Interestingly, my digital speedo, the odometer, the center console display for temperature/AC and the high beam light displays are not overly bright either at day light or on the dark. So, possibly, Andy is into something about inheriting the brightness settings from the original PCM.

As comparison, I checked on my wife’s Macan 2016 that seems to be the same generation of instrumentation and displays, and the brightness of the displays is controlled by the gauges display settings. It also controls the PCM screen brightness. So, I would expect that the same is true for our cars if installed with the original PCM.

Ideas welcome but not a major issue for me because my displays are not too bright. At least for now.

andy2111

I wonder if rather than some erroneous maxing out of the displays, what I/we are seeing is a simple (incorrect) switch to the daytime brightness setting, when it should be running the night setting (because the lights are on)

Are there any HU settings to do auto dim based on a clock? I know some of the launchers do this, so could there be a day/night brightness setting in the HU that is not working properly?

I'll add to my list of tests to try with the lights off at night (as they are on Auto so have always been on in the dark thus far)

I will try the various combinations of pulling the HU etc to see if I can force my brightness to fix at a lower level - will update at the weekend

andy2111

Regading the firmware and updates, given that so many companies re-badge the same unit, I wonder who is providing support to us all? Could be worth us trying to figure out if the software updates all come from the same place and if tech support is from a core team, or if support is devolved out to whoever is the reseller?

Clearly it would be better if we can deal direct with the developer and get updates direct from them, but I dont know if the resellers have local customization and also support their own software builds

I know Erison provide good support, but I used a different reseller as they offered a unit with more memory and Android 12..