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On a totally separate note, and every last one of you out there probably knows this already, but . . .
I got into my wife's Cayman this morning to fetch the Sunday papers. Now she always connects her Android Auto wirelessly, automatically when she gets into the car. So the car started to look for her phone and, being unable to find it, the Zlink screen sat there waiting patiently, not able to connect. I don't know why I did this, but I decided to connect my phone to the USB wire in her glove box (the OEM USB) and boom - Android Auto immediately started up. But here's the good bit - it was MY Android Auto, with my apps, my music, my 'recent places' in Waze etc.
My phone is not BT'd to her car and on the one occasion I needed AA when I was alone in the car, I faffed about establishing BT etc between my phone and her car, just for the journey. Later, I 'forgetted' the BT because when we were both in the car it was pot luck as to which of our phones would connect first, which of course isn't what we wanted,
But now I have discovered that, on the occasional times I need it, I can get my own AA simply by plugging my phone into the glove box USB. This could be useful for people who occasionally drive each others' car and who want AA or Carplay. No messing with any settings - just plug the phone into the OEM USB port. It seems obvious now that it would work that way, but for some reason it had never occurred to me.
@andy2111 I may be wrong but I think that Erisin is actually the brand and not only the seller. If this is true, they may still having a vested interest on getting happy users. I will send them an email about this issue and we'll see. Worst case scenario, I wasted 10 minutes and I never get an answer, Worth the try.
Edit: by "brand" I mean the manufacturer/developer of the unit and others are just resellers. But again, just assuming.
Yes I discovered this behavior while borrowing my wife's Macan that has Isudar. I used my phone when I did the installation and then setup my wife's phone. Now, both phones auto connect when one of us get into the car.
Mines are also not very bright but my eyes are most likely older and less sensitive to light BTW, my car has Sport Chrono and I noticed that the display inside the clock is dimming correctly in sync with the digital gauges display "Brightness" control menu.
So today I decided to leave the Canbus issue aside and tidied up the passenger footwell and made good all my connections, refitted the carpet and some of the trim. Tested everything except the TPMS and then installed Agama launcher.
There's a long way to go to get everything set up the way I want, but this gave me a gratifying hit to see things coming together. I plan to change the logo in the centre for the Carrera S silhouette, which I think will look great. It was dark when I took the picture, and the display is less bright in real life.
Next weekend I'll fit and test the TPMS, make all the HU wiring tidy and then refit all the trim. Then it'll be the Canbus issue, lots of setup and tweaking and trying to source some better rotary *****.
Anyone got a quick fix to stop Zlink firing up Android auto and "stealing" the phones internet connection? I had to disable AA on my phone as a quick fix in order to download some apps, but I'm sure there's a better way
I now have all of the accessory parts for this install. The only thing I haven't had is time!
For those who have installed, I have a few questions:
Does the external mic supplied with the unit have to be installed? I'd like to think that this unit utilizes the stock mic already in the car. I did a somewhat similar installation on a BMW I used to have and although the unit was supplied with an external mic, it wasn't needed as the unit seamlessly used the stock mic.
Does the HU send nav info to the info screen to the right of the speedo as does the stock PCM?
Does the HU have native GPS or does it rely on a paired phone? Seeing that it came with a GPS antenna, I assume that it has a native GPS function.
I know I'll have more questions as I get into this. Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. So much helpful information here.
So today I decided to leave the Canbus issue aside and tidied up the passenger footwell and made good all my connections, refitted the carpet and some of the trim. Tested everything except the TPMS and then installed Agama launcher.
There's a long way to go to get everything set up the way I want, but this gave me a gratifying hit to see things coming together. I plan to change the logo in the centre for the Carrera S silhouette, which I think will look great. It was dark when I took the picture, and the display is less bright in real life.
Next weekend I'll fit and test the TPMS, make all the HU wiring tidy and then refit all the trim. Then it'll be the Canbus issue, lots of setup and tweaking and trying to source some better rotary *****.
Anyone got a quick fix to stop Zlink firing up Android auto and "stealing" the phones internet connection? I had to disable AA on my phone as a quick fix in order to download some apps, but I'm sure there's a better way
Nice job, Andy! Looks amazing. Try unchecking Zlink in the settings. IDK if that will work but it might. To start AA afterwards you will need to select Zlink manually from your launcher. This setting might just remove it from the apps menu though - never tried it. On my Panamera HU there is an option to run AA/CP automatically or not but that doesn't seem to be available in these HUs. There's a setting in Android Auto Settings (on the phone) to 'start AA automatically' or something like that. Again, I know what that does but don't know if it will stop Zlink from opening. Not sure what initiates Zlink - the HU or AA.
I now have all of the accessory parts for this install. The only thing I haven't had is time!
For those who have installed, I have a few questions:
Does the external mic supplied with the unit have to be installed? I'd like to think that this unit utilizes the stock mic already in the car. I did a somewhat similar installation on a BMW I used to have and although the unit was supplied with an external mic, it wasn't needed as the unit seamlessly used the stock mic.
I don't think you have to install the external mic. There is a setting for mic choice (and mic gain) where you can select 'internal'. If I was doing it, I would install the mic to the HU but leave the actual mic hidden under the dash somewhere in case I decided I did want to use the external mic after all - this would save you having to pull the HU out later. Here's the setting (you'll need the factory menu code - 3368). I would test this before final fix - there is every chance that this setting enables or disables the internal mic on the HU itself (tiny pinhole bottom left corner) to allow the 'external' mic which is the one they supply, and not the 'internal' OEM mic that is installed in your car by Porsche. Try all the options - I make a phone call to my wife and she 'assesses' the voice quality by ear. If you don't connect the external mic, make a phone call with the setting set to 'internal' but put your finger over the mic hole during the test. If the unit is using that, the other end of the call will barely hear you until you remove your finger. If they hear you loud and clear, it must be using the OEM internal mic. Wouldn't it be great if the hundreds of Chinese sellers of these units got together and paid someone to write a user manual!
Originally Posted by CardinalFlyer
Does the HU send nav info to the info screen to the right of the speedo as does the stock PCM?
No. Best to disable this in the MultiFunctional Display menu.
Originally Posted by CardinalFlyer
Does the HU have native GPS or does it rely on a paired phone? Seeing that it came with a GPS antenna, I assume that it has a native GPS function.
Yes, it has native GPS (which works well IME). If you use AA or CP, the GPS comes via the phone. You can use all the features of the HU without a phone if you connect the HU to a Wi-Fi source by using the supplied SIM slot with a separate data SIM.
Originally Posted by CardinalFlyer
I know I'll have more questions as I get into this. Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. So much helpful information here.
You're welcome. Hope the install goes well. Let us know!
@andy2111 Based on your findings (pulling the plug on the HU makes dimming work), I did a couple more of tests.
First, on purpose, I left the backup USB thumb drive in the HU USB plug while rebooting the HU. As expected, this resulted on the HU getting stuck in boot state without loading the Android software. In this condition, the dimming still not working.
Then, I removed the PCM fuse (B-10) in the driver side footwell fuse box. With the fuse out, the dimming is working correctly, and I can increase and decrease the brightness as I should be able to.
This seems to indicate that the issue is not at the Android level but most likely at the level of the CAN bus module. I read somewhere (forum?) that this unit has a removable CAN bus module that is at the back of the HU and include the car-specific quadlock connector.
I sent an email to Erisin with the description of the issue and asked if this is a known issue. Let's see if I get an answer or wasted my time. Please let us know if you hear anything from your seller.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, I scanned the car with my Autel and no error codes registered. Interestingly enough, even the PCM scan passed without errors.
Re: That's really interesting Chuck, I assume the HU boots in some way with the fuse out or does it cut all power? What else does the fuse disable?
I did think we could selectively remove the various connections in the quadlock to narrow it down, but everything is apparently pointing to the Canbus
=>> According to the Porsche user manual, fuse B-10 is dedicated to the PCM. No other device. And I didn't notice anything else not working.
From the tests I made my assumption is that when the fuse is on, the HU is "stuck" looking for the update in the USB thumb drive and thus never start loading Android. IOW the Android boot logo is not displayed, and the screen is just cycling between the start graphic and a black screen trying to reboot again and again in a loop. So, Android is not directly involved yet.
But the quadlock is getting power and if the CAN bus module is indeed attached to the quadlock, the CAN bus module is active despite Android not being loaded.
And if I remove the fuse, then the quadlock and the CAN bus are out of power, and they do not interfere with the panels dimming. Thus, the issue is in the CAN bus module.
Again, I may be completely off base and wrong because I have no documentation or knowledge about the overall design of this HU. I'm just applying basic troubleshooting technics, but they may not work here or lead on the wrong direction. Our best bet is to get Erisin or one of the sellers to help.
Let's cross fingers that you get an answer. I got an answer from Erisin this morning asking for more information on the transaction. As you suspected, they may reject my request for support because I didn't order directly from them, but they have not yet. If they do, I will reach out to "ForTesla Car Radio Store" that is the place where I order my unit.
Re: That's really interesting Chuck, I assume the HU boots in some way with the fuse out or does it cut all power? What else does the fuse disable?
I did think we could selectively remove the various connections in the quadlock to narrow it down, but everything is apparently pointing to the Canbus
=>> According to the Porsche user manual, fuse B-10 is dedicated to the PCM. No other device. And I didn't notice anything else not working.
From the tests I made my assumption is that when the fuse is on, the HU is "stuck" looking for the update in the USB thumb drive and thus never start loading Android. IOW the Android boot logo is not displayed, and the screen is just cycling between the start graphic and a black screen trying to reboot again and again in a loop. So, Android is not directly involved yet.
But the quadlock is getting power and if the CAN bus module is indeed attached to the quadlock, the CAN bus module is active despite Android not being loaded.
And if I remove the fuse, then the quadlock and the CAN bus are out of power, and they do not interfere with the panels dimming. Thus, the issue is in the CAN bus module.
Again, I may be completely off base and wrong because I have no documentation or knowledge about the overall design of this HU. I'm just applying basic troubleshooting technics, but they may not work here or lead on the wrong direction. Our best bet is to get Erisin or one of the sellers to help.
Great troubleshooting there. I agree with your conclusion - it's the canbus. Let's see if anyone in China is interested in finding a fix for this. Fingers crossed. We need to be quick. Chinese New Year starts soon and my experience of that, over many years of dealing with China, is that a) everything shuts down for two weeks and b) after it's all over, they seem to have erased their memory banks and you have to start over again, repeating everything you already told them.
RE: We need to be quick. Chinese New Year starts soon and my experience of that, over many years of dealing with China, is that a) everything shuts down for two weeks and b) after it's all over, they seem to have erased their memory banks and you have to start over again, repeating everything you already told them.
=>>Forgot about that one... I had a development team working for me in China a few years ago and indeed the Chinese New Year is disruptive to say the least . Not that I blame them. If I do not hear from Erisin by tomorrow morning, I'll contact "ForTesla".
01-21-2024, 09:20 AM
BTW, my car has Sport Chrono and I noticed that the display inside the clock is dimming correctly in sync with the digital gauges display "Brightness" control menu.
