When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
One of the head unit manufacturers "Mekede" offers much more professional support and they have what's likely to be the latest version of Carlink on their downloads page here Support / Software Download Address (mekede.com)
I would use this as a very last resort though as we should be able to get your unit working and if you upgrade to the later Carlink and find it's not compatible you might not be able to get the old one back without doing a full factory reset
Have you gone into the Carlink app to see if it is telling you anything?
Surely Carlink and Zlink are just Android apps like any other? If the later version causes any issues, it's easy to just go to somewhere like ApkMirror and download any previous version you like. I just had a quick look and there are versions going back several years. The latest seems to be 14.0.211 and if that doesn't work for some reason, it's easy to go back to 2.10.1 or 2.10.0 etc. Judging by the big jump in version numbers, the latest is a significant revision and may well be worth updating to, for added reliability or new features.
The latest version of Zlink is 5.4.41 and is available from this link - older versions going back several iterations are also available. If anyone is running a version of Zlink before 5.x.x I recommend they update as the v5 series is much more reliable.
Personally, I'd be a bit wary of that apk on the Mekede site as it seems to be a customised version and may have been modified for their own brand HUs.
I successfully updated my boot animation file to get rid of the Android logo on startup, My HU now boots up to the Carrera S silhouette followed by a nice Porsche logo with a subtle glow animation.
Its easy enough to do and is very briefly mentioned at the back of the guide. I will do a fuller write up as you need to run a backup script to extract the updater file. I think you can also update the boot logo at the same time.
Here are a few pics of my startup sequence of: logo > animation > Agama launcher
Apologies for the huge reflection in the pics and its a shame I can't post a video here, but you get the idea!
@jadski have you looked in the "app store" app for updates?
There is a newer version of CarLink available if you've not already tried it?
And as well as my suggestion above about the auto-start in the factory settings, there is also this setting in CarLink itself - have you checked to see if the automatic connection is enabled?
As I had all the updates shown above available, I decided to update everything, but was mindful of @ratt359 's experience when he did this as the "bright lights" bug came back and he had to reapply the fix and pull the HU fuse to get it to work.
All the apps updated except "Protocol update" which downloaded but did not want to install.
There was no obvious issue with bright lights, but I decided to pull the fuse to force a full restart just in case the lights returned once the canbus had been fully restarted - but everything seems fine
I'm sure I'll regret sayng this... but I think my Chstek is now fully configured, customised the way I want and has everything working as expected - I'm sure it'll explode in a ball of fire tomorrow! Or Porsche will announce the release of PCCM for the 991!
@jadski have you looked in the "app store" app for updates?
There is a newer version of CarLink available if you've not already tried it?
And as well as my suggestion above about the auto-start in the factory settings, there is also this setting in CarLink itself - have you checked to see if the automatic connection is enabled?
I did not have the same screens that you have, but similar.
CarLink was already selected. I tried toggling the easy connection option which didn’t work.
I then went to the App Store and opened Carlink
I hit the open button and fixed! Thanks so much for the suggestion. I would have spent hours troubleshooting.
I successfully updated my boot animation file to get rid of the Android logo on startup, My HU now boots up to the Carrera S silhouette followed by a nice Porsche logo with a subtle glow animation.
Its easy enough to do and is very briefly mentioned at the back of the guide. I will do a fuller write up as you need to run a backup script to extract the updater file. I think you can also update the boot logo at the same time.
Here are a few pics of my startup sequence of: logo > animation > Agama launcher
Apologies for the huge reflection in the pics and its a shame I can't post a video here, but you get the idea!
If anyone wants to see a preview of all the boot animation options, there are a load of .MOV files in the boot animation folder in the same place you find the guide:
Once you decide the animation you like, download the zip file of the same name, rename it to bootanimation.zip and update it (I will add the full process to the guide soon)
I am trying to install my chstek today in the Macan. This connection is not mentioned in the guide.
Could someone please tell me what this fakes connector is for?
Also, do I need to connect these aux in to the corresponding connectors from the wiring harness? I did not see that mention in the installation guide.
First pic is the LVDS connector for the right side of the instrument cluster (aka multi-function display). The Aux connectors are for the aux input (headphone jack) in the armrest. I didn't bother with the aux-in wires because I don't use it and it cut down on the wiring to stuff behind the radio when reinstalling.
The only issue I now see with CarPlay is that if you accidentally use any of the hard key buttons, it kicks you out of CarPlay and back to Android mode. Android mode is limited because it is still thinks its connected to CarPlay. When I try to use Carlink to reconnect, it just stays in the verification process and won’t come back on unless I go into the iPhones CarPlay> forget device and then reinstall it.
I have Bose and everything is working so I guess I don’t need those aux connections.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Also, my factory camera is working right out of the box. I connected the CAM VIN yellow connector from the wiring harness to the yellow male connector from the HU
One of the many settings will disable that second set of backup lines at the bottom of the screen. I think the top set are added by the factory camera, so you don't want the head unit to add anything else.
The only issue I now see with CarPlay is that if you accidentally use any of the hard key buttons, it kicks you out of CarPlay and back to Android mode. Android mode is limited because it is still thinks its connected to CarPlay. When I try to use Carlink to reconnect, it just stays in the verification process and won’t come back on unless I go into the iPhones CarPlay> forget device and then reinstall it.
When this happens, go back to the home screen and relaunch carlink. It's annoying, but will probably bring CarPlay back without futzing with your phone. If that doesn't work, you can click the button at the top of the screen that is like two rectangles on top of each other, which will show open apps - close Carlink and relaunch it.
Currently only the NAV button can be assigned - someone tried an app from the XDA thread on 7862 units, but it didn't work. Its a bit frustrating but typical of these Chinese units where the final 5% of effort would make all the difference
Have you tried FYTHWOneKey to reassign the buttons? There's another app that replaces the factory ms.apk that allows even more button functionality. The first is easier to get working in general though.
08-03-2024, 12:42 PM
