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Looks like SDK Autos stuff is just a copy of that. Same hardware, connections, probably just some custom software. Interestingly it says its only compatible with PCM4. Will it work with PCM3?
Last edited by John Dorman; 07-04-2019 at 08:49 AM.
I have multiple emails out to him inquiring about this. He refused to tell me the box he was using so I found it myself now I am just trying to find if it will work on PCM3. I wouldn't even say its a good solution for PCM4. The hardware really is lacking, we actually have no clue what's in that box.
However, until he comes clean with me on what the hell is actually going on here I would recommend everyone stay away.
To put this all into perspective, a Raspberry Pi 4 is more powerful than that piece of hardware. It has 2 more gigs of ram, a better processor, better interconnects, and costs way less.
Their site claims "Six-Core 64bit Server Class Cortex-A72 Core @2.0Ghz". They never made an Six Core A72, but guess what! The RPI4 has an A72 with 4 Cores and a faster GPU. Also they never clocked them higher than 1.6ghz so they lied there as well.. The icing on the cake? The RPI4 has DDR4 which would make Android scream.
@SDK Autos I would love to have you come prove me wrong here but this is looking very shady.
I have multiple emails out to him inquiring about this. He refused to tell me the box he was using so I found it myself now I am just trying to find if it will work on PCM3. I wouldn't even say its a good solution for PCM4. The hardware really is lacking, we actually have no clue what's in that box.
However, until he comes clean with me on what the hell is actually going on here I would recommend everyone stay away.
To put this all into perspective, a Raspberry Pi 4 is more powerful than that piece of hardware. It has 2 more gigs of ram, a better processor, better interconnects, and costs way less.
Their site claims "Six-Core 64bit Server Class Cortex-A72 Core @2.0Ghz". They never made an Six Core A72, but guess what! The RPI4 has an A72 with 4 Cores and a faster GPU. Also they never clocked them higher than 1.6ghz so they lied there as well.. The icing on the cake? The RPI4 has DDR4 which would make Android scream.
@SDK Autos I would love to have you come prove me wrong here but this is looking very shady.
I just had a wonderful email with @SDK Autos , while my investgation into this matter was correct, I was unaware how much time and effort he has put into this project. I won't share the details here, he can if he likes. I am working out a deal with him to get one here stateside and installed in my 991.1. If it all works out (which I hope it will) then we can put this issue to bed and have a fantastic product to recommend to all the other 991.1 owners.
Hi guys,
The system uses relatively generic Android compatible hardware as does any Android device (phone, Pi, Smart TV, etc), I list all of hardware specifics on the web site and a wealth of other information in the FAQ (see http://www.sdkautos.com). We have a lot of very satisfied users that are happy to reference our product and support who go out of their way to make their own videos showcasing the system and send us nice comments on our YouTube channel.
If someone would like to trial another unit (there are also some others on alibabe.com made in India I believe) in their Porsche and post their findings I'd be very interested to see if it works out of the box in any PCM (3.x, 4.x, etc), from what I can see it won't, but I may be wrong. I'm sure you could also adopt a Raspberry Pi to work in a PCM as well, I know it would be a hell of a lot of work and no doubt costly in time, testing, etc. If you manage to destroy your PCM in the process they run up to $5,000.00 from the dealership to replace, depending on the model of your Porsche and PCM so please do tread carefully as with any advice from forums.
I don't claim to have the only system for Android but for those of you that want a proven system and support, until such a time that Porsche gives us native Android Auto on the PCM which would be amazing! Let's all keep pushing for that day!
And if you would like more details on specs or other questions please see the faq at http://www.sdkautos.com. Thanks guys!
I have somewhat good news for you Android folks. Porsche lied and Android Auto is natively supported in PCM4, but they've just chosen not to enable it by default. In order to enable Android Auto, you need to hack your head unit and install the appropriate FEC (feature enablement code), and code the adaptation channel (Bitfield 3 - Google_GAL). The news is only somewhat good because the process of hacking the head unit requires access to QNX via UART, a cloned image of the stage2 IFS partition, unpacked and then the main application patched with IDA Pro, then repacked and flashed to your head unit.
Here is the native implementation of Android Auto, which is accessed via the "Home" menu when an Android device is connected. Unfortunately, the only Android device I have is my inventory gun from work, so while I don't have any apps to test with, the Google ones all appear to work.
I have somewhat good news for you Android folks. Porsche lied and Android Auto is natively supported in PCM4, but they've just chosen not to enable it by default. In order to enable Android Auto, you need to hack your head unit and install the appropriate FEC (feature enablement code), and code the adaptation channel (Bitfield 3 - Google_GAL). The news is only somewhat good because the process of hacking the head unit requires access to QNX via UART, a cloned image of the stage2 IFS partition, unpacked and then the main application patched with IDA Pro, then repacked and flashed to your head unit.
Here is the native implementation of Android Auto, which is accessed via the "Home" menu when an Android device is connected. Unfortunately, the only Android device I have is my inventory gun from work, so while I don't have any apps to test with, the Google ones all appear to work.
Amazing. This has been one of my obstacles to overcome regarding buying a new Porsche as I'm happy with my S9 and really don't want to have to change because of my car (seems absurd in this day and age, esp with iPhones in the $1k range). As a guy who just put a $1K, fully refundable deposit down on a new C8 because I am not 100% sold on a new Cayman GTS (price, 4 vs. 6 cyl and lack of AA are major issues) this keeps me in the hunt!
But how to implement? I'm in tech sector, but not sure how to accomplish this? You hacked your own PCM or did you have some inside help? Enlighten us please!
So Android Auto was already loaded onto the PCM, it just needed to be enabled?
If that's the case, that's very interesting! The only downside as you point out, it takes a high technical/competent capability to hack the head unit and it requires quite a lot of expensive, hard to come by hardware suck was the QNX, UART, the ability to clone the image and unpack it (which I believe is quite difficult in itself), the IDA Pro, etc.
Originally Posted by chris2
I have somewhat good news for you Android folks. Porsche lied and Android Auto is natively supported in PCM4, but they've just chosen not to enable it by default. In order to enable Android Auto, you need to hack your head unit and install the appropriate FEC (feature enablement code), and code the adaptation channel (Bitfield 3 - Google_GAL). The news is only somewhat good because the process of hacking the head unit requires access to QNX via UART, a cloned image of the stage2 IFS partition, unpacked and then the main application patched with IDA Pro, then repacked and flashed to your head unit.
Here is the native implementation of Android Auto, which is accessed via the "Home" menu when an Android device is connected. Unfortunately, the only Android device I have is my inventory gun from work, so while I don't have any apps to test with, the Google ones all appear to work.
Very interesting... Is there a way to get back to stock if needed? What's the chances of bricking the PCM if you mess things up? Where can we learn how to do this hack?
You can return to stock easily with the SDK Autos option and the only way you'd "brick" the PCM is by blowing the fuse which is simple to unbrick (replace the $2 fuse).
Very interesting... Is there a way to get back to stock if needed? What's the chances of bricking the PCM if you mess things up? Where can we learn how to do this hack?
Well, things get tricky because of the feature code. Porsche doesn't support Android Auto on PCM4, so they won't sell you the code. If they theoretically did offer a code for purchase (for example, CarPlay Retrofit for 718 p/n 982-044-900-06), it would be as simple as ordering the code and going to the dealership or anyone w/ PPN access and PIWIS. There's no reason they couldn't offer this code for sale, they just choose not to, but perhaps that will change in the future.
Working around the feature code requires flashing the stage2 root filesystem on PCM4, so bricking is a very real possibility. However, since we would not be touching stage1 applications QNX will still load and recovery is still possible with a backup image via SD card. It's just modifying software, so going back to stock would be easy as long as you retain your original files to flash back, but even if you don't, any factory firmware update will return PCM to stock.
Depending on interest, I'm debating on creating a guide for my own post or just throwing the directions in either as part of my PCM4 retrofit thread or this thread.
Definitely interested in a quick summary guide of what's involved - cost-wise, time-wise, where you get the various images and s/w so that I can determine whether it's worthwhile to invest the time and risk in it
07-03-2019, 10:45 PM
