[Android Head-Units] sciallo:
Frustrated

Well sticking the term "MCU" in the search thing up there in the top right side panel would be a good start. if you run into this "MCU" thing and you don't quite understand it, you can think "hmm what's been said about this MCU thing so far?" before making a random uninformed statement like:

That will show up on top of the next "MCU" search and might just end up confusing others (who wrongly would just read that and close the search results thinking they 'got it'.

In fact,

Please everyone note this:

It doesn't help that when searching, sorting is latest on top. You get to see all the posts of people asking for something that has been answered 30 times before and frustration replies like this one that don't really answer your question right on top of the search results... I just looked up "MCU" and really had to go back quite a few pages worth of search results to get some good results... And guess what: this very post I'm tiping right now will be on top of that search result as soon as I publish it! ...what a catch 22 :rolleyes:

But bottom line, expect it, know it and when you search go to the last page of the search results and work your way backward...

And I will quote where he's right:

This has come up plenty of times as well, here and in the original OUKU thread that started it all and that by now is 243 pages long and contains information about the OUKU, the S150 and this very unit thread started there too...

Guess what, when I first got into these units (the OUKU was the first on I bought) I read that tread from cover to cover, each and every post. By the time I got to the end, I knew some questions I had were answered, but by then I forgot the answer... so I re read the whole thing even more slowly and attently (it took me a week) taking notes on a pad, something like "market helper: posts# 1647 and 1652"...

I commented along the same lines as these comments quoted above... This sucks, I had to read through pages of crap I didn't care about, stuff I already know and rants like this very one I'm writing just to weed out the answers to my questions... the last couple of pages of the tread are worthless, just about this very subject, but they will still pop up in searches and I might still have to skim through them in case some good piece of info is hiding in there, between crap posts... (god, I know i use "..." way too much, I just can't help it.)

Bottom line, a separate forum section for Car stereo head units where we could have sections per-model and separate threads per-topic has been requested many times and simply does not seem to happen... also, not sure it's entirely necessary, it seems like people like to just have one thread to keep watch on:

I posted this on 22nd January 2014

Since then questions about microphones and wiring stuff have come up here, the hardware thread has been mentioned again, but the topic remains here...

Why, yes it is, Thank you. That came about back in October 2013 once I had my two pages worth of hand written notes, realized that going back through the tread would be a pain over and over, I decided to take it upon myself to start the wiki. Knew nothing about wikis and was a little apprehensive, so I got some help by [MENTION=255685]tin2001[/MENTION] who got the Generic Android Head Unit started and many others who contributed.

This post is where it started...

Since then, it grew from a single page to what it is now, and it still has a LLLLOOoooong way to go. It is an overwelming project given the amount of information that should be on there.

The fact that it is overwhelming and the fact that I currently don't have a working unit to test things on and know a specific how-to in the tread works and mainly because most people here are not reporting back on what works and what doesn't (well, mostly what works, if it doesn't they'll ***** about it) I felt like a little input would be helpful and decided to reach out for some:

22nd January 2014:

Note that I was asking for feedback (like has anyone tried those howtos, do they work on all units. And for REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS... I wasn't asking anyone to jump in and write an article (wich by the way we're all allowed and welcome to do and collaborate on) or to take their unit and brick it like I did...

A day or so later thinking it didn't really get noticed because a bunch of posts came about, I followed up with quoting my original post and:

And got one reply:

You're welcome, but I think you (and everyone else) misunderstood... I was simply looking for feedback and suggestions. From the comfort of your fireplace-front laptop. What dealbraker issues did you fix and with what <post number here> so I can put that in a wiki article for the rest of the world?

It didn't stop me and others. The wiki is now growing, generic page with pages for each different unit if there is enough info and some folks are contributing. Notably,

I can't give [MENTION=5389783]donaldta[/MENTION] enough props...

and let me stress this because it's hysterical: He is on top of EVERY POSSIBLE head unit's thread, here and on other sites, if I think I found a thread with info on a head unit nobody knows about, I'm wrong. He is there and not just reading, asking people to send him a log file so he can figure out their problem....

What's hysterical you ask? He doesn't own ANY of the units mentioned on the wiki pages he just spent quite some time cleaning up (it didn't go un-noticed, thanks [MENTION=5389783]donaldta[/MENTION]) or on the threads he is such an active part of problem solving/solution finding).

Still, when after all the efforts something like this comes up:

At first I thought that must be a hard to Identify one, he's probably asking here like instructed by the wiki because it's not clear... but it's really pretty clear...

Or others thinking someone else wrote something I wrote on the wiki (lol thanks for sticking up for me [MENTION=5389783]donaldta[/MENTION] that was noticed too).

It's all a little unmotivating but the reality is I'm working on the wiki (and primarily I will focus on the AN21 one if I stick with this unit) because I want a place I can refer back to, so no credit needed (though it is appreciated and that's why the little "thanks" button down below is for)

And I'm guessing [MENTION=5389783]donaldta[/MENTION] is trying to patiently decide which unit is best to replace his Parrot, therefore helping all unit's users get the best of their units will help him make an informed decision...

We all have our motivations but yes, we're also very much into it and a little obsessed. You don't have to be, but if you can't at least realize that it's a hobby and a "volonteer" type thing for all the "obsessed" ones and can't at least share your experiences/findings and have the courtesy to take a little time to see what's what, maybe you need a more defined "this is what it does and this is how" pioneer type unit where you can call the 800 number if the "how" is not too clear. This is not tonghai create's customer support, we are a community of tinkerers happy to do it and as frustrated about fishing info out of the thread as anyone else.

No, we were not born knowing it all, I still don't know the half of it though I pretend to (that's part of my way of learning, I'm a strange cat), but I doubt you'll learn much if you're not willing to do some research and understand how things work.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to get it off my chest, and I'm still feeling good about it all.

My next piece for the wiki (as my time allows) will be an in-depth explanation of the MCU as it seems those layers of hardware are still unclear to many...

For example (and at least I can try to put a tiny piece of information to keep this post from being yet another absolutely worthless one):

The microphone as it pertains to the bluetooth, subject that's been up lately, the bluetooth on these units is a tiny separate board connected to the MCU but not even part of it. it's just as if you had one of these built in. The MCU handles communicating with it through I2C and the BT app is NOTHING BUT a front-end user interface to the MCU. So I doubt there is an android app that can raise the mic level to it (though there might be a command we can send the MCU to do that as it seemed was the case with the OUKU)