yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Head-Units] mosterm1:
Hi,

I got apparently an AN-21 U like head unit recently. It's the Ford Focus/Mondeo type (with a tag 6680GA on the box), with a CAN-Interface.

MCU version 4.2.5-1-10-2101

System version 2.6.70

DVD version 2.13.11-hd860mc

I got some issues, and wonder if anybody had the same or even a fix. The two most annyoing ones are currently:

- In the downloaded phonebook from my Motorola Defy (running a modified Android 2.3.4 from the Defy+), the name entries are either displayed blank or consist of Chinese characters only, instead of the Latin ones. However, a test with some friend's Sony Xperia worked out fine.

- Neither mode for the "panel key illumination follows the vehicle lights" is satisfying: In the default setting, the illumination will stay on even after the unit was shut down with accessory off. It get's a little bit dimmer, but is clearly seen in the dark. I fear this might drain the battery and attract thieves. If I choose the other option, they stay always off. I don't see any influence from the headlight setting in either case, which is not important to me. But I would like them to be illuminated when the unit is on, and off else.

Then I noticed on its box this advertising: "Support wireless keyboard & mouse", whereas I read throughout this thread, that the built-in bluetooth is for phone and audio only. Any idea, how this wireless support could then work?

Thanks, Martin

PS: BTW, maybe of interest to other Ford owners: I got the OpenXC-Vehicle-Interface connected over USB with no issues. That's a different method of getting information from the CAN bus. Instead of using diagnostic commands (which require active writing to the bus), OpenXC is designed to passively listen to the normal ongoing CAN traffic and translates it to standardized signals, abstracting from the car's CAN design details. See openxcplatform.com if that is of interest to you

EDIT: Solve the panel lights issue: it turned out, that the OpenXC-VI powered unit via USB. Disconnecting it solved the lightning issue. I guess I need a USB wire without VCC connected here.
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
I seem to remember someone else mentioning a similar issue with the lights staying on after ignition is off, from what I remember, their unit ended up having a hardware fault.

With mine, if I disable the detection of the illumination wire then the lights are always on, but turn off when the engine is off.

You can get a USB receiver for the wireless mouse and keyboard (not Bluetooth), eg Logitech Unifying Receiver.
[Android Head-Units] Orisai:
You can get temp values from the engine or exhaust, but things like AC, open doors, or unbuckled seat belts belong to the CAN bus. You'll need a CAN bus adapter made for your car make/model and an app that can read and display it's data.
[Android Head-Units] waltonb:
The head unit just acts as a monitor for dash cam, backup camera, etc. I guess you could hook an xbox up to it if you wanted to. But long story short the recording in a dash cam is not happening in the head unit. It is happening in the dash cam. I bought one with my head unit on Aliexpress, search for Front camera infidini Car dvr. You put a microSD card in it and hook it up to the accessory wire and it comes on when you turn on the car, and shuts off when you turn off the car and cycles over the old footage. No documentation, but I figured it out after a little trial and error.

Do I ever use the head unit to watch the video? It is a lot easier to take the microSD card out and use a laptop to view it, so you don't even need a head unit to use a dash cam.
[Android Head-Units] pedalquickly:
After MUCH research and watching as many Youtube videos as I could find, I finally bought one of these units a few weeks ago. I was hesitant and really wondered what the quality would be like. I must say that I am totally satisfied!! It is great (at least for me) being that I love to tinker and experiment. Since I received it, I have upgraded the MCU and system, rooted it, have my own launcher and made it like I want it. I only considered it after taking about 10 evenings to read at least 90% of this forum.

I sincerely thank all of the Developers who are willing to give their time (and money) so that people like myself can "tinker" with enough knowledge to not brick their device. I know that there are some of them that ruined their radios in an effort to understand its inner workings, so that they could let us know what to and what not to do.

Thanks to the moderators and operators of this forum for their time and effort to keep something like this going. I have referenced it many times over the years as I have owned various smart phones and you can always know that you can get your questions answered here.

Hopefully, I can contribute just a little from what I have learned from here.

Thanks!
[Android Head-Units] j2gifted:
Did the same as you. Read most of the forum posts, watched videos, asked questions, and then ordered mine. I'm waiting for it to be delivered! Hope I am as satisfied, or more satisfied than you!
[Android Head-Units] shavermcspud:
Update on my broken screen

Hi all

As you may know a portion of my touch screen stopped working.

Seller asked me to take it apart and check the ribbon cables, which I have done and still not working.

Anyway he said it only has a 2 month warranty which is rubbish as the listing states 12 months??

eventually he agreed I could send back for a replacement unit at a cost of around £60 shipping both ways!!

As it happens I am off to Shenzen on may 8th for an unrelated business trip so he has agreed I can take it with me for a swap :) Bonus.

Anyway my contact in Shenzen for my other business has done some investigation and has given me prices on these units and they come in at around £130! so Im going to buy a couple and bring them back.

she has also said there is another unit android 4.2 quad core available for a similar price so I will investigate while im out there.

she has also bagged me 2 sony expeira z2's for £415 which was nice.

I have a container coming back to the UK on may 15th with LED video panels so if anybody wants something and the prices are right I might be able to include that in my shipment.

PM me and I will give you my contact details, im in the UK so not so handy for our friends overseas in Europe or the States
[Android Head-Units] vipassana:
I have bought a obd2 usb but don't work, maybe is it not compatible? If I buy a OBD wifi I can also connect through hotspot with to my iphone?

Thanks
[Android Head-Units] cat2115:
Ok, i found a problem why my Time never stick to the correct time whenever I start up the car. If I were to be on System Ver 2.6.70 and MCU 4.2.6.1-7-10-6501, the Time work great cuz it had EST-daylight saving. However, if I update to System Ver 2.6.96 and with or without MCU 4.2.13-7-10-6501, the Time will never be correct because I lost the EST-daylight saving. It only had Eastern Time Zone
[Android Head-Units] sciallo:
The quad core is probably a WD8801 still in a buggy stage for what I understand...

I wish you where shipping to the states :( I wonder if your contact would be willing to ship a few to the states for a fee... Group buy anyone?

Though at roughly $217 per unit plus shipping plus "middle-man" fee would bring us to about what you can get them for on ebay...
[Android Head-Units] shavermcspud:
I will certainly ask the question for you,like you say maybe a group buy is the way forward.

The sting is always the import and shipping.
[Android Head-Units] apersaud500:
Mounting External Drive

Hi,

Is there anyway to mount an external harddrive to this unit?

My head unit looks like:

Thanks Please help?
[Android Head-Units] sciallo:
Same as mine. :)

I'm using a 2.5 inch ssd drive with mine in an external enclosure, it works great even without external power since it uses very little current. trying a regular 2.5 inch hard drive proved problematic because of power supply, it requires external power to it, I would suggest an enclosure that accepts external power and a dc to dc converter to power it (My enclosure has a usb splitter that simply ends up feeding 5v from two different ports and it's not Ideal, I would suggest one that keeps the power and usb separate). If you plan on using a usb hub plan on using a powered one again powered by dc-to dc converter (or one that takes 12v in)

Speaking of usb hubs, I have a cheapo ebay hub and I'm struggling with 5v back feed... The power I apply to the hub gets fed back to the unit through the usb port.

One of the side effects is the panel lights stay on as long as that's powered (I remember seing someone's post about light not shutting off recently while I was on the road and couldn't really reply, hopefully you read this, if not I'll try to find that post and reply) . Aside from that I can't think it's a good thing, so I plan on either adding a diode to the power side of the hub, or cutting the USB + wire alltogether. I will post more about that in the hardware thread about that mod.
[Android Head-Units] apersaud500:
Mounting External Drive

You had to root yours for it to work ?
[Android Head-Units] sciallo:
Well, I did root mine, right off the bat. But external hard drive should work regardless... native apps would see it and play music/videos from it, most android apps will need tweaking/sym-linking/mounting to find the media. (I haven't played with that yet but search the thread, thare has been a few different suggestions.
[Android Head-Units] Prdie:
I've got the same problem as you. Alternator whine and hiss in one of the speakers. It's Saab 9-5 with Harman Kardon amplifier, stock navigation headunit is dead silent.

I've tried a 2.3 Ouku headunit at first and wired the HU not from rca's but from HU amplifier. I've used the factory harness ground. There was a very loud pop when the unit was starting, but then the unit was silent and no whine.

Because of bad faceplate I decided to switch the Ouku in favor to AN21u. Wired it the same way, but there's constant hiss from one of the speakers and I'm suffering the whine. It got a bit better when I've left the HU's amplifier and used the RCA output. Also noise filters on 12V lines helped a bit. But it's still not at the acceptable level.

I've tested simple Kenwood HU and it works as well as stock headunit.

I think that it's a matter of quality of components and that it's not fixable ;(
[Android Head-Units] jpapadami:
Possibel New Firmware

Hey Guys,

Contacted my seller and asked for any new updates to fix my TV app issue with the SWC. This is the new firmware update that I got. I haven't installed it yet to see what version it is, but was wondering how can I decode the files to see the version without having to install it right away? Also how and where do you get the MCU files and stock apps for each firmware? I remember when upgrading the firmware, my MCU and stock apps didn't change to the new version. Hope its newer than the latest 2.6.96.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zvg78tp4ha33gf/Android_4.1_20140410.zip
[Android Head-Units] booba5185:
I agree, I actually ended up with a bad alternator, though I don't know if a new one will fix my whine problems. I do know a new alternator will fix my car-not-running problem though, lol. I think it might have also been my front RCA pre-outs, but that could have just been the alternator.
[Android Head-Units] cat2115:
When you update from stock to 2.6.96, does your icon change? mine didn't and plus time never stick no matter what I did. However, if i go back to stock, time work great. Maybe mine not compatible with the 2.6.96??? I even update MCU and not update MCU and still same resolve.
[Android Head-Units] pedalquickly:
I think system and Mcu links are on first page of this forum..
[Android Head-Units] cat2115:
Anyone in here can link w/picture or video (hopefully) to me a guide on how to replace this screen unit? my screen is defective and seller will send a new screen for me to do it myself. :confused: I google but none found
[Android Head-Units] jpapadami:
I was under the impression that they need to be extracted from the firmware. If they are separate then how do you get the stock apps from the firmware? Like I said, when I updated my firmware it didn't update the apps automatically. I had to replace them with the ones from the file repository. How/where did we get the stock apps and MCU files for the different firmware versions?

---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

Never had a problem with date/time. I have mine on manual, not automatic. Not sure what icons your talking about. If you're referring to the launcher app then no. None if my apps were updated when flasing new firmware. Had to overwrite them manually. Not sure this is normal. You"d figure after a firmware update everything would be updated, even stock apps.
[Android Head-Units] kaffaskf:
do have any model fix with our head unit?
[Android Head-Units] cat2115:
Date/time: everything unchecked. I only change to Time Zone to Eastern -4 hours. Even if i manually change time, it will not stick to the correct time after a car start up. Stock firmware works great on time, v2.6.70

I'm not sure what is the different between 2.6.70 and 2.6.96 since i see no difference.
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
It's quite simple, if I remember correctly, two screws on either side of the screen, then two ribbon cables and a USB cable.

Not a guide, but have a few pictures of the internals and back of screen here.

Sorry, I'm not sure what the question is?
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
If someone can verify the system version I will add it to the main post.
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
Which one did you order? And what app do you plan on using?

I have a very cheap one from eBay I bought a few years ago, but I don't think the chipset is compatible even with Linux.
[Android Head-Units] jinny81:
Perfectly?

Are you using the stock "Music" app that came preinstalled?

I find the app unintuitive and ugly.

After much testing it seems that i can only restore music output on my 3rd party apps like poweramp, mx player, etc only if i launch the stock "Music" app, and then pausing the music in it since it autoplays, or killing the app.

I have tried using apps like Tasker and Watchdog to autorun the music app on boot to gain ability to use the sound output, and then autokill it to stop it from autoplaying music to no success. It seems these apps fail to run on boot because they need more permissions than im willing to give right now - ie rooting. Tasker even consistently says 'no active profiles' despite a few being on and app enabled.
[Android Head-Units] patrickoneal:
Are you saying you get no audio from third party apps after a cold boot until you launch and kill the stock music app?

How does it work with navigation apps and music apps working simultaneously? Can you play music in the background, and have a nav app up front? Does the navigation audio mute the music and announce turns and such?
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
At what point does my reply mention the stock music app, or even any music app running "perfectly"?

The question regarded "Google Maps" and "Google Music", to which I responded that Google Maps works perfectly.
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
Again, another question that is answered in the video review.

The unit has an option for "navigation volume" and "music volume", so after you have set the navigation app, these volume levels apply when any sound is played from the designated app. Note that also includes button tones. Hence you can set it so the music is mute, or just quieter when an instruction is given.

For the record, I have not experienced a single sound issue with my unit.
[Android Head-Units] jinny81:
fair enough, my bad.

so you do experience the same though right?
[Android Head-Units] KID52:
I don't have much issue with the stock app for just general playing music as it's only opened in the background with navigation actually being shown.

But if you take a look further it is a pretty bad app, just like all of the stock apps (note my previous posts displaying hatred towards the phone app).

Okay it could look better, but not the biggest issue.

No album display - they show a generic folder icon which implies a space for album art, but I have yet to see anyone that has managed to get art to display there.

No playlists - there is a deceiving tab titled "Playlists", but it's just a folder list.

No way to select an album.

No way to select an artist.

No way to search for a song. You CAN select a single song from a folder, but there is no way to SEARCH, as in, type a letter in.

In short, it's basic as hell. At least it has a shuffle option though...

Then if we look at why it isn't so simple to use your own app, eg Google Music as mentioned before.

Steering wheel controls open up the default app (not volume +/-), hence do not function with your own app.

Default app opens on every boot, no way to stop this as yet.

MicroSD card is a weird location, so many music apps do not see it. They see internal memory, but this is only a few GB so not practical for music storage when your apps go here too.

One thing I am not certain of is if any non-default app sounds get lowered when a navigation instruction is given, I suspect the unit globally lowers all other sounds when the specific app assigned to navigation plays a sound.
[Android Head-Units] jakejm79:
I believe something was lost in translation with this, 'Playlist' really should be 'Now Playing'. But you are right it is very bad, I resorted to grabbing a cheap 8GB Nano and using that, a little better since you can sort/search by Genre, Album, Artist and Song, still now Cover Art support though.
[Android Head-Units] tdt038:
This controller "JoyCon EX" allows to operate 3rd party media apps by steering wheel buttons. Emulates pressing of keyboard media keys. Sorry, I cant post link here, but discussion can be found on xda.
[Android Head-Units] patrickoneal:
I just read up on that, appears to be a hardware keyboard emulator that interfaces to steering wheel controls. Hopefully a better software solution will come about. Thanks for the information, all the same.
[Android Head-Units] jakejm79:
Tasker can simulate pretty much any keypress on a keyboard and also specific media control functions too. If there was a plugin that monitored the steering wheel keyboard controls (they must be parsed to the Android OS somehow since you can assign Home, Menu, etc to SW Controls), tasker could be used to set a parameter (i.e. $MEDIA_PLAY = 1), then another task that monitors the parameter and simulates a keypress or media command when the parameter is set. You could probably even use just one parameter and just set different variables for different commands. I can't imagine there are any cars out there with more than like 8-10 SW buttons.
[Android Head-Units] chris.r.r:
As I wrote yesterday: I think the way to go is to deep into the SBD.apk. If it's possible to replace the app with a modded one (and I currently see no reason why this shouldn't work with root), then it should be possible to replace the code to send media key commands instead of sending the steering wheel commands to the system applications.
[Android Head-Units] Defender666:
Get something similar to this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/370900551620?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

RTL2832U driver is available from google Play.

There are many apps supporting it.

You can decode DAB, DVB-T, Police, Firedepartement, CB, etc..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqSMDOb9Ufc
[Android Head-Units] patrickoneal:
Just a heads up. I order my unit last Thursday(the 5th), and still haven't received a tracking number. I contacted the seller, and they gave the excuse that their warehouse workers are on strike, and asked me to wait 4 more days and offered a $5 refund. This sounds like a pretty lame excuse to me. Maybe things work differently in Hong Kong, but in the United States, strikes are indefinite in length.

The seller is newdealestore2012, my paypal payment went to "Light in the box" which seems to be a rather large Chinese reseller. I paid $299 shipped. There are other sellers with similar pricing, but I suspect most of them are just other user names from the same seller.

My suspicion is that the seller does not have stock and they're waiting on it. I've decided to wait the four days and file a claim if I still don't have a tracking number. Hopefully they're not taking time to patch up the firmware :)

So, if you want one of these right away, avoid newdealestore2012 and any user associated with "Light in the box".
[Android Head-Units] Orisai:
Now that we have root, can't we just remove these apps? So they don't start when the unit boots up or when we press a SWC button?

In my case, I'm only interested in the FM Radio, DVD, and perhaps the TV one. The rest, well the media player is way too limited, practically useless compared to Poweramp, Winamp, or even the AOSP player.

And the ipod one, well I don't use and will never use anything that comes from crApple. It's against my philosophy about owning a device rather than perpetually renting it to the manufacturer.
[Android Head-Units] jakejm79:
You'd probably be better off freezing them with Titanium Backup.
[Android Head-Units] donaldta:
You don't even need Titanium Backup to freeze it. If you have terminal emulation software then you can freeze it by the package name. Although, it the package name isn't always obvious.

$ su
# pm list packages | grep -i audioservice
com.parrot.audioservice
# pm disable com.parrot.audioservice
Package com.parrot.audioservice new state: disabled
#

Freezing apps marks the package so it cannot be loaded. And to defrost it, you would use "pm disable {package.name}".

Although, Titanium Backup does have this feature and makes it pretty convenient from a GUI but it is a paid feature to use it. Personally, I would recommend making a backup of the APK from /system/app and delete or move the APK from the directory if there are no ill side effects from freezing. It is also pretty important that one is careful of what they freeze / remove, for example freezing or deleting the only launcher installed will cause the Android device to go into a boot loop.
[Android Head-Units] Defender666:
I find it silly to freeze the Apps. I'm happy the unit plays Radio while it is booting up.
[Android Head-Units] jakejm79:
Good points, I prefer the freeze over uninstall, but that is more because it is what I use with my phone to make OTA upgrades easier. I like to support the android developers and I already have paid for the copy for my phone, when you are freezing more than a few packages it becomes much quicker to do it via GUI especially if you aren't sure of the package names.
[Android Head-Units] PsychoMcSatan:
I originally posted about my new double din unit in the OUKU thread as that's what its face looks like, but the internals sound more like the AN-21 U. Anyone here have any experience with this "RL257" unit?

This seems to be the model I have listed on alibaba. Same physically and same homescreen. Specs appear the same and my seller also referred to it as "RL257":

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/6-2-inch-Multimedia-Car-DVDCar-Radio-DVD-Players-Android-4-1-Car-GPS-DVD-Car/1504400297.html

I bought mine from eBay, however the listing was removed by eBay shortly after I purchased it. The seller "our_style" said it was removed for copyright reasons, but that otherwise the unit was fine.

Have only played around a bit, but the stock 4.1.1 install seems fairly nice and smooth. Slightly different launcher and apps than the "AN-21 U", but many of the backend settings appear the same. USB debugging is password protected, but it has an "APK installer" app and I can seem to install any apk file I've thrown at it so far.

The Bluetooth is odd too as there is only their "BT Phone" app to pair your phone, but curiously, the options to confirm the connection are "ok", "obd", and "cancel". I am able to connect to my bluetooth OBD adapter, but so far I haven't been able to see it in Torque Pro. I also have a wired USB OBD adapter and while Torque Pro sees it, it doesn't seem to respond.

I'm still getting used to it and want to be sure that I know exactly what I have before thinking about trying to root it.

-PMS