[FYT Android Head Units] surfer63:
Last revised: 19 February 2024

This thread tries to be a "one fits all" thread about FYT based Spreadtrum Unisoc uis7862(s) (Unisoc ums512) and uis8581a (sc9863) head units and its software, modded or not. The first few posts will be "collection" posts for all kind of info but will also link to other useful information that might be added later or in other threads.

Part of the tips, mods, etcetera are also valid for FYT based sc9853i head units, and even for the older PX5 and Sofia-3GR.

DISCLAIMER: Every action you do on your unit is on your own responsibility. I will help where I can (and probably a lot of other users as well), but I am never responsible.

This thread is meant for:

Discussing firmwares (see post #2), modded firmwares, mods and rooting (not advised).

Tips, tricks, mods to improve the general usability of your unit.

Try to solve design errors/flaws where we expect that these Chinese resellers/suppliers will not do it.

This thread is NOT meant for:

buyers advice (is this one better than that one?)

4G providers, DAB+ modules or DAB+ software (see here for DAB-Z by @realzoulou), Navradio+ (see NavRadio+ ported to UIS7862-FYT devices by @KoTiX2 , sub-woofers, OEM cameras, OBD devices, TPMS or other peripheral devices.

ABSOLUTELY NOT for posts about "what is/are your favorite app(s)?"

Questions about repairs, warranty and the like. That is between you and the reseller. Questions about interchangeabilty of hardware are OK.

Always first check the offical websites (if any) of the resellers in case of technical questions. Also: First contact your reseller in case of hardware issues or (not working) accessories.

General unit information

To start with: the uis7862 and uis7862s are 100% identical and compatible. The 7862s is the same CPU but slightly faster.

Hardware

CPU uis7862 64bit 8-core (2x ARM Cortex-A75 @ 1.8 GHz, 6x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz)

CPU uis7862s 64bit 8-core (2x ARM Cortex-A75 @ 2.0 GHz, 6x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz)

CPU uis8581a 64bit 8-core (4x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.6 GHz, 4x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.2 GHz)

CPU: uis7862 (ums512) versus the new uis7862s (ums512). Specs/Benchmarks/Info. (Also allows you to compare with other CPUs).

CPU: uis8581a (ums sc9863) versus the uis7862. Specs/Benchmarks/Info. (Also allows you to compare with other CPUs).

Android version: Android 10 (API/SDK 29); Fake Android 11 & 12 (still API/SDK 29). (Android level is a simple property. Always check at the API/SDK version)

Producer: FYT

WiFi: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This 5GHz is really a benefit. Not only because of its faster 5GHz speed, but also because the 2.4GHz and BT negatively influcence each other dropping perfomance sometimes to 10% of "real" 2.4GHz. (Valid for all models without 5GHz, FYT or not).

Bluetooth: V5.0 (Realtek). On M6Pro and other new models after approximately September 2022, it can also be BT 5.1 (Quallcom).

Firmware

Firmware always comes with an update/flash binary, a kernel zip, an application layer bin and a few config and additional files/scripts.

The kernel, which contains the basic Android layer with drivers and kernel modules is inside the 6315_1.zip for a uis7862, and inside the 6316_1.zip for a uis8581a.

The update/flash binary is the lsec6315update for the uis7862, and the lsec6316update for the uis8581a. Those lsec update/flash binaries check for the right hardware and the right kernel zip. For example: You can't flash the kernel zip from a 782(s) CPU onto a uis8581a.

The application layer is the AllAppUpdate.bin. It is 100% compatible over the uis7862(s) and uis8581a. Note that FYT is bad in multi-resolution. Although the application layer should be compatible, they make differences for all resolutions to 1280x720 and those for 2000x1200. Also the Tesla units get apks with other resolutions and an extra aircondition apk. Funtionally they are 100% identical.

Resellers:

Atoto, Ebilaen, Eki, Farcar, Funrover, Idoing, Isudar, Joying (only uis7862), Junsun, Mekede, NaviFly, Sinosmart, T'eyes (only uis7862), Winca, Zhan. There are more resellers, but not all of their models might be FYTs. Same for some resellers in this list.

A few remarks about which CPU to choose (my vision).

The UIS8581a is in general 15~20% slower than the "standard" uis7862, which is again about 5~10% slower than the "new" uis7862s.

What will you notice in real life: Almost nothing!

When to chose a uis7862(s)? If you have a 2000x1200 resolution screen, I would go for the 7862 or the 7862s. Bigger screens require faster CPUs. The 8581a is strong enough to "power" such a screen, but here you might notice the difference when fast screen rendering is required. This is not for video, but in case of navigation apps that need to calculate long routes or calculate/redraw every split-second espceially in towns with high street and POI density, but nowadays with OpenGL rendering in those apps it might not be an issue at all.

If you compare the uis8581a with the previous intel airmont sc9853i, which FYT no longer makes, the uis8581a is again ~20% faster than the sc9853i. I never had the idea that my previous sc9853i was slow, on the contrary.

Go for 4GB memory or 6GB. 3GB should be enough for a "light user" or if you puerely use the unit with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. In normal use as a yll fledged" Android unit, you might experience delays in starting new apps as other apps first need to be stopped/swapped out. Note that 4GB is perfectly OK on these units on Android 10. 6GB might be better. More than 6GB is just a waste of money.

Note that these units still come with EMMC flash memory, like in cheap phones, instead of the (much) faster UFS (in better phones). So loading apps from storage will not be much faster on a 8581a versus a uis7862(s).

Q&A - Questions & Answers

This section has been moved to post #3 as this post #1 got too big and started giving errors on editing.

FYT Settings explained

Thanks to @hanichl for first write-up.

Thanks to @mastrv for corrections and further additions.

Thanks to @leo06 for corrections on GPS mix Setting/explanation.

Thanks to @daviddosa for further additions.

Thanks to @matrixx1 for correction of the "Reverse power supply".

Note that these are FYT Settings, which means it doesn't matter whether you have a Mekede, Joying, T'eyes or any other FYT unit. Note also that many settings are the same whether you are on a FYT uis7862, uis8514a, sc9853i, PX5 or Sofia 3GR, althought the number of settings have increased in newer models.

T'eyes also has a site with instruction videos, which are still 90% up-to-date. See here.

Joying now also wrote an online manual on the JOYING FACTORY SETTING USER MANUAL and the JOYING STEREO SETTING USER MANUAL.

SETTINGS​

WLAN​

Wlan (same as stock Android)

Data Usage (same as stock Android)

SIM Info (same as stock Android)

More (same as stock Android under Advanced Networking)

Mobile Network

Hotspot & Tethering

Airplane Mode

VPN

DEVICE​

- Display

Brightness Level ( brightness for day and night mode )

Wallpaper ( change wallpaper )

Auto Blackscreen ( black the screen after xx seconds/minutes )

Displayed NET Switch ( shows the connection speed in upper taskbar )

- Sound​

Keypad Tone ( On/Off: emits tone when pressing a key )

LOUDNESS ( Not entirely clear, but most proabably the same Loudness setting as on a HiFi installation before DSP was introduced, or for units without DSP )

AMP ON/OFF ( switching amplifier mode ). Note: In case your unit has a cooling fan installed, the setting AMP ON/OFF is also there to switch the fan On or Off on older units (brand units: before approximately July 2022; for brandless units you never know)

Power Conditioning ( absolute output volume from 0 to 60, all other audio settings are relative; if you think your audio is already too loud at position 5 (or so), you can decrease the absolute volume output here which means that Volume 5 is now lower )

Subwoofer ( set subwoofer volumes )

Equalizer ( set sound frequencies with equalizer )

Speed Compensated Volume ( set sound volume depending on the actual speed )

- GPS​

( set / shows GPS modes GPS / GLONASS; mode 1 -> GPS only; mode 2: GPS + GLONASS )​

- Apps​

( show / remove installed apps; same as stock Android )​

- USB Video Output Setting​

( Some resellers sell external USB-connected DVD-players. This settings allows you to correct over/under scanning )​

- USB Device Start​

( None / Carlink - application to start when USB device is connected )​

GENERAL​

Press any key to start ( When you long-press the "Off" button on the top-left button array of your unit, your screen will switch off (but your unit does not go into deep-sleep). When you set this setting to ON, your unit will switch on again when pressing any button of your unit)

Brake wire for video in motion (Strange Chinese translation: (Dis)Allow display of video during driving . It means when handbrake is not used.)

Auto-start Navigation ( auto start navigation > needs Navi app to be set accordingly )

OSD Time ( on / off in notification bar)

Mirror view on reverse image ( if backup reverse cam is installed, and the video is 180 degree turned, this will switch to normal mode )

Mute audio when reversing ( decrease sound level if in reverse gear, does not completely mute )

Sound reduction when reversing ( reduces the sound when car is in reverse gear (driving backwards). Only works when previous Setting switched to ON )

Backlight control ( switches the leds behind the (soft-)buttons On/Off : or by switching on/off headlights, or based on time )

Default volume switch ( When your unit starts, do you always want to have the same default volume to start with )

Default boot volume ( sound volume which is preset on boot process; only works if previous setting switched to ON )

GPS Mix ( ON = Will reduce/mute media/radio when "speaking" navigation instruction; OFF = media will not be reduced/muted when navigation app issues instruction ). Some other translations than English mention this as "audio mix between navigation and media". Note also that most modern navigation apps have a setting themselves to mute or even shortly pause the media player when issueing a navigation instruction.

Sound mixing scale ( Set volume of background audio when "navigation speaks" (for example: Volume currently 10 so navigation uses 10, background music uses volume set here ). Only works if "GPS mix" setting (one above) is set to ON.

Lantern settings ( set the colour palette for the hardware buttons LED )

Steering wheel setting ( Configure the steering wheel buttons; only for non-Canbus systems. Canbus systems are hard-coded )

Launcher App Setting (This configures which app is displayed in the PIP window of launchers that have this PIP-window)

Navi app ( app to start when NAVI Button is pressed AND to auto-start navigation ... see 3rd point ..

Map Data Copy ( Old setting for iGo to copy maps from internal memory to SD-card, so that it doesn't get deleted on a new firmware install )

FACTORY​

(requires password/pincode 3368)

Touch check

Original Car Agreement ( These settings are mostly controlled by the CANbus. The number of options can vary per CANbus type and can also work or not work per CANbus type. The number of options will be very limited without a CANbus. )

External Temperature ( shows external temperature in notification bar when CANbus is present)

Automatic start and stop ( ?? )

Radar Display ON/OFF ( When car is put in reverse gear, it will show the reverse camera or an image with edges of your parking sensors (if you have them))

Reverse Parking Line ( In case of a reverse camera show the parking lines )

Static Track ( Shows static reverse parking lines in case you don't want or have the "curving" parking lines )

Reversing track reversal ( If your reverse camera's left/right postion is reversed )

Max Reversing Angle (Change how far the parking lines curve. This to adjust it correctly to your camer/car)

Door ON/OFF ( shows if a door is open )

Drivers Door position ( left / right drivers position )

Rear Door Exchange ( Similar to Drivers door position, but for back doors )

A/C Information ON/OFF ( Shows changes if you change AirConditioning temperature/ blower speed/ etcetera )

Car Audio Type ( AUX / IPOD-TV )

Reversal Previous And Next ( This reverses your CANbus steering wheel next/previous behavior (Spotyfy is known for this) )

Reversal Volume ( Reverses the Volume +/Volume - in case your CANbus steering wheel volume keys/arrows work the other way round )

Protocol Print ( When on, this displays the CANBUS messages overlayed on the screen )

Temperature unit switch ( Celsius/ Fahrenheit )

CAN box upgrade (updates software in CANbus decoder; Be careful: this can soft-brick your decoder)

Car Model ( define the canbox manufacturer, params )

Back MIC switch -> When set to "On" the internal microphone is switched on, but only new M6 pro hardware. When set to "Off" the internal microphone is switched off. Use this "Off" setting when you have an external microphone connected. Do not use both microphones at the same time as it will only give you worse microphone performance. If you have an old(er) firmware and not the new M6 pro, you need to use this trick as described by Vitaly (@gordgelin ).

Antenna normally on ( Some cars need constant 12V on the Antenna to get a good signal, especially when you have a fin antenna and connected via the CAN bus => Then set to On)

HD reversing video format (Try this in case you have an AHD camera on a non AHD unit, or the other way round).

Boot Screen logo

Set Screen

Touch Screen Calibration

Panel Key Learning

Front View

Cancel the reverse into the front view (If you have back and front camera, it will switch to front camera when "leaving" the reverse gear)

Local Reverse Switch (On/Off - On: Reverse camara on, parking sensors work, distance sensitivity image on; Off - No camera, working parking sensors, Distance sensitivity image works)

MCU Panel Key (Set buttons like Band/Radio, Phone, Music) on the side of the screen to On/Off.

Unknown sources ( allow apps to be installed from unknown sources )

Door lock interference

Reverse power supply: This supplies power to the after market front camera (if one present), so it's able to show the video feed longer than 1 sec. Not enabling this, cuts off the video feed from the front really quickly, after turning it on, coming from reverese and back camera feed.

Volume balance settings (Set volume output for the several audio output channels: media, radio, navigation, etcetera)

MCU upgrade (Only upgrade the MCU firmware; Be very carefull to ONLY use the firmware for your type of unit)

Backlight current adjustment (Set display brightness but be carefull. It can blacken your screen entirely. There is no safe low position. passwd: 5768)

Home Launcher Selection (Option to chose one of installed FTY launchers. passwd: 8086)

USB Error detection

USB protocol selection

A key to export ( exports Settings to /mnt/sdcard/SettingsConfig as json file, but how to import this )

Single 360

Activation

DVD Update

TV Type

Video Output Settings

OBD

Sleep mode Setting (Switch off head unit or switch to deep sleep, when ACC is turned off). Deep sleep will keep your car battery alive for ~30 days, but after ~3 days, your car will go into total shutdown anyway to be sure not to drain the car battery in case some badly behaving program keeps a wake-lock preventing your unit from going into deep sleep. This can happen on rooted units. On normal units the system can still kill such a program.

360 switch

Backup Test

Plug In Serial Device Setting

USER​

Location (same as stock Android)

Security (same as stock Android)

Language And Input (same as stock Android)

Google Settings (same as stock Android)

Backup And Reset (same as stock Android)

Account (same as stock Android)

Delay Power Off When ACC Off (After ACC of the delay time to put unit in sleep or off: OFF / 3 sec / 10 sec / 3 min)

Application Setting ( which applications you want to auto-start when you start your car and unit )

SYSTEM​

Date And Time

Accessibility

Developer Options

About Device

Device Info

==================================================

(End of FYT Settings explained)

Safety & Security - Your Google account

All these Chinese and non-Chinese units are unprotected and fully unlocked. Like you leave your phone unprotected, off course in this case in a locked car.

Your Google account may contain:

all your Contacts and Gmail - It would be terrible if others could lay their hands on it and use it for phishing, ask money from people who trust you, etc.

your Google Drive - This might contain confidential documents like family documents, documents from your notary, life insurance, mortgage, etcetera.

your photos - All those precious and maybe intimite family moments

Less important (perhaps): Google Maps (where have you been, which places do you visit regularly), Calendar.

You might think: That is all not so important to me, but malicious users could also lock you out of your own account and then use it to contact your contacts.

So, (My) Rule no. 1: Create a second account and use that in your car.

Disclaimer: Google accounts get hacked every day due to lame passwords or other reasons, but so far I have not heard of anyone's account being hacked in an unprotected car head unit.

If your Google Play purchases, like NavRadio+ or your media player, are in your family library (all my purchases are, apart from one which is useless in the car anyway), you simply invite your second account into your family library.

And you can always give your first Google account read or write access to (a folder) on the Google drive of your second "car" account to be able to exchange files and other data (or settings).

Mods, useful software, tweaks for your system, etcetera.

Backup the firmware of your unit (see post #4). Useful if you do not have a firmware yet for your unit.

Disable or (re-)enable the mediaplayer at startup/wakeup.

Change Fytmanufacturer script to correct the fytmanufacturer id after a flash with another resellers AllAppUpdate.bin bullet #3). Note: You can still use this script but you can also add the ro.build.fytmanufacturer to the config.txt of your firmware and flash that config.txt.

DocumentsUI for Android 10. Without it you can't write to an external USB drive with other file managers. That is because the documentsUI is missing. Install it, open it once and afterwards your file managers can use it to get access.

Android Shortcut Settings: This program by Mario Dantas gives you access to some hidden settings in the (FYT) head units.

Mario Dantas (@mariodantas ) created/build the website "uis7862 FYT Factory":

A great and very extensive collection of launchers for FYT models and also a collection of (un)rooted kernels for your unit. (Read post #2 section III "The 6315_1.zip" for more info on kernels and how universal they are.)

He now also created a new firmware (MD-edition) that after flashing gives you some very handy and essentials options for on-the-fly rooting and root access for selected apps, starting apps from boot, make firmware backups, save your /data/data partition, etc.

@seb21 made a modded combination of the com_syu_ms.apk and a Config.apk. This combi allows you to change the "hard-coded" steering wheel buttons in case you have/use a CANbus and add "no kill" functionality. See Modded syu.ms.apk.

getinfo script. This is in fact an extension of my HWGetInfo.apk, but as an lsec script. It gives more info than the HWGetInfo.apk as it runs as a flashable script thereby having full access to the system.

Disable airconditions app on Tesla style uis7862/8581a units (see post #1781)

Modded Launcher 34 (see thread "Modded Launcher 34 for uis7862(s) and uis8581a (and probably uis8514a)")

A completely modded firmware (AllAppUpdate) with uniform theming. See the PeaceOS thread.

Rooting your unit: See @gordgelin's universal root script or from his own website.