[FYT Android Head Units] surfer63:
Q&A - Questions & Answers​

Last modified: 19 March 2024.

Q1: I already see uis7862(s)/8581a units having Android 11, Android 12 and even android 13. What about those versions?

These Android 11, 12 and 13 versions for the current FYT uis7862(S)/uis8581 units are fake! The Android version is still Android 10 (API/SDK 29), but the Android version as displayed is a simple property which you can set to Android 11 (or 12 or 31 or 227). The API/SDK versions determines the real Android version. Don't believe statements like "we updated ...". Always look at the API/SDK version. If it says API/SDK 29, it is is Android 10. Real Android 11 is API/SDK 30.

However: FYT is now releasing real Android 12 units based on the Qualcomm SnapDragon QCM6125 CPU. They are FYT units, but the firmware is totally different and incompatible with the FYT units discussed here.

Q2: What are the several passwords on these uis7862 FYT units?

Factory menu / Developer options: 3368

Backlight Current Adjustment: 5768

Door lock interference: 0000

To change home launcher: 8086

Developer password: 7788, or tap 7 times on "About".

Q3: Are all these (uis7862(s) and uis8581a) units compatible? Is all (uis7862(s) and 8581a) firmware compatible?

See also above under "General unit information".

The uis7862(s) units based on FYT are all hardware and software compatible. Also the uis8581a units based on FYT are all hardware and software compatible. Differences in audio chip, radio chip with or without RDS, DSP chip (DSP 14-band (low end) or DSP 32-band or not at all) are supported by the software. There are minor differences in MCU and firmware, which need to be taken into account when flashing firmwares,and sometimes also for flashing mods. This is all based on the so called reseller id.

Firmware always comes with a kernel (uis7862(s) -> 6315_1.zip; uis8581a -> 6316_1.zip) and the application layer AllAppUpdate.bin. The kernels are only compatible for that CPU. The application layer is compatible for the usi8581a and the uis7862(s)

Q4: How compatible are FYT units over the years (uis7862 (ums512) vs uis8581a (sc9863) vs sc9853i vs sc7731 (uis8141e) vs PX5 vs Sofia3GR)?

When it comes to firmware you really have to look at the CPU and reseller id (see below). Part of the "user apks" are quite exchangeable. When it comes to settings, behaviour, tips & tricks, etcetera, these units are mostly compatible over the entire range through the years and almost all settings are the same when it comes to (uis7862(ums512), sc9863a(ums8581a), sc9853i, px5, sofia3gr). So please take a look at Q&A, tips, info Roll-up (Joying) FYT SC9853i before asking questions.

Q5: What is an MCU? What does it do?

MCU stands for MicroController Unit (in this case). The MCU is a "CPU" itself with embedded (flashable) firmware that functions as interface and "translation" layer between the Android software and the hardware layer (Radio chip, Amp chip, DSP chips, etcetera).

The MCU has some I/O lines to the hardware of the unit. A number of digital IN lines (ACC, headlights, reverse, parking brake) and digital OUT (antenna power, amplifier power) and a few analog IN lines (steering wheel 1 and 2). This overview is not complete.

So actually your unit comes with the Android firmware (Android itself and the additional FYT unit programs) and with the MCU firmware. That MCU firmware is not always packaged with new firmware updates. Note that all these Chinese units use this MCU firmware instead of using Google Androids Automotive System.

Q6: Can I flash firmware from another FYT uis7862 (or uis8581a) supplier to my FYT uis7862 unit (or 8581a)?

NOT directly, but with some tweaks: Yes. Read post #2 carefully and especially section VIII. Note that you cannot flash a uis7862 kernel to a ui8581a and vice versa.

Q7: Can I flash the MCU firmware from another FYT uis7862/uis8581a to my uis78962/uis8581a unit?

NO. I repeat: No. If you really, really, really, really know what your doing then to some extend: Yes. Otherwise: Don't even think about it.

Q8: How do I unpack/repack this AllAppUpdate.bin?

See post #2 section II. (AllAppUpdate.bin).

Q9: What is an AHD camera?

AHD stands for "Analog High Definition". It has nothing to do with your screen resolution itself, but it is for your camera (1280x720 and 1920x1080). It requires it's own micro-processor for decoding in the unit. AHD cameras are therefore only supported on units that specifically mention this. You can however connect a "low res" DVR camera (720x576 or 720x480) to an AHD unit.

Q10: Can I mod my unit? Are there custom firmwares available?

Yes, you can mod your unit to some extent. See the posts about the AllAppUpdate.bin and 7862lsec scripts. There are no custom firmwares available. There are modded firmwares available. These contain some tweaks, minor layout changes and sometimes solve bugs, but are actually still the exact same firmware.

Q11: Can I root my unit?

Yes, you can. There are at least 3 possible ways to do this (see also Magisk rooted kernels), but you really have to ask yourself whether it is necessary. Not because rooting is tricky, or making your unit unstable, but simply rooting brings nothing. You can modify some things easily yourself without (!) root. When rooting Google voice feedback is crippled as media channel 4 is somehow "blocked". Viper audio doesn't work properly and brings nothing extra on these DSP units. Now with the latest Magisk editions, Zygisk, LSPosed you can twaek your unit a lot more. But still: If you want a good functioning unit and need a few minor tweaks, you absolutely do not need to root your unit,

Q12: How do I disable the internal microphone when using an external microphone?

See this post and for Mekedes this post and this post. Note that there is a difference for units after approximately August 2022 (M6 Pro models) and units before that time.

Q13: I flashed a firmware from another unit and now I have a big yellow bar with red text "ui and mcu does not match". What can I do?

To start with: I know it should be "ui and mcu do not match", but that "does" is CHenglish. The reason for this is that the ro.build.fytmanufacturer is different for the several resellers and you used an AllAppUpdate.bin from another reseller. You now have several options here:

You still have the original firmware and can extract the ro.build.fytmanufacturer from it (or you know it from the top of your head).

You have no clue about this ro.build.fytmanufacturer and you don't have the original firmware anymore.

In case of (1), you could:

use the script Change Fytmanufacturer (bullet #3) that directly updates this ro.build.fytmanufacturer inside the fyt.prop on your unit.

Use a script to add the ro.build.fytmanufacturer to the config.txt of your firmware and flash that with the lsec6315update or lsec6316update binary.

open the AllAppUpdate.bin (next post, topic II) and change the ro.build.fytmanufacturer and repack it again and flash that AllAppUpdate.bin

Or simply flash the orginal firmware, get the ro.build.fytmanufacturer and start all over again.

In case of (2) you have to flash the entire original firmware again ór use the script (link added later) to update the fyt.prop directly use a script to add the correct ro.build.fytmanufacturer to the config.txt and try a number of ids until you have the correct one (There are not so many). (See also Q13 and Q31 for other notificationbar error/warning messages).

Q14: I want to replace my boot animation and/or boot logo. How do I do that?

Note: Not for Teyes CC3.

uis7862: Copy the lsec6315update binary and your bootanimation.zip and/or your LOGO.bmp onto a clean USB-stick and connect it to your unit. It will only flash your bootanimation and your boot logo.

uis8581a: Copy the lsec6316update binary and your bootanimation.zip and/or your LOGO.bmp onto a clean USB-stick and connect it to your unit. It will only flash your bootanimation and your boot logo.

Q15: When my unit (cold) boots, the radio is always started. Can I prevent this from happening?

Note that the radio app is actually only an interface that forwards commands to and receives data from the radio chip via the MCU. It is not an active app like your mediaplayer that does everything in Android.

When the unit boots, the hardware is up and running long before Android is. That means that the radio chip and amplifier are already working before Android has even booted. That is why you hear the radio. And that is why every manufacturer starts the radio app on boot: to enable you to mute the radio channel from the app.

The radio is never switched off as it cannot be switched off. It is only muted.

But you can stop this behavior by using the first script from post #3 (enable/disable mediaplayer on startup).

Q16: Do I have a FYT unit or not?

Use my HWGet_Info.apk. It will immediately show a lot of FYT properties (if it is a FYT) and give a zip with a lot more info as well.

Q17: If I want to create my own scripts then which binary do I need and which script should I create?

Binary	Unit	Script
lsec6315update	uis7862 (ums512)	7862lsec.sh
lsec6316update	sc9863a (uis8581a)	8581lsec.sh
lsec6521update	sc9853i	lsec.sh
lsec6523update	sc7731 (uis8141e)	lsec.sh

You can make "Universal scripts" by simply using all binaries and create/duplicate all scripts and copy them onto one USB-stick (or inside a dowloadable zip). The unit will automatically select the correct binary and accompanying script.

The binaries and scripts are "incompatible" on other units.

Q18: My GPS reception is bad. What can I do?

If your car already had GPS, buy a "Fakra C Adapter Plug to SMA Male GPS" adapter (example) and use your cars GPS antenna (mostly on the top of the roof). 99% sure it is better than those cheapest possible GPS antennas you get with these units.

Buy a better GPS antenna. On Aliexpress you can buy a 32 dB or 38 dB antenna from 6-26 euros that are much better. Secondly: the standard GPS antennas come with long cables that loose signal.

The standard antenna: First check whether your SMA connector is firmly connected. Mostly it requires a little more force to fix than your fingers will yield.

The standard antenna: Check for a broken cable. Is it nicely curved or does it somewhere has a sharp bend.

Do not put it under large metal plates or metal reinforcement beams under your dashboard. Mostly it functions just fine below your dashboard, but not if you put it directly under a big metal beam/bar.

Place the antenna itself horizontally to give it the best "view".

Q19: All my apps are killed when my unit goes into deep sleep. Can I prevent this? Or: How can I always start the XYZ apk when I start my car?

First of all read bullet #8 from my other "info" thread, but do NOT use solution 2, made for a sc9853i, for your uis7862.

In the Settings apk, go to "User" -> "Application Settings". In that menu you can autostart applications on cold boot or coming from (deep) sleep mode.

Use FYTstarter from @bambapin.

Q20: I use Total Commander, FileXplorer or any other advanced file manager but can't write to my external USB-stick or SD-card. Why?

You do need the documentsui.apk for it (deprecated as of Android 12). For whatever reason FYT doesn't compile it into their firmware. This DocumentsUI for Android 10 will help you. Install it, open it once and afterwards your filemanager will use it once to request access to (the root of) the USB-stick. When using another USB-stick (having another internal ID), you will have to give access to that USB stick as well. Same when you have formatted your USB-stick.

Q21: I have a unit without active cooling (a fan) but still would like to cool my unit as it gets really hot and starts to throttle down giving terrible performance (and reduced life span). How can I add a cooling fan?

You can buy a 12V PC-fan. Select a slowly spinning, ball bearing fan to make it as silent as possible. Connect it to the 12V AMP wires. From the Settings -> Sound, you can enable/disable the AMP. In this case that will start or stop the fan.

Q22: I use a non-FYT Launcher (Nova, WebGuru, Agama, etcetera), but recently it always switches back to a FYT launcher or another after sleep / reboot / other actions.

Go to: Settings - Device - Applications: Disable the Digital Wellbeing App

Q23: I need a SIM/Carrier to work with my FYT unit and my provider

make a text file named "IMEI0" (no extension)

edit it to put in two IMEI values that are valid and compatible with your provider. (one for each SIM slot)

copy to USB stick and plug it into your unit

Your unit will (should) show a notification "imei changed".

After reboot your unit should have the new IMEI in the settings. (thanks to @j-5)

Q24: How do I enable splitscreen on these units?

See post #1394 for an explanation with screenshots. Or use "Split Screen Launcher".

Q25: How do I change the ringtone (and/or thereby lower it in volume) on these 7862(s) and uis8581a (sc9863) units?

See post #1951 on how to do this. (This is an absolute shameless copy of a 4pda post by tyuktha and Monkey_D_Luffy. All credits go to them.)

Q26: How do I make a screenshot (instead of a reflecting, not so good and not always sharp, smartphone photo).

Drag down the status bar at the top of your screen.

Drag it a second time further down.

In the top right you will find a scissors icon.

This scissors icon can be used to make a screenshot.

Your screenshot will be saved in "Pictures/screenshots" on your internal memory.

Q27: SOC or SOM? What is the difference?

A lot of times we talk here about SOCs, but are these FYT "motherboards" now SOCs or SOMs?

A SOC (System on a Chip) contains the central processing unit (CPU), GPU, memory, input/output interfaces, and more.

A SOM (System on Module) contains all required system functions into a module, including processor, storage (eMMC or Flash), memory (DDR) and I/O controller and other components. You can more or less say that the FYT motherboards have a SOC (uis7862(S) or uis8581a or sc7705) as a SOC and combine that in a SOM with often the same hardware components.

So I would prefer to talk about SOMs in case of SOCs when talking about the motherboards inside these FYTs, but actually it is a grey area for the FYTs. They build relatively modular to be able to use the same hardware with different CPU (SOC) and memory configurations.

Q28: Bluetooth: Connect other devices and issues with that. Differences between "uis7862/uis8581 and newer US7862S.

(credits to @gordgelin)

The "older" T'eyes CC3, Joyings and Mekedes come with an internal BT chip and an RealTek Bluetooth chip. In the config.txt they are respectively mentioned as sys.fyt.bluetooth_type=0 and sys.fyt.bluetooth_type=1, where sys.fyt.bluetooth_type=1 is always the default. value 0 gives you more possibilities, but perhaps at the cost of fewer "higher"BLE functions.

The new uis7862S models come with a Qualcomm BT chip and have the sys.fyt.bluetooth_type=7 inside the config.txt. You can change this to 0 to connect more peripherals, but loose audio HD streaming.

In post #2556, @gordgelin shows images of the several BT chips. See also the 5-6 posts before that post.

Some ui8581a/sc9863 units also come with a sys.fyt.bluetooth_type=8. What kind of BT chip this is is currently unknown (hint: Please someone send me the details ;)).

Q29: My radio reception is bad. AF (Alternative Frequency) seeking in the NavRadio app doesn't finish or continuously restarts.

Most cars after approximately 2008-2010 have a sharkfin or smaller "rubberized" antenna on the roof of the car. These antennas almost always need constant 12V on the Antenna to get a good signal. If you have a CAN-bus, make sure you set in "FYT Settings -> Factory -> Antenna normally On", this really to On. If you don't have a CANbus, connect the blue ANT+ wire to the small cable between your car plug and the headunit plug.

Q30: I have in my notification bar a yellow message "Plugin serial port/dev/ttyS1 was used".

Then disable the "BSP Serial Debug" in the developer settings. (See also Q13 and Q31 for other notification bar error/warning messages).

Q31: I have a yellow message "Encryption IC authentication failure CODE : 2" in my notification bar.

You have flashed a firmware that was not for your unit (like an M6 3D firmware to your M300S/M500S/M600S/M700S) or you might have flashed @mariodantas or @seb21 modded com.syu.ms.apk to your M6 3D. In that case you have to flash back your original com.syu.ms.apk (If you don't know how, reflash your unit with the original firmware). (See also Q13 and Q30 for other notification bar errors/warning messages).

Q32: I see screenshots from users having a different notification bar than the standard notification bar showing more info. I want that too!

This notification bar is the modded PeaceOS SystemUI by @LLIyT_HuK. You can find it in his PeaceOS thread in post #106, which also contains the changelog.

Q32a: user LLIyT_HuK mentions at the top of his thread I give out a joke of humor... and he has a joker as avatar.

LLIyT_HuK is шутник in Cyrillic, which means "joker" in English. If you had not figured it out yourself, you know now ;).

Q33: How do I enable dark mode for google Maps?

By default you can't.

On a rooted unit you can set the system to dark mode, which will also put Google Maps in dark mode. See the FET (FYT Extra Tool) application.

You can also enable it by using @mariodantas FMC app. See his kernel thread.

Note: At this moment there is a bug in the latest FMC versions and an error with registration.

Q34: I want the led-lighting behind the soft buttons around my screen (Home, Back, Vol-up, Etcetera) to be always on. How do I do that?

In Settings you must have the ""backlight control" to headlights." set to ON, to make it work on the headlights being On or Off.

Secondly: Connect the light detecting wire (ILL small lights) to the ACC wire. As soon as you turn on your contact, the leds will be on.

Note: In case you have daytime "always on" led strips under/next to your headlights, be aware that this can affect whether they will not go On/Off anymore. (example is Peugeot 308 2012 and newer with canbus XP). See post #3557.

Q35: Can I blank the screen when driving at night (or when I simply want it switched off)?

In case you still find your screen to bright at night, you can pull down the notification bar from the top status bar. Approximately in the center of the bar you will find an "Off Screen" button. This will completely blank the screen while you will still be able to listen to music, radio or navigation instructions.

This is different from holding your Standby button for 3 seconds as that will put your system in stand-by (not deep sleep), which will simply stop all output.

On units with a real Volume knob you can also shortly press the volume know to blank the screen.

Additionally there is a button "Eye Comfort" when you drag down the status bar, which will remove a lot of blue from your screen (like modern phones also do).