VXR8 head unit - how to enable input?

[pah250]

shakermikee said:

I'd be interested, especially in the .. 'Also tempted to put together a bluetooth stereo audio solution for the rear aux in, all hidden behind the dash etc.'

Also very interested in the bluetooth audio solution

[Aldor]

thought i would see you on here Jas,and also another ex leggy owner too i see,anyway having had the odd bit of work done by Foxdie i can vouch for it..... but please J stop temptin me to spend money

[FoxdieUK]

Aldor said:

thought i would see you on here Jas,and also another ex leggy owner too i see,anyway having had the odd bit of work done by Foxdie i can vouch for it..... but please J stop temptin me to spend money

Hah, you must spend ALL OF THE MONEY

Glad to see there's a little interest. I'll start up a new thread for it.

[FoxdieUK]

Okay, an update at where I am with this;

Firstly, I've got enough connectors to build a few sets up, £10 per set (audio and video) sound a fair price?

Secondly, it's taken a lot of headaches, but I've finally got the building blocks together for a pleasant solution for wireless audio in the car. I present my work in progress, the Audible Pi;



It's a Raspberry Pi running a slimmed down linux install booting up in 30 seconds. Here's what it currently does;

* Stereo Bluetooth Audio support (pairing code 0000)
* Airtunes support for iOS devices (as pictured above)
* Provides a wifi network that any wifi-enabled device can connect to (for game / file sharing etc)
* Optional hotspot functionality by adding either a USB 3G dongle or ethernet connection

Can be powered by most USB chargers, to use with our cars it'll need a line-in kit as above, a simple RCA (phono) to 3.5mm jack adapter and a 12V cigarette USB charger capable of delivering 1 amp.

I haven't fiddled around much behind the dash, I'm wondering if I could build a power supply that tied into the wiring somehow (would also provide a good opportunity to implement a power cleaning circuit, filter out that nasty alternator noise/interference).

Edited by FoxdieUK on Friday 5th October 15:42

[snowwolf]

Count me in mr fox

FoxdieUK said:

Okay, an update at where I am with this;

Firstly, I've got enough connectors to build a few sets up, £10 per set (audio and video) sound a fair price?

Secondly, it's taken a lot of headaches, but I've finally got the building blocks together for a pleasant solution for wireless audio in the car. I present my work in progress, the Audible Pi;



It's a Raspberry Pi running a slimmed down linux install booting up in 30 seconds. Here's what it currently does;

• Stereo Bluetooth Audio support (pairing code 0000)
• Airtunes support for iOS devices (as pictured above)
• Provides a wifi network that any wifi-enabled device can connect to (for game / file sharing etc)
• Optional hotspot functionality by adding either a USB 3G dongle or ethernet connection

Can be powered by most USB chargers, to use with our cars it'll need a line-in kit as above, a simple RCA (phono) to 3.5mm jack adapter and a 12V cigarette USB charger capable of delivering 1 amp.

I haven't fiddled around much behind the dash, I'm wondering if I could build a power supply that tied into the wiring somehow (would also provide a good opportunity to implement a power cleaning circuit, filter out that nasty alternator noise/interference).

Edited by FoxdieUK on Friday 5th October 15:42

[Gary H 2008]

Does your AV input have a red/white/yellow input?

Have you tried the Raspberry in the car yet? I'm guessing as you've not heard the system noise, you haven't

[FoxdieUK]

Gary H 2008 said:

Does your AV input have a red/white/yellow input?

Have you tried the Raspberry in the car yet? I'm guessing as you've not heard the system noise, you haven't

I'm aware of that god awful engine noise yes

Have I tried it in the car yet?

[Gary H 2008]

Looks good

Have PMed you about a rear AV input - need one quickly. My CD player's packed up, My aerial's only in DAB mode and currently have no way of connecting my DAB tuner...so until my new solution turns up and I install...I'm tuneless.

[djwilk]

Thought about it. There are kits available at about £50. But that will interfere with the BT for the phone and you will end up getting either one or another. Also, BT Audio would not be controlled from the steering wheel.

[ARAF]

Gary H 2008 said:

Looks good

Have PMed you about a rear AV input - need one quickly. My CD player's packed up, My aerial's only in DAB mode and currently have no way of connecting my DAB tuner...so until my new solution turns up and I install...I'm tuneless.

MP3 player throught the front Aux socket? I think we've only used the CD player a couple of times.

[Gary H 2008]

Yes, Ian, but it's messy
I just burnt MP3 discs for the changer, but there's a marked difference in sound quality between the internal setup, the rear and the front aux.

Regarding Bluetooth, if you use a Blackberry, it's by far the best solution with the basic BT we have: By pressing the phone button on the wheel, it automatically mutes the Stereo (even if you're using the BB through the front Aux for music) and asks 'Say a command' - which is pretty cool. The voice recognition is not bad - say 80% accurate and will ask you to confirm what you've said before dialling.
Not a bad solution

[FoxdieUK]

It's clear this needs more work;

Airtunes playback is very good, very minor issues of delay when starting up (3-5 seconds before music starts coming through), otherwise works reliably.

Bluetooth however, seems to disconnect after a few minutes, you can reconnect up again however this will occasionally cause the Pi (Raspberry Pi) to kernel panic (think of this as Windows blue screen of death), at which point the Pi reboots. This results in having to wait another 30 seconds or so before you can reconnect your phone to it. Doing this whilst driving is obviously a no-no.

Could be because I went for the cheapest USB bluetooth adapter I could find

I do have an older bluetooth dongle I'll try stability testing with. Right now it's connected to my living room surround sound and I'm streaming some Dio to it...


♫ HOLY DIVER~, YOU'VE BEEN DOWN TOO LONG IN THE MIDNIGHT SEA... ♫

[Gary H 2008]

Good stuff. Looks like I'll have a spare AV in for a Pi...
Did you get my paypal payment?

[FoxdieUK]

Gary H 2008 said:

Good stuff. Looks like I'll have a spare AV in for a Pi...
Did you get my paypal payment?

Yes mate, sorry

Also, you've enabled ViM haven't you? We're getting a lot of business in the Melbourne area (where JHP are based), there's a small chance some work colleagues are flying out there for a week in a fortnight, they may be able to bring us back some small items, save on postage, what would be required for ViM? Can one "core" be reused multiple times?

(Someone else may need to answer this)

[Gary H 2008]

I don't know is the simple answer. But my Head Unit is coming out completely (The CD player's goosed anyway) so if it's something you can intergate, you're more than welcome to try. The VIM was a one-time flash when you installed the Quasi Media Hub.
I'm waiting on an answer from JHP on something, however I don't think weight-wise it'll be something your colleagues can bring back

[FoxdieUK]

Gary H 2008 said:

however I don't think weight-wise it'll be something your colleagues can bring back

Really? I thought it was this thing?

[Gary H 2008]

LOL, I was talking about my latest order from JHP

[winmiller]

Gary

Would you be willing to share/sell your head unit? I have the kit to read the EEPROM to then hopefully identify the VIM address locations which could then be used for anyone else

It's the main head unit that needs to be accessed not the fascia

Also should be able to reprogram a unit from another car if that would help you out (you just need to get one from a write off)

Edited by winmiller on Sunday 7th October 07:43

[Gary H 2008]

Sounds like a plan

[winmiller]

Gary - sent you a pm