Dave, there's a link to the Amazon one I bought in the post above.. I assume it's available in the UK..
DIY on installing an inexpensive Android radio/headunit to replace the standard CD30 radio.. (and probably the PCM3)
It's being shipped tomorrow. It will be replacing a Rosen headunit that replaced another Rosen headunit that replaced the CD30 radio. I realized I never use CD's in the car so having that was a waste of time, and I can save money and still have SiriusXM by using the Android Sirius app (which is free to use if you have another car subscription, which I do) and either getting another 4G/LTE data connection from Verizon ($10/month) or just using my Android phone as a hotspot and since it will be connected to the unit for Android-Auto anyway - just streaming the data through the "Ethernet" USB connection (they call it that, I didn't..) from the phone. Plus I'll have Torque, so I can make up a nice instrument panel.. lots of real-estate to play with.
More info when it arrives.. they did do an almost perfect job of matching the styling and knobs that Porsche used for the console components. Plus I insist on buttons and knobs - way less distracting than doing all the good stuff via a touchscreen. Cost is less than $300 - a bit more affordable than the very nice but horribly costly Porsche Classic replacement (also Android..):
Porsche PCCM Plus:
Nice - but not available in black yet (was supposed to be available 2/23) and $1,300-1,500.
Update: 04/15/23 - received notification it's been shipped (via DHL) - expected before 4/21/23. Also have had excellent communications with the factory representative in China. Questions have been answered within 12 hours - or usually if I wait until 9PM - instantly.
61 - 80 of 101 Posts
I made mention in a thread on FB that I was going to do a bit different mounting of the unit, and promised I'd post about it here. It's not 100% yet, but it's definitely better.
As anyone who has gotten one of these knows - there are side brackets screwed into the chassis that are supposed to go into the slots in the Porsche stock mount. There are a few issues:
- The ones that come ON the unit when you receive it are simply too shallow. They don't fit into the slots. So - the manufacturer figured that out, and in a tiny little plastic bag, they provide two deeper brackets. You're supposed to remove the shallow ones, mount the deeper ones in the forward set of mounting holes in the sidepanels of the unit.
They're held on with tiny little screws - so use a magnitized screwdriver or they'll have you searching your passenger compartment with a magnifying glass and a 100W spotlight.. (DAMHIK..)
So I did that - and it does align the height of the front of the unit nicely, but the unit can still tilt a bit, rocking in the slots so to speak.
- So I begged the manufacturer's rep to have the factory send me a second set of the deeper brackets, (and a replacement for the SIM socket where the clip inside it had come out..)**
They did - gratis ($0.10 charge so it could go through their system and get shipped), and they arrived last Friday. I waited until this morning to tackle the job.
- My idea was that if I added a second set of the metal brackets to the rearward set of holes, those should stay in the channel and keep the angle correct so it would be sort of securely held in place, and no rocking up and down could happen.
Here are the slots in the factory mounting for their audio offerings:
![Electronic instrument Electrical wiring Gas Computer hardware Electrical supply]()
As I've shown with the two green boxes, there are actually two of the mounting slots - one long plastic one, then a gap, then a shorter metal one.
![Motor vehicle Bumper Hood Gas Gadget]()
These are the two metal brackets.. both of them "deeper" brackets. They almost do what I wanted..
When I went to slide this in - the brackets just caught the slots in the carrier on both sides. Barely. I ended up taking a screwdriver and bending the brackets out just a bit in their centers - which meant they couldn't fall out of the slots. The screws I used for the back one were from my big bin of self-tapping screws, and they were cut off to be about 3/16" long. I didn't want to go too deep into the chassis just in case there was some circuitry behind these holes that could be damaged. I made the threaded part about the same lenght as the factory screws.
![Wood Automotive design Table Bumper Gas]()
The other side.. same thing (I removed the rubber pieces before installing it.. they were a stop-gap method I used before I had the 2nd set of brackets.)
And finally - it goiing into the mounting cage in the console.
![Electrical wiring Gas Machine Cable Trunk]()
So this worked, but it still could be improved on. If someone who hasn't mounted theirs yet would like to take some measurements, the height and width of the metal brackets would be useful. And the distances between the 4 holes.
I think a 3D-printed plastic rail, a bit thicker than the height of the brackets provided, with screwholes located to match the ones in the chassis, and perhaps 30mm longer on both ends - would really do the trick. I'm sure someone here has some experience in printing 3D stuff and perhaps could help out on the project. Anyone? PM me and we can discuss it..
That was today's project..
** = the SIM socket. Design sucks. It's a plastic housing where the cover slides to unlock it and open it, then you're faced with a metal sort of grid thingie that's supposed to hold the SIM in place. That thing slides to unlock it, then pivots out at one end to put the SIM in the exposed socket, finally, the thing gets closed and slid the other way to lock it.
Flaws with the design. The socket is likely to end up where mine is - in the passenger's footwell, hanging out from under the carpeted bit way at the back of the console. Not easy to get to (BIG HINT - put the SIM card in before hooking the thing up, it's way easier to do on the bench than with your head in the footwell..) The clip is marked "Open" with an arrow at one end, but that marking is etched into the chrome-plated clip, and about impossible to see without a magnifying glass.. and the clip detaches from the socket assembly way too easily. It also doesn't appear to put enough pressure on the SIM chip for it to make reliable contact with the socket. I fixed that by adding a bit of foam tape on the inside of the housing cover. Then it worked. A design like cell phones use would be most welcome here.
As anyone who has gotten one of these knows - there are side brackets screwed into the chassis that are supposed to go into the slots in the Porsche stock mount. There are a few issues:
- The ones that come ON the unit when you receive it are simply too shallow. They don't fit into the slots. So - the manufacturer figured that out, and in a tiny little plastic bag, they provide two deeper brackets. You're supposed to remove the shallow ones, mount the deeper ones in the forward set of mounting holes in the sidepanels of the unit.
They're held on with tiny little screws - so use a magnitized screwdriver or they'll have you searching your passenger compartment with a magnifying glass and a 100W spotlight.. (DAMHIK..)
So I did that - and it does align the height of the front of the unit nicely, but the unit can still tilt a bit, rocking in the slots so to speak.
- So I begged the manufacturer's rep to have the factory send me a second set of the deeper brackets, (and a replacement for the SIM socket where the clip inside it had come out..)**
They did - gratis ($0.10 charge so it could go through their system and get shipped), and they arrived last Friday. I waited until this morning to tackle the job.
- My idea was that if I added a second set of the metal brackets to the rearward set of holes, those should stay in the channel and keep the angle correct so it would be sort of securely held in place, and no rocking up and down could happen.
Here are the slots in the factory mounting for their audio offerings:
As I've shown with the two green boxes, there are actually two of the mounting slots - one long plastic one, then a gap, then a shorter metal one.
These are the two metal brackets.. both of them "deeper" brackets. They almost do what I wanted..
When I went to slide this in - the brackets just caught the slots in the carrier on both sides. Barely. I ended up taking a screwdriver and bending the brackets out just a bit in their centers - which meant they couldn't fall out of the slots. The screws I used for the back one were from my big bin of self-tapping screws, and they were cut off to be about 3/16" long. I didn't want to go too deep into the chassis just in case there was some circuitry behind these holes that could be damaged. I made the threaded part about the same lenght as the factory screws.
The other side.. same thing (I removed the rubber pieces before installing it.. they were a stop-gap method I used before I had the 2nd set of brackets.)
And finally - it goiing into the mounting cage in the console.
So this worked, but it still could be improved on. If someone who hasn't mounted theirs yet would like to take some measurements, the height and width of the metal brackets would be useful. And the distances between the 4 holes.
I think a 3D-printed plastic rail, a bit thicker than the height of the brackets provided, with screwholes located to match the ones in the chassis, and perhaps 30mm longer on both ends - would really do the trick. I'm sure someone here has some experience in printing 3D stuff and perhaps could help out on the project. Anyone? PM me and we can discuss it..
That was today's project..
** = the SIM socket. Design sucks. It's a plastic housing where the cover slides to unlock it and open it, then you're faced with a metal sort of grid thingie that's supposed to hold the SIM in place. That thing slides to unlock it, then pivots out at one end to put the SIM in the exposed socket, finally, the thing gets closed and slid the other way to lock it.
Flaws with the design. The socket is likely to end up where mine is - in the passenger's footwell, hanging out from under the carpeted bit way at the back of the console. Not easy to get to (BIG HINT - put the SIM card in before hooking the thing up, it's way easier to do on the bench than with your head in the footwell..) The clip is marked "Open" with an arrow at one end, but that marking is etched into the chrome-plated clip, and about impossible to see without a magnifying glass.. and the clip detaches from the socket assembly way too easily. It also doesn't appear to put enough pressure on the SIM chip for it to make reliable contact with the socket. I fixed that by adding a bit of foam tape on the inside of the housing cover. Then it worked. A design like cell phones use would be most welcome here.
Hmmm... no takers on the 3D printing project.. or no one has read this and everyone got tired of reading due to my verbosity.. (entirely possible, I do sometimes go on a bit..)
Next exploration:
Android Auto (wirelessly?)
Tonight I'll just tease with some photos, and then come back and fill in the blanks. I finally am getting around to looking at Android Auto (which actually no longer exists - it's complicated..) and using it wirelessly with this unit.
When I initially tried it - I managed through some combination of button and on-screen presses and incantations to get the phone and the headunit talking together in what Google now calls "Google Assistant". They announced that Android Auto was basically dead starting with Android-10 because they built it into the OS. BUT - their website still has a bunch of references to Android Auto Android Auto | Android . Don't ask me - they did this - not me. Since our headunits are Android-12, this is built in.
The headunit came with an app called "CarbitLink" - which is intended to make the connection between the headunit and the phone. There is also an app installed on the headunit by the factory - called "CarLink-2.0"
Once it does connect - the unit itself goes black for a moment, then the following sort of screen appears on it:
![Plant Output device Gadget Map Communication Device]()
The left screen is Google Maps in navigation mode, and the right screen is SiriusXM - an Android app running on my cell phone (where it's free to me since I have a subscription in my other Porsche.) There are options to switch the screens around, make the map full-screen, make the map smaller and the SiriusXM bigger.. a few captures follow:
![Gadget Communication Device Display device Multimedia Electronic device]()
![Gadget Communication Device Display device Flat panel display Multimedia]()
The "apps" shown in this screen actually exist on the phone (and you can select from your apps which ones will show on this screen). They also run on the phone, so they will use up battery power as does the wireless connecting link. The phone battery gets used fairly rapidly.. and if they need network connectivity it is from the phone link, so an unlimited data plan is possibly a good thing if you're going this route.
So - what's the phone side of Android Auto look like?
![Product Communication Device Gadget Font Material property]()
And
![Font Gadget Screenshot Sky Technology]()
And finally - the pullout on the side:
![Font Communication Device Gadget Screenshot Technology]()
Hmmm.... hadn't noticed THIS before..
If you choose settings in the screen on the headunit, it allows you to access the settings on the phone and pick what apps you want on the headunit screen, and other advanced stuff.
I had been making the connection using CarLink-2.0 - and found that it seems any Bluetooth connection between the phone and headunit can be used for the Android Atto application. Maybe.. interesting discussion on:
Carlink 2.0 - there is mention there of using a shared WiFi connection.
I'll be exploring the connection options tomorrow (it's close to midnight now..) and following up on what I find.
FWIW - my thinking is - if AndroidAuto drains the battery THAT fast on my phone (the battery is 2 years old and has been showing signs of aging..) perhaps the phone will end up plugged in anyway - so plug it into one of the USB ports on the headunit and see how that works with AndroidAuto (Google Assistant..) The big reason I'm interested in it (I can do all of the above and more with the headunit itself and it's apps) is - the SiriusXM subscription.
This is a web-enabled SiriusXM - no tuner needed, and a fairly slick Android app. It's FREE, one for each regular radio/Sirius subscription you have. It seems to have registered itself on my phone as being the free one - so this is a way to access it without having to take out a separate web-enabled SiriusXM subscription ($5/month, not awful actually since it seems to open up ALL the Sirius channels.. even the not family-friendly ones..)
Plus I can't let the Apple people one-up me..
More tomorrow as I explore more (my wife is used to looking in the garage for me now when I go missing.. wonder why?)
A video that makes it ALL seem so easy..
And a video apparently by the developer of the software:
More tomorrow..
Next exploration:
Android Auto (wirelessly?)
Tonight I'll just tease with some photos, and then come back and fill in the blanks. I finally am getting around to looking at Android Auto (which actually no longer exists - it's complicated..) and using it wirelessly with this unit.
When I initially tried it - I managed through some combination of button and on-screen presses and incantations to get the phone and the headunit talking together in what Google now calls "Google Assistant". They announced that Android Auto was basically dead starting with Android-10 because they built it into the OS. BUT - their website still has a bunch of references to Android Auto Android Auto | Android . Don't ask me - they did this - not me. Since our headunits are Android-12, this is built in.
The headunit came with an app called "CarbitLink" - which is intended to make the connection between the headunit and the phone. There is also an app installed on the headunit by the factory - called "CarLink-2.0"
Once it does connect - the unit itself goes black for a moment, then the following sort of screen appears on it:
The left screen is Google Maps in navigation mode, and the right screen is SiriusXM - an Android app running on my cell phone (where it's free to me since I have a subscription in my other Porsche.) There are options to switch the screens around, make the map full-screen, make the map smaller and the SiriusXM bigger.. a few captures follow:
The "apps" shown in this screen actually exist on the phone (and you can select from your apps which ones will show on this screen). They also run on the phone, so they will use up battery power as does the wireless connecting link. The phone battery gets used fairly rapidly.. and if they need network connectivity it is from the phone link, so an unlimited data plan is possibly a good thing if you're going this route.
So - what's the phone side of Android Auto look like?
And
And finally - the pullout on the side:
Hmmm.... hadn't noticed THIS before..
If you choose settings in the screen on the headunit, it allows you to access the settings on the phone and pick what apps you want on the headunit screen, and other advanced stuff.
I had been making the connection using CarLink-2.0 - and found that it seems any Bluetooth connection between the phone and headunit can be used for the Android Atto application. Maybe.. interesting discussion on:
Carlink 2.0 - there is mention there of using a shared WiFi connection.
I'll be exploring the connection options tomorrow (it's close to midnight now..) and following up on what I find.
FWIW - my thinking is - if AndroidAuto drains the battery THAT fast on my phone (the battery is 2 years old and has been showing signs of aging..) perhaps the phone will end up plugged in anyway - so plug it into one of the USB ports on the headunit and see how that works with AndroidAuto (Google Assistant..) The big reason I'm interested in it (I can do all of the above and more with the headunit itself and it's apps) is - the SiriusXM subscription.
This is a web-enabled SiriusXM - no tuner needed, and a fairly slick Android app. It's FREE, one for each regular radio/Sirius subscription you have. It seems to have registered itself on my phone as being the free one - so this is a way to access it without having to take out a separate web-enabled SiriusXM subscription ($5/month, not awful actually since it seems to open up ALL the Sirius channels.. even the not family-friendly ones..)
Plus I can't let the Apple people one-up me..
More tomorrow as I explore more (my wife is used to looking in the garage for me now when I go missing.. wonder why?)
A video that makes it ALL seem so easy..
And a video apparently by the developer of the software:
More tomorrow..
The unregistered version of Sirius/XM plays one channel urging you to register with them. That's what I meant by demo version. It was downloaded from the Play Store.
The streaming app on my phone was installed some months ago - let me check it and see if there is any registration info.. it seems to be registered to my Sirius account. I'll have to look at the one on the headunit in the car and see how I can get it registered.
UPDATE - looked. Registered it - works fine. I wonder how they're making money with this scheme...
Meanwhile - after lots of needless complexity - I managed to get Android-Auto to connect wirelessly - no hands - twice in a row (yea!) now we'll see if it still does that tomorrow.
Basic technique for AA
- Open your phone BT settings. Make sure the phone is connected to the headunit. If it isn't - connect them. I'd suggest shutting down any other BT devices in the area just to make things simpler (like the OBD-II Bluetooth dongle for Torque - I just unplugged it..) SO - connect phone to the headunit.
Just don't count on this being automatic. Sometimes it is - sometimes I have to go break the Bluetooth connection, remake it and then start up Bluetooth, go to the phone/bluetooth app on the headunit, reconnect to the phone, then hit the app on the headunit, and after some data churning - it opens.
Sigh - it's not what I'd call immediately "user friendly" - I suspect the apps all are having difficulty with Bluetooth. What's interesting is the AA app mentions using WiFi to connect (set phone as a hotspot then connect with the headunit to the phone..) I'll have to try that. I did try connecting with a straight USB connection, and it didn't work, but I didn't spend much time on it.
More as it evolves..
Update - 05/25/23.. on using Android Auto (hereafter "AA")..
I've gotten it to work well enough that I'm not really frustrated with it. There are however some issues.
To initially get it working, make sure Bluetooth (BT) is turned on in your phone. There should be a menu selection in settings for this, and part of that will also allow you to see what, if anything is connected to the phone.
In the headunit - you can name the BlueTooth connection or a default is given for it.. in my case it named itself "SYU-Android" - I have no idea how it came up with the name, but it's unique so that's good enough for me.
IF your phone is working through the headunit - you already have a BT connection, but before starting up AA, I'd strongly suggest breaking that connection and remaking it. I've found that easy to do on my phone. Part of the menu for BT will let me disconnect and then quickly reconnect to the headunit. DO THAT before starting up AA on the headunit.
At this point - the headunit has been up and running for perhaps 30 seconds or more(*) - you can press the app button that starts AA - CarBitLink 2.0.
A blue screen will open up - with a small banner message in the center of it - announcing that it's connecting to the phone. After a few seconds it's found the connection it needed and the banner changes to simply "Connecting"..
This page may stay up a bit of time (30 seconds or so) - apparently this indicates the headunit is grabbing info from your phone (phone book, calls, message, etc) and loading the general configuration setup for AA on your phone.
When it's done doing that - the screen will go black, and shortly after that your phone screen will also go black. Again - this will take from 5-45 seconds before a second blink and another black screen (short one - maybe 5 seconds) and the magically the AA screen will open on the headunit.
And there'ya are. AA working wirelessly on the unnamed headunit. Whod'a thunk it - the Porsche PCCM+ can't do that.
Now the glitches:
- once or twice the two stopped talking to each other. I'm not certain why - but they did. It did reattach automatically - but the connection still seemed flakey, so without shutting anything down, I went into my phone BlueTooth menu, disconnected and reconnected to the headunit and all was well again.
- (*) - from above. t turns out there are too many settings in too many places, some of which try to achieve the same goal, but fight other ones trying to achieve the same goal. And example is the boot loading.
There is a place in the Agama Loader menu where you can tell it that it's the Launcher of choice - and loaded on booting up. There is also a place in the factory menu where you can select the Launcher that opens on bootup. And if you select both of these (and I think I'm forgetting a 3rd spot it can be chosen), it will load up, the blink and go away and then load up again when the headunit boots. If - as I did -- you've chosen a music player Agama tries to open it on boot up. There's a setting under Factory settings where you can chose up to 3 apps that will load on bootup.
What happens then, CarBitLink on the headunit has a setting for automatically loading it - and 3 choices. None of the choices are don't load it. (1)It's load it automatically, (2)or load it if it ran the last time the headunit was used (3)or load it according to system instructions.
Given the choices, there's a fair chance It's going to load pretty much whatever you do.
If all the settings for what loads when are wrong - you'll end up with blinking screens - things opening then being switched to something else opening and finally to another thing opening AND THEN it repeats this around 4 times. That's not good.
My advice - the Agama loader has the option to set certain apps to load on boot up, with a time delay before they open. Turn any other references to loading the Agama loader OFF. Use that delayed option to load the music player - delayed maybe 10 seconds. Then set the CarBitLink to open after 20 seconds.
Life will be much calmer for you..
Just a quicky - I've tried to match the night time display to match the dash colors and lighting. I think I've got it pretty darn close:
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Pretty close.... I'd love to change the hands on the clock to red, but that's not in the settings that I can find. I'll suggest it to the authors of the software..
Pretty close.... I'd love to change the hands on the clock to red, but that's not in the settings that I can find. I'll suggest it to the authors of the software..
61 - 80 of 101 Posts
