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CarPlay & Android Auto Hack - Walkthrough

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I got my 2.0 a couple of weeks ago and it has the January 2021 firmware. I tried updating to the Sept. 2021 update as outlined here, but I can't get it to install. I am hoping this update will keep the wifi connection between my 2.0 and 2021 MY from dropping every five to ten minutes.
How can you tell what firmware version you're on?

edit: never mind.... you go to Settings then System Version. Mine says ew_v1.0-202107170928
 
How can you tell what firmware version you're on?

edit: never mind.... you go to Settings then System Version. Mine says ew_v1.0-202107170928
Here is mine, maybe it is actually 2021 - 10 - 08, newer than what I am trying to download? I still need to figure out why the wifi connection is dropping.
IMG_2574.jpg
 
As I mentioned I've become more disillusioned with this device recently, the fact that it takes so many attempts to get it to connect and so many little tricks. I kept thinking I'd nail down the perfect combination of tricks to get it to 100% - i.e. turn off WiFi, connect Bluetooth, etc... Then I see they've got a whole new 3.0 unit and I'm like "eff" it.

So, I think I'll give this update a shot. It may make it worse. Oh well.

And their support blows.

Haven't contacted them about this unit yet. But I had a different approach using a tablet for the screen and one of their dongles. Trying to communicate with them through the Amazon system was a gigantic waste of time. At one point we switched to WeChat and it got a little better. But I'm nervous going into this. When someone on that page asked about what drive format should be used for USB flash drive and they respond:

"Hi Matt, The USB Drive Set To Defalt Formatted.". WTF?

Oh, and one thing that bugs me to on end. Every Sentence On Their Site Is Written With The First Letter Of Every Word Capitalized. Even The Comments. Weird.
 
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Of course it didn't work. My drive it FAT32 formatted. I placed the update file in the root of it. The filename is "9-21-2021dashboard 2.0 update" and is about 75 Mb.

I powered on unit while pressing the reset button. I see the activity LED on the flash drive flash once. The screen doesn't turn white. It seems to wait a moment when I release the button then boot normally.

I suspect there's something not right with the file itself or format.
 
Did you try changing the name of the file to OEMUPDATE.BIN or whatever name they're expecting?

I know that the unit was reading the USB drive as I clicked the USB icon and was told there was no media, but when I click that with no USB connected nothing happens.
 
I give up. I have a thread of two-dozen emails to the company, where the final detailed question went to the "technicians". Their reply was, "Try restarting your phone".

I'm sending it back next week. If someone here wants to buy it, I'll mail it to them for $170, including shipping.
 
I give up. I have a thread of two-dozen emails to the company, where the final detailed question went to the "technicians". Their reply was, "Try restarting your phone".

I'm sending it back next week. If someone here wants to buy it, I'll mail it to them for $170, including shipping.
I bet when you read my statements that their support sucked you never imagined it would be that bad.

Once connected and I've redirected the audio for music and phone, I'm really pretty happy with the unit overall. Except getting connected has become too much of a chore. I'm in and out of my car a lot during the day, more so than someone who has a regular daily commute. The getting connected seems to have gotten worse.

Several people have asked here and on other forums "why not just use your phone?". Well that's what I'm going with for now. Just received this yesterday and am liking it so far.


Yes, I still think CarPlay is better. But it's only better when it's consistent like in my wife's Hyundai OEM version or the Alpine unit I installed in my previous car. So my order of preference at the moment is:

OEM or legit CarPlay install
Just use my phone
 
Yep. I did not mind buying an additional unit for CarPlay if it meant I could just hop in the car and go, but this unit simply does not work in a Tesla as advertised. It is possible it could work and I wanted it to, but their support is so poor that it makes me think the product exists with the sole purpose of making me frustrated and angry.
 
I think this type of product may eternally be relegated to the hack category as I don't think the manufacturers (Carlinkit, Coral Vision) don't have the blessing or licensing from Apple. I think they're rogue manufacturers in China and don't care. So I'm doubtful anyone will ever make a legitimate quality version of one of these devices. I hope I'm wrong. But right now I'm burned out on the idea. (But, give it a couple of weeks, I may pick it up again :D )
 
Oh I got mine a while ago, it starts to not connect at all. when I manually click connect to it's bluetooth it simple said: can not connect. then a "Forget" button.

I googled around looks like either carlinkit or coral are not the "manufacture" I suppose they have to depends on the OEM to release an update, if it's even possible.

I have mine past return period I guess.
 
What an awesome project! Great job Michal!! Hoping you offer either a pre-built hardware bundle (preferable) or a hardware list and detailed instructions.
Pretty impressive indeed. To be clear, not sure if you're were thinking or implying this, but I'm not Michal. I am a fan of his work and have been checking in frequently on his Twitter, which says a lot because I'm not a Twitter user really.

I'm going to try to explain what I understand about his solution for anyone who's interested....

His solution is similar to what others, myself included, have done or tried. Start with a Carlinkit USB dongle and attach it to an Android tablet or smartphone. That tablet becomes the CarPlay touchscreen when paired with that dongle. What's inelegant about that solution is you now have a separate display that you have to mount and power and maintain.

Michal's solution takes that same Carlinkit USB dongle and attaches it to a system that acts as a server. That server is connected to by the Tesla browser. So now a window on the Tesla screen is the touchscreen interface for CarPlay (instead of an Android tablet).

That system consists of two Raspberry Pi computers with an LTE modem. He says it'll eventually be reduced to one Raspberry Pi, but he plans on release what he presently has. The LTE modem is needed because the Tesla has to connect to the WiFi hotspot created by the Pi. If there is no Internet behind that WiFi then apparently the Tesla won't use it.

I'm excited to try this out. Hope he releases something soon.