hacking GPS to type address while car is in motion... anyone know how?

minhhh

Member
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CX-5
hacking GPS to type address while car is in motion... anyone know how? its quite annoying when the wifey is wanting to put in an address and i'm driving, and it won't let us.. only work around is just voice control, which is horrendous.
 
No, but it would be a good idea. I got a feeling Mazda and TomTom did this only to prevent ridiculous law suits when someone plows into something while tinkering with the navi. I actually like the voice control, granted it is a bit slow to react.
 
I would think that it is a software issue tied to the GPS. If you wanted to disconnect your gps antenna, it is under the front center speaker grill, or the back of the sd card slot there is an antenna connection (which is the actual nav system). If this works, a signal block to the antenna temporarily would allow you to program it (Why is that huge bag of potato chips on your dash?) I am pretty sure that Mazda tied it into the rest of the car network though, so if this does not work, it may have to be a software patch, and I am fairly sure that will not be a public release..... I suggested to Mazda to tie the Nav safety into the passenger airbag on/off sensor, that way with your passenger is present, you could program the thing, uh, I mean let them program it.....
 
wish the hack community would look at these modules and put alternative nav systems on them, i'm going to take a gander over on gpspassion and see if there's anything over there about this system
 
Waiting for a software and/electrical engineer to program the factory software to remove the damn lock. I know one of you out there is an EE or CS!
 
I've messed around a little, but I'm being very cautious as to not brick my device. :p

how are you getting into it? just snooping on the sd card or did you pull the module and hook it up with the 'usb' port connection thats supposedly on it?
 
how are you getting into it? just snooping on the sd card or did you pull the module and hook it up with the 'usb' port connection thats supposedly on it?

Playing with the SD Card, looking at the update and seeing if it can be modified. First I've heard of a usb port on it.
 
yeah if you look at the installation instructions it lists the +b/acc port (power) the gps antenna plug, and a 'usb connector' on the module that you plug into cables in the cubby spot
 
I can search addresses and do everything sat-nav related whilst in motion... I do have the twisty control thing between the two front seats though which is standard in UK models.
 
I just installed it an hour ago...its not a traditional usb port bit 2 circular connectors. Possibly the inside and outside of each connector are a channel to be the 4 channels on a usb stick.
 
I just installed it an hour ago...its not a traditional usb port bit 2 circular connectors. Possibly the inside and outside of each connector are a channel to be the 4 channels on a usb stick.

i'm curious if you wired it to a usb A plug and hooked power up to it then plugged that usb into a computer what would show up, maybe get into the firmware/hardware on it and see whats what
just have to figure out whats +5 g d+ d-
 
There are different ways they may do it.

Software wise, the GPS knows your moving and prevents the system from being programmed. This would only be able to be changed by hacking the software. Chances are the sd card would have a config file with this info on it, maybe encrypted or compiled. Hard to say.

The other method is via the wiring on the back getting a signal when the car is in the drive position. I don't have the nav system to investigate, but you could check it out. If its wiring, it's a simple matter to correct.

If its the software itself, yank the sd card and see if there are files you can read on there. Some may be packages requiring you to open them first, before you can read it.

If I had it, would look forward to hacking it ;). If its firmware, it's a bit harder....
 
There are different ways they may do it.

Software wise, the GPS knows your moving and prevents the system from being programmed. This would only be able to be changed by hacking the software. Chances are the sd card would have a config file with this info on it, maybe encrypted or compiled. Hard to say.

The other method is via the wiring on the back getting a signal when the car is in the drive position. I don't have the nav system to investigate, but you could check it out. If its wiring, it's a simple matter to correct.

If its the software itself, yank the sd card and see if there are files you can read on there. Some may be packages requiring you to open them first, before you can read it.

If I had it, would look forward to hacking it ;). If its firmware, it's a bit harder....

its definitely motion based, you can do whatever it can when you're stopped but in gear, but as soon as you start moving it kicks out (even out of voice control)
so question is does it pull off a vehicle input or from gps
 
I am assuming vehicle input as it only locks out at a certain speed. Had it been the GPS, it would lock out only when it reads a certain speed via GPS. So when i don't have GPS signal, it would still lock out.
 
I am assuming vehicle input as it only locks out at a certain speed. Had it been the GPS, it would lock out only when it reads a certain speed via GPS. So when i don't have GPS signal, it would still lock out.

i'll have to test that out next time i'm at the local mall with the underground parking, didn't think of that, good call
 
Since you can select a favorite address while moving, maybe the key is to figure out how to add an address to the favorities list while moving?
 
First thing to do is make 100% sure you don't think the GPS unit itself disables the UI when it detects it is moving. Test this out further.




I spent an hour looking at the schematics for the car's audio/navigation system. There is a second navigation harness that might have the answer, hard to tell without more analysis.

What you could do is test voltages when the car is stopped and when it is moving (get somebody else to drive and test the voltages on the harness after you remove the stereo unit) and then record it. Once you narrow it down and see what pins have actually changed in voltage when you are moving, you can speed up and slow down and see if that changes the voltage on that particular wire, hence disabling the sensor.

Doing the above wont damage anything as you are only reading voltages. Potential damage would come from trying to drive and do this at the same time, or breaking something when you remove the unit.

Now IF you detect where the wire is that is causing the unit to disable the UI, then it can be bypassed either by applying ground or voltage (whatever it needs).


From the schematics, I can see there are a few wires coming from the instrument cluster and hooked up to the microprocessor.

I think what is happening is there is a voltage being applied when the car hits a certain speed, disabling the input. This is microprocessor controlled obviously.



If its a digital signal, forget it, but I doubt it is that sophisticated else it would be done on software on the GPS unit itself disabling itself when it detects it is moving, but somebody else said that doesn't appear to be the case.

Have fun.
 
US-issue?

This must be an us issue since I dont have any problems typing in an adress whilst being in motion in my european model. Lawsuit-prevention?;) sorry, just had to:p
 
I am assuming vehicle input as it only locks out at a certain speed. Had it been the GPS, it would lock out only when it reads a certain speed via GPS. So when i don't have GPS signal, it would still lock out.

I'd guess it is vehicle input also, because the vehicle settings on the radio also go away when you go over 5 mph even without a Nav installed. Although that doesn't mean it couldn't also use GPS speed to lock it out too...
 
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