Who's added Android Auto and other AIO tweaks via serial port recently?

[abeln2672]

Hi all -
Just picked up our soul red CX-5 last night (I love saying that!) and am spending entirely too much time on these forums Just wondering if anyone has modified their infotainment system to add Android Auto and the other cool AIO tweaks via the serial port since the systems got updated past .502 and don't allow USB access anymore? Directions make it sound pretty straightforward so I've ordered the cheap parts needed for it, but just thought I'd check for experiences: https://mazdatweaks.com/serial/

There's also a long thread on the 3 owners site, so I've been browsing that as well...

 

[boandlkramer]

I have a 2017, so nope. [emoji20]

 

[lampcord]

Does it affect your warranty if you do hack the infotainment system?

 

[abeln2672]

Does it affect your warranty if you do hack the infotainment system?

My guess is it does, so it's probably not for the feint of heart. That said, I read online that it's pretty tough to permanently brick it, and even one guy who did just took it in to the dealer, said it stopped working, and they replaced it under warranty. YMMV, I guess.

 

[7eregrine]

I have a 2017, so nope. [emoji20]

The serial hack works on EVERY CX-5.

Of course it voids your warranty...if they find out you did it. Do it right, and they won't.

AlphaDog did this. Check the last few pages of the AA/ACP Sticky post in the Infotainment forum...

 

[boandlkramer]

Serial hack, as in plugging in behind the system? Nah I’m good. Lol

 

[abeln2672]

The serial hack works on EVERY CX-5.

Of course it voids your warranty...if they find out you did it. Do it right, and they won't.

AlphaDog did this. Check the last few pages of the AA/ACP Sticky post in the Infotainment forum...

Thanks a ton! I'm such a newb I didn't even know there was an infotainment forum...but I found the sticky and his post in there about his experience this week. I'm looking forward to attempting it this weekend despite my wife's protests, lol!

 

[alphadog00]

Hi all -
Just picked up our soul red CX-5 last night (I love saying that!) and am spending entirely too much time on these forums Just wondering if anyone has modified their infotainment system to add Android Auto and the other cool AIO tweaks via the serial port since the systems got updated past .502 and don't allow USB access anymore? Directions make it sound pretty straightforward so I've ordered the cheap parts needed for it, but just thought I'd check for experiences: https://mazdatweaks.com/serial/

There's also a long thread on the 3 owners site, so I've been browsing that as well...

Yeah, i did it. The only thing i missed was rebooting the unit after doing the serial hack so it would autoplay the USB stick. Also, my car had been off for hours, and I had no scrolling text as the headunit was actually shutdown - starting the car got me past this. It does help if you know basic linux commands so you understand what is going on. Some users blindly type or paste commands without understanding them.

There are 2 things i have run into:

1. Dash compass is disabled if you enable "touchscreen while driving" - there is a fix for this, but then you can't input nav address while moving. Not an AIO bug, but more the way Mazda tied NAV and touchscreen together.

2. I noticed that when my phone is connected via USB I have no BT audio music from phone... it plays, but no sound. Unplug usb, and it works. Only really an issue if I want to launch BT sound app (podcast, rocket player, etc) from AA. Asking to see if this is a known issue or not.

 

[Lbear]

Yeah, i did it. The only thing i missed was rebooting the unit after doing the serial hack so it would autoplay the USB stick. Also, my car had been off for hours, and I had no scrolling text as the headunit was actually shutdown - starting the car got me past this. It does help if you know basic linux commands so you understand what is going on. Some users blindly type or paste commands without understanding them.

There are 2 things i have run into:

1. Dash compass is disabled if you enable "touchscreen while driving" - there is a fix for this, but then you can't input nav address while moving. Not an AIO bug, but more the way Mazda tied NAV and touchscreen together.

2. I noticed that when my phone is connected via USB I have no BT audio music from phone... it plays, but no sound. Unplug usb, and it works. Only really an issue if I want to launch BT sound app (podcast, rocket player, etc) from AA. Asking to see if this is a known issue or not.

#1 - I noticed this also but the SPEEDO app will display the compass/direction of travel. Plus the dash compass is so tiny to begin with anyway, so I don't miss it. I find it better to be able to use the NAV screen and input addresses while moving.

The AIO Tweak is well worth it. It's very difficult to brick the unit unless you do something really, really stupid. The AIO tweak backs up the system prior to updating so it's ALMOST foolproof.

 

[abeln2672]

Thanks to both of you for the info! I'm planning to attempt this tomorrow and will report back! Fingers crossed...

 

[7eregrine]

I think my BT worked when ugged in. I'll double check and report back.

 

[Lbear]

As far as "voiding" the warranty goes. It's not like the entire powertrain or electrical warranty is voided. The only issue with the AIO Tweak is that if a problem occurred that caused the Infotainment system to fail, then yes, the AIO tweak could be blamed. The rest of the vehicles warranty stays intact.

 

[7eregrine]

Right? Fact is: it's hard to screw this up if you can follow directions. No one likes to tell people that because some guy is going to typo the wrong commend doing the cable hack or turn off the car while AIO is running then blame them for it. [emoji16]

 

[alphadog00]

I think my BT worked when ugged in. I'll double check and report back.

BT works for phone. Music is the issue. I didn't troubleshoot much as i was driving at the time.

 

[7eregrine]

I meant for music.

 

[abeln2672]

Hey guys, I massive failed today and am wondering if you can answer some questions. I also posted in the official thread on on mazda3revolution, but no answers so far. I'm not a linux guy, but I'm pretty tech literate and can follow instructions. I built my PC, run roms on my phone, all kinds of smarthome stuff, etc. So I was surprised I couldn't get this going on try 1, but any help is appreciated. Here's my questions:

1) I unplugged the GPS and "Music and More" connectors so I'd have more slack to pull out the CMU. That OK? I assumed the "Power and More" connector would have everything needed, but I could obviously be wrong.

2) I ordered the recommended USB-TTL adapter from Amazon and downloaded the driver, but I keep getting "unrecognized device" errors in Windows 10. The red light comes on so it's drawing power, but it shows as a generic unrecognized USB device in Device Manager. I see nothing under COM in DM, btw.

3) Anyone know if TX or RX goes on top? The picture in the tutorial shows two different configs, with the mini pic on the left showing TX on top and the larger picture with the red arrows pointing to RX on top.

4) How exactly did you guys make the connection to the serial port? I'm using the recommended single-strand connectors, but I can't get them in further than like half-inch -- about halfway up the black plastic connector on the end...which doesn't seem far enough. I popped off the plastic end to see if I could strip the insulation and push in the wire, but it's extremely whispy copper strands that I'm sure would get any deeper. How did you guys make the connection?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but I didn't get any further than that today. Oh, should also mention my laptop shut itself down during this and was nonresponsive for about an hour until I popped off the back cover and messed with the internals -- I thought I lost it. So needless to say I'm a bit gunshy at the moment and was having visions of bricking our brand new infotainment system lol! But I must have AA! Infotainment is the only thing holding this car back, IMO. Any help is appreciated!

 

[alphadog00]

Hey guys, I massive failed today and am wondering if you can answer some questions. I also posted in the official thread on on mazda3revolution, but no answers so far. I'm not a linux guy, but I'm pretty tech literate and can follow instructions. I built my PC, run roms on my phone, all kinds of smarthome stuff, etc. So I was surprised I couldn't get this going on try 1, but any help is appreciated. Here's my questions:

1) I unplugged the GPS and "Music and More" connectors so I'd have more slack to pull out the CMU. That OK? I assumed the "Power and More" connector would have everything needed, but I could obviously be wrong.

2) I ordered the recommended USB-TTL adapter from Amazon and downloaded the driver, but I keep getting "unrecognized device" errors in Windows 10. The red light comes on so it's drawing power, but it shows as a generic unrecognized USB device in Device Manager. I see nothing under COM in DM, btw.

3) Anyone know if TX or RX goes on top? The picture in the tutorial shows two different configs, with the mini pic on the left showing TX on top and the larger picture with the red arrows pointing to RX on top.

4) How exactly did you guys make the connection to the serial port? I'm using the recommended single-strand connectors, but I can't get them in further than like half-inch -- about halfway up the black plastic connector on the end...which doesn't seem far enough. I popped off the plastic end to see if I could strip the insulation and push in the wire, but it's extremely whispy copper strands that I'm sure would get any deeper. How did you guys make the connection?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but I didn't get any further than that today. Oh, should also mention my laptop shut itself down during this and was nonresponsive for about an hour until I popped off the back cover and messed with the internals -- I thought I lost it. So needless to say I'm a bit gunshy at the moment and was having visions of bricking our brand new infotainment system lol! But I must have AA! Infotainment is the only thing holding this car back, IMO. Any help is appreciated!

Regarding TX - RX wires I can't remember which way i did it, but the light on the TTL adapter came on when connected the proper way. I bought a set of jumper wires and used the male on some to push into the harness plug. I didn't unplug any wires from the CMU.

If had to install drivers for the TTL device - a link in the doc that came with it told me where to get it. You need the driver or nothing will work.

 

[abeln2672]

Regarding TX - RX wires I can't remember which way i did it, but the light on the TTL adapter came on when connected the proper way. I bought a set of jumper wires and used the male on some to push into the harness plug. I didn't unplug any wires from the CMU.

If had to install drivers for the TTL device - a link in the doc that came with it told me where to get it. You need the driver or nothing will work.

Thanks a ton for replying -- I still got nada from the other forum! I ordered another TTL adapter from Amazon, so I'm hoping there's driver instructions this time. As for plugging the wires into the harness, I'm also using "jumpers" I guess you'd call them. Do yours look like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

I was using a male-male at the end and trying to get that into the harness as far as I can. Sounds like you did the same and it worked? I saw on the other thread that somebody had success by removing the plastic connector end and using the bare copper to wire it up to the harness while unplugged...then plugged the harness back in. I might try that if I continue failing.

Thanks again -- appreciate the support!

 

[alphadog00]

Thanks a ton for replying -- I still got nada from the other forum! I ordered another TTL adapter from Amazon, so I'm hoping there's driver instructions this time. As for plugging the wires into the harness, I'm also using "jumpers" I guess you'd call them. Do yours look like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

I was using a male-male at the end and trying to get that into the harness as far as I can. Sounds like you did the same and it worked? I saw on the other thread that somebody had success by removing the plastic connector end and using the bare copper to wire it up to the harness while unplugged...then plugged the harness back in. I might try that if I continue failing.

Thanks again -- appreciate the support!

Yes, i used those jumpers and wiggling around the male end it slid a little further into the plug holes.

The driver for my TTL unit is here http://www.silabs.com/products/development-tools/software/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers

I bought this unit - https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 

[abeln2672]

Yes, i used those jumpers and wiggling around the male end it slid a little further into the plug holes.

The driver for my TTL unit is here http://www.silabs.com/products/development-tools/software/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers

I bought this unit - https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Thanks again. Waiting on my second TTL unit to be delivered tomorrow and will attempt again in coming days. I was messing around with the first one today on both a Mac and PC, donwloading every TTL driver I could fine, but to no avail -- nothing would recognize a serial adapter was plugged in. Must be a bad one, so I'm returning to Amazon. Fingers crossed on #2!

Appreciate you replying. I learned a ton today by reading the entire thread on the other forum. Feeling more confident!