eZ Navi Delete Project

aballard · 11-15-2019, 08:40 PM

Hows the progress coming along?
The anticipation is building......

bigaudiofanat · 11-19-2019, 08:02 PM

WHy not just do workshop 12's kit? Now I don't know if they can do the nav delete but I'm waiting for their G37 setup.

https://workshoptwelve.com/

batman_4 · 01-09-2020, 03:58 PM

Any update or is this thread dead?

radensb · 01-14-2020, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigaudiofanat

WHy not just do workshop 12's kit? Now I don't know if they can do the nav delete but I'm waiting for their G37 setup.
https://workshoptwelve.com/

The Workshop 12 kit does not support the Navi AC system and I wanted an actual car stereo instead of a hacked headphone jack interface. Also, their software is ... not great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by batman_4

Any update or is this thread dead?

Not Dead! I am still very much planning on working on this. I have put way too much effort in board designs and code. As an update to my last (August?.. Jesus) post, I received the new board spins, assembled them, blew out 2 of the 3 I made because I am special, and confirmed the hardware design on the 3rd. I have been using it in my car for months now. All of the functions are working, although there is still a few bugs in the CAN communication that cause mode selection to foul up and some unexpected AC behavior. It is very rare bug - the best kind... and I have ideas on how to address them.

Life events had hit pretty hard over the last few months along with a spiked work schedule, but I do look forward to getting back to completing this.

My Z has had the stereo removed since April 2019 because I was too lazy to to reinstall it for my 8 minute work commute, so that at the very least is constant motivation to get back at it soon.

bigaudiofanat · 01-14-2020, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radensb

The Workshop 12 kit does not support the Navi AC system and I wanted an actual car stereo instead of a hacked headphone jack interface. Also, their software is ... not great.

Not Dead! I am still very much planning on working on this. I have put way too much effort in board designs and code. As an update to my last (August?.. Jesus) post, I received the new board spins, assembled them, blew out 2 of the 3 I made because I am special, and confirmed the hardware design on the 3rd. I have been using it in my car for months now. All of the functions are working, although there is still a few bugs in the CAN communication that cause mode selection to foul up and some unexpected AC behavior. It is very rare bug - the best kind... and I have ideas on how to address them.

Life events had hit pretty hard over the last few months along with a spiked work schedule, but I do look forward to getting back to completing this.

My Z has had the stereo removed since April 2019 because I was too lazy to to reinstall it for my 8 minute work commute, so that at the very least is constant motivation to get back at it soon.

Actually I'm not going to be using their headphone jack. I'm going to plug their interface into a external DAC for the best possible audio. Not hacked up at all. They confirmed it'll work. I've played with their interface and it great IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6SUAZA2P&psc=1

NorthStyle · 01-14-2020, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigaudiofanat

Actually I'm not going to be using their headphone jack. I'm going to plug their interface into a external DAC for the best possible audio. Not hacked up at all. They confirmed it'll work. I've played with their interface and it great IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6SUAZA2P&psc=1

I second that. However, for the DAC be sure to check the power requirements. I'm running the NextDrive Spectra X and had to add a USB toggle since it would pull power from the tablet even when the car was off. But, the DAC increased the audio quality IMMENSELY over using just the 3.5mm...

Another thing, you'll also need a USB OTG hub and a 5pin OTG cable so you can use the DAC and have the tablet charge at the same time. I mine from Newegg (came from China thought).

bigaudiofanat · 01-14-2020, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthStyle

I second that. However, for the DAC be sure to check the power requirements. I'm running the NextDrive Spectra X and had to add a USB toggle since it would pull power from the tablet even when the car was off. But, the DAC increased the audio quality IMMENSELY over using just the 3.5mm...

Another thing, you'll also need a USB OTG hub and a 5pin OTG cable so you can use the DAC and have the tablet charge at the same time. I mine from Newegg (came from China thought).

Workshop is selling the kit with a USB hub that should supply the right amount of voltage.

radensb · 04-25-2020, 05:26 PM

Keep in mind that USB OTG is a broken standard. Not everyone implements the interface the same and as a result you need a specific combination of device and OTG charge capable hub. I have messed with this a great deal. Even if the device shows its charging, the USB charge handshake may only be allowing minimal charge current, so your device slowly discharges while on. With the Brainiac product, I suspect that it is at least breaking even, but I think you also need to do some work to allow the device to power up and sleep based on the car power state so that you don't drain the tablet sitting in the garage and you have to use the tablet they are using.

The Android car stereo that I installed is ~$45 more than that DAC alone and you still need to buy the android tablet device and the interface box. That's going to be way more than expensive and you still dont have basic car stereo features. This may be acceptable for you, but was a deal breaker for me. Most importantly - its not compatible with Navi models, which is the whole point of my project. Remove the Navi model limitations. Then any system is possible, including the Brainiac.

radensb · 04-25-2020, 05:39 PM

Success! I know a few of you have been interested in this and I found time to do some more debugging on this project and have been using this setup in my car for a few months now without issue. I have full control over the CAN AC system in real time without any hiccups. I was having issues with the test platform on my bench not matching the reality of the CAN bus in the car and trying to develop and debug the code in the drivers seat was miserable. So, I brought the CAN bus traffic to by bench! I wired up a connector to an Ethernet cable and ran it from my Z's dash in the garage, up into the attic, and down into my office to my bench. I could then turn the car on and scope the traffic as my board was consuming and responding to it! Within a few hours, I found the corner cases that were causing the code to hang up. I am convinced that I would have never been able to reproduce those conditions on my bench.....

Now that this is stable and working, I plan on creating a GitHub repo soon to upload the current state of the hardware and software for those interested. While the code is fully functioning as an AC controller interface, there are a few things that I want to clean up first and document future interfaces I want to add.

Check it out in action in my new stereo install!

radensb · 06-27-2020, 02:50 PM

To all those interested, please check out this thread.

eZ Navi Delete Interest/Availability

11-19-2019, 08:02 PM	#32 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	WHy not just do workshop 12's kit? Now I don't know if they can do the nav delete but I'm waiting for their G37 setup. https://workshoptwelve.com/ __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

01-09-2020, 03:58 PM	#33 (permalink)
batman_4 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: McAllen Tx. Posts: 1,038 Drives: '09 PW 370Z Rep Power: 368	Any update or is this thread dead? __________________ '09 6spd. Touring: Eibach / SPC / Motordyne / Berk / Z1 / Oneighty / Mines / SSR / Stillen / CFE

04-25-2020, 05:26 PM	#38 (permalink)
radensb Base Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: California Posts: 148 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z GM M6 Rep Power: 6721	Keep in mind that USB OTG is a broken standard. Not everyone implements the interface the same and as a result you need a specific combination of device and OTG charge capable hub. I have messed with this a great deal. Even if the device shows its charging, the USB charge handshake may only be allowing minimal charge current, so your device slowly discharges while on. With the Brainiac product, I suspect that it is at least breaking even, but I think you also need to do some work to allow the device to power up and sleep based on the car power state so that you don't drain the tablet sitting in the garage and you have to use the tablet they are using. The Android car stereo that I installed is ~$45 more than that DAC alone and you still need to buy the android tablet device and the interface box. That's going to be way more than expensive and you still dont have basic car stereo features. This may be acceptable for you, but was a deal breaker for me. Most importantly - its not compatible with Navi models, which is the whole point of my project. Remove the Navi model limitations. Then any system is possible, including the Brainiac. Last edited by radensb; 06-20-2020 at 03:02 PM.

04-25-2020, 05:39 PM	#39 (permalink)
radensb Base Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: California Posts: 148 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z GM M6 Rep Power: 6721	eZ Navi-Delete Update Success! I know a few of you have been interested in this and I found time to do some more debugging on this project and have been using this setup in my car for a few months now without issue. I have full control over the CAN AC system in real time without any hiccups. I was having issues with the test platform on my bench not matching the reality of the CAN bus in the car and trying to develop and debug the code in the drivers seat was miserable. So, I brought the CAN bus traffic to by bench! I wired up a connector to an Ethernet cable and ran it from my Z's dash in the garage, up into the attic, and down into my office to my bench. I could then turn the car on and scope the traffic as my board was consuming and responding to it! Within a few hours, I found the corner cases that were causing the code to hang up. I am convinced that I would have never been able to reproduce those conditions on my bench..... Now that this is stable and working, I plan on creating a GitHub repo soon to upload the current state of the hardware and software for those interested. While the code is fully functioning as an AC controller interface, there are a few things that I want to clean up first and document future interfaces I want to add. Check it out in action in my new stereo install! batman_4 and Krylon like this.

06-27-2020, 02:50 PM	#40 (permalink)
radensb Base Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: California Posts: 148 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z GM M6 Rep Power: 6721	eZ Navi Delete Project is LIVE! To all those interested, please check out this thread. eZ Navi Delete Interest/Availability

11-15-2019, 08:40 PM	#31 (permalink)
aballard Base Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 6 Drives: 18 Nismo MT Rep Power: 7	Hows the progress coming along? The anticipation is building......

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