[invisiblewave]

Ok update. I used headunit reloaded from aawireless to host android auto. It does not work in vertical orientation

shit is driving me crazy. have to either find a android based android auto host that can work in vertical orientation, or just use the pi to host all the software.

then i run into how to install a GPS antenna on a raspberry pi, running android.

Or switch from Pi to a phone? Is the problem that the tablet can't tell Pi that it's in portrait mode?

 

[SendIt]

We're good. I got a GPS connector using ublox GPS to use a mock location and its fast and snappy now. So I have all functions working properly now.

 

[o_tdiggity]

Until I start tearing the car apart, I am not sure. The problem would be that the module is still going to be behind this screen, so screens that put cables out the middle center wont work.

Remove the iris screen and there will be enough room if everything is kept towards the center of the new screen.

 

[fidozoom]

Instead of a Pi, can you not just use a phone? Xiaomi devices are fast, cheap, and well supported with TWRP and many custom roms with gapps.

The problem with phones is the screen aspect ratio. Most phones are longer vertically than equally sized tablets as they are made to be held with one hand. Also you'd need to find a phone which is easy enough to take the screen apart .i.e. if you plan to leave the IRIS screen where it is and put this screen on top.

 

[fidozoom]

Ok update. I used headunit reloaded from aawireless to host android auto. It does not work in vertical orientation

shit is driving me crazy. have to either find a android based android auto host that can work in vertical orientation, or just use the pi to host all the software.

then i run into how to install a GPS antenna on a raspberry pi, running android.

For GPS antenna, this is what I used: Amazon.com: VK-162 USB GPS Dongle - Remote Mount USB - External GPS Navigation Dongle - Supports Stratux, Raspberry Pi, Google Earth, Windows, Linux : Electronics . As long your Pi has a USB port this should work with Android.

 

[invisiblewave]

The problem with phones is the screen aspect ratio. Most phones are longer vertically than equally sized tablets as they are made to be held with one hand. Also you'd need to find a phone which is easy enough to take the screen apart .i.e. if you plan to leave the IRIS screen where it is and put this screen on top.

I was talking about using it as a replacement for the Pi, not as the main display, but you'd need to figure out a way to use an external display. I've taken many phones apart, I live with someone who drops them every couple of months...

 

[fidozoom]

I was talking about using it as a replacement for the Pi, not as the main display, but you'd need to figure out a way to use an external display. I've taken many phones apart, I live with someone who drops them every couple of months...

Yes some tablets and phones provide display output to HDMI but the problem is touch input. I am not sure how you'd get touch input from the screen to go to the phone.

 

[SendIt]

I have it working perfect now.

 

[ima2nr (McMedics)]

Interested to see a working prototype! IRIS I, II and III are all in desperate need of updating for us who own the older cars.

Kevin P
Supercar Garage ATL - The McLaren Specialist
770-284-0172
Kennesaw GA
* Home of the flying McMedics... The only mobile McLaren Specialist! -We come to you!

CLICK HERE >>> www.SupercarGarageATL.com
CLICK HERE >>> DIYs: McLaren Do It Yourself Thread
CLICK HERE >>> McLaren INTERCHANGABLE PARTS DATABASE !!!

 

[herwawan]

I have it working perfect now.

Doing God's work right there! Thanks for the effort, I'll keep watching the progress.

 

[o_tdiggity]

An odd thing happened today with my iris1. The system reset the mode to radio. It’s been on aux for months, first time it’s done this.

it has me thinking whatever you do, you need a way to get access to the iris screen to set the output in case this happens again.

my plan is to remove the screen entirely, so I will see about creating an extension cable so I can connect the iris screen back in case that happens again.

 

[o_tdiggity]

Big update for ya'll

I got my iris1 screen out of the car. That first bracket was a PITA. Also found out someones been in there before as I was missing one screw and had one broken clip .

I've created a mounting bracket for my screen and raspberry pi5. It all fits very snugly and you can reuse some of the OEM hardware, they're just m3 and m2.5 screws, so no big deal there. I test fit screen and trim and it sits flush - I just need to get power to the unit now. the pi5 needs 5A to run. The simplest thing to do at the moment is to power it from the cigarette lighter. Behind the start button, there's some vent holes. I'll cut out a small square through that so I can pass cabling through there up to the screen.

One thing to consider in addition to my previous post is volume. Since the iris1 screen is removed, the volume dial wont work anymore. Before disconnecting the iris screen, set the audio source to aux and volume to something relatively high and then control volume from the pi5 unit.

More to come tomorrow/this weekend as soon as I get my power converter.

 

[SendIt]

Big update for ya'll

I got my iris1 screen out of the car. That first bracket was a PITA. Also found out someones been in there before as I was missing one screw and had one broken clip .

I've created a mounting bracket for my screen and raspberry pi5. It all fits very snugly and you can reuse some of the OEM hardware, they're just m3 and m2.5 screws, so no big deal there. I test fit screen and trim and it sits flush - I just need to get power to the unit now. the pi5 needs 5A to run. The simplest thing to do at the moment is to power it from the cigarette lighter. Behind the start button, there's some vent holes. I'll cut out a small square through that so I can pass cabling through there up to the screen.

One thing to consider in addition to my previous post is volume. Since the iris1 screen is removed, the volume dial wont work anymore. Before disconnecting the iris screen, set the audio source to aux and volume to something relatively high and then control volume from the pi5 unit.

More to come tomorrow/this weekend as soon as I get my power converter.

View attachment 238624


View attachment 238625

View attachment 238626

Amazon.com

 

[o_tdiggity]

Amazon.com

Yea, I saw that. Once I need to clean things up I'll go that route. For now going to use a cigarette lighter first because it's right under there. I am going to also pass through the carplay dongle and couple usb ports on extension cables so that i have access to hookup kb/mouse without having to disassemble. Should be able to go headless with the wifi, but you never know. Opening this thing up sucks

I also want to create an extension cable for the iris connection so if anything goes wonky then i can connect the iris screen without having to disassemble everything.

 

[fidozoom]

Yea, I saw that. Once I need to clean things up I'll go that route. For now going to use a cigarette lighter first because it's right under there. I am going to also pass through the carplay dongle and couple usb ports on extension cables so that i have access to hookup kb/mouse without having to disassemble. Should be able to go headless with the wifi, but you never know. Opening this thing up sucks

I also want to create an extension cable for the iris connection so if anything goes wonky then i can connect the iris screen without having to disassemble everything.

This is pretty awesome progress.

Are you running Android on the Pi?
How are you powering the Pi? Does it have a battery? Or does it have to boot up each time the car starts?

Regarding keeping Iris handy in case we need to change source without having to take everything out again, I cut some small holes for the Iris cable to come out below. But the cable is quite short. How do you plan to make a harness? Is that a standard plug that goes into Iris?

For power, I just bought this:

Amazon.com: PRUVEEO 13ft Dash Cam Hardwire Kit,Type-C Intelligent and Adjustable Low-Voltage Protection Fit for Pruveeo A6/H5/J20/J30/H6 Dash Cams, Converts 12V-24V to 5V/ 3A,w/Fuse Kit and Installation : Electronics

Amazon.com: PRUVEEO 13ft Dash Cam Hardwire Kit,Type-C Intelligent and Adjustable Low-Voltage Protection Fit for Pruveeo A6/H5/J20/J30/H6 Dash Cams, Converts 12V-24V to 5V/ 3A,w/Fuse Kit and Installation : Electronics

www.amazon.com

I like that it has a voltage cutoff to avoid draining the battery. I was planning to wire it up to an empty always on fuse in the main fuse box.

 

[o_tdiggity]

This is pretty awesome progress.

Are you running Android on the Pi?
How are you powering the Pi? Does it have a battery? Or does it have to boot up each time the car starts?

Regarding keeping Iris handy in case we need to change source without having to take everything out again, I cut some small holes for the Iris cable to come out below. But the cable is quite short. How do you plan to make a harness? Is that a standard plug that goes into Iris?

For power, I just bought this:

Amazon.com: PRUVEEO 13ft Dash Cam Hardwire Kit,Type-C Intelligent and Adjustable Low-Voltage Protection Fit for Pruveeo A6/H5/J20/J30/H6 Dash Cams, Converts 12V-24V to 5V/ 3A,w/Fuse Kit and Installation : Electronics

Amazon.com: PRUVEEO 13ft Dash Cam Hardwire Kit,Type-C Intelligent and Adjustable Low-Voltage Protection Fit for Pruveeo A6/H5/J20/J30/H6 Dash Cams, Converts 12V-24V to 5V/ 3A,w/Fuse Kit and Installation : Electronics

www.amazon.com

I like that it has a voltage cutoff to avoid draining the battery. I was planning to wire it up to an empty always on fuse in the main fuse box.

The Pi5 needs 5A to run, anything less will cause issues (it’s very sensitive). A pi4 only needs 3A, but saw a pretty big speed increase with the pi5, so going with that.

I’m going to try powering the pi with this: https://a.co/d/iiUvjg2 - if that doesn’t work, then I’ll use what Sendlt posted or wire up directly to the cig lighter with a pigtail.

No battery, keeping it simple. It powers up in about 30s. So I’m ok with accessory switched on power.

For software, I’m using lineageOS on the pi. But, have also been testing running CarPlay in pi’s standard os - GitHub - rhysmorgan134/react-carplay
- this runs even better than when it’s on android, but I need to battle test it to really see how it will do.

for extension cable, I’m looking for the male/female connectors to create an extension. Hopefully not proprietary, but have out a few asks out from cable connector suppliers to find them. They’ve been able to find other McLaren connectors for me in the past.

 

[o_tdiggity]

A quick video:



The cig lighter adapter i mentioned in the previous post worked. I'm happy about that because now it's basically plug and play, no need to solder any wires and make power disconnects, etc.

One thing to note is that when you turn off the engine, the speakers will turn off after a few seconds even though the console will have power still. This would defeat the purpose of an always on system, unless you were doing other tasks, but it stays on for quite some time, just no audio.

I have audio going through a BT-to-aux dongle now, but I think i'm going to run an audio cable straight from the pi to the aux port. That way, you can even split off a mic there too, and one less thing to go wrong in the device chain.

Gonna button things up over the weekend.


Perf note:
rpi5 Geekbench 6 score: 856 single core, 1637 multicore
S21+ score: 1142/3515

The latest phones blow this away, obviously heavily optimized and much more expensive, but to set expectations, this is looking like it's lagging by about 2-3 years. The version of android i'm using does get updates, so might see some perf improvements over time.

 

[o_tdiggity]

Here's what a cell phone bracket would look like:

Cell phones don't really fit the width completely. This is a galaxy s21+, an ultra would only be a few mm wider. Removing the iris screen makes room to add a volume dial (there are better ones than the one i have put here for testing). One pro for this is that you can remove the phone and have access to the iris cable for easy iris hookup in case anything goes wrong.

 

[fidozoom]

The cell phone bracket looks terrible on a McLaren - let's go back to the Pi and its nice screen that fits that opening like a glove

The key thing is the harness for Iris. If you can get an extension for the main IRIS harness and the one that goes from the button panel to the display then we would be golden.

Also, does the Pi have dual band wifi? For reverse camera, I am going with this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKWR85YW but it requires dualband wifi (which my tablet unfortunately doesn't have so I'll be going the Pi route too). The quality is decent (much better than the stock camera/display), it connects over wifi and the app can be brought up through voice commands.

Finally, do you have instructions on how to set up the Pi for Android and the carplay dongle. Please share if you do.

Thanks for all your work - its looking awesome.

 

[o_tdiggity]

The cell phone bracket looks terrible on a McLaren - let's go back to the Pi and its nice screen that fits that opening like a glove

haha, yea I agree. Maybe if the bracket were painted or something. It is the simplest option.

Harness seems to be a hard to find, no luck with that at the moment. However, the exercise of creating the phone bezel wasn't a waste though. I'm creating a bracket would fit the 7" screen AND would let you slide it out. Bracket removes the iris dial too (like the phone bracket above). It's tight, but I think it will work.

I don't think Android supports utilizing two wireless networks at the same time. Carplay will hog wifi because it needs wifi to work. Need to research if rasbianOS can do it. I have a similar wifi camera that would be pretty cool to have quick access to.


Some notes:

• Android boot up time: 1min30sec to Carplay
• RasbianOS w/ Carplay boot time: 25seconds

Hardware:

• Rasbperry pi5 - 4gb mem should be enough, I dev on the 8gb and noticed that android has only used 1-2gb. pi4 will also work, but it's noticebly slower if you go with android.
• Screen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7BZPC34 (there are a few offerings here, just make sure you get one that have any connections sticking out of the display zone. There's room at the vent and bottom areas, but none at the sides.
• Android on Pi5 - LineageOS 20 (Android 13)
• Carplay on RasbianOS: GitHub - rhysmorgan134/react-carplay