

Enhancing the AVIC-5000NEX - drjohnson
https://fail0verflow.com/blog/2014/enhancing-the-avic-5000nex.html

======
Moto7451
Stuff like this is why I muse about building a RPi based head unit. The
biggest thing for me is I enjoy HD Radio (LA has a great 80s Rock HD2 station)
but there's no chip readily available (for hobbyists) I'm aware of that
implements the HD Radio spec (AM/FM being A-OK). All I really want in a head
unit is:

\- AM/FM/HD Radio

\- iPod/iPhone compatibility with preferences for how and when it will turn
itself on

\- Simple to use Nav with easily, cheaply (or free), upgraded maps

\- No bloat or bizarre features I'll never need

\- Backup (and perhaps curb clearance) camera support

\- A touch UI designed for actual use in a car that's moving i.e. big pancake
buttons and nobs for tactile control

\- A quality Amp with actual EQ settings

\- Carplay and/or Native App support of some kind

\- An oscillator/vibrator in the screen to give some tactile feedback (road
quality allowing)

A RPi with a peripheral/support board running some combination of XBMC and an
App switcher would probably handle that.

Most of these features, save for the UI and Bloat-less experience are
available on the AVIC and other aftermarket head units... Just not always in
the same unit (HD radio seems to be either not listed on spec sheets or not as
common as I'd hope). I have MyLink in my Camaro, which mostly works fine, save
for lacking HD radio and its tendency to default to XM when I unplug my phone.
My car didn't come with a backup camera which means I may or may not need to
get the radio reprogrammed (Via a USB cable and GM software) to use one ($200
or so depending on the dealer). A lot of the on screen controls aren't
available via physical buttons and the buttons are too small to blindly tap
at.

Stuff like that is just frustrating since a lot of other consumer electronics
(i.e. Phones) have improved so much UI/UX wise. A lot of open source projects
aren't known for good UI/UX but I feel like an OSS solution would go a long
way to fixing these issues.

~~~
sounds
You should check OpenStreetMap.org's quality in your area. (iPhones use it,
last I heard.) Los Angeles should be pretty good.

The other option, Google Maps over a cell data connection, might be workable
but that's competing with just getting an Android tablet and mounting it on
the dash with cables to connect it to your existing audio head unit.

HD Radio in an RPi-accessible format is an interesting one I hadn't thought of
before. A quick google gives me a few decent hits:

1\. Silicon Labs Si477x series, 476x series, 468x series. Example:
[http://www.digikey.com/product-
detail/en/SI4777-A20-GM/336-2...](http://www.digikey.com/product-
detail/en/SI4777-A20-GM/336-2266-ND/3164513)

2\. st.com STA680
[http://www.st.com/web/en/resource/technical/document/datashe...](http://www.st.com/web/en/resource/technical/document/datasheet/CD00203228.pdf)

3\. NXP TEF665x series
[http://www.nxp.com/documents/short_data_sheet/TEF665X_SDS.pd...](http://www.nxp.com/documents/short_data_sheet/TEF665X_SDS.pdf)

~~~
Moto7451
I've found these chips but a lot (all?) of them require a large purchase order
and an NDA. I presume because of the encoding or something silly. I believe
the HD Radio tech is obnoxiously patent encumbered. Meanwhile AM/FM chips are
dirt cheap. C'est la vie.

------
legulere
Why not let the bootloader unlock the sd card and then disconnect the SD card
without disconnecting power to it?

Something similar has been done with SSDs:
[http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2012/29c3-5091-de-en-
uns...](http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2012/29c3-5091-de-en-
unsicherheit_hardwarebasierter_festplattenverschluesselung_h264.html) (link in
german)

~~~
jmpe
That would work, but it's more elegant to dig into the bootloader. As long as
you don't have the pw you'd have to repeat this approach. Suppose you manage
to put your own system on the SD, the bootloader would still have the lock.

Edit, even simpler: hook up a logic analyser and the password should be among
the first captures.

------
mikestew
_(For those that have no idea without reading the article, the AVICs are a
series of car stereo made by Pioneer.)_

Granted, most of this is probably driven by "can I do it?", but that's a lot
of effort and expense to get rid of a nag screen. Though I find the nag screen
annoying enough on my AVIC-6000 to have read to the end of the article...only
to find out that he hasn't cracked that nut yet. :-(

But if you have one of the NEX series, you can watch DVDs as you drive down
the road: [http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/38589-official-avic-
nex-...](http://avic411.com/index.php?/topic/38589-official-avic-nex-bypass-
avic-units-only/). For diagnostic purposes only, of course. Or, if you're like
me, you just wanted to get rid of the "OMG, the parking brake wire isn't
hooked up correctly!" message because you just grounded that wire instead of
actually connecting it to the parking brake switch. Now if I could just get it
to stop whining about the speed sensor wire.

------
hueving
He mentions Pioneer violated the GPL by not making the source code available.
Is that the case with selling embedded hardware? I thought that rule applies
only if you are selling the software.

For example, many wireless access points use Linux, but you never see the
source for those.

~~~
The_Fox
I've seen the GPL accompanying a TP-Link wifi device, with a link to
[http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/gpl/](http://www.tp-
link.com/en/support/gpl/).

This seems to be Pioneer's GPL source code site: [http://www.oss-
pioneer.com/car/navi/files/](http://www.oss-pioneer.com/car/navi/files/) . I
don't see AVIC-5000NEX there, but a variety of other AVIC devices are listed.

~~~
mikestew
Most of those links just lead to a zipped version of the 7-zip source code.
There's some kind of browser as well. Nothing you can't get elsewhere.

------
DanBC
Talking of "surprising internal SD cards" \- the Kobo eReaders use an internal
MicroSD card. This makes hacking and tinkering really easy.

They bizarre and frustrating Kobo set up procedure (connect the Kobo to a
computer; connect the computer and the Kobo to the Internet; download software
update for the Kobo and software for the PC; set up accounts) can be avoided
with a simple bit of SQL. This and other tinkering is mentioned here:
[http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-
touch/](http://uscoffings.net/clc/tech/embedded/kobo-touch/)

------
gjmulhol
This takes me back to undergrad. I love this project.

------
nemasu
Awesome read, wish I knew more about hardware. -_-

------
0x0
SSL fails on iOS 7.1.1

Edit: probably a missing intermediate chain cert not sent by the server:
[https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=fail0verflow....](https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=fail0verflow.com)

