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The hdmi switch was a cheapy 3 IN 1 OUT job, it doesn't need any external power as it gets power from the HDMI feed. All I did was open it up and solder two wires on the select switch and then on the end of the two wires solder the push-to-close push button (the one which is on the edge of the controller box in one of the pics above). I only need to switch between to HDMI feeds, one from the original car via the RGBHDMI converter board and one from the RealMedia CarPlay adapter. If you were to install cameras, you might want something more flexible.
The reason why I could use this type of HDMI switch instead of the one that Jenninaj used which separates the video and audio, is because the audio for my version comes directly out of the realmedia CarPlay interface and I didn't need to pull it out of the HDMi feed (if you see what I mean).
I made a simple acrylic box for the real media controller to sit on, so that it sits at the correct hieght, and then wrapped it in a bit of leather. I bought a very nice black metal push-to-close switch from digikey (where you get the connector parts from as per Jenninaj's plan) and put this on the edge of the acrylic box. If you want the schematic for the box, just let me know.
Thanks madgadget that is extremely helpful. I think if i add camera(s) I'll route them into the Real Media box which has native RCA inputs and reverse detection switching built in so that HDMI switch should work perfect for me.
I have a manual transmission so I need to sort out where I would mount the RealMedia controller since i don't have the same little nook your car does, might head out to the garage in a bit here to noodle on that.
Ah yes, that is going to be interesting to see where to mount the control.
Also, I spoke to the real media support team as I was not sure how to hook up the backup detect wire on the adapter, they told me that the loom is not used on the CarPlay adapter and that if i want to connect up a camera, I should do so directly to the screen.
However, I decided to try just in case and happily the loom does work, I connected up the USB and also tried the video in, which works perfectly. So if I can't work out if I should connect the backup direct wire to GND or +12v, I will just use the video in option for the backup camera instead.
I have a question for others using the Mr12Volt MOST adapter. Did you notice a loss in sound quality between the FM radio and CD? I'm using bluetooth streaming with an Android Galaxy S8 and Spotify. I have a 06 V8V with the premium sound option. I find I also have to turn up the volume all the way on my Android phone and then about 5 notches higher on the AM stereo to get the same volume level as the FM radio. Even after doing that, there is something different. It is like bass is noticeably lower. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but even I can tell the difference. It is not horrible. Maybe the quality of the sound provided by Spotify or is it more likely the MOST adapter. Thoughts anyone?
I have a question for others using the Mr12Volt MOST adapter. Did you notice a loss in sound quality between the FM radio and CD? I'm using bluetooth streaming with an Android Galaxy S8 and Spotify. I have a 06 V8V with the premium sound option. I find I also have to turn up the volume all the way on my Android phone and then about 5 notches higher on the AM stereo to get the same volume level as the FM radio. Even after doing that, there is something different. It is like bass is noticeably lower. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but even I can tell the difference. It is not horrible. Maybe the quality of the sound provided by Spotify or is it more likely the MOST adapter. Thoughts anyone?
Looks like it might be the quality level from Spotify. Let me bump that up. It will be interesting to see if that also helps with the difference in volume as I have to remember to turn the volume down if I switch to radio.
One thing I did notice is that connecting my iPhone to the MR12V bluetooth meant that I had to turn the volume up on the iPhone, in fact I've had to do that with every bluetooth car device that I have connected too.
However, when I completed the CarPlay install, now, because the iPhone is connected to CarPlay via the lightning cable, I've had to turn the iPhone back down to normal, it's much louder now.
Either way though, I haven't noticed any drop in quality of sound, its good. My Son uses Spotify streaming in his car and it's definitely not as good as coming directly from the iPhone's own music library, if you see what I mean.
Another question for you guys, with the pins for these Hirose connectors is there a specific crimping tool you guys used, or just a standard small needle nose pliers or something? I've never worked with these specific types of pins/connectors.
Awesome that's what i figured but wanted to make sure. Really appreciate all of the help here, I'm comfortable with soldering and electronics in general but I certainly wouldn't have tried to tackle this on my own without at least somewhat of a blueprint to follow.
Madgadget would it be possible to get a copy of the vsd file of the drawing you made? I'd like to whip something up specific to my install to make sure i'm accounting for everything and not having to start completely from scratch would be a huge time saver.
Hopefully you will be able to read these files, they are SVG format and I took them from my laser cutter program, they read ok in Adobe Illustrator as v10 format, hopefully that's ok with whatever you use.
Let me know if you can't read them or need a different format.
Hopefully you will be able to read these files, they are SVG format and I took them from my laser cutter program, they read ok in Adobe Illustrator as v10 format, hopefully that's ok with whatever you use.
Let me know if you can't read them or need a different format.
Glad to see some more info on this project. It's really great! When I first saw it, I was inspired to do something similar, but a little bit different. I have the same video controller board running a custom firmware that allows for an arduino connected to the video board's I2C bus to control the brightness and inputs of the screen. The custom firmware can recognize the Volvo RGB and composite sync video and the Arduino decodes the Volvo Melbus data to extract the screen brightness data from the factory navigation unit. This gives me a the factory RGBS input for the volvo navigation plus an HDMI input and two composite video inputs that can be selected by pulling one of three wires high with 12V. Brightness of the display can be adjusted using the dimmer **** near the headlamp switch.
The goal was to have everything work exactly as the factory system until you activated HDMI or either the rear or (future) front cameras. I also used a display screen from a Volvo S60 and swapped the mounting brackets from the Aston screen so I can put it all back without any trouble. My solution isn't nearly as well documented as Jenninaj, but I can definitely try to answer questions if anyone has any.
Here's a picture of the LCD side almost complete. The only real thing missing is the HDMI ribbon cable and some hot melt glue to hold a few things in place.
Hi GA_DB9, did you get this version working in the end?
It's actually working pretty well. My only real complaint is the screen isn't as bright as the factory screen during the day. Otherwise it looks and works exactly like the factory screen. I've been hesitant to post more about it in this thread since I didn't want to hijack Jenninaj's great work. When things slow down at work maybe I'll write something up and do a separate thread.
04-14-2020 | 05:31 AM
