My Cabin Technology Refresh Project (picture intensive!)

I mentioned before how the cheap cigarette lighter power adapter caused static on my FM reception so I searched around and found a quality replacement. The Vority http://www.amazon.com/Dual-USB-Char...ie=UTF8&qid=1391651281&sr=8-1&keywords=vority adapter sold on Amazon for $16 did the trick! The FM sound is as good as before and the battery even charges faster. The original adapter stated that it charged at 2.1 amps but I measure it to be only about 1.5 but the Vority is the full 2.1 amps. I find that the battery drains at a rate of about 3% for 24 hours of sitting still.
 
Started this project this weekend, going pretty well so far. I seem to be having a bit of an issue with the pod fitment. If I don't install the air vent reducer thingy (you know what I mean) then the pod fits very well but of course I don't get any air through the vents. With the reducer installed, the pod doesn't seem to either push in enough or sit down low enough for a good fit. I can hold the pod down with a few pounds pressure and the fit improves, but when I let go the pod springs up. I haven't yet screwed the pod into the bracket - which might explain the problem - but I was hoping to achieve a good fit without having to rely on the screws to hold it down, which may or may not work anyway as there is some play in the aluminum bracket the pod screws to.

Do you remember any such fitment issue?

Also, were you tempted to paint the pod to match the center console panel?
 
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bjmills said:
Started this project this weekend, going pretty well so far. I seem to be having a bit of an issue with the pod fitment. If I don't install the air vent reducer thingy (you know what I mean) then the pod fits very well but of course I don't get any air through the vents. With the reducer installed, the pod doesn't seem to either push in enough or sit down low enough for a good fit. I can hold the pod down with a few pounds pressure and the fit improves, but when I let go the pod springs up. I haven't yet screwed the pod into the bracket - which might explain the problem - but I was hoping to achieve a good fit without having to rely on the screws to hold it down, which may or may not work anyway as there is some play in the aluminum bracket the pod screws to.

Do you remember any such fitment issue?

Also, were you tempted to paint the pod to match the center console panel?
Click to expand...

That's a puzzling problem you have there. I didn't have a fitment issue at all. Is it possible that any bracketry that you made to hold the tablet might be interfering with the vent adapter? If you keep all bracketry within the housing so that it can't be seen in a dead on side view, you should be good. Is the vent adapter snapped into the white hooks on the top and bottom of the blower housing properly? If not, it can drift out and might cause an interference. Is the vent on the pod housing centered within the gasket area of the vent adapter? Are any cables hooked up that might be interfering? Maybe you can partially install it and use a mirror to look and see what's going on.

I didn't consider painting the pod to match the console but I'll bet it would look great!
 
usu5uher.jpg


Finished mine up this past weekend thanks to your write-up. Went with second GEN Nexus 7 (due to the additional brightness) which required completely hacking up of the back case for mounting and hardwire of USB and audio. It is larger than the first GEN 7.

Because the audio output of the Nexus 7 is so weak, I pumped it up with a nuForce headphone amp. All of this is powered with a DC-DC converter and hardwired in.

Thanks to the Tasker app for pulling it all together.
 
shern said:
Finished mine up this past weekend thanks to your write-up. Went with second GEN Nexus 7 (due to the additional brightness) which required completely hacking up of the back case for mounting and hardwire of USB and audio. It is larger than the first GEN 7.

Because the audio output of the Nexus 7 is so weak, I pumped it up with a nuForce headphone amp. All of this is powered with a DC-DC converter and hardwired in.

Thanks to the Tasker app for pulling it all together.
Click to expand...

That looks awesome! It's great to know that a second gen N7 will indeed fit. It looked to be an even tighter fit in the pod than my first gen was. Nice work :smile:
 
Finished mine too. Repainted the original console to match the nav pod (besides it had a couple scrapes from the old vent).

I found the volume matched the radio/ipod volume if I maximized it on the Nexus.

Does anybody know a way of turning off the display without disabling the touch feature? I'd like to black out the screen but still be able to wake it up by touching it. Perhaps there's an app for that.

IMG_20140428_164520.jpg
 
On the N7 go in to developer mode and change a setting to something like "keep display on when charging". It stays booted but the display goes off when the key is out. Looks great!
 
clean_green said:
On the N7 go in to developer mode and change a setting to something like "keep display on when charging". It stays booted but the display goes off when the key is out. Looks great!
Click to expand...

Yep, got that, thanks. What I want is a way to black out the screen while driving, and be able to tap the screen to wake it up again. Sometimes I just want the screen off :-)
 
OIC. I don't know how to handle that other than to lower the display brightness enough that when it dims due to inactivity that it goes black. Not sure if that would really work tho. I'm sure you can find an app for that :)
 
Very nice, perhaps a matte screen protector would be good?
 
shern said:
Tasker app with root will give you full control of everything.
Click to expand...

I have Tasker and root, will look into it. I'd actually be a bit surprised if you could turn the display off while retaining the ability to re-activate it by touch, but I'm hoping for that. I know of a Night Mode app which lets one lower the brightness much lower than the stock settings app, that might do.

I looked at the innards of the Nexus 7 2nd gen and saw that it would be a LOT more work to rotate the jacks. Good work on that!

- - - Updated - - -

angus said:
Very nice, perhaps a matte screen protector would be good?
Click to expand...

I might try that, the thing acquires fingerprints extremely quickly :-(
 
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Very good information here. I have been looking for information on doing this with the Nexus 7 2nd gen into a different car. Rooting will actually allow split screen multi-tasking. I plan on split screening waze and spotify normally, as well as running dash command, torque, and tasker.
 
Is anybody going to make brackets to hold up the Nexus & start providing a service to us? :)

Anybody willing to do the whole setup/work if we mail you the pieces?
 
What is everybody doing for Power on and power off and sleep and charging? I have a good workflow but it hasn't been field tested yet, as I am still needing to do some soldering on the nexus to my programmable relay. Anyone care to share their techniques used for those situations?
 
There's a bootloader variable you can set (details in this thread) such that the Nexus turns on when power is applied. I have my power from the accessory circuit so when the car is off, the screen turns off. I installed an app that provides the ability to shutdown when desired without using the power button. You'd also want to set the developer option that keeps the screen on when charging.

Also contained in this thread are details (or links to details) for hooking up power to the strip of terminals by the driver side interior fusebox. It works really well.

- - - Updated - - -

clean_green said:
OIC. I don't know how to handle that other than to lower the display brightness enough that when it dims due to inactivity that it goes black. Not sure if that would really work tho. I'm sure you can find an app for that :)
Click to expand...

I installed an app called "Night Mode". Lets you turn down the brightness to just about nothing, if you so choose. I have yet to try it at night but I think it will do the trick.
 
This is an awesome thread. I have been working on My Nexus install for about two years. I'm realm not skilled fabricating so it takes me longer, but I think I am over the final hump and it should be done in a weekend or two.
 
bjmills said:
I installed an app called "Night Mode". Lets you turn down the brightness to just about nothing, if you so choose. I have yet to try it at night but I think it will do the trick.
Click to expand...

Turns out this wasn't even necessary. With auto-brightness enabled, the screen dims enough at night to make it non-intrusive.

Something else I found out - the nav pod gets HOT if parked outside, unless you have a sun screen up. I have an app that stops the screen from dimming (you know that 50% dim you get) but that only works while charging. If the Nexus gets too hot, it won't charge. It still runs off the USB power but it won't charge, in order not to create any more heat I guess.
 
Interesting! I haven't seen the heat issue yet but I'm sure it will show up soon. The hot Tx summer is approaching quickly. BTW which app do you use to prevent the screen dimming? I use Keepscreen but it doesn't work automatically anymore since I went to Kit Kat
 
bjmills said:
Still using the stock head unit, but I already have the USA*Spec iPod adapter installed, so I'll just use the Aux inputs on that. I doubt I'll be using the iPod once the Nexus is installed, but I'll have the option :-)

Just need to find a good place to tap power from. Something on the accessory circuit I imagine. The lighter perhaps? I think the clock is on all the time, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Hi,

This is an amazing piece of work - exactly what I have been looking for. It maintains the original layout but updates it to the 21st century in terms of ICE. A specific question - I too have the USA Spec iPod adaptor installed How does this better facilitate installation given that I am not the best skilled at this sort of installation? Are there any equivalent descriptions of how to combine this pod / Nexus with this adaptor?

I am in the US frequently on business (Houston) so can easily pick up the various bits at Fry's on I45 for example

Thanks
 

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