Man i really want to do this but I have some questions....

I have stock navi, aux, rear back up cam. Will aux, back up back still work?
Should i replace the back up cam to a better one?

How will i upload more music to the tablet?

Do i need a data plan so the tablet nav and other internet base programs to work?

Im leaning more to the N7 2013 but I dont want to cut into stock stuff? Which parts exactly would i be cutting?


I may have more questions I will post if I do.

Thanks for this thread and all the help OP

 

1. AUX: this will still work fine, as it’s a direct connection to the stereo and you’re not changing anything there. You will be using this port for the Nexus, so it won’t be available for anything else.
2. Back-Up: I recommend a new camera. If you’re comfortable with taking apart wiring harnesses, you could probably figure out how to map this to the adapter (which converts the analog video camera to digital for the Nexus), but it would be work.
3. Upload Music: put your music (or video) on a thumb drive and attach it to the USB hub, which is attached to the Nexus via the micro-USB port.
4. Data: yes, I would recommend having a data plan. Most people create wifi hotspots, either with their phone or a freedompop type hub, which allows the table to access Pandora or Google Maps+Traffic. The tablet works fine without a data connection as a music jukebox, but it’s better with data!
5. Cutting into OEM: if you have a 2012 Nexus, you won’t need to cut into the car. You will need to cut into the back case of the Nexus to connect the USB port. For the 2013 Nexus, you would need to cut into the A/C plastic housing behind the bezel – not a huge process, but the fit is so tight back there, the Nexus+cable needs some more space.

As I said – I rate this install a 6 out of 10. It’s not easy, but not ridiculously complicated. Patience is key. If you’re not comfortable taking apart your car’s dash, I would not recommend taking this project on. Maybe someone in LA might be able to help you?

Otherwise, I suggest reading the threads I linked to, and maybe re-reading them. After that, I’ll be happy to help with clarifications. Good luck!

 

great info thanks!

I like taking stuff apart. So no problem there. Hmm i will definitely do a great amount of research before anything. Thanks again

 

@triax37 how do you adjust audio sound? bass, treble, etc???

 

This would either need to happen (1) at the DAC or (2) with a secondary/equalizer amplifier after the headunit, just like any normal aftermarket stereo system. The Fiio E17 has an equalizer function:

 

I had a question regarding the HVAC controls. I have a 05 non navi vehicle. Could I just install a navi sub screen with the clock from a navi TL? I have all the parts from a navi 04 TL from a recent tear down of a wrecked TL.

 

Hey - unfortunately I don't have a clear answer for you. I know the install for cars with Navi, but don't know how non-Navi cars process the digital display for the A/C controls. I suggest you PM the owners of these threads, as they have done the non-Navi install:

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-b...on-nav-921239/

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-b...nstall-902876/ - pics are removed, but mzilvar is an expert!

 

Stumbled onto this as a handsfree way to access features on a tablet. $50 for the bluetooth controller, if you preorder:

YOUR APPS · ON YOUR SMARTPHONE · IN YOUR CAR

 

It would be nice if you could but unfortunately you can't.. there are some threads around here from people researching before and if I remember correctly to get the navi sub screen to work you need pretty much the entire navi and a new dash harness.

For the non nav setups the only way to go is to relocate the HVAC screen and extend the wiring on the controls, otherwise it's really cost prohibitive to try to get the navi sub screen to work. You'd be looking at pretty much a non-nav to nav conversion and then adding the tablet just to get that little screen to work.


The app your car thing looks pretty cool, hopefully it picks up looks like it's still a start-up. lol it's basically a wireless Joycon EXR without all the wiring and configuration that would be needed for the JEXR. I hope the software it uses to integrate and give you control of apps through the wireless controller actually works well, sometimes their interfaces can be hokey or not really work very well but be really good concepts.


I still have a FiiO E17 and it's nice, but the only drawback is having to turn it on everytime you get into the car. Some of the little ones like the Behringer 202 you just plug in and forget about it there's no need to turn it off or on and no battery in it that needs to charge.

 

lol I pre-ordered an appyourcar controller after seeing that site and then found this one:

https://www.navdy.com/

 

Great thoughts (as always) - thanks for adding! The fiiO E10 ($75) is another option, and is powered by the USB hub so turns on/off with the tablet. I was surprised at how annoyed I got turning the E7 on every time I started the car, so the E10 was a great solution and everyone seems to love it's chipset and build quality.

The Navdy has received some good press - I feel like it may make the Nexus 7 functions a little redundant with my cell phone, as the Navdy could just link to my phone and show everything on it's own display? It couldn't play music through my stereo (maybe it could through bluetooth+blackberry gateway?).

PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2462039,00.asp
CNET: http://www.cnet.com/news/startup-nav...s-in-your-car/
MSN Video: http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/watch...ure/vi-BB305Es

 

Triax -

Thanks for the great thread i'm in the process of trying a similar install in my '04 TL and suddenly had a thought about the power button being inaccessible and the tablet freezing. Have you had any issue with this? Is there any way to restart the tablet if it hard locks? Thanks again for putting all this information together.

 

My pleasure! Glad to help. I had the same concern, but have only needed to use the power button once in the 7+ months since installation. During the install, I positioned the tablet's buttons facing the car's windshield, so that I only need to remove the A/C vents (takes 1-2 minutes) and squeeze my finger inside to press it. That seemed like an easier (lazier?) solution for me than soldering a wire/button to the existing tablet.

Occasionally the tablet will have a hiccup, but I just restart the operating system by typing two commands into the Terminal Emulator app:

> su (allows you to become a "superuser")
> restart

 

You could also make a task with tasker to reboot the tablet and then add it to a homescreen somewhere or a task bar and use that to reboot the tablet with a single press. I used the term emulator method for a while and then switched to a tasker button.

I'm working on a setup for my 2012 Accord now lol .. going to be a bit different but very similar .. I really hope I actually get that appyourcar thing later this year.

Thanks for the info on the FiiO E10 I may pick one of those up for my accord. I wonder if the E18 works, it's a lot more expensive though and has a battery but it'll stay on since the power button is in the volume switch. So maybe when the car is started it'll just start charging and turn on if it was left on?

I think that Navdy thing won't have audio in the speakers, but it looks interesting.

 

I figured I might as well ask about this before I have to tear apart my dash again. I installed the tablet and it was working great for a month and then I took my car into the dealer who replaced the air conditioning field coil. After I got it back the tablet was dead and somehow the power adapter I was using to power it was also dead. The tablet once I put a charge to it simply shows the charge icon but doesn't turn on.

I've looked into it a bit and found some people that said if you had debugging mode on (which I did) you should be able to send an ADB reboot command to turn the tablet on. I tried this with my laptop but it couldn't find the device. My last ditch effort is to drag my desktop out to the car that I used to install Timurs kernel with since it has all of the drivers correctly installed. I don't really have very high hopes though.

So does anyone know of a way to turn on a tablet that died from complete battery drain without using the power button?

 

Sorry to hear about this! I don't have a great solution - as I mentioned earlier, I positioned my tablet so that I can still reach the power button by pulling the A/C vents. Maybe PM mzilvar?

 

If you're going to tear everything apart in order to get the tablet on, you should really think about soldering the power button to an external button. It's pretty easy and definitely comes in handy. I did mine to the "Map" button from the navigation buttons.

Let me know if you want to go that route and need help.

 

I just started my Nexus7 (2013) install on a '05 TL NAVI

I soldered the power/vol+/vol- and connected them to Map/Zoom Up/Zoom Down. I really like how it turned out and it gives me a way to get into bootloader in the future if I want to drop a new kernel/rom on the tablet.

I wasn't 'easy' for me because of tight spot, but I was able to eventually do it without cutting into the button strip.b

 

Triax37.. Thanks for sharing your build. It was extremely helpful..How much of the old display/AC control assembly did you have to keep for AC controls to work? Was it just the board below?

 

This could be completely wrong, but I believe with Android phones that die completely from the battery, you need to charge it up to at least 5-10% before you can actually turn it on.

 

Glad to hear it and that you're taking on the project! So I actually have the entire old display/AC control still tucked behind the tablet in the dash - I covered the screen with some foam and blue painter's tape to protect it. I didn't go through the steps of separating everything to get to the individual circuit board, but if you're able to get everything to work, I would definitely want to do that.

Thanks for adding to the thread!

 

great thread and very well written! i just came across this thread because my gps is acting funky (position locator just moves in a circle and doesn't move relative to my car), so after troubleshooting it myself, with a dealer, and with a private local company, they all said i should send it back to alpine and just get it overhauled for 358. but now i'm thinking, well should i put in a tablet and get graphics that aren't 7 years old haha.

i have a few questions i was hoping you could answer:

1. do you still retain xm functionality? if you don't have an xm subscription, could you try going to the preview channel to let me know if it works? I just bought a year so i would like to retain that.

2. did you ever figure out a way to make the camera come on automatically? i have the oem camera and would want it to come on automatically. i'm sure i can figure out how to wire it to the nexus

3. is the dac necessary if i'm not going to stream music? i already have an ipod docked in the car to an isimple or i listen to xm. i wouldn't want to stream.

4. will unlocking an iphone allow it to be used as a hot spot? i want the google maps traffic for sure, and seems like you don't have any data issues (that was my biggest worry since i'm on a family plan).

5. for power did you just run a wire from the cigarette adapter below the console? or did you run it under the carpet from the center arm rest one? i was thinking about tapping into a fuse that comes on with the accessories

overall thanks for your write up! even if i don't go this route i love seeing stuff like this

 

You're very welcome - it's been my pleasure to see others' installs!

1. XM is still available. Using the iSimple allows for multiple "inputs" through the XM button. Almost like "Inputs" on your TV. The stock radio's right-side knob allows you to cycle through XM and the iSimple input, which would be the tablet.

2. Camera - haven't figured out how to make it turn on automatically, but using the Joycon is probably the correct route.

3. The DAC isn't necessary for your music, apparently. To hear the N7's navigation voice instructions through your speakers, you can route a 3.5mm audio cable from the tablet to the AUX input in your center console. The quality will be lower if you do want to play music - the DAC in the tablet isn't as good as the Fii0 DAC, but for navigation instructions it will be fine.

4. An unlocked iPhone works great as a hotspot, and that's what I've used for the past 9 months. You need to buy MiWi for $20. It uses about 1 mb per minute, as far as I can tell. Google Traffic is awesome! I don't use it everything I drive, but am thankful that I can access it when needed.

5. Power - for the N7 itself, I have a cable running to a USB power adapter in the cigarette lighter near the front right of the shifter. For the other peripherals, I have another USB power adapter in the center console armrest.

Happy to answer any other questions - let me know!

 

I had a quick question, and sorry if its been asked/answered but its late and im still trying to process all 63 posts. Where does the audio from google maps play if you are listening to XM or just the plain radio? I assume it doesn't go through the speakers but im not entirely sure what all the FiiO thing does? Thanks in advance

 

If audio from the Nexus is routed to play through the car stereo, then you won't hear it while you're listening to terrestrial radio. If you want to hear both, you'd have to unplug the headphone jack/USB DAC and use the tablet's speakers.

On the tablet you have three options to hear sound:

1. The tablet's built-in speakers
2. Headphone Jack
3. USB DAC (Digital to Analog Converter)

Those of us with a 2013 Nexus 7 use a USB DAC because there isn't enough space in the dash to run a wire to the headphone jack.

There is room to plug a wire into the USB port, though. Audio gets routed via USB into the DAC, and we plug the DAC into the car stereo. A nice bonus is a USB DAC such as one from FiiO will provide a significantly higher sound quality than the tablet's headphone jack.

 

Here is what mine looks like. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm using the Automate app, basically replicates Android Auto. It's still in beta, but seems to work flawlessly. You can read the details and sign up here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communit...88212710276577
I think it's pretty awesome.

Quick video of backup cam below. You can see the little screen I get when I shift, but other than that, all issues seem to have gone away and it works very well.

 

This is all great info.. I am really contemplating doing this...

Question about the versions of Nexus 7 tablets...

How do you know what version you have if you bought it used?

Did the 2012 version only come in 8GB and 16GB?

Did the 2013 version come in 32GB only?

Just curious. I found on craiglist locally someone is selling there's for 40 bucks for a 1st gen 8gb... thats why.

Thanks!

 

No, there is various sizes for both versions.
Easily you can see 1st gen from 2nd gen looking at the back writing and the front camera location:

Nexus 7 2012


Nexus 7 2013

 

Awesome! Thanks so much. I think I'm gonna pick up a Nexus 7 32GB for 60 bucks.

 

how did you get the charging port to come out in the back? Is there any soldering involved?

 

Would you please clarify who are you asking this question to, or in relation to which post? If it's just a general question about how to charge the Nexus, the charging occurs through the mini-USB port that is used for data transfer and everything else - all we do is connect a OTG cable to that port. Using the picture below, the far left connection attaches to the USB hub (used for DAC, storage, backup camera, etc), the middle connection plugs into the Nexus 7, and the far right connection is used for a charger cable whose other end is plugged into the cigarette lighter for power. No soldering is necessary.

 

No soldering involved you can only do it on the 2012 version of the tablet.

To get it to come out the back..

- Remove the tablet back cover
- Disconnect and remove the nexus 7 battery (it's held in by some glue)
- Peel up the copper shield that was under the battery, no need to tear it
- Unscrew the 3.5mm jack and usb jack from the nexus 7
- Route the ribbon cable with the USB & 3.5mm jack out from under the copper shield and it should go out of the tablet by where the WiFi antenna is located (see the back cover that was removed)
- I cut a slot in the back cover with an exacto knife so it doesn't pinch the cable
- I also cut off the 3.5mm audio jack and covered the ribbon cable and USB connector in a piece of heat shrink to help hold it together and protect it
- Pop the battery and back cover back on..

If you google it you can find some photos or probably a video of the nexus 7 disassembly pretty easily.

 

Can the USB hub be used to charge other devices/data transfer to the nexus? Just want to make sure I can charge my iPhone and still use the tablet as a unit in the dash

 

Yep, the hub will power other devices. FYI, when I plug in my iphone to the hub, the Nexus 7 thinks it's an external storage unit and wants to download pictures. It's a minor annoyance, but wanted to share. Good luck!

 

Thanks, little stuff like that is exactly why I asked! I'll probably hardwire the power for the nexus to an acc wire anyways. One last question to make sure I got it right in my head before any of my products arrive in the mail. The OTG connects to the Nexus via micro usb, then charger female end to hardwired acc wires, and the usb to the Hub, which the hub will allow me to access the Nexus to update it or make changes without removing it correct? Like to plan ahead.

 

Yes, your method should work fine.

My only edit to simplify would be having the OTG cable charger female plug into the original USB cable that came with the Nexus, and the USB plug into the cigarette lighter (and USB adapter) in front of the shifter. Not sure if this is what you were referring to already, but thought I would clarify. Happy to take a picture if you would like.

I also have the USB hub externally powered by the power port in the lower glove box, on the odd chance that makes everything work more smoothly. 1.5 years in, working great!

 

Can you take a picture ?! I think were on the same page but I just want to make sure. I believe my confusion was the USB Hub but it can have its own power instead of powering off of the Nexus which I don't know why I thought the other way around. Im gonna not use any of my cigarette lighters for this, I'm going to wire in a dual USB into the car so that I can have my ports for my radar detector/phone chargers. :thumbs: Tablet/isimple are arriving today

...Still kind of stuck on which roots to go with

 

Hey triax37. I have a question in regards to the backup camera. I bought those cheap $20 camera off eBay n got the febon100. My question is how did u wire the camera n febon to have it working and what app are u using for the camera? Here's how I wired my set up:
Tapped the wire leads of the camera power plug into one of the reverse light
Connected the power plug into the camera
Connected the yellow rca plug of camera into the febon yellow rca input
Plugged the febon into USB hub connected to the otg cable
Its as simple as that am I correct? For some reason when I put the car into reverse, there's no video feed. Does the febon need its own power source? The led light doesn't turn on when I put it in reverse

 

Hey - so it looks like you're pretty close. I'm using the Dashcam app from the Google Play store. The only problem I can diagnose over the internet is that the FebOn LED isn't turning on - it doesn't need it's own power source and should be drawing power from the USB hub.

Q1: Are other devices plugged into the USB Hub drawing power? If so, then that's a good sign and unplug+plug the FebOn USB connector to a few different USB ports. If not, you need to check the settings.
Q2: Which ROM are you using?

 

Only other device connected to the hub that's drawing power is the DAC. I have a 5v 3a step down converter charger connected to the otg and I'm pretty sure that's enough power. I'm running a stock ROM with Timur's latest v3.0 kernel for android 5.1.1. When you say check settings, what settings are u referring to? In power management I check mark "auto detect" for reverse camera but doesn't show video feed when in reverse gear. Does the Dashcam app automatically pop up when you put it in reverse gear?