Nexus 7 Install

[naiku]

So, inspired by another user on here (and the cost of either upgrading to an RNS-E, or the wiring costs of going aftermarket) I have decided to try and install a Nexus 7 as my head unit in my A4. Right now I am simply in the planning stage of things. Everything else in my system has already been upgraded, with an MS8 handling processing. I have zero complaints with the sound, but the Symphony II with it's tape deck looks like garbage and it has no decent options for iPod/phone interface.

I plan to use the MS8's aux input option (already using it for my phone/iPod) which is working well. I currently have SiriusXM, but am going to cancel that and possibly just use their on-demand service for about the only thing I listen to on it anyway. For streaming music I plan to install Pandora/Slacker/Spotify, and tether the tablet to my phone. However I am also considering picking up a Segate GoFlex wireless drive to use for storing MP3's/movies/podcasts etc to make sure that a) I don't exceed my data plan, and b) for areas with no signal I can still have music. I will likely also pick up a bluetooth OBDII reader and use the Torque app for any monitoring that I might want to do. While I will lose my steering wheel controls, and the radio info on the display, they are both things I can live without. I may even be able to use voice commands for the majority of things anyway.

First thing I plan to do is check to see the size difference between a Kindle Fire and the Nexus, I am fairly certain they are the same size, and since I already have the Kindle Fire I can use that to start test fitting ideas. I can then remove my Symphony II head unit and start trying to figure out a way to mount the tablet. I need to pick up a dash kit from somewhere, Metra, Scosche, I believe Enfig also has one. I want to be able to remove the tablet easily when parked, so need to have some way of opening/closing a bezel, but also have it hold the tablet securely enough that it won't fall out while driving. I most likely will follow something as done by this user S4 Nexus install

I have a couple questions though.... If I remove my stock head unit entirely, is it going to cause me any issues? I am thinking no, but just wanted to be sure. Second, regardless of whether I use the dock or not, I will be using a cigarette lighter charger to keep the tablet charged. Is it easy enough to tap into these wires at the bottom of the center console? I am assuming its just 2 wires. Can I splice 2 sets of wires into this? one for charging the tablet, and the other for the hard drive power/charging?

Hopefully soon I can get started on this and will update with pictures. I have been looking for a new project to work on, and with spring around the corner will be happy spending some time in the garage with something to do!!

Edit: Kindle Fire fits with room to spare...



If you find this thread, and have a DCDC-USB, running in Automotive Mode using the harness from Enfig, connect it this way or you will fry the little box on the harness... White Ignition Wire on DCDC-USB goes to Red Switched 12V, Red Power goes to Yellow Constant 12V/Power and Black ground.

[naiku]

Picked up a nexus today, almost identical in size to the kindle. Ran my 3.5mm to RCA under the center console to the trunk, getting it under the carpet between the console and rear seat was a bitch. I had bought a more expensive cable as I did not want to get any interferance, the plug is fairly thick so squeezing it under the carpet sucked. That now presents my next challenge, I don't think it will fit to the side of the tablet and the dash, so I need to look up some kind of 90 degree adapter. Next piece is to pick up a dash kit and go from there.

Also found a board today that may allow me to retain (and custom program) my steering wheel controls.

[naiku]

Ran into a couple minor issues today whilst checking things out at lunchtime:

1) I have to have the buttons on the bottom, not a big deal as they won't be accessible anyway, but for some reason I wanted them on the top. The bolt to the top right of the opening prevents this.
2) Power.... currently my MS8 turns on via the harness coming out of the Symphony II, with that removed, there is no remote turn on signal, meaning MS8 does not turn on, meaning no music. I need to find a switchable outlet in the trunk somewhere (also need one up front) as while there is a power outlet right beside where the MS8 is located. The outlets in the Audi are always on.

Ordered a dash kit today, for now just going with one of the cheaper options. Once that arrives I need to cut away some of the black plastic to the lower right in the picture above for cable access, and then see how much of the dash kit I need to cut away in order to hold the tablet.

[naiku]

Dash kit arrived today, for now I just picked up a cheap one, if things work out I may well switch it out for the enfig kit, but right now did not want to spend $80 when all I need is the plastic surround for the front.



You can see the color is not quite right, also it's not fully clipped in yet. I am still waiting on a bunch of other stuff to arrive, and did not want to clip it in and then have a headache getting it out again. Waiting on a 12V DC-DC regulator to arrive, that I plan to wire to a switchable 12V for power. Then trying to find a USB-DAC, which should help with making it sound better, and only having to worry about the mini USB being plugged in.

I wish I had all the parts here now. Even seeing it roughly installed makes me want to ditch the Symphony II, and it's ancient looking tape deck immediately.

[dcc236]

Looking good.

[naiku]

Steering wheel controls are back on the menu, the PAC harness, or Connects2 can interface with the Joycon EX board. So I will likely be picking up in the next couple weeks, likely the Connects2 as I think its more of a plug n play with the Audi, where as the PAC requires programming. I am also following some threads on a couple Android boards where I should be able to use an Easycap, in order to pick up a back up camera. Both that and the steering wheel controls are lower priority right now though.

Ordered a Sabre USB-DAC over the weekend, it was $50 but has a lot of good reviews out there. The cool thing about it is that it should send a clean input to the MS8, but also means I only need to feed the USB cable up to where the Nexus will be mounted. The area's highlighted with red in the picture below are where I need to route the USB cable through, I ordered a 90 degree adapter which should make it a little easier. As far as I can tell those area's of black plastic do not do anything (they are sort of hollow) so I am hoping to either drill a hole big enough to feed the USB cable, or cut out a section with the Dremel.



For the 12V switchable, unless I can find a power source to tap into behind where the OEM head unit was, then I will likely go with a fuse tap. I ordered a 12V DC-DC step down regulator that I will use to power the USB hub/charge the Nexus. Currently though, I am now stuck until all the parts arrive (USB OTG cable, USB-DAC, 12V regulator). Will post another update once I get some more done.

[naiku]

So, I finally have all that I need to get the basics of this installed and running. USB-DAC arrived Monday, and if testing with my laptop / home stereo is anything to go by, it should sound incredible paired with the MS8.

[naiku]

Bit of an update from today...

Safety first when working on the car.



Pulled out the glovebox, knee bolster on the drivers side and trunk trim in order to run wiring. I had to run a new remote turn on wire to my MS8 as there is no switchable 12v in the trunk. Power and ground to the fuse box area, and I wanted to run a USB extension into the glovebox for my flash drive.









For now I ended up removing the inline fuse that I was using behind the fuse box on the 12v going to the 12v regulator, I may add it again, but have it tapped into a fused circuit, so not sure I need to.

Here is how the trunk looks with everything put back together







The door on the MS8 stays closed, but the one that covers the sub goes inwards, so I can't use it. I fabricated a grill to go in place of the door, but am struggling to find any matching carpet to cover it with.

I got 99% of things working today, my ground wire to the USB hub needs to be re-done. The wires are so thin that the splice was not working, for now I just have them twisted together. I did get music playing through the MS8, and my USB flash drive was mounting fine. The other issue I am running into is when I turn off the ignition, the hub loses power instantly, causing the Nexus to give me a warning about improper removal of USB storage. I am trying to find out if there is a way to use Tasker to unmount the storage. But, I don't think I can get it to work, as the second the ignition goes off, the hub loses power. I may just have to manually unmount each time (which sucks).

The other thing is that I need to trim some more plastic to the right of the tablet (the piece with the red rectangle around it above), due to the 90 degree micro USB adapter, and charger cable, the dash trim does not seem to fit in properly. I am planning to finish these pieces up tomorrow, and then see how it does with my commute to work on Tuesday.

[naiku]

Another update from today, got 99% of things back together, but kept running into an issue that the sound kept cutting out. Turns out that because there is such tight space to the right of the tablet where the USB gets plugged in, when I push the dash trim into place, it pushes the cable to a slight angle which, while the power remains to the tablet, it must be moving the USB plug off the data pins as I lose the hub. Tried dremelling a couple different spots, and re-routing the cable, but it's incredibly tight, and I am reluctant to cut any more of the dash away as I want to return everything to stock when I sell the car. I have it installed and working for now, but I want to be able to remove the tablet if parked in crappy areas, and don't want to have to mess around for 20 minutes putting it back in again and getting the connection right.

With the trim in, there was about a 10mm gap at the top due to the Nexus leaning back in towards the dash, and the trim being almost vertical. I glued a couple small pieces of foam at the top to push the Nexus outwards, which makes it look a lot better, I may also add something to the bottom as well to make it sit a little more flush. Somewhat afraid to remove it at the moment though, due to the USB issue with the cable being knocked slightly causing it to lose connection. I do want to think of a solution though, as like I said, I want to be able to remove it from the car.

Took a quick test drive into town and back (about 30 miles of driving) and both audio / power did not cut out at all. Battery went from 78% when I left, and was back up to 83% when I got home. Spent half the time streaming music from the flash drive, the other half streaming over Slacker using Bluetooth tethered to my cell phone.

Next steps is to pick up a Connects harness, and then pick up a Joycon. Having had to change the volume via the screen, I want to use steering wheel controls. It's difficult to accurately adjust the volume, so I want the steering wheel option back. I also need to try and think of what to do with the USB. If I can find a charger cable with a shorter plug section, that may work as I can remove the 90 degree bend. But, most I have looked (I have 3 different kinds laying around the house) all have a similar length to them. I also need to re-calibrate my MS8, the center image is slightly off to the left with the Nexus.

[naiku]

Went to drive to work this morning, turned on the ignition, and WTF, Nexus did not power on. It worked Sunday when I last used the car, and Tasker was working correctly in switching off the screen / wifi etc. I had read on another forum about the Nexus not liking the cold, so I need to look into that some more. After about 20 minutes of driving, I pulled over, popped off the dash kit and got the Nexus to boot. Battery had gone from 83% Sunday to 45%. The problem I then had was (see above, USB cable issue) I could not get everything back together with the USB cable in the right place. So no music for my 90 minute commute. That sucked.

I have a new micro USB cable on order that is right angled towards the back of the Nexus, hoping when that gets here it gives me a better fit and fixes the issues I am having.

[Christian@enfig]

Dash kit arrived today, for now I just picked up a cheap one, if things work out I may well switch it out for the enfig kit, but right now did not want to spend $80 when all I need is the plastic surround for the front.

Call me up. Half for the RMK8-A4B67 price is the metal cage. And I have steering wheel controllers for generic radios that may work for this as well as give you a clean ignition with RAP.

[naiku]

Call me up. Half for the RMK8-A4B67 price is the metal cage. And I have steering wheel controllers for generic radios that may work for this as well as give you a clean ignition with RAP.

Sending you a PM. Thanks.

[naiku]

Few install pictures...

The red line is a lip that the Nexus sits against, it's small, but is enough to stop the Nexus from falling into the dash.


I also drilled a larger hole today for my new USB cable (the hole is a mess as I had to use my Dremel, and there is 0 room to work there, especially as the tan piece to the right is a visible piece of the dash that I don't want to tear up). When I have some time over the weekend I may clean it up some, although once the Nexus (or when the Symphony) is in there, it's not visible:

While it looks a mess, the new cable arrived today and fits perfectly.

Next thing I need to do is figure out a better way to make the Nexus sit flush against the bezel. I could tape it, but would prefer not to do that. In the first picture above, the blue arrow is pointing to a piece that I glued some foam to, but it came off (I only used a small amount of glue). I may go this route again, the only other option is to try to fabricate some kind of hook system to the back of the bezel, but I am there is not much room on the back:

This picture also gives you an idea of how much sanding/trimming I have had to do to the dash piece. The advantage to making some kind of hook system though, is that it will likely hold the tablet nicely against the bezel, and make it a little easier for removal/installaiton. You can see in the bottom right of the bezel where I had to cut a section out, this kept pushing on the power / volume rocker when I was installing it in the car causing it to either end up muted, or power off.

This evening I went down to install the new USB cable. Since putting everything in I kept getting weird connection issues, turns out I need a new OTG cable. I was looking at the male end of mine that would plug into the Nexus, and noticed it at a slight angle, looking closely at the pins its like they have all been pushed to the side. No doubt a result of the stress from it being pushed against the dash. I used a needle to straighten them out, but can only seem to get power. So, ordered a new one this evening.

Since I am now sort of stuck, I am thinking of taking out the wiring and re-doing it. The USB hub I am using is an octopus type, and with a separate cable for each plug, its taking up more room than it needs too. I have a small box type USB hub on the way, and plan to wire that in slightly more securely as well. It stinks that I have to drive around for a few days with a giant hole in my dash, but hopefully the new OTG should be here by Monday. In the meantime I am just running my cell phone to the aux input on the MS8.

[Unique South]

Looks awesome bro. Great job.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[naiku]

Just a minor update, pretty much have all the basics working now. I ended up re-wiring the majority of things last weekend, and have had no connectivity issues since. Here is a night time picture:



The GPS works fine with it installed in the dash, gets a signal and lock just as quickly as it would sitting out in the open, Bluetooth tethering to my phone works perfectly for streaming music. Next step is steering wheel controls (100% required, trust me), but my check engine light is on, so I have to take care of that first. Hopefully it's something minor and does not take too much money away from this project. I am still toying with the idea of a back up camera, to be honest I have never really felt that I needed one, but at the same time, it would be kind of cool. Most likely it will depend on how much a decent camera costs me, I also half thought about getting an IR camera for use at night (either forward or rear facing).

[Charles]

Once you get everything working, a materials/products list would be awesome. I've been wanting to do this for a while.

[naiku]

Once you get everything working, a materials/products list would be awesome. I've been wanting to do this for a while.

Will do, if I remember tonight I can put up a list of the parts I used to get to this point. As soon as I have some spare money I will be ordering the parts I need for steering wheel controls, this weekend I am planning to figure out a way to remove this gap:



Not only does it look like crap, but it makes it hard to touch some of the notifications that pop up.

Edit:

Here is a list so far of what I have needed

Nexus 7 - $199
Schoshe Dash Kit - $15 (will be swapping this out for an Enfig kit here soon enough, but using this one to practice what needs to be cut/trimmed/sanded etc).
OTG Cable - $6
Matt Screen Protector - $2.75
USB Hub - $3
Sabre USB-DAC - $50 (Optional, but makes life easier as you only have to feed one wire up to where the Nexus will be)
12v - 5v DC step down regulator - $3
USB Extension cables - $5 (Optional, I wanted to have my flash drive in the glovebox)
64GB Flash Drive - $35
Down facing micro USB extension - $15 (from usbfirewire.com, definitely get one of these!, as it will save you hacking up various parts of your dash whilst trying to route the micro USB cable. In the picture above with the blue arrows you can see some of where I had been cutting/hacking trying to route a cable, using this you may have to drill a small piece, but not anywhere near what I did)
Wire, wire splices, solder. I had most of this stuff already in the garage. You don't need a whole lot of it, but will need to do a bit of wiring here and there.

The above will get you to the point where I am at. You will also want to put a custom ROM on your Nexus, I use Timur's ROM as it has USB host mode built into it (allows you to use an OTG cable and external USB devices). The other pieces I plan to pick up are:

Joycon EXR board - $45 (interface between car and Nexus, from what I can tell, it reads voltage inputs from the buttons you press on the steering wheel, and then you assign them to an action)
Steering wheel harness (Connects2, SWI-PAC, that kind of thing) $50-$75
EasyCap (USB to RCA/S-Video, needs to have a specific chipset to work though) - $10
Back up camera - No idea on cost, I want one that looks OEM though.

Along with the Nexus itself I also have a full aftermarket stereo system, which if you don't have will be an added cost (unless you can figure out a way to tap into the stock amp). I run from the Nexus -> USB Hub -> USB DAC -> JBL MS8 -> Amps

It's actually been a fairly easy project so far, the hardest piece for me was soldering some of the USB wires. Feel free to PM me or post in here if you have any questions.

[arcangely2k]

Amazing!

[naiku]

First of all, thanks to Christian at enfig for hooking me up with everything I need to get my steering wheel controls sorted, great price, great service and is even including some extras for me. Give them a call if you need any help! I also ordered the Joycon EXR board tihs morning, so fingers crossed next weekend I am hoping to have steering wheel controls back. Weaving across the road while trying to change volume is no fun.

So, to try and eliminate the gap arond the bezel, I wanted to try using an elastic strap. Here is my ghetto fix:





Yes, that is elastic from some underwear. LOL. I did not want to buy some elastic if it did not work, so figured what the heck, use some elastic from some boxer shorts. Works perfectly, holds the Nexus up against the bezel, and is strong enough that I can hold onto the plastic with the Nexus in there, and it won't fall out. For some reason the 2nd picture is upside down, I am trying to show me holding it about 8" above my work bench.

The gap that is left though is due to a slight curvature in the bezel:



Currently I am not sure what to do about that piece, if I try to sand it flat then I essentially am going to have to sand the top and bottom lip away almost completely. I have a new trim piece coming from enfig, not sure if that is curved or not yet though, if it is as well, I may just deal with that piece. When it's in the car it's not too bad, and I don't know that I want to eliminate the bottom/top lip to have that piece flat.

Also, since I don't think I posted this picture yet, here is the downward facing micro USB cable from usbfirewire.com:



If you are planning to install a Nexus, get that cable. It will make your life a whole lot easier. If I had bought that from day 1, I would not have had to sand/trim very much at all.

[naiku]

Some new parts arrived today, first new trim piece, this matches the dash perfectly. The difference between my existing one and this from enfig is night and day:


Hoping I have no issues with figuring out how to get it to hold the Nexus, as it appears the lip is bigger than my current one. The harness arrived as well to get my steering wheel controls back:
Finally the CAN-BUS adapter arrived as well.


Christian threw in a couple different adapters to make sure I get one that works with the Joycon . Pretty sure the universal one will work, so I plan to try that one first.

Also my Joycon arrived, with pre-shrunk heat shrink... LOL. We have had unseasonably warm temperature here the last 2 days (90F+) so I think the heat shrink did what it was supposed to do.




It's much smaller than it looks in pictures, matchbox sized really. Hoping to find time this evening to at least get the Joycon set up, and then work on the new dash trim at the weekend.

[naiku]

Steering wheel controls work!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to do some tweaking with the Joycon board, but for now I have track forward/backward, play/pause, volume up/down and mute available via the steering wheel. I cannot get the mode button, or the voice control button to be recognized, but that could be due to the options my car is VAG'd for.

I had to use the universal adapter with the Enfig kit, and had to connect both Key 1 and Key 2 wires together, then to the Data line on the Joycon, then ground to ground. Once I figured out which wires to connect coming from the steering wheel, its actually pretty easy to configure the Joycon. I am hoping to figure out how to get at least the voice control button on my steering wheel working, and then to program that to a voice command app I have on the Nexus, so that I can push button, say something like "Open Maps" and have it open Google maps.

[naiku]

Not much of an update, I was getting some connection issues, so decided to relocate as much of this:


As possible to the glovebox, so I first cut a piece of plastic board to fit the top piece of the glovebox (I think the OEM CD changer location) and mounted the USB hub, DC converter and MS8 remote to it:


Feed a bunch of wires back out and towards the back of the center console:


And here is how it looks when opening the glovebox:


I need to pick up a 3.5mm extension, so I can move the USB-DAC to the glovebox as well. I would just pull the 3.5mm to RCA wire that is already running down the center of the car, and run it down the passenger side. But my power wire goes down there, and I don't want to risk introducing any interference. While it looks kind of cramped in the top of the glovebox, it is much more convenient being able to open that and plug in something USB, than remove the Nexus and root around behind it for the hub.

My biggest headache by far though, steering wheel controls quit working. I tested the Joycon board as much as I can, and that is working fine. But, when I press a button on the steering wheel the software does not recognize any input. What's really puzzling is the only thing I changed is first I tried putting Key 1 on input A, Key 2 on input B, and a common ground, but nothing worked. I re-wired it with Key 1 and Key 2 together, went to reconfigure and nothing is recognized. The other thing I changed was to cut the switched 12v and ground that went into the enfig harness where it connects to an aftermarket radio, and use those to power the Nexus. I figure since there is no aftermarket head unit, cutting them from this plug would not cause any issues. So, all that adds up to me being confused as to why the Joycon quit working.

I also started trying to use the new dash kit, had it working nicely outside of the car. But in the car its not fitting, so back to the drawing board on there. Before I spend any more time on that though I need to get the steering wheel controls working again.

[naiku]

Figured out the steering wheel control issue, it was my fault. After trying pretty much everything I could think of, I was looking at the slip of paper that came with the enfig harness. It says on there to plug in the steering wheel harness before plugging in the factory harness. As soon as I did that, they worked again. I can only get 6 out of 8 to work though, the Mode and Voice button register the same resistance as clicking the scroll wheel, not entirely sure how to get around that yet. But, since I never used those with my Symphony II, I may not actually worry about it.

Also discovered I am shit at soldering, I kind of already knew this, but somewhat confirmed it. Basically to use a flash drive a powered USB hub is needed, it's fairly easy to convert a non powered to powered hub. Cut positive wire going to computer, solder to 5V power supply, splice into ground and connect to ground from 5v supply. However, I have fat fingers and so my solder connections suck. Anyone who has soldered USB wires can tell you, they are tiny wires. My flash drive kept not being registered by the Nexus, turns out my USB hub power was not working well, the DAC and Joycon work as they require little power. I tried to fix it last night, but broke the ground wire, so ordered a new hub with longer cables that should make it easier to solder. Failing that I may pick up one of the ready made hubs for vehicles, although $5 for a hub is a lot better than the $60+

[naiku]

Finally got everything reliably working, I bought a new hub from Monoprice that has a couple duifferent options for providing power to it. With that my DAC, Flash drive and steering wheel controls get reconnected each time I start the car. The flash drive takes a few minutes to sync, but I kind of expect that as it has about 30GB of music on it.

I get a weird issue with charging, but other users of the same custom ROM are getting the same problem as well. Sometimes it charges, other times it does not. But, as long as I remember to take the Nexus in the house when the batery gets real low and fully charge it I am not concerned. Next thing I am going to do is try to figure out a way to use the enfig dash kit. After that I can pretty much call it complete. At some point I may replace the el-cheapo Chinese power converter for a DCDC-USB ($60 but offers a lot of options for handling power loss during cranking etc.) and as soon as someone makes it simple, a back up camera.

Sirius XM works fine, as do any other streaming services via Bluetooth on my phone, musc plays from the flash drive fine, GPS signal is good. With the steering wheel controls I have track forward/back, play/pause, volume up/down and mute.

[naiku]

Not a whole lot of an update, for the most part this is complete. I am now at the point of trying to improve things. On that note I started work on the new bezel:



At the moment its just held in by some heavy duty velcro, I don't like that though as I feel like it's not all that secure. I do need to also sand some more on the back as there are a couple high spots, which are causing the screen not to be completely flush against the trim. I wish I could have used the back piece shown here:



As the front piece clips really nicely into that, which would have been ideal. But, the Nexus does not fit so I am left with just trying to figure out a way to securely mount the front piece. Christian if you guys are able to figure out a way to make one of those back pieces big enough to hold a Nexus, and still connect securely to the front trim piece, I will buy one instantly.

I realized I never posted a link to the hub I am using, so here it is USB Hub Really easy to set up as a powered hub. I am still debating swapping my PSU for a better one, charging is not as good as I want it to be. Typically on my commute I either lose 1-2% or the battery remains constant. The reverse camera is sort of on hold, the ROM I am using for some reason does not work with an easycap module. So, I am waiting on that to be figured out before investing in a camera.

[naiku]

I went ahead and ordered a new power supply today, DCDC-USB. It's fairly expensive, but the cheap power supply I have struggles to maintain the battery level, and I don't really want to have to keep taking the Nexus out of the car every few days to charge the battery. A couple people are running these on the Nexus boards I read, and it pretty much keeps their battery full. To hook the DCDC-USB up to the harness from enfig, if you are running in Automotive mode, White Ignition Wire on DCDC-USB goes to Red Switched 12V, Red Power goes to Yellow Constant 12V/Power and Black ground.

It puts my total expenditure close to a low end double DIN head unit (almost $500) but the double DIN unit would still require wiring harness, Sirius XM module, possibly Bluetooth module etc. so I still come out way ahead on total outlay. If I knew exactly what parts to buy as well I could have probably saved around $75 or more (3 x USB hubs I broke, original dash kit, power supply etc.)

[naiku]

Not a whole lot of an update since everything is working really well. The new PSU pretty much keeps the Nexus at 100%, any time the battery drops I get about a 15% per hour charge rate, so it charges back up fairly quickly. Bluetooth calling works well with Tablet Talk, I have to use a Jabra Journey as a speakerphone, but the Nexus handles any calls / text messages. When a call comes in, music gets paused, and then resumes after the call. A back up camera option is now available using a Febon 100, but I am not sure if I will bother with one. I think the Febon is about $60 + the cost of a camera, it's not really worth it to me.

All I am left with now is tweaking the trim as I cannot quite get it to look right, its close, but not 100%. The other thing is adjusting the Joycon sensitivity to see if I can get the voice/mode buttons on the steering wheel to work (at the moment they are picked up as extra presses of the volume button). If I can get the voice button to work, I plan to map that to the voice search on the Nexus. That combined with the Jabra will give me full voice control :)

[djpaw]

Not a whole lot of an update since everything is working really well. The new PSU pretty much keeps the Nexus at 100%, any time the battery drops I get about a 15% per hour charge rate, so it charges back up fairly quickly. Bluetooth calling works well with Tablet Talk, I have to use a Jabra Journey as a speakerphone, but the Nexus handles any calls / text messages. When a call comes in, music gets paused, and then resumes after the call. A back up camera option is now available using a Febon 100, but I am not sure if I will bother with one. I think the Febon is about $60 + the cost of a camera, it's not really worth it to me.

All I am left with now is tweaking the trim as I cannot quite get it to look right, its close, but not 100%. The other thing is adjusting the Joycon sensitivity to see if I can get the voice/mode buttons on the steering wheel to work (at the moment they are picked up as extra presses of the volume button). If I can get the voice button to work, I plan to map that to the voice search on the Nexus. That combined with the Jabra will give me full voice control :)

Put a coat of plasti dip......makes it darker...the trim is slightly grey....

[naiku]

Spent some time adjusting the bezel, and working on a custom launcher:



The trim is looking better, but the Nexus is not quite as secure as I want. Launcher is about 50% finished, slow going trying to line up the hotspots with the text especially as android widgets jump to a grid.

[RDA990]

Been wanting to do this since I bought my car 9 months ago. I bought the Nexus 7 a month ago but just never really started on the project because I'm not sure what bezel to get and where. Does the texture your bezel has match with the same as the area around it, A/C Controls and old radio?

[dcc236]

Well done, that virtually looks oem. How are you removing and refitting the tablet? Or have you decided to leave it there as a fixed device?

[naiku]

Been wanting to do this since I bought my car 9 months ago. I bought the Nexus 7 a month ago but just never really started on the project because I'm not sure what bezel to get and where. Does the texture your bezel has match with the same as the area around it, A/C Controls and old radio?

Pick up the bezel from enfig, it matches perfectly. I had a scoshe kit first, and you can see the difference in the pictures above. Call and speak to Christian as they can sell you just the plastic parts of the bezel (saving you money by not buying the cage).

Well done, that virtually looks oem. How are you removing and refitting the tablet? Or have you decided to leave it there as a fixed device?

Thanks, it's coming together nicely.

The trim piece is held on by velcro, I just pull that out, undo an 8mm bolt and the tablet comes right out. The only reason I have to undo the 8mm bolt is because of metal brackets that hold the trim on (they have the other side of the velcro) and they cover where the USB cable plugs in. It may end up being left as a fixed device once I have the launcher complete though, the only thing I do with it outside of the car is download Sirius XM shows (and that can be done in the car).

[bangoman]

This is excellent. My comments about your cost analysis - you may have spent $500/the same as a double DIN unit, but this Nexus 7 is way more flexible and powerful for all purposes. Ad you can either splash out on a Nexus 7 with cellular capabilities built in and have a permanent mobile connection. Although it's so easy to set up a wifi hotspot with phones nowadays that you could just use a wifi-only Nexus 7.

[naiku]

My comments about your cost analysis - you may have spent $500/the same as a double DIN unit, but this Nexus 7 is way more flexible and powerful for all purposes. Ad you can either splash out on a Nexus 7 with cellular capabilities built in and have a permanent mobile connection. Although it's so easy to set up a wifi hotspot with phones nowadays that you could just use a wifi-only Nexus 7.

Exactly, not to mention that there are several parts I bought/replaced for various reasons (performance, installation issues etc) which would have cut down on my total outlay. My Nexus is a wifi only version, I typically tether via Bluetooth and can now also route phone calls through the Nexus (via Jabra speakerphone).

[naiku]

Version 2:



Not yet 100% happy with it though, mostly because I don't want to use the Apollo widget, but just want a simple text widget that shows what is playing (kind of similar to how there is something in the notification area, I have looked at using %MTrack, but not sure if it works with Apollo, and having a hard time figuring it out).

Touching the temperature/weather icon opens the weather app, likewise the date opens the Calendar app.

[wannabeS4]

Damn I just saw this thread, I am in the process of doing this just waiting for all the parts to come in. How are you making the interface? Are you still using a cigarette lighter as a power source? I was thinking of just using an after market radio harness and using that for power and speaker wires.

[naiku]

How are you making the interface?

Photoshop, UCCW and Nova Launcher.

Are you still using a cigarette lighter as a power source?

I never used the cigarette lighter in the end, first used a cheapo converter from eBay (I still have it laying around somewhere) but then switched to a DCDC-USB. Definitely look into picking up one of these for power, really easy to set up for providing power to a USB hub and the Nexus. It comes with 2 sets of outputs, I just soldered on a pair of female USB ports, one goes via OTG cable to the Nexus, the other power for the hub.

I was thinking of just using an after market radio harness and using that for power and speaker wires.

You can't use the aftermarket harness for power directly to the Nexus, you would have to drop the 12V down to 5V. Are you using the stock speakers/amp? or aftermarket? With aftermarket I would recommend picking up a USB DAC, plug it into your USB hub, and then into the RCA on your amplifier(s). If you are using stock, I would still consider the USB DAC and splice RCA's into your OEM amplifier. Do you have steering wheel controls in your S4? That's really about the only thing I needed an aftermarket radio harness for. I do also get easy access to switchable 12V, and power stays on while the key is in the ignition, but I could have worked around those issues. This Joycon EXR should work for your steering wheel controls, it's listed to work on 99-04 Audi A4's. I pretty much had to buy the aftermarket harness to convert CAN-BUS signals.

I think if you look over at M3car.com someone has installed a Nexus into a B5 S4. Let me know if you get any other questions.

[wannabeS4]

Ok I guess I will look into the DCDC converter, which one did you end up using? I was going to use either a cigarette lighter charger to tap into the power wires, I wasnt going to go straight from the power wire into the nexus. No steering wheel controls so I dont need any extra harnesses.

Since my car has Bose I am going to use the RCAs from the aftermarket harness connect to an equalizer with my sub hooked up to it as well with my Hifimediy sabre usb dac feeding the audio. I saw that thread when i first started searching about doing this, been book marked since then.

[naiku]

I just use the DCDC-USB that MP3car.com sell, I think they were the cheapest place I could find when looking. If you have no steering wheel controls, I would save the money on the aftermarket harness, just pick up a 3.5mm to RCA, plug that into your Sabre DAC, and then into your equalizer. Even if you still need to tap into the Bose amp, I would splice female RCA's onto the existing harness, add a set of Y-adapters to the 3.5mm to RCA from the DAC, and send one pair to the equalizer, the other pair to the Bose amp.

[wannabeS4]

Well I already have the aftermarket harness from my current head unit, so I am not spending any extra money. But what you said is pretty much what I planned on doing.