Ca-Fi Dashlinq4 Android 4.1.1 Car Stereo - WHOA BABY!

[petr]

Originally Posted by Simok

What is the largest usb drive anyone has used with this? Or dose anyone know what it supports?

I use 320Gb USB-HDD, before used 32Gb USB-FLASH. works fine

[Simok]

Do you need external power for the 320gb?

[Deathalo]

Originally Posted by Simok

What is the largest usb drive anyone has used with this? Or dose anyone know what it supports?

I use this 256GB, fucking rocks, got it for like $80 back a few months ago on TD

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=8967119

[petr]

Originally Posted by Simok

Do you need external power for the 320gb?

Depends on HDD enclosure model, most of what you can buy do not need it.
My cheap noname box with some basic hdd inside does not need it.
I tried both USB ports that dashlinq have, it works in both, but I preferred the one with thick cable.
But I also had a few problems. First when I connected HDD in one port, and usb-hub in another, hdd started to randomly stop responding. I got rid of usb-hub and don't have such problems since.
Another bug is when I connect hdd in one port and flash in another and start copying from one to another, after couple of GBs dashlinq hangs and reboots.

[Simok]

Originally Posted by Deathalo

I use this 256GB, fucking rocks, got it for like $80 back a few months ago on TD

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=8967119

That's the exact one I was thinking of using. Just the 128gb model

[SVXdc]

I discovered some interesting (and alarming) things about the Dashlinq4's power/speaker harness that people need to be aware of. Picture of harness:

(click to see larger version).

A Subaru STi owner purchased a Dashlinq4 and contacted me about harnesses he would need to install it in his car. A Google search for pics of their harness brought me to this thread. After slogging through all 1600+ posts here, I asked him to send better pictures of the Dashlinq4's harnesses so I could see what was going on.

Cutting to the chase: Subaru and FR-S owners need to extract the SWC wire from the Dashlinq4's 6-pin harness connector (see pic above). I think that GT86 models (i.e., outside North America) do not have a factory wire at that pin position, but on any cars that do you would need to extract CA-Fi's wire with those cars too.

Picture of 6-pin harness (with strip of paper between top and bottom rows of wires):

(click to see larger version).

For reasons unknown, CA-Fi decided to run the HU's SWC wire to pin #5 on their 6-pin Toyota connector. On FR-S, BRZ, and all other Subaru models whose OEM HUs use Toyota-style harnesses (Impreza, WRX, STi, Crosstrek, Forester, Legacy, and Outback), that pin is used for illumination(-) (AKA dimmer). This is a problem, since the Dashlinq4 HU supplies +5V on its SWC wire for its steering wheel control function.

I noticed Narcoden's post saying that his dash and clock illumination were acting strangely. This is the reason why.

The Dashlinq4's harness also sends a Y-branch of their ground lead to pin #4 on that harness. On most cars that pin is a No-Connect (NC), so it shouldn't cause any problems. If there are any car models where that pin is used, you would need to extract this BLACK wire also. Don't confuse that with the BLACK ground wire on the 10-pin harness -- that one needs to stay.

A little more detail about the Dashlinq4's harness:

12 of the wires follow the color standard for aftermarket audio gear:

Color         Function
==========    ===============
BLACK         Ground
YELLOW        +12V Battery (constant-on, for main power & memory)
RED           +12V Accessory (turns HU on/off with ignition key)
BLUE/WHITE    "AMP CON" or "P.CNTR" (+12V remote trigger output for speaker amplifiers)

WHITE         Left Front speaker (+)
WHITE/BLACK   Left Front speaker (-)
GRAY          Right Front speaker (+)
GRAY/BLACK    Right Front speaker (-)
GREEN         Left Rear speaker (+)
GREEN/BLACK   Left Rear speaker (-)
VIOLET        Right Rear speaker (+)
VIOLET/BLACK  Right Rear speaker (-)

But the remaining 4 colors are non-standard or undefined (no standard for that function):

BLUE          Dimmer (+12V illumination dimming input; normally ORANGE on aftermarket harnesses)
ORANGE/BLACK  "ANTENNA" (+12V power to car's antenna booster; normally BLUE on aftermarket harnesses)
BROWN         Reverse (+12V Reverse Gear signal input -- for rear camera function)
ORANGE        SWC (Audio steering wheel control input)

SWC Lead

As I said, to install the Dashlinq4 in a Subaru (all models), FR-S, or any Toyota that has the illumination(-) signal on the car's 6-pin harness, you must extract the ORANGE SWC wire from CA-Fi's 6-pin connector.

In cars that do have audio steering wheel controls, you'll need to interface that wire to the car's SWC wires (typically on a 28-pin connector, in recent cars that use the 10- and 6-pin style harnesses for power and speakers). I'll save details on that for another thread.

Power Antenna Lead

As mentioned earlier in the thread, CA-Fi's harness correctly pins the Power Antenna lead for Subarus (all models except non-navigation Legacy/Outback). But on FR-S and Toyota models, you'll need to extract their ORANGE/BLACK lead from their 10-pin connector, cut off the pin, and connect the Dashlinq's wire to the BLUE lead on your Toyota/Lexus antenna adapter (see addl. notes in my next post, below). On Subarus, you should remove (or don't use) the BLUE lead on the antenna adapter.

Speaker Amp Trigger Lead

For BRZ, FR-S, and other models with a factory amplifier, you must add a new pin to pin #9 on the 10-pin plug -- the vacant slot between CA-Fi's ORANGE/BLACK (Power Antenna, at pin #8) and BLUE (dimmer, pin #10) leads, and connect that to their "pigtail" BLUE/WHITE wire labeled "AMP CON".

(click to see larger version).

Without this, the BRZ and FR-S door speakers will go silent. You can use the pin from the end of the SWC wire. Or, as someone suggested, steal the BLUE wire from another Toyota harness (Metra 70-1761, Scosche TA02B, or equivalent).

Speaker Outputs

One other odd thing that I noticed: There is an inconsistency with the speaker wires on the Dashlinq4's 16-pin harness. The top row goes - + - +, but the bottom row runs - + + -. That could be correct (in other words, their pin-out sticker may be accurately describing how those wires are connected to the HU's internal amplifier IC), but I recommend that someone check it just to be certain. If the negative sides of their speaker outputs are tied to the HU's chassis ground, you could do that with just an ohmmeter (while the HU is off and disconnected from the car). However, if both the + and - sides of the speaker outputs are floating, you would need an oscilloscope or a speaker phase app on your phone to verify.

[SVXdc]

Additional adapters needed to install the Dashlinq4 into BRZ, FR-S, GT86, and other Subarus that have Toyota-style connectors:

Antenna Adapter

You'll need one of these to convert your car's antenna plug to a standard Motorola plug:

Metra 40-LX11, Scosche LSAAB, American International LX-8, Best Kits BAA44, or equivalent. Picture:

(click to see larger version).

BRZ and all other Subarus -- remove the BLUE wire (do not use). Find the correct pin for the car's AM/FM antenna booster amplifier on the main power/speaker harness (10-pin harness, pin #8 on BRZ).

FR-S, GT86, and most other Toyotas -- use that BLUE wire on the antenna adapter. It supplies +12V power to the car's AM/FM antenna booster amplifier.

USB Adapter

Use one of these to convert your car's USB harness (what was originally plugged into the back of your factory HU) to a standard USB "A" male plug, to plug into the Dashlinq4's USB socket:

Metra AX-TOYUSB (NOT AX-TOYUSB-2), PAC Audio USB-TY1 (NOT USB-TY2), or my AE-USBTOY. Picture:

(click to see larger version).

Aux Adapter

To retain your car's 3.5mm aux jack, you can use a portion of a Metra AX-TOY28SWC harness. Picture:

(click to see larger version).

BRZ, FR-S, and GT86 owners will want to extract all of the wires related to steering wheel controls (SWCs): pins 21-24 and 27. Picture of harness with pin numbers labeled:

(click to see larger version).

Tip: Extract rather than cut, so you can reuse a pin/wire to access the car's reverse gear signal (pin #2).

Then for aux to be pinned correctly, relocate the aux shield (black at pin #11) to the now vacant #27 slot. I don't know why Metra builds their harnesses that way, but running the aux shield to pin #11 is wrong (it can be a no-connect or a different signal unrelated to aux, depending on the car).

All of the aux leads are very small gauge and fragile. Do not pull on them too much.

If you have a BRZ, other Subaru, or GT86 and want to add a rear camera, connect your wire that you transplanted into pin #2 to the Dashlinq's BROWN pigtail lead. See next post. Sorry FR-S owners, your car doesn't have the factory wire there.

BTW, to anyone thinking of using Metra's cable with the 3.5mm plug for some other audio purpose, don't. The ground terminal ("sleeve") isn't connected to the cable's shield. Doh! But you can offer all of the SWC portion that you removed to a Toyota owner who has an ASWC steering wheel interface module and needs another harness.

[SVXdc]

Earlier in this thread, there was some confusion on how to connect a rear camera (especially in a car where you previously added a harness to connect an aftermarket camera to the OEM HU).

For the Dashlinq4, you just need to do two things:

1) Connect the car's +12V reverse gear signal to the HU's BROWN pigtail lead. This causes the HU to switch to the rear camera image whenever you shift into reverse.

2) Connect the car's +12V reverse gear signal to your camera's RED (+) power lead.

With the Dashlinq4 (like most aftermarket HUs), there's no problem powering a camera from the reverse circuit. It's only the Subaru Fujitsu Ten and other Toyota HUs that check for a camera each time they boot (which prevents you from powering the camera from the reverse lights circuit).

You can power your camera either from pin #2 on the OEM HU 28-pin harness (except FR-S), by tapping into the wire at the reverse lights, or tapping the factory wire in the driver's footwell (search for threads here for more details).

If you can transplant a wire from the AX-TOY28SWC harness to its pin #2, that's the easiest way to get the reverse signal.

If/when Subaru/Toyota adds an OEM camera to these cars, it will be possible to interface that to the Dashlinq's (or any aftermarket HU's) rear camera input. Again, a topic for another thread another day.

[SVXdc]

One more thing, since there's been a lot of discussion about the Torque app: The BRZ/FR-S/GT86 Option Connector (extra 6-pin connector hiding behind the HU) has two pins with the CAN bus. It should be possible to connect there rather than having to plug into the car's OBD-II port.

[lamune]

Wow! Thanks for the insightful posts! I haven't noticed any issues like lighting on mine but I'll definitely go back and double check my install!

[Simok]

This is just my opinion but we shouldn't have to swap any wires, or rewire anything. The company should fix this issue not expect people to diagnose and fix the problem themselves especially for the price of the head unit.

[lamune]

Originally Posted by Simok

This is just my opinion but we shouldn't have to swap any wires, or rewire anything. The company should fix this issue not expect people to diagnose and fix the problem themselves especially for the price of the head unit.

Not to defend them or anything, but we are getting a Toyota Universal headunit, rather a headunit specifically made for the twins.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by Simok

This is just my opinion but we shouldn't have to swap any wires, or rewire anything. The company should fix this issue not expect people to diagnose and fix the problem themselves especially for the price of the head unit.

I agree with lamune -- I've found that among Subarus, Toyotas, and Scions which use these types of harnesses (10- & 6-pin power/speaker and 28-pin aux/mic/SWC/etc.), there are quite a few little variations on some of the pins. For example, there actually are some Toyota models which do put the power antenna lead on the 10-pin harness, like most Subarus. And I think the majority do not have an external OEM speaker amp. Toyotas have been using the 10- & 6-pin connectors since 1987!

However, I haven't seen any model that puts SWC on the 6-pin harness. I don't know what CA-Fi was thinking when they decided to make their harness that way.

Subarus, BRZ, and FR-S are likely a small portion of CA-Fi's sales, so I don't expect to see the company come out with a different version of their harness just to suit those cars.

On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to mention the issues with the SWC and amp trigger wires, and ask them if they can provide a different harness that works a little better (or at the very least, an extra BLUE/WHITE lead with terminal, so you don't have to buy a whole 70-1761 type harness just to steal one wire from it).

You BRZ and FR-S owners are a bit lucky you don't have SWCs. To use them with the Dashlinq4, you would have to jump through some extra hoops -- you'd need to use a resistor to combine the car's two SWC signal wires onto the Dashlinq4's single SWC input. Some of the latest Toyota models now have 3 SWC signal wires.

[Narcoden]

Outstanding SVXdc! Thanks for your posts. My Dashlinq has been to China and they say everything is normal with it. They are sending it back with a new wiring harness to try again. They are monitoring this thread as they directed me to your post.