Chinese Ca-Fi knockoff has been rooted! Torque works!

[krikke]

Thanks for the info Narcoden!

45 seconds is acceptable for me. There are units that apparently need +60 secs...

Bad radio reception is not good as I like to listen to FM channels... (guess you can call me oldskool )

Just out of curiousity: what did you tweak in order to let it meet your demands?

[ph0en1xtk]

Originally Posted by krikke

Thanks for the info Narcoden!

45 seconds is acceptable for me. There are units that apparently need +60 secs...

Bad radio reception is not good as I like to listen to FM channels... (guess you can call me oldskool )

Just out of curiousity: what did you tweak in order to let it meet your demands?

Rooting my unit actually did decrease my boot time to about 30 seconds. I installed a startup manager to time it, and to have certain apps like torque start on boot as well.

And as far as the radio reception, mine is rather poor also. Im not sure if that is because of the adapter being used, or the unit itself (or the shark fin i bought) as i dont really listen to terrestrial radio anymore.

Once i get some time, im considering doing a pretty in depth video review of the unit and all the things i like and dislike about it.

[Narcoden]

Originally Posted by krikke

Just out of curiousity: what did you tweak in order to let it meet your demands?

Well, I just got the radio this week... So far, here is how it has gone for me:

Bone stock, the first thing I tried to do was remove Sygic and replace it with copilot for GPS. Copilot won't install as it says there is not enough room. After monkeying with it for two days, I gave up and just tried using Sygic that came on it. Loaded it back on and it's actually not too bad. I should have tried it out first lol.

I also have Google maps/navigation installed as I think it's the best out there, but I do travel to areas without cell coverage and need something built in and on-board. Sygic should work fine for me.

Then as I said, the radio reception just absolutely blows. I get maybe 25% static with signal fading in and out. Coming from HD radios, I can't take it.

So then, I loaded up TuneIn Radio app. I can now get my local radio stations that way, I just have to burn my data plan. I have straighttalk and they claim unlimited data and I've never been cut off or even warned before. I have seen claims of other peeps getting cut off though. Who knows? One thing I would like to do is map the radio button to the TuneIn app.

Then I bought a 32GB micro SD card to load up with MP3's so I can have about half my collection just built in (again reducing dependence on my data plan). Well, the built in app media player is lacking in features. no biggie, I can download any app from the market. Winamp I tried and found it to suck. I couldn't tell it what folders to use and it was mixing in GPS voices from Sygic into my playlists.

Then I bought Poweramp as it's the most popular option for this purpose. However, I had horrible stuttering with it and I felt like my radio was going to all but useless. Turns out I had to tweak Poweramps setting to increase the buffer to "huge" and had to increase it's priority to +2. That change fixed my mp3 play back issues and now, this radio is becoming livable to me.

I added the audio glow live wall paper that shows what's going on with my music. Originally I thought this app was causing the stuttering but it doesn't. It's been a bunch of trial and error... lots of tweaking so far.

So now I have working GPS, Pandora, MP3 playback via Poweramp, TuneIn, Google music, Stitcher, torque and some nice live wallpaper. I wish it could boot quicker but I can live with it until something better comes along.

Side note, has anyone tried a 64GB card or even USB drive? Will it work? I could get all my music built in if it can read a 64GB stick or card.

[Narcoden]

Originally Posted by ph0en1xtk

And as far as the radio reception, mine is rather poor also. Im not sure if that is because of the adapter being used, or the unit itself (or the shark fin i bought) as i dont really listen to terrestrial radio anymore.

I doubt it's the shark fin... Mine is still stock and sounds like crap. It was perfect with the factory HU. It has to be the unit itself... No Pioneer SuperTuner built in

[2forme]

@Narcoden

I'm baffled by you having reception issues. I have two units and both get equal, if not better, reception than the crappy stock head unit.

Just out of curiosity, did you wire the power line for the antenna? If so, did you test to make sure you had the correct line out of the head unit (and that the line applies power when it's supposed to)? If you can't find it, try using the amp remote wire, or if that fails, the red (ignition) wire.

The only time I had reception issues was when I forgot to hook up the power line for the antenna.

Also, I'm in the process of trying to make an improved iPod/music/fm app for this radio. It's a pain in the ass to reverse engineer the api used for the head unit parts.

[nzer]

@Narcoden we've discussed so many units - which was the one you got?

.

[Narcoden]

Originally Posted by 2forme

@Narcoden

I'm baffled by you having reception issues. I have two units and both get equal, if not better, reception than the crappy stock head unit.

Just out of curiosity, did you wire the power line for the antenna? If so, did you test to make sure you had the correct line out of the head unit (and that the line applies power when it's supposed to)? If you can't find it, try using the amp remote wire, or if that fails, the red (ignition) wire.

The only time I had reception issues was when I forgot to hook up the power line for the antenna.

Also, I'm in the process of trying to make an improved iPod/music/fm app for this radio. It's a pain in the ass to reverse engineer the api used for the head unit parts.

Maybe that's my issue... I saw that the factory amp uses the power ant wire to turn it on so I have that blue wire for power ant from the HU wired to the blue wire for power ant on the metra wiring harness. The blue wire on the ant adapter is just hanging out. I don't have it wired up to anything since we don't have a power antenna as far as I knew? Is it using power for a built in ant amplifier or something? Would I wire it to the head unit or to the cars wiring?

Originally Posted by nzer

@Narcoden we've discussed so many units - which was the one you got?

.

I have this one:

[2forme]

Originally Posted by Narcoden

Maybe that's my issue... I saw that the factory amp uses the power ant wire to turn it on so I have that blue wire for power ant from the HU wired to the blue wire for power ant on the metra wiring harness. The blue wire on the ant adapter is just hanging out. I don't have it wired up to anything since we don't have a power antenna as far as I knew? Is it using power for a built in ant amplifier or something? Would I wire it to the head unit or to the cars wiring?

That's exactly your issue. Hook the wire up on the antenna adapter to that wire on the head unit. If it doesn't work, test that wire out of the head unit to make sure it's supplying power. Alternatively, you can use the amp remote wire.

I was scratching my head trying to figure out how you had such crappy reception. I mean, FM radios aren't exactly new technology... even china knockoffs can get THOSE right.... haha

[nzer]

Originally Posted by Narcoden

Maybe that's my issue... I saw that the factory amp uses the power ant wire to turn it on so I have that blue wire for power ant from the HU wired to the blue wire for power ant on the metra wiring harness. The blue wire on the ant adapter is just hanging out. I don't have it wired up to anything since we don't have a power antenna as far as I knew? Is it using power for a built in ant amplifier or something? Would I wire it to the head unit or to the cars wiring?



I have this one:

Got a link or make and model @Narcoden - they are starting to all look the same to me!!!!

[Narcoden]

Originally Posted by 2forme

That's exactly your issue. Hook the wire up on the antenna adapter to that wire on the head unit. If it doesn't work, test that wire out of the head unit to make sure it's supplying power. Alternatively, you can use the amp remote wire.

I was scratching my head trying to figure out how you had such crappy reception. I mean, FM radios aren't exactly new technology... even china knockoffs can get THOSE right.... haha

Dude, you rock! I quickly tossed a t-tap on and connected that wire into the existing power ant wire and BAM! I get my fav rock station from Wisconsin again!

I take it back, the radio doesn't blow if you hook it up correctly.

[Narcoden]

Originally Posted by nzer

Got a link or make and model @Narcoden - they are starting to all look the same to me!!!!

I just search for "android 6.2 radio" on ebay. There are a bunch of sellers selling this.

Here is the first one I found:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ON-Sale-High...item33816e3505

[2forme]

Originally Posted by Narcoden

Dude, you rock! I quickly tossed a t-tap on and connected that wire into the existing power ant wire and BAM! I get my fav rock station from Wisconsin again!

I take it back, the radio doesn't blow if you hook it up correctly.

Haha! Glad it's working for you!!!

[krikke]

Originally Posted by Narcoden

I take it back, the radio doesn't blow if you hook it up correctly.

Don't be offended by this, but I always wanted to use this emoticon but never had the chance uptil now... here we go... are you ready?





Don't worry, I am sure you can re-use them on me as soon as I have ordered/received mine... I am the worst DIY guy there is...

[ph0en1xtk]

@Narcoden - could you post a couple images of your fitment? Are you using the beatsonic dash kit? Your unit seems to fit much better than mine.