akdoggie

Did you wire your WPT 440 into the ACM already? If not, then you will have to for any kind of swc's with the exception of cruise control. I take it that you have already switched the steering wheel and inserted the first WPT to the clockspring. Also, then you have the second WPT running from the lower clock spring plug, to the radio control plug, correct? Why wouldn't you run your Joycon wires to the ACM plug? Did you cut the original wires or use an adapter? I'm wondering how you have your's hooked up, not using the factory plug, for reference.

SeanD

I am going to be running Alpine amps and new speaker wire to door and rear deck speakers. The only thing I would be using the factory harness is for switched on power

The WPT440's are not plugged in yet.

akdoggie

Ok. I said I would do a quick write up for this install. I gave a general outline of what is needed, and including some pictures of where things get hooked up to. I made it into a downloadable PDF.

Let me know if you need any other information on the write up.

Akdoggie

SeanD

akdoggie,

Not sure if you have ever come across this, but it seems neat and you can use the touch screen you got for the Raspberry Pi with an Android stick. They use the MK809 in the video.

akdoggie

Yes I did, thank you though. Mine came with both the 7 and 9 inch touch screens and also the driver boards also. Of course the connector wiring was there. You are right, they are a very cool item. Some of the Joycon's have that in their kits also, or at least one similar. The one I ordered didn't even come with the disc or paperwork on how to wire it. I almost sent it back and order the one on eBay for 2.00 more. It came with the disc, manual and also the button kit. It also had a couple other pieces. I didn't wait. like I should of. Oh well, live and learn. I ended up having to do it all by download, after finally finding what I needed. I wasn't a happy camper at all. lol

I tried my 9 inch screen yesterday for the first time and was surprised how clear the output is with it. Very vivid and bright, as well as easily adjusted for personal choice.

Last night when I had everything up and working for the tablet, I got an idea. That is usually a silly or expensive thing when that happens. lol. Not in this case, for a change. I'm going to take this tablet, the way it is, and install it into my 1998 F150. I have an Escape navigation head right now, but it is really just too small of a screen to try and follow when driving. Since that works well, then the tablet is a simple install. The only thing I have to do is make a quick adapter harness from the 2004 design plug, to the 1998 style. I only paid 4.00 for the adapter set, and had the other end, so it is very inexpensive of a add. There are numerous write ups on the F150 with a tablet, and since mine works great, I'll just pop it into the truck. I have a Navigator steering wheel, so I'll just use those controls to operate with the Joycon, so eveything should just fall together. RIGHT!!! lol Luckily, this is plug and play into either style radio wiring for 1990 and up Fords. By making another adapter, I could make it fit just about any application, by just changing out the harness ends or making a quick adapter from whatever brand to the 2004 up Ford ACM plug.

randyre

Have you considered the new Intel Windows HDMI style computers? Or even the dual boot windows /android ones?


My only issue when I was working on a Car4puter back in the day was loosing the radio, but that was able to be overcome. So now it all boils down to a user friendly CAR style front end.

Like I said when we talked earlier, I just want it to work, I don't want to play around with software and settings and updates and stuff. I'll leave that for my desktop when I'm at home.

akdoggie

I know. I'm the same when it comes to something. I want it to work in the car, so this is why I'm doing all the bench testing before putting it into use. Like I was thinking the other day, I'm not sure now if I'm going to put this in the Mustang, the Fusion, or the way I'm leaning now, into my 1998 F150.

Since I have the factory Escape Hybrid radio now with navigation, working, I think I'll go ahead and install this into the truck. I only have to make a jumper harness to the 98 and I'm good to go. I've seen a couple write up using this and they look and seem to work great in the F150's, so that is where I am leaning now. At least we got the information out to people on how to make it work RIGHT, and what is needed to make things work. I tried it yesterday in the Fusion and everything worked super great. No speaker distortion, nothing. I didn't hook up the Joycon yet, because the different vehicles have different resistences in the switches. Once it's fully installed, I'll add the Joycon to the Lincoln Navigator s/w and everythign will be up and running correctly.

Note: I am still going to continue to do the project with the Raspberry Pi as the computer source, and use the 9 inch touch screen. Since I already have the basic hook up done with the tablet, the Pi will attach rather easily, and since I will be using the sound card I listed earlier, it will hook up without adapting the harness and can remove more of the attaching wires. The Pi will take up about 4 x 5 inches and less than 1 inch thick, so it will sit about anywhere you want to put it. I'll keep you informed when I start with the Pi project. Probably next week when it gets a bit cooler outside, and I want to stay warm. lol

SeanD

I just got my Joycon EXR in the mail today. Now the fun begins. I got the one on eBay directly from Korea that has the CD, resistive button panel and a bunch of resistors.

akdoggie

Very cool. Now that you have everything, which I'm still trying to find (mine didn't come with the cd or install instructions) that you will finish soon. I hope that this works out for you and that you and I will be happy with our results. It looks that you are going to beat me to finiishing the swc's. lol. I'm still trying to get the correct information on what goes where with Joycon. I promise that I will never buy from this seller ever again. I tried to say a couple bucks, and it has cost me much more in time and energy in this endeavor. I should of just spent the extra couple bucks. Live and learn. eh?

SeanD

I doubt I will get anything done before you. This is going to be a winter project, so I will be taking my sweet ole time getting it done.

akdoggie

I'd like to thank Sean publicly for getting me the pdf's and all the information off his CD that I never received with my Joycon. Thank you very much. That was perfect. I wish my supplier had been as accommidating as Sean was.

akdoggie

Happy Holiday's to everyone here on the MS Forum. May 2016 be the best year yet for one and all. I hope everyone has a joyous holiday season.

I was poking around for Christmas presents, and found this. I had to jump on it, once I found out that it could be upgraded to 4.4.4. This is what we are trying to build with a lesser cost, than what we could do, building ours piece by piece. This is quite a set up for the cost of 199.00. There is one seller who is selling this for 170- plus 8. for freight. I just bought the one off Amazon that they are selling, only because they will stand behind their warranty where as some other sellers, not so much.

I was shocked to find that the size is perfect to fit into my F150 (98 model has a weird opening in back). Now I still have all winter to play with the PI setup, and can still use my truck. This also comes with an antenna slot, so your AM/FM radio will work at any distance. This seems to be a win win item. The thing I like is, being a computer, I can add whatever I want, within the RAM's limits.

Again, Happy Holidays to everyone. Anyways, here it is for you to check out.

SeanD

Where did you see that it is updateable to 4.4.4?

akdoggie

Sean, it says it is updateable in the questions and answers after the item listing. 4.2 is what it comes with, but with 4.2, it is updated to 4.3 then to 4.4.4. I have done this very thing with my Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 4's. I mentioned it in an earlier post about doing the 4.4 upgrade. It really cleaned up my tablet, so this head shouldn't be any different. And you can root it, to make it fully functional for our needs.

I ended up ordering one from Amazon for 170 plus 7. for shipping. I hope it works out like I think it will. I put an email out to one of the guys who bought this radio, and he only had good things to say, except that it only has 1 USB port. I have a hub that will cure that problem and if I add 2 extra USB ports under the dash or in the glove box, that should clear up any lack of places to attach to. It does say, where someone asked, if it would handle steering wheel controls, and they answered no. I did some checking and the Joycom should work fine with this and give up the swc's that we want. It also comes with a remote that can attach to the the steering wheel. So, either way, it will have remote capabilities. Thanks again for the help with the Joycon info. This helps to see how it would work with this head, and from what I can see, it should work fine. Good luck to me. lol

akdoggie

Radio arrived, 10 days ago, and I forgot to update the group.

The first problem I found was the booklet that came with it. It wasn't for the correct head. The second thing, they changed (updated) the unit and replaced the plug in wiring plug with hard wired RCA plugs. This makes it difficult if your head goes deep in the dash, so it rules it out of the F150 without cutting. The new plug has 2 extra wires, which are driving me to drink. There is no markings on those 2 wires, and they are the power and ground (yellow and black). There is no reference in the manual, and I'm leary of hooking up either of the 2 yellow or 2 blacks without a proper schematic. I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

Everything else seems to make this a simple install, but it makes it difficult without the proper wiring diagram. The speakers were common, white, grey, green and purple, so that was a piece of cake. It's the 2 yellow and blacks that have me at a loss.

I'm going to use the USB port on the back, add a card hub, and an additional 4 hub for two 64GB flash drives, and 2 EasyCap modules for the front and rear cameras. On the front is another TF card slot, so a movie could be easily watched, using this port. The capabilites are almost endless, and with a few good download apps, the sky is the limit. I have all the goodies from the tablet, so I can move items around until I find the best combination to work. If the schematic get's here Tuesday, I'll be a happy camper and it will go in quickly. I've already wired the J1 plug to accept the steering wheel controls on the radio. The Metra and Schosche adapter harnesses, are not wired correctly to accept the steering wheel controls. You need to pop the red cap, and release the extra wires from the top row, and move then to the 18 and 19 slots. (If it wasn't for the **** 2 yellow wires, lol, I'd up up and working). I'm using my Fusion as the test vehicle, because it only takes 2 minutes to remove the radio. Such a simple unit. Besides, I don't want a wire fire in the Mustang. lol.

Once I'm sure that everything is up and working correctly, I can easily switch out the head and install a tablet in its place. Everything is direct fit between the two, with the exception of the power at the tablet. Just remove the head, plug in the tablet harness, the amp and you are up and running with the tablet in it's place. Very switchable. Once I have everything right, I'll end up with this Android head in one of the vehicles and the tablet design in the other one. It's gonna be a fun spring.

SeanD

Can you post some pics of the front and rear of this radio please?

akdoggie

Here are the pics you requested Sean. The schematic is hard to identify even with a magnifying glass. It's coloring makes it tough and the size also. The spot on the left where the antenna is hanging (yes hangs) has 2 rca plugs (what they do????), and a USB port. This should be just a common USB and able to do numerous items. The 9 rca plugs are stamped, but the wording is distorted, so it is pick and choose on a couple of them. All in all, I think I've got the wiring correct. The second yellow, seems to be for the #18 pin on the J1 plug (24 pin plug). Figuring that, then the second wire, goes to the 19 spot. My new harness adapter didn't come with a wire in that slot, so I had to pull one from the upper row and reinsert it in the 19 slot. This should give redundant swcs.

I'm going to try it tomorrow and see if everything works in the Fusion. It only takes a couple minutes to R & R the radio and bezel, so it can be the goat to try it on. lol.

SeanD

Well, good luck to you! Hopefully everything works. Thats the problem with this Chinese stuff.

akdoggie

Sean check out the 3rd picture. see where it says to remove the two screws before using? This unit doesn't have those. When you go to the schematic, it is wrong. There is NO "B" section, as shown, and this list goes on. LOL.

You are right about the cheap Chinese stuff, the only problem is no one makes what I really want, without going Chinese, or going with a tablet (mostly made in China). This is absolute perfect system, if I can get it to work. No CD or DVD to hang up, MP3 or MP4, AVI, etc for video, is great, using apps, another plus, so it goes from there. I'll get this set up, hopefully tomorrow, since I've drawn Grandpa duties tomorrow afternoon. I'll just use my daughters garage and stick it in while watching Jr. tear the house down. lol

Does anyone else have this radio, one very similar, or have installed this radio, out there in MS land? If so, PM me please. Thanks.

akdoggie

Finally I found a video tonight that covers this particular head. It is under another brands name, but it is identical to what I have. This guy breaks down all the connections, and it seems to be correct for what I've done so far. I thought that this radio was amped internally and it is. He showed how to wire the system to bypass the amp and run from the 9 RCA's with that, and other things. If anyone needs the information, just ask and I will post it. Otherwise, if not, then I'll let whoever, look as long and hard as I did to finally find it. lol

As far as I've checked, I'm 100% correct on my wiring including the extra yellow and black, so I feel confident that it will work tomorrow when i try it in the Fusion. If it works there, it will work in anything.