Fullscreen Isudar Android Auto V2 Device Install

silo24 · Jan 4, 2024

Figured i'd start a new thread on this one as it IS an Isudar unit, and so far looks like it works really well!

Installation:

So, installation is slightly different to prior units, you DON'T need to connect to the Volume rocker panel (well, so far I don't believe you do).

Grey Connectors: - Behind main Display panel as a branching cable, connecting to Power Connector on Automotive Box.
LVDS Connectors: Behind main Display as a branching cable, connecting to LVDS Connector on Automotive Box.
WiFi Antenna: - Wifi Port on Automotive Box.
CAN-Bus cable: - To Connector under PAssenger seat (although probably works with driver seat too).

Cables to be connected are indicated in this image from Isudar:

The CAN-Bus Connection

This is a bit tricky, but the provided connectors allow connection without us needing to cut the existing canbus wiring. I disconnected the seat connector, cut the cable tie holding the cables into the connector as strain relief and thenremoved the slot in cable terminations to free up space.

You need to connect the CAN-L to the Purple/Green wire.
You need to connect the CAN-H to the Purple/White wire.

IF YOU DON'T CONNECT THIS CABLE, THE ISUDAR BOX WILL NOT POWER UP! I learnt this the hard way.

Initial Results:

So, this is pretty cool:

And the best bit....

Reverse Camera (or in my case, 360 Camera) works perfectly. It switches to the camera when you engage reverse and switches BACK to AA when you drive off/put into Park.

Going to go and test the Call audio shortly....will update!

digdah · Jan 4, 2024

Thanks for this update kind sir. Mine is on the way and hopefully I will have it installed next weekend if (i) it has arrived and (ii) it is not as cold as it is scheduled to be this weekend.

Waiting for more updates and observations from your. Hopefully your BT is stable with this one as it was a complaint with the older version cause of constant drops.

EDIT: I am trying to understand the under the seat connections bit. If the grey cable is for power what is needed under the seat??? I hope there are halfway decent instructions. I keep looking for a video but haven't found one for the new box.

silo24 · Jan 4, 2024

So at the moment, there are NO instructions as they are apparently in the process of writing them.

The under-seat connections are to connect to the onboard CAN-Bus network. Without CAN-L and CAN-H the system will not power on.

I think the CAN bus is used to access power, reverse signalling and the ability to switch between the native display and the AA display.

silo24 · Jan 4, 2024

Delete

silo24 · Jan 4, 2024

Ok, so further update:

I was having issues getting audio to work and without instructions it was quite difficult to grasp. Fortunately @tpmcafee has installed the same unit with Carplay and gave me some direction...

In essence your Phone remains connected to Sensus at all times.....and your audio input needs to be Bluetooth Media at all times!

The Android Auto interface effectively becomes a big in-built remote control, with all audio being piped to the car via Bluetooth.

Audio, Call Quality and reversing camera all work as expected and anticipated.

I am having a few interface issues though. On Spotify for example some of the player buttons appear partially off-screen. This is a bit of an irritant but the bigger issue is on Maps, I don't seem to be able to actually enter an address.

Likewise Google assistant when invoked appears slightly too large for the display.....with the 'close' 'X' being half off-screen.

The display also feels pretty low resolution

when in the AA interface.

Much of this is possibly configurable by Isudar so have messaged them with the issues and hopefully will get a response quickly.

ayastrebov · Feb 2, 2025

silo24 said:
and your audio input needs to be Bluetooth Media at all times!

Is it possible to route the sound via AUX? I have AUX activated in the iHU

mustmustimusti · Jan 5, 2024

So does this version use still use Bluetooth for transmitting audio from and to the Sensus system or CAN bus? Similaly does it require an external GPS dongle or the Sensus GPS?

silo24 · Jan 5, 2024

Yes, audio is still Bluetooth. The GPS is from your phone handset, so no external antenna connection is possible.

jaithr4 · Jan 5, 2024

Are you really sure that ,CAN need to be connected to get it working?

silo24 · Jan 5, 2024

Yes. This is what signals the device to turn on, among other things like steering controls, reverse signal etc.

Without this, I got no display at all, even from OEM system.

jaithr4 · Jan 5, 2024

I returned mine today , because a customer of this upgraded v2 product told me that display of carplay worked without connecting the CAN,so i thought module was faulty.i didn't want void my warranty by piercing CAN,i thought it is a bad idea. Can you try removing CAN and see now whether it is working independently or not ?

silo24 · Jan 5, 2024

I asked the question of Isudar...

rodbowe88 · Feb 24, 2025

I have tried fitting this today the unit is getting power green and blue light on box flashing but blank screen on Volvo when I re fit without harnes it works as normal any help appreciated thanks

silo24 · Feb 24, 2025

That's going to be a CAN issue. The connections to the box from under the seat need to be checked as if they aren't secure, the box does not activate and the main Volvo system will also fail.

Do you have memory seats?

rodbowe88 · Feb 24, 2025

silo24 said:
That's going to be a CAN issue. The connections to the box from under the seat need to be checked as if they aren't secure, the box does not activate and the main Volvo system will also fail.

Do you have memory seats?

Yes I have memorie seat drivers side I'm sure I have cables connected ok IV had them on and off 3 times and unit has power

Leward · Jan 6, 2024

I am waiting for more medium-term feedback about this, but this looks promising. However, I am not sure I understand how the unit connects to the car audio.

It would have been nice to keep the quick access to climate control.

silo24 · Jan 6, 2024

Unit connects to car audio system via Bluetooth exclusively as it stands. You switch the audio input to Bluetooth Media in the car and that's how the audio is played.

Quick access to climate control is still pretty quick. Just a single press of the button at the bottom of the Sensus screen and you have the Climate stuff. Press and hold to switch back. Admittedly it's not always on screen, but better than the two-finger swipe process.

Annai02 · Jan 6, 2024

Thank you for doing this and keeping us updated. I may buy the V2 soon so I will be referring to your posts quite frequently!

digdah · Jan 10, 2024

My unit is out for delivery today and I think I could knock out the installation pretty quickly before it gets real cold this weekend. Can someone share how they routed the CAN cables down to the connector under the passenger seat? That is the only thing I can't wrap my head around.

silo24 · Jan 10, 2024

I connected the CAN cable to the under-seat connector first. I used some fabric tape to follow the existing cable loom down to the floor area.

Under the passenger seat where the front and rear carpet sections meet there is an overlap....I just tucked the cable under there towards the center console.

At this point, it's pretty obvious how to run it....I just fed the connector through an existing hole in the carpet and pulled it into the center console area, then tucked the cable under the carpet again so it didn't interfere with the console side panel.

CAUTION: MY CAR IS RIGHT HAND DRIVE....SO MAY NOT BE EXACTLY THE SAME CONFIGURATION!

silo24 · Jan 10, 2024

FYI, I'm currently trying to apply an update from Isudar to fix some issues but not having much luck.

Am in contact with them and how to have a solution soon.

digdah · Jan 10, 2024

What issues are they addressing?

digdah · Jan 16, 2024

I see ISUDAR has the latest video up on the install and it raises questions about cable management for the T8s as the battery fills up that gap where they show the cables going in to the unit. Oh well I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.

@silo24 - Any luck getting the update(s) to work?

partridge · Jan 16, 2024

digdah said:
I see ISUDAR has the latest video up on the install and it raises questions about cable management for the T8s as the battery fills up that gap where they show the cables going in to the unit. Oh well I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.

@silo24 - Any luck getting the update(s) to work?

Link to the video? My unit should show up in the next couple days.

digdah · Jan 17, 2024

We appreciate you being our guinea piggy. Hopefully they resolve this sooner than later. Can you just enter the address in Google Maps on your phone and go from there for now?

Hope you are right about the cable routing.

silo24 · Jan 18, 2024

Received a new FW file overnight last night.....will try later today.

johan.maters.nl · Jan 19, 2024

Super.. I am thinking of buying this for my XC90 MY2016. I have inbuild Apple Carplay, but no Android Auto. I am wondering if it will work for the Android Auto part. I've sent a message to Isudar about this, no reply yet what car do you have @silo24 ? what are the steps for Firmware uopdates by the way? is it via the USB

partridge · Jan 20, 2024

Ok, finally got my v2 Isudar box installed. Had to wait a few days for some free time but it was worth it.

First impressions:

I’m coming from using the older CarLinkit wireless CarPlay adapters and then one of those Wireless CarPlay boxes with a full Android 13 system in them.

This blows them out of the water. No comparison. Can’t go back.

The car starts in Sensus by default. Long press to swap to the box. Click once to return to Sensus. While in Sensus single clicks do what they always did. In CarPlay there’s a tile that lets you drop into the box’s interface.

You need to pair your phone to the car’s Bluetooth directly. Phone calls and media go directly to the car. This is a MAJOR improvement over the previous boxes I was using because they all impacted sound quality and noise cancellation significantly. Even though the sound is being routed through Bluetooth, CarPlay controls for calls and media work as they should.

Installation:

Install took me about two hours, but that’s just because I was taking a lot of care with cable routing. I could probably do a basic install in 30 minutes easy.

In my case before I started I chose to wrap the entire Canbus cable in cloth harness tape. I also taped the fuse holder to stabilize it.

Removing the vents and the screen was remarkably easy. Much easier than I expected.

I thought I could snake the wires down without removing the volume controls but changed my mind. It was much harder to pop out than I expected.

I chose to route the Canbus wire next to the existing harness and use the same hole in the carpet. Getting the connector off of the seat so you can access the wires is a major pain. Once I had the vampire clips on I stabilized them with more harness tape, then taped the wire to the existing harness so it would move with it. You can’t tell there’s anything added looking under the seat.

After that it was just finding a good spot to stick the box and putting things back together. I ended up putting it under the passenger carpet where they did in the video, except pushed pretty far forward to keep from interfering with the panel.

Is it an easy install? Yes except for the CanBus. It’s a pain in the ass working under the seat and the connectors are all super tight with virtually zero slack. I can’t help but think there must be a better place to access the CanBus signals as they’re literally all over the car.

Anyway, it’s all buttoned up now and working.

11/10. Would highly recommend.

silo24 · Jan 22, 2024

And I finally managed to get the firmware update installed.....long story of trashy USB drives and unreliable winrar installs. Not the Isudar box's issues!

Android Auto now working very effectively in fullscreen mode!

For those who may do firmware upgrades in future.....if you don't get this screen when upgrading the SOC, it HASN'T worked.

digdah · Jan 22, 2024

Bravo! Again, thank you for taking the lead on this for us. I was going to update mine today but woke up to a dead battery, sigh.

I do have some questions for you:

1.Where do you get this upgraded software from?
What are the upgrade steps?
Is the external mic needed?

silo24 · Jan 22, 2024

Upgraded firmware came direct from Isudar on WhatsApp. If you need it please contact them first as I don't know if there are different builds out there.

The upgrade process is simple. Unzip firmware onto a FAT32 formatted USB drive and then go into the Isudar menu and find the About screen. The update button should be available if the USB is recognised. Press SOC update and it should start.

External mic is NOT needed.

jaithr4 · Jan 22, 2024

Im curious ,How does the clarity of AA look ? Is it on par with normal sensus ? Did it improve After firmware update? I haven't installed mine ,i just got it ! Will be installing in next few days when weather supports me.

silo24 · Jan 22, 2024

So......it's not as crisp as the Sensus or Isudar native interface for sure. The Isudar interface itself looks good, but when you go into AA, it's defintiely a bit more 'blurry'. Not too bad, but definitely not ideal.

I believe this is a limitation of AA though as have seen similar comments from other forums on other vehicles. Hoping there is a way to change the DPI/Scaling to improve it. Have messaged Isudar about this also.

It definitely did improve with the update and all touchscfreen functionality works properly......but potentially room for improvement.

partridge · Jan 22, 2024

The only thing that I don’t like that is going on is that every time I manually switch back to sensus it pulls up the helpful overlay saying how to use the screen. Any way to stop this?

jaithr4 · Jan 23, 2024

Does after the firmware update resolution changed ? Because i see more icons space at the bottom when i compare your previous pictures with recent ones.

silo24 · Jan 23, 2024

The way Android Auto works isn't really 'just' based on screen resolution, but scaling. The DPI determines the size of the icons/layout of the screen. It's done this way to ensure that they don't have a million different variations they have to deal with across different device/vehicle manufacturers.

Since the firmware update though, the icons & Layout have changed quite a lot. Now, for example, the Spotify screen occupies the bottom half of the screen and the map at the top almost always, except when the Map is maximised when the two smaller panes exist at the bottom with Weather and Now Playing.

I asked Isudar about the display resolution and this is the answer I got overnight last night:

Q: Hi, just wondering if there is any way to improve the video resolution on the Android Auto screens? The Carplay and Isudar Menu screens look nice and crisp but the DPI setting on the Android Auto app seems quite low.

A: Dear, this is not available at the moment. The clarity of Android Auto is indeed not as good as CarPlay. This is due to the Android auto architecture. We can only see if the Android company will optimize the resolution.

They have also suggested settign the Android Auto Screen Resolution to 1280x720/720x1280 in Android Auto Developer settings. I will try this later.

johan.maters.nl · Jan 23, 2024

ahh great guys... I see by the way that this version of Android Auto is pretty new. It has the split screen function. I am thinking of using this. Google Maps on top and bottom "flitsmeister" app.
I will order the isudar tonight. need to havemy wife's blesing on it

partridge · Jan 23, 2024

I guess what I saying is that’s up to Android Auto. The Isudar box just takes over the screen from Volvo and tells Android what it has to work with.

In previous versions, it couldn’t deal with the vertical format screen and you basically got huge letterboxes top and bottom when using Android. It couldn’t go full screen at all. This is Android Auto using the full screen but in split screen mode. There should be a setting to change it but either way it’s a big improvement over the previous state of affairs.

Belgianburrito · Jan 24, 2024

I saw in another post that some people where having trouble with the display turning on for a couple minutes when the car is off/locked. Do any of you have that same or similar problems?

silo24 · Jan 24, 2024

Not seen this behaviour.

silo24 · Jan 24, 2024

Fullscreen Isudar Android Auto V2 Device Install

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities