CarPlay CarPlay adapter to convert to wireless CarPlay?

[Fluke1]

I have a 2017 Chevy Tahoe Premier and a CarPlay2air running the 3.6.2020 firmware. I decided to upgrade today to the 7.29.2020 firmware based on the positive feedback people provided knowing this was a one-way trip and I couldn’t go back to the earlier firmware. After I upgraded via USB and plugged it into the vehicle, it did not recognize the carplay2air. I tried it several times with no luck. I looked in the iPhone at the Wi-Fi connection for the CarPlay2air, in my case and Chevrolet58, it showed there was no Internet connection. Unplugged and plugged back in a couple more times with the same result saying no Internet connection. At that point I just left it plugged in did some more driving. Made a few stops and at some point the CarPlay logo showed up and everything’s been working fine since then. I am using a delay circuit I built to delay the initial connection for 11 seconds.

Glad it's working for you. Have you by any chance noticed reduction in delay time when skipping tracks and/or overall performance is better?

 

[Texas Dave]

To me the delay switching tracks was the same. I’m hoping IOS 14 will help with that when formally released

 

[SuperMegaDrive]

Just tested 7/29 on my Hyundai Palisade. Minor problem of reconnection black screen issue still occurs. Not noticed any differences yet.

 

[DeanCorp]

thanks for getting back to me. Absolutely no lights on this USB-C dongle. It had 2020.07.17.1459 and then I had put on the USB stick 2020.06.17 and then it said updating do not turn off and now shows nothing, no lights. I’ve tried in several cars, tried different USB-c cable.

as we speak I have a 2GB FAT32 (MBR formatted) USB stick in with 2020.06 firmware on. I am wondering if perhaps we can try find the .img of 2020.07.17.1459 to perhaps reinstall what it had before it was bricked.
It is currently connected to apple ac charger and no lights on the unit.

Hi guys, has anyone had ANY success getting a USB-C unit with no lights to ever turn on again, I’ve tried using power adapter and leaving in the car, still no luck

 

[fruitbat04]

Hi guys, has anyone had ANY success getting a USB-C unit with no lights to ever turn on again, I’ve tried using power adapter and leaving in the car, still no luck

I'm afraid not but what I have noticed is if I plug my working one into a PC, it gets recognised as an iPhone after a few seconds. Might be worth checking to see if it still does that.

 

[DeanCorp]

I'm afraid not but what I have noticed is if I plug my working one into a PC, it gets recognised as an iPhone after a few seconds. Might be worth checking to see if it still does that.

so a bit of an update I’ve taken my MacBook Pro charger 85W with USB-C to USB female adapter and now have a green light on the carplay unit. I plugged latest firmware in root directory .img file and then plugged it into power, not sure if green light is anything to go off? I tried it in the car again and no light. I tried it in normal iPhone charger, also no light, seems that it needs more amps. Any ideas what to do from here?
I loaded 29-07-2020 file

 

[Chstoll]

Ah interesting, I'll see if that's the same for me.

Do your steering controls work by the way? Volume is fine for me but if I press track skip, it continuously skips tracks rather than just once, as if the button is held down. if I connect wired via the carlinki, it's exactly the same, but if I wire direct to he head unit it works fine.

I do have a Pioneer AVH-Z7100DAB and have the same issues with track skip / backward, it skips about 30 tracks if I click once (steering wheel control or control on the radio itself, touchscreen controls work fine). But this is the only issue, everything else works very good.
I contacted their support via WhatsApp about the skip issue, hopefully they fix this anytime soon.
iOS 14 and the latest update 7/29 made things noticeably faster (Connection time, track skip). I also have a second adapter (both USB-A Version) in my 2019 VW T6, and there are absolutly no problems, everything works fine.
I have bought a third adpater (USB-C) for my upcoming new car and tested it on my Pioneer and T6 and I can not see any difference in performance, its literally the same.

 

[DeanCorp]

this is all I get when connected to the MacBook Pro Charger.

 

[Fluke1]

so a bit of an update I’ve taken my MacBook Pro charger 85W with USB-C to USB female adapter and now have a green light on the carplay unit. I plugged latest firmware in root directory .img file and then plugged it into power, not sure if green light is anything to go off? I tried it in the car again and no light. I tried it in normal iPhone charger, also no light, seems that it needs more amps. Any ideas what to do from here?
I loaded 29-07-2020 file

I think your only options at this point is to plug it into your car and leave plugged in there for few days, maybe it'll comeback to life like few others on here have done. Or if you purchased it from Amazon or eBay is to start the process of return/exchange. I would also try re-flashing it again with an iPad charger. Like others have said, too much current is not good for it, too little is not good either. iPad charger seems to be the goldilocks.

 

[DeanCorp]

I think your only options at this point is to plug it into your car and leave plugged in there for few days, maybe it'll comeback to life like few others on here have done. Or if you purchased it from Amazon or eBay is to start the process of return/exchange. I would also try re-flashing it again with an iPad charger. Like others have said, too much current is not good for it, too little is not good either. iPad charger seems to be the goldilocks.

I’ve now got it to show the green light on an iPad charger so at least it’s showing some sort of life better than before. Maybe I should leave it plugged in overnight like this.

 

[neo4567]

Does anybody have the image file for the 7-17 update? I updated to 7-29 but for me 7-17 worked better.

 

[Tripp Jeffords]

You know you are ready to try if you get a flash screen before the man screen starts to come on.

Not following this exactly. You mean to INITIALLY connect during the bowtie display but before the rest of the system is in a ready state? The rest of what you are describing seems ungainly at best for ongoing use. I have experience in a GTI where it simply connects after 15 seconds without all the other workarounds. This is what I want in my GM cars.
[/QUOTEI
ok, there is a splash bow tie before the second one comes on in a cold start situation. I’ve only made progress in the initial set up from this cold start method. I then crank the truck, let it settle in, plug my dongle in and start up the Bluetooth for initial handshake and initializing screen. It may take a few cold startup scenarios, but I guarantee it can work with some fiddling. after the initial setup, it works, keeping the dongle Plugged in all the time, about 90 percent or so with a cold start. It is convenient and worthwhile, though now 100 percent perfect for me just yet. I’m still trying new things and troubleshooting myself.

 

[Tripp Jeffords]

I have a 2017 Chevy Tahoe Premier and a CarPlay2air running the 3.6.2020 firmware. I decided to upgrade today to the 7.29.2020 firmware based on the positive feedback people provided knowing this was a one-way trip and I couldn’t go back to the earlier firmware. After I upgraded via USB and plugged it into the vehicle, it did not recognize the carplay2air. I tried it several times with no luck. I looked in the iPhone at the Wi-Fi connection for the CarPlay2air, in my case and Chevrolet58, it showed there was no Internet connection. Unplugged and plugged back in a couple more times with the same result saying no Internet connection. At that point I just left it plugged in did some more driving. Made a few stops and at some point the CarPlay logo showed up and everything’s been working fine since then. I am using a delay circuit I built to delay the initial connection for 11 seconds.

I’ve had that experience too. Some reason, drive around a few minutes and the system connects for some reason.

 

[Chstoll]

This is exactly the problem I'm having. I noticed that when you manually dismiss the booting screen that shows the safety information on engine start up, the adapter connects and displays the carplay every time. I'm wondering if we need a delay relay for the adapter now like Denali has said. I think the adapter is booting too fast for my Pioneer unit to recognize and make the digital handshake on engine start up. Like you noted, when you exit out of carplay and re enter it, the interface comes up correctly. This would be like re establishing the handshake. If only I didn't install that darn 6.17 update.... This could easily be fixed with a software update.

EDIT: I just now learned that by dismissing the boot screen about safety on the Pioneer unit start up, the carplay2air adapter connects every time perfectly. This leads me to believe that the adapter is booting too fast for my HU and this is why the digital handshake is not working correctly.

Try to connect your iPhone per bluetooth directly to the pioneer unit also. Unplug the adapter, pair your phone with the headunit and replug the adapter. This additonal connection solved the black screen issue for me.

 

[Diehminer]

Try to connect your iPhone per bluetooth directly to the pioneer unit also. Unplug the adapter, pair your phone with the headunit and replug the adapter. This additonal connection solved the black screen issue for me.

Perfect! It fixed the black screen for me, thank you!!! However, now it takes about 50 seconds for CarPlay to come up now, it used to be 30 seconds. How can I fix that? It seems the carplay2air only starts booting once the pioneer HU decides to use it for CarPlay.

EDIT: I also noticed that the adapter turns on the red light when the car starts, but then looses power until my HU selects it. Then the adapter turns on again. Idk why but I think this is why it’s taking an extra 25 seconds or so to get into CarPlay.

 

[LarryJoe33]

To be clear OTA updates are the one Carlinkit trusts with the most Car AV systems which vary alot in their implementation of carplay. .

Is this statement posted somewhere or were you told this directly by the company? Personally, I find no methods to their madness and their communication on firmware releases in terms of what it fixes, what it is for, etc is non-existent. Wonder how you know this or pure speculation. Don’t get me wrong, it makes sense, but I don’t think the think like this unfortunately. The June OTA release was a brick bomb for many.

 

[jlhunter2008]

I’ve had that experience too. Some reason, drive around a few minutes and the system connects for some reason.

I have the same year, model and trim and I’m not having this issue.

 

[shadowmyst1975]

Amazon has the white usb-c Carlinkit units in stock with fulfillment by Amazon.com & Prime shipping. I received one yesterday and while I can't tell what firmware is installed due to 192.168.50.2 wanting me to upgrade to 2020.07.17 (never going to happen!), it may have March firmware installed as I have a 100% success rate of the CarPlay interface displaying after vehicle startup on my Pioneer C2550NEX headunit.

@Diehminer

Actually, your device is always successfully connecting to your HU, even if it gives you the blank screen. The CarPlay interface is present and useable while the screen is blank and it can be "fixed" w/o leaving CarPlay mode by triggering any type of display change (even the OSD Siri is all it takes sometimes). I used to think the blank screen issue was video signal or even timing related but now I am starting to think it is a buggy WIP to follow Apple's Wireless CarPlay guidelines closer and make the connection process invisible like a HU with native wireless CarPlay would. Adding weight to this theory is the fact that you have always been able to connect to the CP2A & Carlinkit modules the way Apple specifies by selecting Settings>General>CarPlay>HU Name on your iOS device, in addition to CP2A/Carlinkit's directions of manually connecting to the bluetooth network displayed on your HU screen.

@fruitbat04 @Chstoll

The track skipping issue has been present on Pioneer headunits going back to the 2020.03.18 fw and possibly older versions as well. The only workaround for it is to plug a 2nd wireless Carplay device into the first one and connect your iPhone to the 2nd one - but it does not fix the issue of hanging up calls with the steering wheel controls.

The skipping issue and it's workaround are known to Carlinkit's engineers. Unfortunately, they recently informed me that so far they have been unable to determine why it (mostly) solves the issue.

 

[DCSG]

Hi guys. I have my cplay2air for a few months now and love it very much except on certain days when it decides to have a delayed connection which I can still deal with it but recent days it started to produce cracking noise intermittently and it is annoying as hell and even after the latest version update didn’t resolve the issue. Current drive is Audi A4 B9 model and cplay2air version is 2020.07.17.1459

anyone else experience the same cracking noise when playback?

 

[Habibi Jenkins]

Seems like a lotta people get disconnects...my wife 2017 Mercedes cla 250 just disconnects every 2 minuets...Tried both dongles and it’s the same...Kinda feel like I got scammed but than I read a lot of people have success with other cars...I would figure firmware would need to be vehicle specific

 

[ostlin]

Hi guys. I have my cplay2air for a few months now and love it very much except on certain days when it decides to have a delayed connection which I can still deal with it but recent days it started to produce cracking noise intermittently and it is annoying as hell and even after the latest version update didn’t resolve the issue. Current drive is Audi A4 B9 model and cplay2air version is 2020.07.17.1459

anyone else experience the same cracking noise when playback?

I had the following problems with 2020.07.17.1459 on my Carlinkit USB-c:

* cracking/static noise (appearing after some time of playing music and could be worked around by pause/play)
* sound delay of approx 1,5 sec during phone calls

After upgrading to 2020.07.29.1705 (USB stick method) both of theese problems are fixed in my Audi Q7 2017.

After running 2020.07.29.1705 for a couple of days (made 3 longer trips and a couple of shorter ones) it has been working flawlessly and without any problems at all. Connects quickly 100% of the times. Really happy with this firmware build in my Audi!

 

[LarryJoe33]

I had the following problems with 2020.07.17.1459 on my Carlinkit USB-c:

* cracking/static noise (appearing after some time of playing music and could be worked around by pause/play)
* sound delay of approx 1,5 sec during phone calls

After upgrading to 2020.07.29.1705 (USB stick method) both of theese problems are fixed in my Audi Q7 2017.

After running 2020.07.29.1705 for a couple of days (made 3 longer trips and a couple of shorter ones) it has been working flawlessly and without any problems at all. Connects quickly 100% of the times. Really happy with this firmware build in my Audi!

Good to here. I wonder if they will make 7.29 official and provide it OTA soon. Seems like everyone has had great success. I would like to try the USB method but still gun shy.

 

[Chstoll]

Good to here. I wonder if they will make 7.29 official and provide it OTA soon. Seems like everyone has had great success. I would like to try the USB method but still gun shy.

I updated three adapters (2 USB-A, 1 USB-C) using an iPad Powerbrick and an older 8GB Kingston USB 2.0 Stick to 7.29 without any Problems. All adapters had different older Versions. Seemed safer than the OTA-Update which required an specific Version on the adapter itself. Waited for one additional minute after the LED turned solid red.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Just so I got this straight:

Format a USB Thumb Drive to FAT32 (the smaller the better)
Drop the image file to the root (nothing else on the drive or in the hidden trash)
Plug the drive into the dongle
Plug the dongle into a quality power source
Wait for the lights to do their thing

Sound right?

 

[Chstoll]

?? Just like that!