CarPlay CarPlay adapter to convert to wireless CarPlay?

[LarryJoe33]

USB adapters or going to be spotty because Apple does not support anything but direct connection. No Hubs or Y adapters. USB C male to USB female perhaps? I suspect the reason Carlinkit made a new model without a hardwired cable was to accommodate cars that are starting to come with USBC. Could try a few adapters or bite the bullet and switch. If your still within your return period I would suggest returning it. C2PlayAir though is not to my understanding very good about returns though they claim on their site to take them.

Did you try somthing like this?

Anker USB-C to USB3.1 Adapter, USB-C Male to USB-A Female, Uses USB OTG Technology, Compatible with Samsung Galaxy Note 8, S8 S8+ S9, iPad Pro 2018, Nexus 6P 5X, LG V20 G5 and More

USB-C to USB 3.1 Adapter The SuperSpeed USB-C Converter From ANKER, America's Leading USB Charging Brand • Faster and safer charging with our advanced technology • 10 million+ happy users and counting Huge Compatibility Allow your USB-C phone, tablet or computer to work with almost any USB devi...

www.amazon.com

I bought this cable and adapter to hopefully work with my USB-C version (if it ever gets here). My USB port is behind a dashboard door which also houses an AUX, SD Card and a nice tray to slip your phone into. I really want to stick the wireless dongle in there and close the door. This cable is the only solution to not having the USB plug get in the way. I am skeptical and agree with you on connectors and adapters. Not the end of the world if I can't close the door. First things first, need to get it in hand and working with the supplied cable.

Short Flat Slim Thin Ribbon FPC Micro USB Male 90 Degree Angled up to Standard USB A Male Receptacle 90 Degree Angled for sync and Charging Black (15CM Micro USB up to Standard USB UP)

Short Flat Slim Thin Ribbon FPC Micro USB Male 90 Degree Angled up to Standard USB A Male Receptacle 90 Degree Angled for sync and Charging Black (15CM Micro USB up to Standard USB UP)

www.amazon.com

Anker [2 in 1 Pack] USB-C (Male) to Micro USB (Female) Adapter, Allows Micro USB to USB-C Data Transfer, Uses 56K Resistor, Works with Galaxy S9, MacBook, iPad Pro, LG V20 and More

USB-C to Micro USB Adapter The Small and Simple USB-C Converter From ANKER, America's Leading USB Charging Brand • Faster and safer charging with our advanced technology • 10 million+ happy users and counting Huge USB Compatibility Use your USB-C phone, tablet or computer with your Micro USB ca...

www.amazon.com

 

[anthover]

thanks for this. Yeah I’m still within return so I’ll give it a shot at sending it back and order the new one. I was using just a straight adapter even tried the one that Mercedes gave me. All I would get is a notification that the device wasn’t compatible.
Also is it possible to update the unit without setting it up? Wondering if it’s old firmware but since I can’t get to the set up screen I’m not sure.

Yeah if it does not work switch. To Answer about updating yes you can but NOT via your car. You can either use the firmware posted in this forum 1.22, 3.4, or 3.6 or try to update it another car that works but that would likely only net you 1.22 because thats the only over the air OTA currently available.

** That said I would just request the RMA and return it. Though some have bricked their device that way. For all you know your device mabye DOA (dead on arrival). If your going to try their posted around page 73 and I would be happy to answer any questions.
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I bought this cable and adapter to hopefully work with my USB-C version (if it ever gets here). My USB port is behind a dashboard door which also houses an AUX, SD Card and a nice tray to slip your phone into. I really want to stick the wireless dongle in there and close the door. This cable is the only solution to not having the USB plug get in the way. I am skeptical and agree with you on connectors and adapters. Not the end of the world if I can't close the door. First things first, need to get it in hand and working with the supplied cable.

Short Flat Slim Thin Ribbon FPC Micro USB Male 90 Degree Angled up to Standard USB A Male Receptacle 90 Degree Angled for sync and Charging Black (15CM Micro USB up to Standard USB UP)

Short Flat Slim Thin Ribbon FPC Micro USB Male 90 Degree Angled up to Standard USB A Male Receptacle 90 Degree Angled for sync and Charging Black (15CM Micro USB up to Standard USB UP)

www.amazon.com

Anker [2 in 1 Pack] USB-C (Male) to Micro USB (Female) Adapter, Allows Micro USB to USB-C Data Transfer, Uses 56K Resistor, Works with Galaxy S9, MacBook, iPad Pro, LG V20 and More

USB-C to Micro USB Adapter The Small and Simple USB-C Converter From ANKER, America's Leading USB Charging Brand • Faster and safer charging with our advanced technology • 10 million+ happy users and counting Huge USB Compatibility Use your USB-C phone, tablet or computer with your Micro USB ca...

www.amazon.com

Why micro USB do you have MICRO USB in your car?

 

[LarryJoe33]

Yeah if it does not work switch. To Answer about updating yes you can but NOT via your car. You can either use the firmware posted in this forum 1.22, 3.4, or 3.6 or try to update it another car that works but that would likely only net you 1.22 because thats the only over the air OTA currently available.

** That said I would just request the RMA and return it. Though some have bricked their device that way. For all you know your device mabye DOA (dead on arrival). If your going to try their posted around page 73 and I would be happy to answer any questions.
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Why micro USB do you have MICRO USB in your car?

The end of that flat ribbon cable is micro usb. There isn’t a USB to USBC flat cable option, so I need that adapter to plug into the new CarPlay dongle which is female USBC.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Except that means the car did come with gps and someone altered it aftermarket. I was asking for any cars that come from the factory that have CarPlay but do not have any gps factory installed...

I’m pretty sure my cr-v doesn’t have a gps.

 

[LarryJoe33]

On a side note, my USB-C tracking is still stalled at JFK since 5/3. Yeah, I know, I should have gone AliExpress. I emailed Carlinkit for the hell of it and asked if they thought it was lost and would consider shipping another with expedited shipping. I knew what the response would be, COVID-19 yada yada yada. Which it was, but they refunded me 10% for my trouble. A nice move.

 

[x5nder]

I've picked up my new car this morning, a Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2014-2019 model) with a Carplay/Android Auto multimedia system. When I plug in the CPLAY2AIR dongle, nothing happens on the screen, the dongle is not recognized (after about 5-10 seconds, the dongle shows a steady red LED). Plugging in my iPhone with its lightning cable immediately starts Carplay. I used the dongle until yesterday with my previous car and an aftermarket Pioneer SPH-DA120 unit without issues (running the March 6th firmware), so I know the dongle works perfectly. I assume no one here will have a solution, but are there any steps I can take to report this to the Carlinkit?

 

[LarryJoe33]

I've picked up my new car this morning, a Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2014-2019 model) with a Carplay/Android Auto multimedia system. When I plug in the CPLAY2AIR dongle, nothing happens on the screen, the dongle is not recognized (after about 5-10 seconds, the dongle shows a steady red LED). Plugging in my iPhone with its lightning cable immediately starts Carplay. I used the dongle until yesterday with my previous car and an aftermarket Pioneer SPH-DA120 unit without issues (running the March 6th firmware), so I know the dongle works perfectly. I assume no one here will have a solution, but are there any steps I can take to report this to the Carlinkit?

I assume you removed all BT devices previously paired with the new car? Including forgetting the new cars Bluetooth pairing with your phone after deleting old phones?

 

[x5nder]

I assume you removed all BT devices previously paired with the new car? Including forgetting the new cars Bluetooth pairing with your phone after deleting old phones?

Yeah; in fact, the car stereo was factory default (no registered Bluetooth devices at all). It even fully disables Bluetooth the second it recognizes a Carplay device. I’m not even seeing the “loading” screen from the dongle and if I tap the Carplay icon on the main screen it tells me “no device connected”.

 

[AnClar]

OK...so here's my screwy story about CarPlay2Air. I'm running this in a 2017 Fiat 124 Spider, with a Mazda upgraded USB hub and hacked Mazda FW v70.00.100 to support Apple CarPlay. Since the infotainment system is basically the same between the Mazda MX5 and the Fiat 124 Spider, the Mazda upgraded retrofit USB hub and the updated Mazda S/W (modified to rebrand it to Fiat) work as if it was a factory-installed Fiat/Mazda CarPlay setup. Wired CarPlay is working fine. So when I saw that the CPlay2Air dongle was listed as working with Mazda, I figured, what the heck, I'll give it a try. I'm running the latest CPlay2Air f/w: the 1.22 version. It was cranky to get setup, but I more or less got it working. Still...like many others, I had intermittent connect issues. It would connect about half of the time. The other half I'd have to either unplug/replug the dongle or reboot the infotainment system, or both to get the dongle to reconnect.

I decided to redo the connection to see if I could clean it up any, and along the way, I think I figured out why my connections have been so balky. I deselected the phone on the CPlay2Air initialization screen, removed the WiFi and BT connections and started over. In car BT is disabled, and I had disconnected from my home wifi. I got everything re-paired, and reinitialized, but connecting was still a bit balky...so what seems to have fixed it for me is that I have to turn off auto-join on my home wifi, then disable and reenable wifi on my iPhone (a Xs Max w/ iOS 13.4.1). That way, when I go out to the garage, I have no wifi connected. After trying this, the CPlay2Air connects smoothly every time. It seems as if the BT to wifi handoff gets fouled up, even though the dongle is supposed to switch wifi networks to its own on startup. It seems to be a much cleaner handoff if there is no other wifi connection active when the handoff occurs. So, for now, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the thing continues to work smoothly, as I really enjoy keeping my phone in my pocket, or wherever, and not tethered to the USB port.

 

[wolves]

Received a USB-C model today, not sure what firmware it came with because I over-the-air updated it right away without checking the current version and it updated to 1.22, hoping it wasn't 3.18 that "upgraded" to 1.22, but don't think its possible to tell. This was ordered on March 28th so it was one of the first batch I believe, just took forever to get here. 1.22 firmware seems to be working fine for me, no lag or connection issues so far.

Only tiny issue is using it causes Carplay to think my screen is knob controlled so it shows blue outlines around buttons. Found a few mentions of this here, but have any firmwares fixed this for anyone?

 

[Scosta]

Just a FYI to everyone - I ordered the new Carlinkit with USB. After ordering I messaged them via eBay to tell them I had a 2020 Mercedes with MBUX and USBC. They told me it is currently not supported And then cancelled the order. Good customer service but just an FYI

 

[LarryJoe33]

So what’s the consensus on 3.18? Is it the same as 1.22 with a different number stamped on it?

For those who had the old dongle and moved to the USB-C, I believe some came with 1.22 and some with 3.18.

For those with 1.22 on it, did you notice any differences coming from the old dongle with 1.22?

For those with 3.18, did you notice any differences coming from the old dongle with 1.22?

 

[anthover]

The end of that flat ribbon cable is micro usb. There isn’t a USB to USBC flat cable option, so I need that adapter to plug into the new CarPlay dongle which is female USBC.

Would these not work?

https://www.amazon.com/HuaLong-Char...bon+cable&qid=1589625396&s=electronics&sr=1-4

https://www.amazon.com/0-72ft-Trans...bon+cable&qid=1589625540&s=electronics&sr=1-1

 

[LarryJoe33]

Would these not work?

https://www.amazon.com/HuaLong-Char...bon+cable&qid=1589625396&s=electronics&sr=1-4

https://www.amazon.com/0-72ft-Trans...bon+cable&qid=1589625540&s=electronics&sr=1-1

Nope. I have a dash door I want to close to hide the cables and dongle. Those connectors stick out too far. Here a pic. The door is open and folded down. The usb plug will not let it close. The dongle will slide into that hole. And no, standard 90 degree don’t work.

 

[anthover]

Ahh. Does the car manufacturer offer anything? They designed it that way, you would think they would design a cabling solution that would go with it.
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About the versioning no those who have 3.x release data the update server tells them they already have the newest and will down downgrade or upgrade them. I have tested this with both 3.04 and 3.06.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Ahh. Does the car manufacturer offer anything? They designed it that way, you would think they would design a cabling solution that would go with it.
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About the versioning no those who have 3.x release data the update server tells them they already have the newest and will down downgrade or upgrade them. I have tested this with both 3.04 and 3.06.

Nothing from the manufacturer. It's a Maserati and you know those Italian's don't think things through, lol! I heard from my Maserati enthusiasts that the ribbon cable allows the door to close, now, whether is works with the adapter and the USB-C version is TBD.

On the versioning, I guess I am wondering if 3.18 is any different than 1.22. There are some posts here from exchanges with Carlinkit and they don't even know about 3.18! My question is kind of stupid in that there is no way to know unless we could compare code. But, it someone was running 1.22 and then got the new unit with 3.18, did it solve anything and if it did, was it the hardware or the firmware, hence my question on the USB-C one with 1.22 compared to the old style experience also with 1.22.

 

[anthover]

Nothing changed just checked update server... See below screen shot as we have explained anything
1.22 or newer reports back as latest because they have no other update files currently posted on the server.
The version is actually the release date with a number after that e.g. Jan 22, March 04, etc. And yes the versions are very different in how they work with different cars car play system and version of IOS on their phone. And to be clear the update server scans the version your running on your phone versus what the update server has in its updater directory.

 

[flintythunder]

I had similar issues with my Audi Q7 2017. I was not able to get back into Carplay after entering reverse gear and viewing the reversing camera. At first I suspected that there was some bug in the Wireless Carplay adapter, but it turned out to be a bug in the Audi MMI software.

I got a free software update of the MMI system at my dealer which fixed the issue (upgraded from version 0917 to 1329). The dealer found a TSB relating to this. I don't know if it was this one (just did a quick search), but it looks similar: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10138327-9999.pdf
(The TSB number can be different depending on which country you live in etc)

I've been running the 2020-02-29 version and it has been working really well with my Q7. I updated to 2020-03-06 today. I've only tested it for a couple of minutes so far and it might have a little less delay when changing songs.

thank you for your reply here. had the dealer check and lo and behold there was indeed an update available which took care of the screen blanking out if reverse was selected. one issue remains on an otherwise great solution for wireless carplay- GPS inconsistency where it is slow to update and sometimes gets totally lost and places me as a blue dot (in waze) in the middle of nowhere. bookemdano seemed to suggest the march update helps with this:

I don't know how to tell for sure, but one of the updates in early March made the GPS much smoother and quicker to update. Prior to that update, I had to have my phone sitting out on the dashboard to get any kind of usable GPS position, and even then it was slow to update the position.

But with the more recent firmware, the GPS position updates regularly even with the phone in my pocket.

If anyone knows a way to check for sure which signal it's using let me know. Maybe I should just try turning location off on my phone.

So what’s the consensus on 3.18? Is it the same as 1.22 with a different number stamped on it?

For those who had the old dongle and moved to the USB-C, I believe some came with 1.22 and some with 3.18.

For those with 1.22 on it, did you notice any differences coming from the old dongle with 1.22?

For those with 3.18, did you notice any differences coming from the old dongle with 1.22?

can anyone post some comments on the march update and perhaps a "shortlist" of the changes from january? it'd be great to figure out the differences software updates have on old vs new hardware as that would indicate hardware updates.

 

[bookemdano]

thank you for your reply here. had the dealer check and lo and behold there was indeed an update available which took care of the screen blanking out if reverse was selected. one issue remains on an otherwise great solution for wireless carplay- GPS inconsistency where it is slow to update and sometimes gets totally lost and places me as a blue dot (in waze) in the middle of nowhere. bookemdano seemed to suggest the march update helps with this:




can anyone post some comments on the march update and perhaps a "shortlist" of the changes from january? it'd be great to figure out the differences software updates have on old vs new hardware as that would indicate hardware updates.

Hopefully you get some other responses too, but I have found 20200304 to be the best firmware for me (granted I do not have access to 20200318 so I don't know how that compares). I've been running 20200304 since early March (I actually went a long time thinking that it was actually 20200307, but I digress...). Recently I tried the 20200306 firmware, but in the couple of days I ran it I found the GPS to be noticeably jumpier--my position would be stuck on the map and then all-of-a-sudden would jump forward and keep up for a while before getting stuck again. I do not have that problem with 20200304--at least not with any regularity.

One thing you can do that should help somewhat is put your phone out on the dash/console so it can "see" the sky. But I have found with firmware 20200304 I don't have to do that.

 

[AnClar]

Can one of the veterans here answer a question? Are the 3.04 and/or the 3.06 f/ws specific to the Carlinkit units, while the 1.22 is to the CPlay2Air? I'm a bit confused, especially given the fact that it's been discussed here that the Carlinkit units are supposed to be identical to the CPlay2Air ones. If I try a f/w check on my CPlay2Air box, it says that 1.22 is the latest version. That would imply to me that, if the boxes are identical, then there are either different update servers, or at least server directories, and some identifier in the h/w or the f/w so that the update servers know what box is querying it. Thanks.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Can one of the veterans here answer a question? Are the 3.04 and/or the 3.06 f/ws specific to the Carlinkit units, while the 1.22 is to the CPlay2Air? I'm a bit confused, especially given the fact that it's been discussed here that the Carlinkit units are supposed to be identical to the CPlay2Air ones. If I try a f/w check on my CPlay2Air box, it says that 1.22 is the latest version. That would imply to me that, if the boxes are identical, then there are either different update servers, or at least server directories, and some identifier in the h/w or the f/w so that the update servers know what box is querying it. Thanks.

The CarPlay2Air is a rebranded Carlinkit. They are the same thing. They run the same firmware and they go to the same URL to perform and check for updates. Same servers. Same exact firmware.

No one knows the differences in the official 1.22 latest firmware and the 3.xx versions that we find on there servers through trial and error and manually update to, at the expense of possibly bricking your unit. I did. There are no release notes. The folks here manually updated mostly because they were having issues. Some were solved, some new ones introduced or it didn’t make a difference.

 

[anthover]

Correct Carlinkit and C2Play air are the same for the non USB-C model. Mind you there may have been an earlier version of carlinkit and C2play air as former were described as 2.0 release in some of their literature.

As to best firmware as I noted above that may depend on your car's AV unit and version of IOS/phone. For me personally 1.22 January 22nd was good till it WAS NOT after an IOS update. GPS signal bonkers, skipping Audio etc. March 6 was not good either. ** March 4 aka 3.04 is great and I have basically zero complaints. Everything more or less works all the time and works very well. ***

Please stop saying official and non official and Jan 22 might be the same as one of the March ones, it is not. Carlinkit support gave out the URLs to download the March updates and then pulled them or lost them at some point. They do not tell us why. Perhaps a lead engineer got sick. Perhaps some particular use case found the march 4 or 6 update worse.

The only thing we can tell you is the update server at the moment only has Jan 22. And we have archived here March 4th and 6h. And since we know March 18 exists since some devices ship with it. Carlinkit support requests claims they will post updates at some point. They do take logs of problems etc. if your so inclined.

As i noted posted screen short earlier the updater server web page reads the firmware and reports to you back your loaded version and whether the updater server currently has an update.

If your current device works properly leave it alone. If it does not update to March 4 or March 6, though March 6 did not work well for me or Bookmdano. If you have March 18 and it does not work well you could I suppose try downgrading. One thing I have not tried is plugging my Carlinkit directly into my computer and see if I can get at the files that might be interesting to get a copy of say Match 18 if is never posted.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Please stop saying official and non official and Jan 22 might be the same as one of the March ones, it is not.

.

Was this directed at me? I never said 1.22 was the same as 3.18. I asked the question yesterday. In terms of nomenclature, official or non-official, I’m pretty sure Carlinkit calls 1.22 the latest firmware. It’s the version that is the latest for over the air and to the best of my knowledge 3.04 and 3.06 have been pulled from there servers, so 1.22 is it, officially. Potato Patato.

You can be the voice of this mega thread if you like. It’s “officially” all yours.

 

[shadowswan]

Purchased from Carlinkit 02.05.20 on AliExpress and arrived today with 3.18 on it.

I haven't had a v1 to compare to but I have opened it up to see what the processors are.

Photos bel

ow....
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[anthover]

Thanks for the Pics Shadowswan. Larry i meant no offense. There are 92 pages of information here. I was trying to help keep the information factually accurate (for all of our benefits because we are supporting each other more then vendor is supporting us). OTA updates check against the same download directories others have used to to manually download updates including the March ones. No one seems to know why they have "lost" or "pulled" March updates. I believe if I recall in this thread there had been February ones too. Maybe they had a server die or a software engineer get sic. We really do not know what happened. The software all literally has the exact same file name, only the download link by release date is different (once downloaded) you have to keep the firmware in different named by date folders to tell them apart unless you actually load the firmware. In fact that was what happened to BookemDano. He thought he had firmware from March 7 and when we both loaded it we realized it was March 4.

They obviously have a March 18 or new models could not come with it. Most companies keep all versions of firmware and software available because everyone had different needs.

Carlinkit does not exactly speak with one voice or post release notes. People have filed bug logs and received later a download link for a manual update. At one point OTA updates were not even possible all of them were manual downloads. At the moment the only useful purpose for the OTA is for someone updating pre 1.22 firmware or to check that you have successfully manually upgraded to a post 1.22 update. Were not aware of a way to get the on Carplay screen interface to confirm what version one has.

Multiple of had have posted of differences we saw between different versions of firmware, they act really differently and people of upgraded and downgraded as needed.