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CarPlay CarPlay adapter to convert to wireless CarPlay?

Shadowswan is that output include the directory structure of carlinkit device might be be possible to pull the firmware off device if the file system gets mounted on a mac or pc (assuming their is a version of interest).
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Hmm at least there being responsive. I wonder if they consider all the February and March releases "beta". Sigh. I find it hard to believe you can not downgrade to 3.04 or 1.22 if you wanted to. Are you within your return period? Did you buy it from somewhere with a good return policy? I can post 1.22 if you want it. I know 3.04 is already on this page and page 73 and 94
 
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anthover said:
Shadowswan is that output include the directory structure of carlinkit device might be be possible to pull the firmware off device if the file system gets mounted on a mac or pc (assuming their is a version of interest).
Click to expand...

I captured this with wire shark so didn’t have physical level access to the device.

it may be able to with test leads and a correct setup but my knowledge is running out at that point!
 
I have two USB-C units being delivered today. One I know has 1.22 on it and the other most likely will have 3.18. I plan to test the 3.18 one for a week or so and if it performs as well or better than 1.22, I would be happy to trade the 1.22 for a 3.18 for those having issues with 3.18 and can’t downgrade.
 
It sounds to me like the 3.18 version changes the location of the update server.

Carlinkit probably got annoyed that people found the secret ip link to the firmware and people randomly putting firmwares on that were not available OTA.

I think they’ve learned this and decided that they’ll change it to something more secure, and will issue one final update into the “old” location updating everyone’s devices to the “new” location.

Its what I would do if I were them....

no evidence of this obviously, but makes sense to me
 
alanplum said:
It sounds to me like the 3.18 version changes the location of the update server.
Click to expand...

Its a tricky call without an update being available but nothing points to that.

If you complete a check for update via the 192.168.50.2 it sends a command to that paplink.cn link and recieves the reply. My box is on 3.18 and sees the reply exactly the same as my browser.

Code: 
{"filePath":".\/download\/2020-01-22\/U2W_Update.img","fileSize":"5123518","fileName":"U2W_Update.img","version":"2020.01.22.2233","updateTime":"2020-01-22 22:54:23","updateLog":"Solve the problem that media information always freeze on dashboard\nSolve the problem that the navigation volume of some cars cannot be adjusted independently"}

This suggests to me that it isn't looking elsewhere.

It then checks that the box is online and activated and confirms this with the same paplink.cn server.
 
shadowswan said:
Its a tricky call without an update being available but nothing points to that.

If you complete a check for update via the 192.168.50.2 it sends a command to that paplink.cn link and recieves the reply. My box is on 3.18 and sees the reply exactly the same as my browser.

Code: 
{"filePath":".\/download\/2020-01-22\/U2W_Update.img","fileSize":"5123518","fileName":"U2W_Update.img","version":"2020.01.22.2233","updateTime":"2020-01-22 22:54:23","updateLog":"Solve the problem that media information always freeze on dashboard\nSolve the problem that the navigation volume of some cars cannot be adjusted independently"}

This suggests to me that it isn't looking elsewhere.

It then checks that the box is online and activated and confirms this with the same paplink.cn server.
Click to expand...
Blows my theory out of the water. 😀

Well done for the diagnosis.
 
Received the USB-C one today from Carlinkit China. Shipped on 4/17. To my surprise it wasn’t running 1.22 or 3.18, but something older than 1.22, so it updated to 1.22. I think this is a first for the new USB-C units in this thread.

The weren’t even for sale prior to January 22. This leads me to believe that the hardware or EPROM chip inside is exactly the same as the “old” unit and they used old stock to build it?

Dunno? But I swear it boots faster then the old one with 1.22 on it. So somethings got to be different. I wouldn’t think a USB-C connection has anything to do with it.

So I guess I can’t compare 3.18 to 1.22 as I hoped, but the good news is 1.22 works fine for me.
 
LarryJoe33 said:
Received the USB-C one today from Carlinkit China. Shipped on 4/17. To my surprise it wasn’t running 1.22 or 3.18, but something older than 1.22, so it updated to 1.22. I think this is a first for the new USB-C units in this thread.

The weren’t even for sale prior to January 22. This leads me to believe that the hardware or EPROM chip inside is exactly the same as the “old” unit and they used old stock to build it?

Dunno? But I swear it boots faster then the old one with 1.22 on it. So somethings got to be different. I wouldn’t think a USB-C connection has anything to do with it.

So I guess I can’t compare 3.18 to 1.22 as I hoped, but the good news is 1.22 works fine for me.
Click to expand...

I had this as well, posted a few days back but not sure what the original version was, just knew that I updated my USB-C once it arrived to 1.22. Do you know what the original was?
 
wolves said:
I had this as well, posted a few days back but not sure what the original version was, just knew that I updated my USB-C once it arrived to 1.22. Do you know what the original was?
Click to expand...

Thanks, good to know.

I don’t and I’m kicking myself for not looking on the car interface before I pressed upgrade on my phone. The upgrade interface on the phone doesn’t tell you what’s on it unless it’s current.
 
LarryJoe33 said:
Received the USB-C one today from Carlinkit China. Shipped on 4/17. To my surprise it wasn’t running 1.22 or 3.18, but something older than 1.22, so it updated to 1.22. I think this is a first for the new USB-C units in this thread.

The weren’t even for sale prior to January 22. This leads me to believe that the hardware or EPROM chip inside is exactly the same as the “old” unit and they used old stock to build it?

Dunno? But I swear it boots faster then the old one with 1.22 on it. So somethings got to be different. I wouldn’t think a USB-C connection has anything to do with it.

So I guess I can’t compare 3.18 to 1.22 as I hoped, but the good news is 1.22 works fine for me.
Click to expand...

Since you have both adapters, would you be willing to run a test with a stopwatch to measure the boot speed difference? Since both your adapters are on 1.22 and you'd be using them in the same vehicle it would be a pretty good comparison to see if the boot speed really does vary between the two (and maybe run the test a few times on each adapter to account for normal variation).
 
Yeah I think the hardware is more or less the same. And thus the USB-C one should be freely updatable to March updates as needed. Bookemdano can you diefine boot speed? There is the time it takes for the unit to show on AV screen display carplay etc. but before your phone is connected. The Carlinkit also goes though a sequence where it auto-connects to one or more phones. I find this 2nd step happenss quickly most of the time and other times Phone and Carlinkit do not want to play nice. I usually reboot my phone when this happens as no matter of choosing the phone from Car AV usually works. Most of the time if I blink i would miss the chance to choose between my wife and my phone.

As I have noted earlier when your near your house the hand shake between Carlinkit and Phone is sometimes impeded and you can be better of ignoring car play till your away from home. or you can also change your Iphone wifi home wifi networks settings to not automatically connect.
 
bookemdano said:
Since you have both adapters, would you be willing to run a test with a stopwatch to measure the boot speed difference? Since both your adapters are on 1.22 and you'd be using them in the same vehicle it would be a pretty good comparison to see if the boot speed really does vary between the two (and maybe run the test a few times on each adapter to account for normal variation).
Click to expand...

I think you are referring to the boot up time of the old and the new. Unfortunately, knowing I definitely had at least 1 USB-C coming this week, I sold the CP2A on eBay. Surprisingly, it sold a lot quicker than I thought with a lot of interest and a great price.

I get what you are saying with boot up time. A simple press of the start button on my car to the Apple screen time tests with both units a few times each would have been interesting. Pretty straight forward.

I used the CP2A for about 6 weeks. I will definitely know if the USB-C boot faster after a few days or maybe even today. I won’t have any proof, but I’ll know. I plugged it in last night to set it up and update it. Both boots were faster than the CP2A.

Murphy’s law. I buy a USB-C one from a member here because I’m impatient waiting for the one from China and they come the same day.

Anyway, I’m going to just enjoy the “new” one even if it’s the same as the old, I’ve had no issues so far to speak of. Connects every time, no issues with conflicts with my home WiFi which is very strong. I start the car in the garage each morning and it connects. I can’t remember the last time I actually had to unplug it. Another piece of good news is that the flat ribbon cable and USB-C adapter work with the new unit.
 
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One behavior that I have observed with the non USB-C version dongle that I have, is that when there are two phones paired to it, the carplay audio goes bongkers and start to stutter. It will connect flawlessly to the last phone connected and launch carplay, however, the second phone also connects wirelessly which I can confirm by checking the second phone's wifi connection.

I happen to observe this as there was this one time that I forgot to bring my personal phone [which was the only phone initially paired to the dongle] and was too lazy to get out of the car to get it, so I just paired my work phone and drove out. The next day, having two phones with me, went in the car, carplay launched from the work phone as expected, but when my waze navigation stated to talk, it was stuttering.

Tried to figureOut what was causing it and thats when I saw on my personal phone that it was also connected to the dongle's wifi even though my work phone was projecting carplay to my headunit. Deleting the work phone from the dongle and the dongle's BT name from the work phone fixed the issue.


Cheers!
 
phantom25 said:
One behavior that I have observed with the non USB-C version dongle that I have, is that when there are two phones paired to it, the carplay audio goes bongkers and start to stutter. It will connect flawlessly to the last phone connected and launch carplay, however, the second phone also connects wirelessly which I can confirm by checking the second phone's wifi connection.

I happen to observe this as there was this one time that I forgot to bring my personal phone [which was the only phone initially paired to the dongle] and was too lazy to get out of the car to get it, so I just paired my work phone and drove out. The next day, having two phones with me, went in the car, carplay launched from the work phone as expected, but when my waze navigation stated to talk, it was stuttering.

Tried to figureOut what was causing it and thats when I saw on my personal phone that it was also connected to the dongle's wifi even though my work phone was projecting carplay to my headunit. Deleting the work phone from the dongle and the dongle's BT name from the work phone fixed the issue.


Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. I only have one phone paired but I can imagine this unit being confused easily. I have one phone and I’m the only driver of my car, so no need to pair my GFs phone or others.

I will say this, Waze is notoriously buggy with CarPlay in general.
 
I'm using CP2A for more then 2 months and 2 phones are working more or less correctly: in some rare case I need to disconnect/connect USB dongle.
Issue I discovered is problem with my touch screen when I need to administer CP2A dongle. I can't select which phone I want to connect to neither delete any ot them from CP2A because touch screen is not responding. It is not possible to go back to Ford menu nor to choose another language. Ones when CarPlay is working I have full response from touch screen but not before that. Obviously, there is no problem with touch screen in my car because everywhere else except on CP2A screen. My car is Ford C-max 2017 with Sync3 3.0 latest available infotainment SW available. It looks to me that CP2A doesn't consider there are only touch screen used to control CP2A.
I contacted CP2A support and after their request I upload my log file from USB dongle to their server. I got reply from them with answer about upgrade which will be available soon. I hope with fix for my problem.
Does anybody discover something similar in your cars?

Regards//
 
manjinjorgo said:
I'm using CP2A for more then 2 months and 2 phones are working more or less correctly: in some rare case I need to disconnect/connect USB dongle.
Issue I discovered is problem with my touch screen when I need to administer CP2A dongle. I can't select which phone I want to connect to neither delete any ot them from CP2A because touch screen is not responding. It is not possible to go back to Ford menu nor to choose another language. Ones when CarPlay is working I have full response from touch screen but not before that. Obviously, there is no problem with touch screen in my car because everywhere else except on CP2A screen. My car is Ford C-max 2017 with Sync3 3.0 latest available infotainment SW available. It looks to me that CP2A doesn't consider there are only touch screen used to control CP2A.
I contacted CP2A support and after their request I upload my log file from USB dongle to their server. I got reply from them with answer about upgrade which will be available soon. I hope with fix for my problem.
Does anybody discover something similar in your cars?

Regards//
Click to expand...
So just to be clear, on the CP2A boot screen, you can't hit the home button on the lower left? Also, within Apple CarPlay, you don't have a Ford icon to go back to the Ford system? On my Maserati, I have a Maserati button that takes me out of CarPlay.


Early Results and Observations (20 minute drive to work): So on my USB-C unit which replaced my CP2A both running 1.22, boot time is definitely faster and skipping tracks both with steering wheel and screen is MUCH faster, almost instantaneous and damn close to wired CarPlay. I'd say this is a given even though it was only a 20 minute drive, but I skipped songs about 20 times to test. The screen changes immediately and the tack audio is right with it. I also did not notice any song audio drops or skips, but this was super random and split second, so I will reserve this win for more testing.

There is definitely something different about the USB-C 2.0 version.

I've got the other USB-C dongle on ebay, but if anyone is interested, PM me and I'll give you a fair price and ship ASAP. In box with everything.
 
I can go back to Ford screen from CarPlay (by pressing Ford icon in wired/wireless CarPlay) but not from CP2A boot screen.
I can't do anything from boot screen but, in my opinion, there I should be able to choose which phone I want to use for wireless CarPlay (if you have more then one previously registered) or delete phone(s) from CP2A.
Home icon on lower left of CP2A boot screen should be icon to go back to car infotainment system in case none of registered phones are in range of CP2A. In my case, if there is no phone to connect to CP2A, only option is to disconnect USB dongle from USB port. Otherwise, I will have CP2A boot screen until I switch off the car engine.
 
manjinjorgo said:
I can go back to Ford screen from CarPlay (by pressing Ford icon in wired/wireless CarPlay) but not from CP2A boot screen.
I can't do anything from boot screen but, in my opinion, there I should be able to choose which phone I want to use for wireless CarPlay (if you have more then one previously registered) or delete phone(s) from CP2A.
Home icon on lower left of CP2A boot screen should be icon to go back to car infotainment system in case none of registered phones are in range of CP2A. In my case, if there is no phone to connect to CP2A, only option is to disconnect USB dongle from USB port. Otherwise, I will have CP2A boot screen until I switch off the car engine.
Click to expand...
Ah, got it. What firmware are you running?
 
I contact CP2A support and they mentioned factory reset but there is no any hidden button to do it. There is procedure on boot screen but since I don't have any response from boot screen, I can't make factory reset.
Luckily, I found that last connected phone will be reconnect to CP2A and, if you want to connect other phone, you need to establish bluetooth connection on that iPhone wich is not connected (Settings->Bluetooth->SYNC-9146->Connect). Please note that CP2A name vary from car to car and can't be changed. In my case is SYNC-9146.
 
manjinjorgo said:
...
Issue I discovered is problem with my touch screen when I need to administer CP2A dongle. I can't select which phone I want to connect to neither delete any ot them from CP2A because touch screen is not responding. It is not possible to go back to Ford menu nor to choose another language. Ones when CarPlay is working I have full response from touch screen but not before that. Obviously, there is no problem with touch screen in my car because everywhere else except on CP2A screen. My car is Ford C-max 2017 with Sync3 3.0 latest available infotainment SW available. It looks to me that CP2A doesn't consider there are only touch screen used to control CP2A.
...
Does anybody discover something similar in your cars?

Regards//
Click to expand...

Hi,
I have a Ford Mondeo 2019. I have exactly the same problem. When I don't have any phone in the car, you are kind of stuck in this boot screen with the little house in the lower left corner. But you don't have to unplug. Just hit the on/off button on the volume control, then you are back in the cars Sync 3 Screen and can control your Radio. Choosing any of the registered phones by touch doesn't work either, neither touching the little house. Hope a new firmware will fix this. Would like to delete an old phone somehow from this view.
 
anthover said:
Yeah I think the hardware is more or less the same. And thus the USB-C one should be freely updatable to March updates as needed. Bookemdano can you diefine boot speed? There is the time it takes for the unit to show on AV screen display carplay etc. but before your phone is connected. The Carlinkit also goes though a sequence where it auto-connects to one or more phones. I find this 2nd step happenss quickly most of the time and other times Phone and Carlinkit do not want to play nice. I usually reboot my phone when this happens as no matter of choosing the phone from Car AV usually works. Most of the time if I blink i would miss the chance to choose between my wife and my phone.

As I have noted earlier when your near your house the hand shake between Carlinkit and Phone is sometimes impeded and you can be better of ignoring car play till your away from home. or you can also change your Iphone wifi home wifi networks settings to not automatically connect.
Click to expand...

YOU CAN NOT DO A MANUAL UPDATE OR DOWNGRADE TO THE USB-c adapter. I bought one that came with 3-18-20 for my second truck. 3-18-20 didn’t work well it would start shuttering the sound after a few minutes or so. I did the manual down grade to 3-6-20 as that one works great on my work truck using a Carplay2air adapter and bricked the new USB-c dongle. Per messages with Carlinkit it’s not possible to manually update or down grade firmware on USB-c it’s now stuck in needs activation and will not activate with the user names and passwords Carlinkit provided.
 
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2018 Denali said:
YOU CAN NOT DO A MANUAL UPDATE OR DOWNGRADE TO THE USB-c adapter. I bought one that came with 3-18-20 for my second truck. 3-18-20 didn’t work well it would start shuttering the sound after minutes or so. I did the manual down grade to 3-6-20 as that one works great on my work truck and bricked the new USB-c dongle. Per messages with Carlinkit it’s not possible to manually update or down grade firmware on USB-c it’s now stuck in needs activation and will not activate with the user names and passwords Carlinkit provided.
Click to expand...

Good to know and very useful information. I guess I’m lucky that both my USB-Cs came with 1.22. All good here. I bricked my first dongle tying to manually update it. Never again, too many variables with thumb drive size and formatting. Luckily it was Amazon Prime. I'm starting to think 1.22 is it for the company. It probably works for most of the cars on their list and they don't want to deal with messing up the majority and having a working product for that majority. The days are over where they give you instructions on manually updating. Too many returned bricks.
 
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manjinjorgo said:
I'm using CP2A for more then 2 months and 2 phones are working more or less correctly: in some rare case I need to disconnect/connect USB dongle.
Issue I discovered is problem with my touch screen when I need to administer CP2A dongle. I can't select which phone I want to connect to neither delete any ot them from CP2A because touch screen is not responding. It is not possible to go back to Ford menu nor to choose another language. Ones when CarPlay is working I have full response from touch screen but not before that. Obviously, there is no problem with touch screen in my car because everywhere else except on CP2A screen. My car is Ford C-max 2017 with Sync3 3.0 latest available infotainment SW available. It looks to me that CP2A doesn't consider there are only touch screen used to control CP2A.
I contacted CP2A support and after their request I upload my log file from USB dongle to their server. I got reply from them with answer about upgrade which will be available soon. I hope with fix for my problem.
Does anybody discover something similar in your cars?

Regards//
Click to expand...

Cool to see another C-Max owner. I have the exact same car as you (also on the latest Sync). I do not have two phones, however. I do remember that in early firmwares the little "Home" button on the Carlinkit screen wouldn't work, but that has been working fine for me with the 3.04 firmware.

Your adapter is the old-style hardware right? With the permanently attached USB cable? I think all the Carplay2Air adapters are the old style, but just want to make sure. If so then you may want to try manually upgrading the firmware to the 20200304 version to see if it helps. If you go back a few pages in this thread someone linked to it.

Per the above post from 2018 Denali, if you have the newer-style adapter with the detachable cable don't try to manually upgrade the firmware.
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2018 Denali said:
YOU CAN NOT DO A MANUAL UPDATE OR DOWNGRADE TO THE USB-c adapter. I bought one that came with 3-18-20 for my second truck. 3-18-20 didn’t work well it would start shuttering the sound after a few minutes or so. I did the manual down grade to 3-6-20 as that one works great on my work truck using a Carplay2air adapter and bricked the new USB-c dongle. Per messages with Carlinkit it’s not possible to manually update or down grade firmware on USB-c it’s now stuck in needs activation and will not activate with the user names and passwords Carlinkit provided.
Click to expand...

Ah, that probably explains why they removed all the firmware links from the http site. The activation process was intended to be for the older hardware (purchased in 2019) when first upgrading to the 2.x next-gen firmware. Previously it was an automated process but since late January the server is down or just not working properly. I had to activate my adapter manually via their support. They had me generate a log file and send it in along with the make and model of my vehicle. Then they replied with a unique "Account" and Password, along with an instruction to add 9999 after the date in batch field. Once I did that, it activated no problem. Hopefully they can figure out why yours isn't activating.
 
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