Aftermarket GPS for ZRE

[u54mot]

Mine arrived today and fitted it this arvo.

Perfect fit.

This is Toyota "AURIS" unit #QL-ARS728 not the Corolla sedan unit.

Seems quite good so far. Comes with IGo GPS software but can take TomTom,PolNav and others.

Any one know how to get the steering wheel buttons to enter in the setup? Ive found the steering wheel set up, and the buttons are showing the input voltage, just cant lock them in...

Oooh....ahhhh....that looks good, i'm gonna hit the buy button soon...which supplier did you get it from? Did you get a reverse camera?

Installation was straight forward?

[dutchie101]

Pretty sexy huh?

Ended up getting the sedan one i got on ebay swapped (luckily he hadnt sent it yet). Seller was Auotland. Much the same price as the one in the link you put up. Thats the one i reffed to get him to swap over. He did forget to include the DBTV antenna tho, ive emailed him about it. Also, for normal TV, there is a small antenna, i have no where to put it and ive just got it under the dash for now, but its not picking up signal. I would just get it from the place you linked.

Re fittment, easy as. Remove silver console edges, pull out the air cond outlet, unscrew the HU, unscrew the brackets off the factory HU, screw em on to the GPS unit, clip in your plugs/harness, GPS and TV antenna, run the USB down the passenger side and into the lower glovebox. I double sided the GPS antenna under the top of my ZR air condish outlet, the one in the center of the dash. It fits nicely between the two top outlets toward the front of the car. Seems fine there.

Alll goood so far

:)

[u54mot]

Any one know how to get the steering wheel buttons to enter in the setup? Ive found the steering wheel set up, and the buttons are showing the input voltage, just cant lock them in...

Whoops i forgot to reply to this bit....i think the software would be somewhat similar to the one in the Aurion/Camry

so go to this thread: Another Head Unit i think it's on that page somewhere and might help. One person had the same problem and was able to fix it.

Good luck!

Post more pictures soon!

When i get one, i'll post some pictures too!

[dutchie101]

Bigger pic:

So looks like i may have to actually input the values for the steering buttons... Ill check it out in the morn, its freezing outside tonight!

Thanks

[Ascendant Rice]

Bigger pic:

So looks like i may have to actually input the values for the steering buttons... Ill check it out in the morn, its freezing outside tonight!

Thanks

yo dutchie does this unit have AUX and USB input?

[dutchie101]

Yep, USB slot and extension cable out the back of the unit,easily reaches to the lower glove box. Ipod doobie as well. RCA in/outs too, see pic of rear of the unit:

Hope that helps.

GPS nav seems reasonably good, iGO v8, last update aug 09. Menu's arnt too bad (GPS menus are great). I haven't found too much in the way of cracked/hacked maps, ive found one site but haven't really looked into it, think that had Polnav software.. Im sure there are plenty out there. Thats another thing i like about this "open" unit, the ability to use many types of GPS software.

Got steering wheel buttons assigned today. Pretty easy once i worked it out. If anyone cant work it out PM me.

So, for a budget GPS unit, i think its pretty good. Its not perfect, but for 1/6th of the price of the Toyota unit, i can easily put up with a few glitches here and there. Sound quality is 'bout the same as the OEM one, Im sure the RCA outs would yield better quality.

I haven't managed to get any digital TV signal yet tho, i opted for the DVT tuner. The tiny aerial needs to be up on the dash somewhere maybe... its currently jammed under the dash.

+ OH YEAH, REMEMBER TO EJECT ALL YOUR CDs FROM YOUR OEM HU BEFORE REMOVING IT NOW I HAVE TO FIND THE PIN OUT AND POWER IT UP TO GET THEM ALL OUT!! :(

[dutchie101]

For those interested, iGO GPS software can be tweaked, skins etc and splash screens changed.

See DJKOR's thread here : iGo splash screen

My splash screen:

More tweaks:

Update R17 Australian map Linky (need to register to see link)

Terrain - Australia Linky (need to untick all other stuff you dont need. This may not be the most recent terrain map but its a good start, its in :iGO 2008/iGO8/defaults/content/dem/australia.dem)

Let me know if your not allowed to post d/l sources.. ill delete these links.

[u54mot]

Hey Dutchie,

I've got an annoying 'Drive Safely' box stuck in the middle of the screen.....i was playing with the settings and then it came up and now it's always there stuck in the middle of the GPS screen, Audio screen....every screen except Menu screen.....have you come across this?

I will keep looking at the settings....otherwise everything works well....

Thanks to you, for purchasing it first....otherwise i may never have taken the leap.

Now just gotta see how i can hook up the reverse camera, if ever.

Edit:

+ OH YEAH, REMEMBER TO EJECT ALL YOUR CDs FROM YOUR OEM HU BEFORE REMOVING IT NOW I HAVE TO FIND THE PIN OUT AND POWER IT UP TO GET THEM ALL OUT!! :(

I kept this quote in my head and......

I remembered! Thanks!

Edited July 6, 2010 by u54mot

[dutchie101]

Hmmm, havent come across that yet, I would say it will be the park brake or hand brake in the auto-detect settings part. I recon you have turned on that emergency/park/handbrake setting, and as its probably not hooked up (mine certainly isnt), the unit thinks that you need to pull the brake up in order to clear the screen. This is normally a legal/safety requirement for lots of countries. They are not allowed to operate the GPS unit without the hand brake on/up. I recon its in there somewhere :)

PS, put the terrain maps in the SD card too, man it looks hella better! Oh and update that map wit R17. Be sure to backup twice before you start playing, then back up in a separate file with each mod you make.

:( My cds are still in the OEM HU. Gotta find that pinout..

[u54mot]

Hmmm, havent come across that yet, I would say it will be the park brake or hand brake in the auto-detect settings part. I recon you have turned on that emergency/park/handbrake setting, and as its probably not hooked up (mine certainly isnt), the unit thinks that you need to pull the brake up in order to clear the screen. This is normally a legal/safety requirement for lots of countries. They are not allowed to operate the GPS unit without the hand brake on/up. I recon its in there somewhere :)

Thanks for that...it was the Brake thingy in the Auto Detect Settings.

Another question, does your audio play while in GPS mode?

I'll get around to downloading R17 soon.

[u54mot]

Here is a different picture to Dutchie's....oohhh Red Hazard Switch....after looking at it...i think Black looks a lot better!

[dutchie101]

Ahhhhhhh :) It took me a week to work out how to bloody get 2-zone working with the NAVI running. Man i was getting well sh*tty! As you would know, its almost impossible to bring up the blue menu up top and selections down the bottom while in NAVI mode. In the upper top left area of the screen when full map page is up, tap just above the binoculars. You should bring up the blue menu with that tap. Then tap 2-Zone, and the input you want to hear your audio from. Ie hit 2-zone, then USB, CARD or whatever, you shall then hear glorious music from your selected source! There are also simple track skip etc buttons on the lower area to the right.

Give that a go! If you cant get it to work and need pics ill take em tomorrow morn.

Ohhh this part caused me soo much pain till i worked it out. The instructions are all but useless!

Ps, dont forget to remove that protective film off the screen, its just for shipping. I think i can see it on still

[u54mot]

Ahhhhhhh :) It took me a week to work out how to bloody get 2-zone working with the NAVI running. Man i was getting well sh*tty! As you would know, its almost impossible to bring up the blue menu up top and selections down the bottom while in NAVI mode. In the upper top left area of the screen when full map page is up, tap just above the binoculars. You should bring up the blue menu with that tap. Then tap 2-Zone, and the input you want to hear your audio from. Ie hit 2-zone, then USB, CARD or whatever, you shall then hear glorious music from your selected source! There are also simple track skip etc buttons on the lower area to the right.

Thanks for that! I'll give it a go.

Ps, dont forget to remove that protective film off the screen, its just for shipping. I think i can see it on still

Haha, yeah it is still on there....i'll let someone else pull it off.

[Whitey1212]

Hey all, my GPS arrived today. I love it, except for the fact that it didn't come with an SD card, and therefore any maps.

The rapidshare links all seem to be down. Does anybody mind uploading their sd card somewhere? :D

[dutchie101]

Heya Whitey, wasnt it supposed to come with the SD and maps? Have you contacted the seller?

Heres mine (with TRD splash screen, R17 update and terrain)310Mb - backup purpose only!

jeebus that took about 2 hours to upload!

[Whitey1212]

Dutchie, you're awesome! I owe you one :D

I actually got it going last night but I didn't have the terrain that you mentioned. What does it add to it?

I bought it from autodvdshop - or whatever it's called - and it makes no mention of an SD card.

[dutchie101]

No prob man, glad to help.

So you got GPS to work without the SD card? How did you manage that?

Terrain make nice shades and topical variations, ie hills, parklands, land contours ect. The maps look far better with it :)

I think from that site you have to buy the SD card with map in the accessories area of the store.

[Whitey1212]

No prob man, glad to help.

So you got GPS to work without the SD card? How did you manage that?

Terrain make nice shades and topical variations, ie hills, parklands, land contours ect. The maps look far better with it :)

I think from that site you have to buy the SD card with map in the accessories area of the store.

Nah, I had an SD card from an another unit. Just didn't have any maps to suit this higher resolution screen. The other screen was 480x234 and this one is 800x480 - much much much better! I found the software online and then had to fiddle with the sys.txt file to get it going. I couldn't find maps that would work with it, though. Every time I loaded up it would say maps out of date. Eventually I found some and got it going. I'll definitely be putting these on there tonight though :)

How long does your unit take to find a GPS lock? Mine didn't lock at all in the 5minute drive to the station whereas my old one was always inside a minute. I did notice (afterwards), however, that in the instructions it says to peel off the sticker on the back of the GPS antenna and stick it to some metal on the car. I didn't do that - I just taped in between the air con vents. How did you attach yours?

[dutchie101]

Heya Whitey,

Just unzip the file and copy the whole thing to your blanked SD card. Its all ready to go.

GPS lock is weird. I double sided it to the same spot, i didnt peel off that sticker either. It seemed like a foil sticker and was a bit scared to do so! Its a tiny GPS receiver tho, maybe a larger unit would help? or is it the position we have it in? Sometimes lock takes it a min or two, never more than 4 min. I guess its the priority that the GPS receiver gets as the signals are bounced down. I find if your just in and out of the car, the signal stays strong and lock doesnt take long at all. On fresh start ups, can be up to 4 min. Not sure why, but im used to it now. Like i said, there are a few glitches with the unit, but nothing that im too stressed over. For the price its a great little unit. The lock lag could also bee software problem but i havent asked any questions re that.

[Whitey1212]

I've spent the past little bit making up a Corolla image for the GPS.

I couldn't find any Corolla text images or vectors large enough for the 800x480 image so I've spent the past 2 hours here at work ( :P ) blowing up a tiny one and tidying up the jagged edges that resulted.

I'll finish the rest of it on the train or once I get home.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5/imag0076df.jpg

I've got another tiny graphic that has the new 'Corolla' style writing. It'll take me a bit longer since it was a smaller image to begin with - so I did the older style one first.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Whitey1212

[u54mot]

GPS receiver placement:

There is a metal cylindrical pipe running behind the speedometer cluster, i mounted it on top of it with the magnetic part pointing down

I too left that silver foil sticker on the GPS receiver. It seems to be receiving, and locking ok haven't timed it but doesn't seem to be 4 minutes. But i haven't driven the vehicle much, as the vehicle isn't mine.

I've spent the past little bit making up a Corolla image for the GPS.

Looking good.

[dutchie101]

Well, i was getting sick of having to hit the map button every boot up to get to the map screen. I asked around at a few tech sites how to boot straight to map instead of nav menu, tried all matter of things then eventually found this:

Start iGo8 with map

"This works just fine - I use it: data.zip\ui_igo8\common\ui (see attachment), replace the start.ui file after opening the zip.

Only works with the default Igo skin and no others though. ==> reported to work with Kikker skin "

- by chas521, ********.com

Works a treat!!

start.ui.zip

[u54mot]

FYI: The unit is currently listed at AUD$403.20 (USD$360) @ Auris GPS

[barraspalding]

So dutchy you still happy with this head unit??? really thinkin about changin the stock unit over... the bluetooth is fkn useless > no body can hear what i'm saying until i start yelling.

[dutchie101]

Yeah Barra, still happy. Hasnt crapped itself yet! :D Occasional freak out with the auto dimming on the screen, but overall, for the price still a great little unit.

Easy to update with plenty of free (ah-hem) maps about the place, customizable interfaces around the place too.