My Stereo Upgrade - Aurion Touring

[DanielFi]

I got the news this morning that my heat unit was arriving, so I stripped down the appropriate plastic and removed the stereo, then waited for 4 hours for the delivery to actually arrive, with the car apart.

I bought prior to install the 'better' 4gb ram 64 gb rom android 10 head unit gps, bluetooth wifi mirroring etc. And I got a Aeropro cable for the reversing stock reversing camera. I was a bit annoyed this morning when the package was opened and the cable was in two not one pieces. Anyway it was never required or would even plug into the harness of my vehicle. Don't waste your money on a "APVTY04" factory camera to aftermarket video adapter.

This is my stock setup as it was this morning. The model of stock stereo, and rear connector of in which only three plugs from the car plus antenna were connected.

 

[DanielFi]

The new unit was then physically mated to the climate control and then wired up, it was fairly easy apart from the reversing camera, pulling out plastic running the wire from rear to front. The new unit had three harnesses to choose from to use. One to ISO , and two others, one I used as it fitted most of the plugs to the wiring in the vehicle.

the steering wheel controls work, after setting and so does the new reverse camera

 

[DanielFi]

One problem is that the google play is not allowing me to log in as it throws an error, will try to fix tomorrow, if not will email the supplier for fix. The radio is clear and the bluetooth connected to my phone though have not made a call yet. It looks better but will see if it lasts. Dan..

[L4WL3SS]

Looks good mate 👍

[donnot]

Looks great - I have the 2/32GB version with a painfully slow CPU, so hopefully that's a bit faster! If you have an Android phone that supports Android Auto, I'd definitely recommend using Headunit Reloaded: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=en&id=gb.xxy.hr . Don't need any fancy adapters - just a USB cable to your phone for full Android Auto. I used it for a few months before switching to iOS. 

As for Google Play login issues - try and keep the unit booted up and connected to WiFi for a good 1/2 hour. It may be running an old version of Google Play/Google Play Services, and will automatically download/update them in the background. 

[DanielFi]

Thank you Luke for that info, I attempted this and then emailed the seller, he may provide a firmware upgrade as he has indicated. The wifi was connected for 40 minutes to my home wifi with the car in the driveway and it still did not update apps on google play. I had to disable the home wifi connection and tether my mobile internet to the head unit to get progress on the updating. 

Yes my unit is a octo core although it still takes it time booting up, and if you reverse the car before it boots the head unit resets. Very frustrating.

Thanks for all the great comments / responses  to my 'upgrade'

Dan.

[Tony Prodigy]

Nice work Daniel. I have to say I am impressed how nice it looks. Big improvement over stock for sure. You just have to get used to the quirky software on these aftermarket units. Good to see that everything hooked up easily enough and working well. 

Thanks for the photos too. it's always nice to see what others are doing rather than try to explain it.

[KAA]

Great Job Daniel, and as you have posted we know "She Who Must Be Obeyed" didn't freak out on you LOL..Tech is always a learning curve and issues with firmware can be a total pain so I hope the supplier does have a fix for you and fast as nothing worse than a new toy and not being able to play with it

Let us know how it goes mate

KAA

[Hush]

Funny enough my hopefully up-grade stereo panel arrived today, I have same set-up as you. I am of two minds whether to try to install it myself or have it done professionally. I have watched all the Youtube videos on swapping the heads over but it is still quite daunting to pull my Aurion apart. Possibly the pros will be so annoyed that I bought something from China that they may refuse to fit it lol. 

[KAA]

I doubt any will complain about fitting it for your hard earned money Rick, they may try to tell you oh it wont do this or wont do that and try to get you too spend more money, I personally didn't want an issue with the wiring and wanted all steering controls to function so went with an expert fitting service. I also watched a lot of You tube videos on fitting and decided nope not for me, I used to be able to fit a lot of stuff in the days when cars had fewer wires that could burn out if fitted wrong but with all the computer set ups and being a Presara I spent the money and not had an issue since.

Let us know what you decide and how it went Rick

KAA

[DanielFi]

Hi Rick that unit looks nearly identical to mine,  as in my post the unit arrived with three wiring harnesses, that is from the unit to my cars wiring, I chose the one that had most of the correct connections, steering wheel controls work from this wiring, just need programming from when the unit has powered up and inside a setting menu.

You can do this yourself following online guides, beware of scratching the plastics and use a softer plastic knife or utensil to prise out certain fittings, 10mm socket and your there. 

Rick what spec is your unit Gb of ram and rom?

I also used the stock car antenna straight to the new unit as all three wiring harnesses had an antenna going into the new unit, this I did not use. Also about two plugs never got hooked up from the car wiring to the stereo, one must have been the stock reverse camera the other is any ones  guess. I did it all that with the positive unhooked from the battery. 

Personally I was not satisfied with the glitchy software on my chinese Rockchip device, along with after research the os was fake android 10 and actually android 9, so I paid a bloke on a forum for his full version for my unit (research required on the forum he is on) which for mods of software payment is not normal for myself as I have a modded software Samsung galaxy mobile phone done for my time only.  Website if this is allowed for the mod on my unit is :     

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-px6-stm32-9-0-malaysk-rom-for-px6-mcu-stm32-rk3399-with-android-9.4111653/

These 'roms' are unit specific so I would not do this unless you know your units specs exactly, you can brick the unit, though in saying this its well worth the money and time for a workable software option. With a lot more features. I have no affiliation with the author of this software. There is a free lite version that is good but not as good as the full. 

 

[Hush]

I'm really only refitting the new unit as the old one has those expensive to upgrade maps, I'm not too worried about much as long as the backing camera works and the maps are the type Google have as that is what I am used to. My older Aurion is just my retirement car (get me to retirement I mean) so it only has to do 19 more months of service for me. I fell in love with my last Aurion that got lost in a flood, this one is slightly newer but not as pretty, has less K's but has had a harder life. In the first week I had it I had to fit new front rotors and pads, swapped the mags and all the nicer things across from the flooded car. The Aurion is a brilliant large family car with an amazing turn of speed, I do long K's to work and back so she is an ideal work horse.

[DanielFi]

Honestly Rick, I reckon you could have a good go yourself, although with my unit the stock reversing camera was not compatible with my head unit, the supplier included a replacement one, if you want the stock one take it in to be professionally installed as the stock camera works at a lower voltage, around 6 volts not 12 volts required to trigger the reverse cam on the new unit. I seem to be contradicting myself again, its totally up to you what happens, just saying its not rocket science or brain surgery.

[Hush]

Went to the stereo shop today and there is a wait of 2 months to get in to get them to do it so will have a look myself, one thing worries me, in the above photos what is that light blue coloured thing attached to the back of the face plate? I expected to be attaching my new face plate to the rear section of my original stereo?

[DanielFi]

Hey Rick, the light blue effect is the surround of the unit cooling (heat sink), see the larger grooves in the upper edges, the unit is alot smaller than the screen, only protruding into the cars recess nearly half or less of what came out ( the old head unit ).  This part of the new unit is the brain behind the screen and the connector for the wiring harness to go to the car, including on mine, usb connectors that go through to the glove box, gps antenna, which I hid under my dash mat, cable coming out above the air vent.  And all the connectors for power steering wheel control etc going to the vehicles wiring. 

 From what I see of your new unit it includes the facia around the screen, after unbolting the old unit from the frame it sits in the new unit slots in sideways firmly to align with the a/c controls . In this picture this has already been done, note the antenna from the vehicle has not been connected yet as it was shorter, and do not forget to plug back in the a/c control plug before stitching  it all up again.

[Hush]

Cheers Daniel, I decided to have a good old Kiwi crack at it, I may be 63 but I can do most wiring stuff. Anyhow the replacement unit is about 1/4 the weight of the old one. I am a bit confused by all the extra wiring, I may just hook it all up and leave what dos not need hooking up tied up behind the head unit. I note some are tagged as "sub woofer" and "video out" and I don't have any flash stereo equipment on this car just a regular radio lol. Not seeing that blue thing I thought I was missing half the unit mate. Oh yeah where does that tiny blue bulb go? It has a tag on it saying BACK?

[DanielFi]

Well done Rick, your almost there, I was the same with a lot of sub out connectors also unattached, the blue bulb? I am not sure of, it is not obvious in the picture, I do remember that one was reverse ( yours may be back) which I put in another earth to chassis, attached to an crimp able  fitting with a hole in it for a bolt to go though, this earth was then bolted back in with the stereo (10mm bolts) with this you then can watch movies as you are driving otherwise properly its connected to the foot brake and won't let you watch a lot of stuff because you are not stationary with the vehicle. 

I think that's what you mean by the blue bulb, but if its a bulb not a reverse wire to be put to negative or chassis then it may be a wireless or blue tooth module antenna.?

Can you circle the blue bulb please Rick.

Edited February 26, 2021 by DanielFi

[DanielFi]

I just noticed that the antenna for the radio is hooked up from the wiring, I did not do this and the plug went from the car to the unit directly, as you know your gps antenna needs to connect and be firm on the fitting.

Good job Rick.

[Hush]

Oh yeah I just plugged the car radio aerial in to see where it went. Not sure about this little blue bulb thing, it looks like a bulb?

[DanielFi]

Hi Rick, looks like a antenna for wifi or blue tooth, do not earth it to chassis as I presumed it may have to be, I was forgetful in my analysis, the parking brake or brake labelled wire should be grounded to chassis  for more functionality, normally a pink wire.

I would leave it alone, should be o.k.

[Hush]

OK so I think I have most things hooked up correctly, I had to bodge the aerial connection as the new unit had a longer each and I couldn't get a decent earth (which I thought was the reason i couldn't get any radio) and now I have GPS which can't find anything but seems to think it is in Israel, I think this may be because I am in my own back yard and not on a road it recognises. I can't get any radio reception at all, in fact I can't find where to look for any radio stations? All I have is the 4 preloaded tracks which work and prove the speakers are hooked up anyway. I wasn't sure what to do with the USB input wires so I connected them to the unit and ran them down the passenger side just in case I have to connect to them later.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Hush

[DanielFi]

google play and maps will have to updated to work, for the gps that is also,  mobile hotspot the better method if possible, it needs to connect to the internet. 

Radio I am unsure, did the unit come with a manual with instructions for using the units operating system?

Can you scroll down from the top - swipe down, there is a warning from the unit a explanation marked triangle, it should tell you what the error is

Edited February 27, 2021 by DanielFi

[Hush]

OK most of it was user error, i had it all hooked up OK but didn't realise I had to swipe the screen lol, I was viewing a Utube video and I noticed the guy swipe the screen, and I'm going "what did he just do"? Anyhow back to the car and found mine worked the same, radio works, GPS may need to upload, backing camera which I have never used anyway fails to work as did the steering wheel controls but some of that could be settings I haven't got to yet. Cheers for your help.

[Hush]

So radio in and happy with the look but still no backing camera and I know it works cos it did on the old stereo, I am having issues finding the correct wire to hook it up. GPS/Navigation is still not a go, I will need to sort that.

[KAA]

It fills the gap nicely mate, must be annoying fiddling with wires to find the right one though. I am sure eventually you will sort the camera and the gps out so all will function correctly, I know from experience how annoying wiring can be but patience and time will sort it out

Keep us up too date on things but it does look good, and a nice clear display

KAA