CarPlay CarPlay adapter to convert to wireless CarPlay?

[mikejd1]

I'm quite disappointed with Carplay2Air. Got the dongle last week and tried to use it yesterday. Can't even get the Bluetooth peer to show on my iPhone. Nothing. Dead. The red LED comes up, stays one for a while and then turns off. After a few seconds it comes on again and the cycle repeats.

Anyone has seen this behavior? Any ideas? Anyone know how to do a "reset" on these things?

I tried plugging it on my Mac and it shows as an iPhone on the "System Information". The red LED is on all the times. Showing as an iPhone is expected. But Bluetooth does not start under this condition.

I tried contacting the seller (that is in China) twice and got no response. I will give it a try once again tonight. If I receive no response, I will dispute the charges with my credit card company too.

Haven’t heard or seen this behavior. I’ve disputed my charges officially. Even though my unit works 95% of the time the seller lack of response with fixes and updates is a deal breaker for me. Unacceptable

 

[D3ggy]

I’m delighted with mine with the exception of it altering the steering wheel button function. Waiting on the software update which the seller says may fix this.

I have a friend though who does have the red light scenario but he is trying to use it in a Jaguar which isn’t currently listed as comparable. He did however go into it eyes wide and is communicating with the seller prior and post purchase.

Here is a short video of how it changes the button functionality.

 

[jerryjal]

Hi, I am that friend that D3ggy mentioned above. I bought the CarPlay2Air after having an email conversation with a Michael. I explained that I owned a Jaguar XF that had the inbuilt CarPlay installed and I was interested in the device. He offered me the opportunity to purchase it on the basis that if it did not work then it could be returned for a full refund as they had not yet tested it on a Jaguar.

I received the item and unfortunately all I get is the red led light and nothing else, nothing shows up on the bluetooth at all.

I have not been impressed with the lack of responses via email and like you all was hoping for the promised update last week. I am contemplating contacting my credit card company however I will give it until the end of the week and go from there.

 

[AntonieB]

I have not been impressed with the lack of responses via email and like you all was hoping for the promised update last week. I am contemplating contacting my credit card company however I will give it until the end of the week and go from there.

Same here.. I give him a few more days.. but if I don't get any more reactions on my questions I will create a dispute / contact my creditcard company to get my money back.

 

[Wenglish1984]

Hi guys just came across this on the apple faults community page that most people like myself and others are experiencing this issue with the iphone 11 pro max among others.

Someone has stated they have spoken to a iOT engineer and he mentioned that USB C power option that 11 pro has changed the logic on lightning pins which is causing problems with apple car play.

They have recommended purchasing a USB C female to USB male adapter and using that as it seems to solve the connection issues !!!!!

I have purchased a set of 2 off amazon from the link they provided and a few people have done the same and confirmed it actually works for them also so for £7.50 its worth a try and you can always return to amazon if they don't work

Here is the link to the thread
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250687720?page=2

Here is the link to the amazon adaptor https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KXDQ1P4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope it helps you guys out and ill update on friday when they arrive

 

[mikejd1]

Hi guys just came across this on the apple faults community page that most people like myself and others are experiencing this issue with the iphone 11 pro max among others.

Someone has stated they have spoken to a iOT engineer and he mentioned that USB C power option that 11 pro has changed the logic on lightning pins which is causing problems with apple car play.

They have recommended purchasing a USB C female to USB male adapter and using that as it seems to solve the connection issues !!!!!

I have purchased a set of 2 off amazon from the link they provided and a few people have done the same and confirmed it actually works for them also so for £7.50 its worth a try and you can always return to amazon if they don't work

Here is the link to the thread
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250687720?page=2

Here is the link to the amazon adaptor https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KXDQ1P4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope it helps you guys out and ill update on friday when they arrive

What does this thread have anything to do with wireless CarPlay?

 

[Wenglish1984]

Well for me personally i'm just trying to do anything possible to get it working be it wirelessly or via a cable connection as neither is working for me due to constant connection issues, i was just trying to help others who maybe like me was looking for a work around until something more permanent is sorted.

 

[mikejd1]

Well for me personally i'm just trying to do anything possible to get it working be it wirelessly or via a cable connection as neither is working for me due to constant connection issues, i was just trying to help others who maybe like me was looking for a work around until something more permanent is sorted.

Oh ok

 

[Master of Tragedy]

Got an email now from carplay2air:

We are as excited as you are ?

Glad to let you know that the update has been completed already however, we are doing a few enhancements to ensure that the update from your end will be a lot easier.

No worries! I will send you a confirmation through email right away once you can start performing the update. Sounds like a plan?

So at least some feedback and the update will hopefully be released very soon.

 

[javitxu]

Hi again from Spain

I received the cable last week and it doesn't work on my Vw Tiguan. The seller told me that this week the update comes out but as I don’t trust, I have a dispute in paypal, so that I can return the money.

 

[mikejd1]

Got an email now from carplay2air:



So at least some feedback and the update will hopefully be released very soon.

I’ve emailed yet again a few times and still no response.

 

[mikejd1]

I’ve emailed yet again a few times and still no response.

Update: finally received an email from the seller apologizing on missing the target for last week. He states should be this week, we shall see

 

[jerryjal]

Update: finally received an email from the seller apologizing on missing the target for last week. He states should be this week, we shall see

I have received the same email, will be interesting to see if the update appears soon. Hope it does.

 

[mikejd1]

I have received the same email, will be interesting to see if the update appears soon. Hope it does.

yea, im still a little skeptical, but crossing fingers. The unit is pretty much near perfect for me, all i want the update to do is just a couple things:

1. Fix the connection speed (takes up to 35 seconds for it to connect) so make this a lot faster
2. Have it not fail when i put the car in reverse before carplay loads.

Everything else seems to be ok, no music static, phone call delay is less than 1 second, if that...so no worries there.

 

[Master of Tragedy]

1. Fix the connection speed (takes up to 35 seconds for it to connect) so make this a lot faster

In my case it needs between 30 seconds and 3 minutes to connect. 35 seconds would be pretty great for me.

I have a couple of other problems which are much more important for me to be fixed.
Sometimes it doesn't connect at all and I have to remove the adapter and plug it back in.
And audio is completely garbage for the first 10-20 seconds after connection. So I always have to turn off the volume for a while and then turn it back on to be safe not to get a hearing impairment.

 

[aviegas]

I got two pieces of new.

First, I have also received a reply from "Michael" stating the new firmware is ready to be released this week. I really hope it's true.

As for the red LED issue, I did some digging and found out:

a) The UConnect on my Jeep Compass keeps recognizing the "iPhone" (simulated by the adapter) and this is when the LED comes on. Then the devices "vanishes" and the initial handshake does not complete. A few seconds later the device shows up again in UConnect and the whole cycle repeats.

b) I tried the dongle on a diferent car (a friend's Hyunday HB20) and voila! Worked like a charm. Connected within a few seconds. Tried several connections (turning the car off) and it worked fine all the time. I was really glad with the overall behavior. Didn't do much of a test though.

At least I know the adapter is working, so I have hope with the new firmware.

The strange part is that there is a report of another Jeep where it works (A Wrangler if I'm not wrong). It's my understanding that all Jeeps uses UConnect. I have a Jeep Compass 2020 with UConnect 8.4". Will check the software version and update.

So anyone that gets access to the new firmware, please let us all know. My guess is that eventually it will be released.

As for the Jeep, it's listed on the site as supported. Maybe I need to do something special? Some configuration?

 

[mpf541-]

I have not received any replays from them. I have disputed the charge and will wait for the card company to resolve this. I have requested a return from then but they just ignore me. There is no reason for them to not reply if they are a reputable company. But I don't think that is the case here.

 

[Jonesalexryan]

Hey guys,

i skeptically purchased the dongle after reading everything here for my 2018 Chevrolet Silverado with the 7” MyLink system and I’m happy to report that it works well for the most part. A couple items that could be improved

1. connection time -takes 25-45 seconds
2. The audio is a mess in the first 10-20 seconds as others have mentioned
3. I find there’s a second or two delay when I’m on the phone as if I have to wait for the person to hear me. Does anyone else have this problem?

I don’t seem to have any issues with it not connecting. It connects every time and doesn’t drop.

 

[aviegas]

Hi, I am that friend that D3ggy mentioned above. I bought the CarPlay2Air after having an email conversation with a Michael. I explained that I owned a Jaguar XF that had the inbuilt CarPlay installed and I was interested in the device. He offered me the opportunity to purchase it on the basis that if it did not work then it could be returned for a full refund as they had not yet tested it on a Jaguar.

I received the item and unfortunately all I get is the red led light and nothing else, nothing shows up on the bluetooth at all.

I have not been impressed with the lack of responses via email and like you all was hoping for the promised update last week. I am contemplating contacting my credit card company however I will give it until the end of the week and go from there.

Well seems I'm not the only one stuck with the red LED and no Bluetooth.

But I got one idea that will take some effort to check. But for me it sounds like a reasonable scenario based on all that I've seen.

The behavior of the device starting/being recognized by the head unit/being dropped - and repeating, looks a lot like the port not having enough power to drive the dongle, so it will try to initialize and then drop (for example when powering the communications chip). When it drops, power comes back and recycle. Sounds very reasonable, specially since the Bluetooth and WiFi components probably share the same chip (a common setup), so powering for BT will power everything and drain more power.

Standard USB delivers by default 100mA and can go as high as 500mA if "requested". Some computers (typically desktops) will always deliver 500mA (sometimes even a little more). Either there is a problem with the protocol to request more power or the Jeep cannot provide enough juice. I've seem this on notebooks that fail to deliver even the requested 500mA. Phone are very tolerant to low power, as they use it to charge and they work even with the worst power supplies. If the makers of CarPlay2Air (and Carlinkit Unlocker that I belive is the same hardware) have "cloned" the iPhone side of the protocol when connecting to a non computer device, then it may be skipping sending the request for more power and therefore the head unit, if properly designed, is not providing enough power. Odd but reasonable.

A possible solution is to pigback 5V on the cable with more than 500mA. I have a few 5V@2A power supplies out of 12V, so I will give it a try and make a cable with a male USB-A/female USB-A that will inject 5V from an external source. Unless there is a major protocol error (that the UConnect is signalling not enough power and dropping the connection), this may work - if it's indeed a power problem.

I will post the results. Let's get fingers crossed.

 

[D3ggy]

Well seems I'm not the only one stuck with the red LED and no Bluetooth.

But I got one idea that will take some effort to check. But for me it sounds like a reasonable scenario based on all that I've seen.

The behavior of the device starting/being recognized by the head unit/being dropped - and repeating, looks a lot like the port not having enough power to drive the dongle, so it will try to initialize and then drop (for example when powering the communications chip). When it drops, power comes back and recycle. Sounds very reasonable, specially since the Bluetooth and WiFi components probably share the same chip (a common setup), so powering for BT will power everything and drain more power.

Standard USB delivers by default 100mA and can go as high as 500mA if "requested". Some computers (typically desktops) will always deliver 500mA (sometimes even a little more). Either there is a problem with the protocol to request more power or the Jeep cannot provide enough juice. I've seem this on notebooks that fail to deliver even the requested 500mA. Phone are very tolerant to low power, as they use it to charge and they work even with the worst power supplies. If the makers of CarPlay2Air (and Carlinkit Unlocker that I belive is the same hardware) have "cloned" the iPhone side of the protocol when connecting to a non computer device, then it may be skipping sending the request for more power and therefore the head unit, if properly designed, is not providing enough power. Odd but reasonable.

A possible solution is to pigback 5V on the cable with more than 500mA. I have a few 5V@2A power supplies out of 12V, so I will give it a try and make a cable with a male USB-A/female USB-A that will inject 5V from an external source. Unless there is a major protocol error (that the UConnect is signalling not enough power and dropping the connection), this may work - if it's indeed a power problem.

I will post the results. Let's get fingers crossed.

What about a powered usb hub? I appreciate you would need to work out how to power it long term but as a test you could run an extension to the car. At least that may tell you if its a power issue.

 

[aviegas]

What about a powered usb hub? I appreciate you would need to work out how to power it long term but as a test you could run an extension to the car. At least that may tell you if its a power issue.

I have that planned as my first attemp, but I'm almost sure it will not work. USB hubs (powered or otherwise) are devices and require the USB host (in this case the head unit) to be able to "talk" to it. In case of computers, there are device drivers for that. I doubt the head unit has such capability, but who knows.

Adding external power directly to the cable is the second and final attempt. As for the long term solution there are several approaches to follow, from using a car charger and the custom built cable. My favorite is to intercept the USB harness under the dash and add power there directly. This can be done "destructively" by cutting the harness or by making a special add-on hardness that has the power pigback (very common approach in cars), but it will required knowing and buying exactly the correct male+female connectors and will vary from car to car (even the same car year/model in different countries may have use different connectors).

Lets first see if this is really a power problem. If it is indeed, it may also explain the occasional disconnects (loss of proper/enough power).

 

[mikejd1]

So it seems everyone is finally receiving responses from the sellers. They did apologize for missing the November date for the updated firmware and mentioned they would try for this week. Well this week is over for the most part so hopefully next week

In terms of the person above, I have the Jeep Wrangler 8.4” uconnect and it works fine (again minus the hiccups here and there).

 

[aviegas]

Just tested the alternate power cable (after attempting a powered hub), there are good and bad news.

The good news is that it powers the dongle in a way that it doesn't keep cycling in and out. Now the red LED stays on and the head unit steadly reports the "iPhone" as connected. So there is indeed a power issue.

However, it still doesn't work. The red LED stays on but the bluetooth device is not advertised nor anything shows on the display. The interesting is that UConnect shows an iPhone connected.

So my guess is that there may be hope with the new firmware. Let's wait and see. Hopefully soon...

 

[cynics]

Currently Wireless CarPlay requires BT, Wifi (5ghz), GPS (GNSS). and VSS (vehicle speed sensing).

Typically when installing aftermarket wireless CarPlay receivers if you can't find or dont want to find the VSS wire you can emulate the VSS pulse via an additional aftermarket GPS. This just looks for movement and converts it to a VSS pulse via a convertor.

The problem is that stuff is wired into the acc on the head unit 12vdc and uses .1-.2mA which is 1.2-2.4watts using 5vdc usb power 1.2 - 2.4w / 5v usb = 240-480mA which doesn't leave much for anything else if my math is right and assuming the vehicles USB is 500mA max out. More power efficient GPS receiver do exist but how bad do we want it to be?

I also feel like they could possibly be using an exploit for CarPlay to work that Apple could close up (if they haven't already) any day. Don't quote me to that because it could be a legit product and I dont want to bad month a good product without any proof. That said carplay2air literally has 9 pages of BS reviews.

S***m from the US says its....very beautiful....mmhmm



I wish I had one to tear apart. If you get one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/MakerHawk-Bluetooth-Current-24-000V-Multimeter/dp/B07C9DQ4F9

You could see what the power is doing very easily. If it goes blank then the vehicles USB hit overcurrent protection. BC 1.2 (battery charging) USB specs exceed standard USB but the vehicle would need to support it.

There is also an app called BLE Scanner 4.0 you can scan for BT signals to see if it even pops up for a split second via the history tab. Don't use this app if BT signals scare you, you are constantly being bombarded with BT.

 

[aviegas]

I think the issue lies with the car no being able to provide enough power. Adding a "power cable" keeps the USB interface up, but since the signaling does not receive a "go ahead, you got your requested power", the initialization halts. The way the power cable is build, data goes to the head unit and power to the auxiliar adapter. If the dongle is indeed requesting the extra juice (if I'm not wrong BC will give up to 10W = 5V@2A), it may indeed wait for the confirmation from the head unit.

I've not given up on the power idea. I will try something different today.

And there comes the end of the week.... no firmware