iPad Mini Install

[BigBoss]

So I have been working on this the last couple of days and it is now starting to come together.
This setup features:
bluetooth hands free
GPS turn by turn
OBD diagnostics
Steering wheal controls
Stock HVAC controls
Aftermarket HU
Total cost is around $400 excluding iPad.

 

[Mattk101]

Ha ha that's awesome, still works the same as your standard iPad mod? Would love to do that if I knew what the hell I was doing. Great job

 

[BigBoss]

Cheers Mate, it is pretty much the same but now without the HVAC LCD.

 

[Mattk101]

Where was the hvac LCD before? Wasn't it on top where the stock screen is?

 

[BigBoss]

Yep, now I'm thinking about putting the stock screen back in and trying to get some gauges to display in it.

 

[Mattk101]

You could leave hvac LCD in and put gauges on top of center speaker, then you would have everything ha ha. I only say that because the hvac LCD looked awesome, but I guess then you would have those ac controls down bottom for nothing

 

[BigBoss]

Yep thats it, the knobs are safer to use while driving too.

 

[Zerone_V]

Seriously !!! Well done BigBoss !!!!!

This is the first serious attempt of an InCar PC conversion for the VE that I have ever seen !
The knobs look completely stock, and easy to use, which has been my biggest gripe with the other solutions I have seen !!!!!

I can see you have put a lot of attention to detail building this.
The Illuminated knobs that match the rest of the VE interior illumination is just brilliant !

Its a pity about iOS being sooo sand boxed for its apps. (Dont worry, I am not poo-pooing iOS, or being an Apple hater, I'm actually a registered Apple developer and write apps for these things for a living).
I have always lamented about not being able to touch the OS on these things. (Like forcing an app to run in the background, lack of daemon/console apps for house keeping, lack of bluetooth data support).
The Apple hardware is sooo damm good, its a real pity that these things are locked down so much !

 

[BigBoss]

Cheers Zerone_V, I agree with you about the locked down software/hardware however That is a sacrifice i'm willing to make for ease of use and reliability that is hard to find in other tablets. The only slightly annoying part of this install is that the old stock HU's info is being displayed in my cluster do you know if there is anyway to disable this?

 

[Zerone_V]

Has the stock Head unit been disconnected from the SW Can ?
Is the message like it is cached in the instrument cluster ?

I havent played around much with the Head unit disconnected, so I am not sure if the cluster needs a clear screen data packet to be sent to wipe any radio text (I.E. Volume 8, or FM 104.1) at the top of the center LCD display ?
But it is very interesting that you still have a message displayed on the cluster.

Is your iPad connected to the SW Can in any way (Out of curiosity) ???
I wrote some C# code that talked to a hacked ELM327 adapter which pushed packets out on the SW Can, and displayed things on the cluster.
Another person I know wrote some arduino code that sniffed for engine parameters such as voltage, oil pressure, and some other stuff,and made it display on the center cluster LCD.
Depending on if / how you are connected, it may be easy enough to write a quick iOS app to write some useful stuff up there, instead of having the factory radio info displayed ??

(Gotta agree with you too in regards to iOS and iPads. Very very fantastic hardware, and the iOS very rock solid. I think because of the amount of fragmentation with Android hardware, its very difficult for manufacturers to get things as polished as iOS)
Ubuntu phone looks interesting though. (Though its not going to run native linux gnome apps, even if they are recompiled for ARM processors)