Hey all,

I've searched the forum and didn't find much, so I apologize if this has been resolved, but:

Has anyone successfully found an Android Auto head unit that provides access to both the backup cam and lane assist, for a 2015?
I've asked the folks at Crutchfield and they basically said they had no installation gear to keep the lane assist active so I was S.O.L.

I've tried (like many of you) to break into my head unit and upgrade it via the Honda upgrade site, in hopes of enabling Android Auto, and got as far as uploading some data from the head unit to a USB stick, but it didn't appear to have the .json file I needed, so I'm on the search for a new unit.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

TIA
- K

EDIT: I think I've figured it out, and I'll need a head unit that has 3 camera inputs.
So let's throw a curveball and ask if anyone has any head unit suggestions, preferrably under $500, for the unit.

 

I'm 99% sure the headunit uses Android apps and hardware drivers that enable the vehicle-integration functions you're after, as well as hardware video decoders to talk to the cameras. Unless you know someone at Honda development that's able to talk about hardware specs and can re-compile the source code for newer Android kernels, stick with the original head unit.

Your best bet is to find the (hopefully open-source) project that enables Android auto, and compile it for the Android version on your head unit. It may have dependencies that similarly need compiling. There's probably software to conveniently manage all that, considering the different Android versions that devices get left with when their manufacturer tosses them on the "no longer supported" heap.

 

I am simply not a fan of messing around with the head unit on a 2015 and I don't understand why people want to fall down that rabbit hole. If you want a car with more modern features then go out and buy a newer car with those features.

 

I'm interested in this as well. I picked up a 2015 and didn't realize that it didn't do android auto in the head unit... my 2018 does... let me know if you find a head unit that works. I was considering finding a 2018 head unit and trying in my 15... but that's a long shot and likely will run into dealer codes or something...

 

I think the radio is tied to the ecu, because you do not need to punch in a code like older hondas, yet it's communicating with something if the battery is dead flat...so yes i agree you might have issues..

of topic...but i still listen to the radio...my daughter says no one does that anymore!

 

Because the year I bought my car was the year Mirrorlink stopped being used/installed on all mobile devices, and $500 for an aftermarket head unit in a vehicle I otherwise love is far more reasonable than $300+/month for the next five years?
Oddly aggro response to a post that you otherwise could have just scrolled past.

 

The folks at Crutchfield can help get you sorted out within your budget, but yeah, long story short, you'll need 3 camera inputs.

 

Who ever you spoke to at Crutchfield is sadly mistaken. It was from Crutchfields' website in 2016 that I pieced together my sound system. You'll need google to search for a post on this forum that I posted here years ago about the interfaces as the search feature on this forum is extremely limited. I was able to retain lanewatch and have the reverse camera on my 2016. I can still run wireless AA on that same headunit that has been transferred to another vehicle. You do not need 3 camera inputs.

 

1000% agree with you.

 

You're encountering the mental division between two frames of thought: car-as-a-commodity and car-as-a-machine.
Most people (in the US anyway) fall into the car-as-a-commodity frame, buying the car because it does things A, B, C, X, Y and Z. As long as they keep up with maintenance and don't crash it, it will keep doing those things until it wears out or they find a better one, at which point they dispose of it.
Car-as-a-machine people typically have some notion of what's going on in the car and how the engineers (people) designed it. Recognizing that the car's systems are largely modular and oblivious to their environment (less so with modern CANbus-equipped vehicles) opens the barn doors for the modification thought process. That is, they like their current car, but when they see [new car] has some feature they like, they think "I wish my car had that." But instead of buying a whole new car, they get the relevant parts of [new car] and graft it into their current car.
This is especially relevant for US Fits, as they're no longer being sold in the US. You can't just drive over to the dealer and buy a new Fit with updated features. In fact it opens the door to fix all manner of Honda marketing/dealer asshattery, like feature bundling. I'm tall, and sunroofs take up vital headroom, but Hondas from the mid-range up all come standard with a sunroof. Want features D, E and F? UPSELL! "Oh, yes that comes with a sunroof. No there's nothing we can do about that."

 

Don't Fix It!"

 

I'm in woof's an chitowns camp...lol

 

Hammer meet nail.

 

It was broken less than 3 months after I bought it, when every phone on the market ceased to use MirrorLink. I've just decided to fix it ten years later...

 

Seems like the kind of thing that could be fixed with a software update. US market cars are all required to have reverse cameras now, so Honda is putting an Android head unit in every car. Open-source "hacking" campaign anyone? I guess it would need to be done carefully, as Honda might get cranky about "hackers" giving away [new car] features for free.

 

Honda does it itself to an extent. There's a section of it's website that allows you to download infotainment updates, but the 2015, specifically, is locked tight.

I was able to get as far as uploading the system files to a flash drive from the head unit, but the power turns off before it's complete so the correct system file never makes it onto the drive.

Either pulling the head unit and figuring out how to power it from a wall outlet or figuring out how to override ride the time out so the power doesn't turn off (and doesn't kill the battery) would be a huge step in the right direction.

 

Sounds like their update app is crashing. Try a different USB drive? You're sure it's formatted in fat32? At least 8GB available capacity? Have you tested that its capacity is actually as labeled?

 

No no, accessory mode times out.

The 2015 has a 30 min time limit on accessory mode and the upload doesn't override that time out.

 

Huh. Does it have to be accessory mode? Can you start the car and let it idle?

 

👍👍👍

Thank you.