Can't get Mirrorlink to work properly - NOW SOLVED!

[Welsh Boyo]

I am having difficulty getting Mirrorlink to work properly with my new Skoda Octavia and my Mirrorlink capable LG G5 smartphone. I have tried lots of things including different cables etc. The phone has LG Mirror Drive, Sygic Navigation and Rockscout apps all showing as certified in Mirrorlink and the phone brings up those app icons on the car head unit in the Mirrorlink screen when I enable Mirrorlink. However, when I click any of the App icons on the car screen all that happens is the app launches on my phone but is not displaying on the car head unit - except for some strange reason just once (so I know it can work!)  Any ideas here please???

[GregSKO]

Yours is a new car so I don’t understand why you are looking at MirrorLink which is old technology. I have an LG, G5 and while I know nothing about the specific apps you mention my G5 work’s flawlessly with Google Maps, Android Auto and SmartLink.

[Welsh Boyo]

Interesting that you say mirrorlink is old technology. I would like to use Sygic Car Navigation as it has off line maps but has live traffic and cameras so uses far less data than google. It requires mirrorlink as it cannot work through Android Auto as AA have not approved it (Apple Play have though so maybe in time AA will too). The one time that I got Sygic to load in mirrorlink was after a doing a phone factory reset and using it before it had a chance to automatically upgrade its system mirrorlink app to version 1.1.2.9.0 from a lower version (1.0 I think). That suggests that the mirrorlink software version installed in the latest Octavia is 1.0 which is surely out of date?

Edited 25 September, 2018 by Welsh Boyo
Spelling :(

[GregSKO]

AFAIK Skoda superseded MirrorLink with Smartlink some time back in 2015 (you probably already have it as standard). I did try the LG Mirrorlink app a year and a half ago and it never worked. I seriously doubt that LG have done any connectivity improvement work on the LG G5 MirrorLink app since, and don’t expect them to. There are loads of posts from people with this phone or that system complaining that they don’t work or don’t work properly. That is just the way it is and you need to find something that gives you most of what you want, in whatever priority you set.

 

I took a punt and purchased SmartLink and I use google off line maps, which works for me. I don’t know if I could also get traffic updates because I limit on line connectivity and plan my routes in advance on the home wi-fi. As I say it works for me, but may not suit your needs.

[Welsh Boyo]

I have confirmed by careful troubleshooting that although Skoda list the LG G5 as Mirrorlink compatible (In my case I have the H850 model) the phone actually only works with the initial factory settings which have MIRRORLINK V1.0 in the phone system apps. I have proved this by successfully connecting using Mirrorlink on my new car three times by doing a factory reset on the G5, quickly installing  mirrorlink apps, then turning off Internet and Wifi data so that the system files (including the system mirrorlink app) don't update. This was effective even after receiving the latest 2018 over the air infotainment software updates and whilst using Infotainment online from a wifi hotspot (which is free for a year with a new car). The App button on the Admunsen unit brings up 3 options:- Android Auto, Apple Car Play and Mirrorlink.

 

The problem comes when the phone routinely updates its system app (listed on the system app screen) from MIRRORLINK 1.0 to MIRRORLINK V1.1 ( 1.1.2.9.0 in my case) after which mirrorlink no longer works - you just get the app logos on the Admunsen screen and although they appear to load there is no screen mirroring.

 

My conclusion here is that the MIB2 Infotainment system must be stuck on mirrorlink 1.0. Basically V1.1 on a connected phone does not work with V1.0 on the car!

 

If the vehicle had mirrorlink Version 1.1 then it would work with both the newer Version 1.1 and 1.0 phones as there is backward compatibility to the older phones.

 

This seems pretty lamentable to me and I am convinced that if Skoda were to issue an update to the MIB2 unit to make the unit V1.1 which is now standard then that would properly enable Mirrorlink capability. This has been a well documented issue with other vehicles until they were also updated.

 

Is there a Skoda tech guy out there who can confirm this finding for me please?

 

Edited 26 September, 2018 by Welsh Boyo

[Welsh Boyo]

Further update:-

 

 I confirmed again that an Android factory reset of my G5 phone results in Mirrorlink working 100% with the certified apps Sygic Navigation and LG Auto.  Also, my vehicle is fully registered via Skoda Connect to receive  Infotainment online via an in-car Wifi hotspot.

 

I went further and checked the Mirrorlink System App on my phone (this appears as just "Mirrorlink" in the list of system apps).  It saves from within ES file explorer as "MirrorLinkServer.apk" and is version 1.1.2.9.0 from the start - there is no earlier version and later update as I had originally thought. I then went on to install Android Auto as I thought that might casue a problem but that worked perfectly too. So both systems happily working at that stage.

 

However, after some time - allowing the phone to do all the various updates it returned to the problem I have described in detail above where Mirrorlink fails to work properly. I therefore believe that there must be some updated firmware or software patch to the phone which has resulted in this state of affairs.  I.E. either an LG or an Android system update is the source of the problem rather than the Car infotainment unit.

 

[Welsh Boyo]

SOLVED!!

Having updated my LG G5 to Android 8 (Oreo) which is being gradually rolled out, the new Mirrorlink server file is version 1.1.3.0.0 and the link now works perfectly. It worked initially on the factory Android 7 but then must have been disabled by the Android security update which came after that. IT all goes to show how the various interconnected systems are prone to mismatch. Anyway, all well now and G5 users will get Mirrorlink capability back when their phone upgrades to the Oreo operating system.

[Genoa1893]

Congrat!