Android head unit - straight swap option for Bolero gone wrong...Help!!

[muckipup]

Hi folks,

 

I purchased a supposedly plug and play Android replacement for the Bolero: https://audiotechdirect.com/pba-a85pro-26s-8-android-12-satnav-gps-carplay-auto-radio-for-skoda-octavia-mk2-balero-stream/

 

It does not require any quad lock adaptors or canbus fooler and others have had plug'n'play success with this (e.g. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/456001-looking-for-a-new-headunitstereo-thing/ ). I have not......

 

After setting everything up, I have zero power to the unit. On going back and refitting the Bolero, it also has zero power in any ignition position. I have tried the following:

 

• Checked the radio fuse under the bonnet followed by every fuse in the under-bonnet and door-side fuse box - no problem with any fuse!
• Checked the fuse at the back of each head unit - all fine
• Checked the quad lock with a multimeter for any voltage on any pin - no voltage to any pin
• Tested the quad lock with its gender-opposite socket that is part of the Octavia 2 radio wiring loom - all pins on the opposite connector showed continuity with corresponding pints on the quad lock showing that no wires are broken or pins pushed out (at least in that part of the loom)
• Disconnected battery and reconnected to reboot the canbus
• Scanned using VCDS - got a Address 19 Can Gateway 01305 Databus for infotainment - 004 No signal/communication error + Address 56 Radio Cannot be reached. No other fault codes
• Cleared fault codes and retried - no luck
• Disable Radio with VCDS, cycled the ignition and then re-enabled radio - no luck

 

I am still dealing with getting the Bolero working again Ignoring the Android unit for now) to avoid complicating what appears to be an issue with the car rather than the head units (I think)

 

My questions for anyone in the know who could offer advice would be:

 

• Am I missing another fuse somewhere?
• Can the canbus controller kill all power to the quad lock? How do I fix that?
• Is it possible that I have a problem with the infotainment controller....and where is that located? Could it be the canbus wires in to the quad lock and what colour are they?
• What colour are the +12v wires going in to the quad lock (and should I supply a by-pass 12v from the fuse box to the corresponding pin on the unused female connector in loom which would work and be very easy to do)
• Anything else that I am missing here?

 

Any help would be gratefully appreciated as I am at a total loss with this!

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited 10 October, 2023 by muckipup

[muckipup]

UPDATE: The Android head unit has alternative inputs to the quadlock including permanent live, switched live (ACC) and ground. Leaving the quadlock in and running some temporary wiring to piggy-back fuses in the fusebox for live and ACC as a 'test rig' caused the HU to spin the CD player and briefly show the start-up screen for a second before repeating the process every 5 seconds or so...connecting the ground at the back of the unit to a grounding point on the chassis....and THE HU BOOTED UP NO PROBLEM!!! (so quadlock wasn't even providing a suitable ground!)...BUT....

 

With the quadlock back in place, there is no sound to the speakers. I tried a CD, no luck; I could even see the radio tuning in and identifying stations but still no sound!

 

Has anyone got any idea what the heck is going on ??? Pleeeeease 😬

 

The evidence suggests that it is the car canbus that is giving me grief rather than the HU

Edited 10 October, 2023 by muckipup

[T2000]

Do you have a sub under seat?

[muckipup]

No, the only thing under the seat is the OEM bluetooth module which I have disconnected

[J.R.]

3 hours ago, muckipup said:

The evidence suggests that it is the car canbus that is giving me grief rather than the HU

I dont see any "evidence" to back up that assertion, you are chasing demons that are not there, if the radio is not powered up then the Canbus Gateway controller will not be able to communicate with it and create the fault code.

 

Even when it does power up and work you will still get that fault code and another related one, the joy of having a Chinese head unit!

 

The unit uses can data like the speed signal, steering angle, loads of stuff really to adjust or mute the volume, show trajectory lines on the reversing camera, show door open warnings etc but it does not communicate with the Can Gateway which we should thank our lucky stars about 😀

[muckipup]

Thanks J.R.

 

I saw some of your other posts and advice on Android head units and was hoping that you would spot this. 😁

 

Can you think of any reason why the unit would not power up in the first place when it is supposed to be fully compatible and then, when putting the (previously healthy) Bolero back as before that would not power up? 

 

I could not detect any 12v supply to the quadlock but have powered up a working HU by direct connection to the fusebox but no sound like the factory amplifier (though didn't think there was one with Bolero) was not activated or something. There is no canbus input in to the HU even powered up on-the-fly with climatronic, doors or factory reverse sensors not registering even although it is advertised as also being plug and play. I found the Address 19 Can Gateway 01305 Databus for infotainment - 004 No signal/communication error (+ Address 56 Radio Cannot be reached) after this even with the Bolero put back and don't know how to fix that. It's like the HU isn't even there - no input to nor output of any kind from the quadlock connector!

Edited 11 October, 2023 by muckipup

[muckipup]

****SOLVED****

 

I gave up and took the car to an auto-electrician who solved the problem in minutes!

 

The problem was all about the bluetooth system for the phone. Although I have had the car from new and ordered with bluetooth, I guess the dealer could access an identical car to my order minus the bluetooth and therefore added the VAG bluetooth themselves with the loom and under-seat module (or maybe that is factory standard??). Given that the Android unit had bluetooth built in, I disconnected the under-seat bluetooth module to keep things simple (ahem 😒) and put it to the back of my mind.

 

When I disconnected the quadlock, I also found other wiring leading out of it and when I followed the wiring with my chubby hands down the back of the recess and to the right, I found a 'female' mirrored connector that did nothing. I therefore ignored it and just connected the male quadlock to the back of the unit with all the results in my post above - no power, no, ground, nothing!

 

The auto-electrician put his hand down the back of the recess and, to my surprise, found....another male quadlock that my chubby hands didn't find down to the left hand side!

 

I effectively had 3 of these connectors and this newly found quadlock was the 'factory standard' quadlock. I had no idea that it was there and, even if I did, with it out of reach, I would have assumed that what I did find was just an extension of that I had to hand with some wiring for bluetooth into the old Bolero...wrong!

 

The auto-electrician plugged the newly found connector and everything booted up perfectly. He then did me the favour of simply cutting off the surplus 'horseshoe' with the additional male and female quadlocks off and taped up the bare ends.

 

I guess that, by disconnecting the under-seat bluetooth module, it was ahead in the whole infotainment circuitry and cut off everything to these 'additional' quad locks (although, now that they have been chopped off, I can't test that).

 

Below is a picture of what I am talking about with the chopped-off quadlock 'horseshoe' - behind it you can just about see the proper quadlock going in to the unit and the taped-up redundant wires that went in to it.

 

I must have searched for hours on VAG based forums and beyond and never saw any other description of this. Needless to say, I feel like one of those humiliated cartoon characters where the jack ass ears grow out of their head! 😳

 

 

Edited 13 October, 2023 by muckipup

[J.R.]

I might have one of those in mine yet to be discovered.

 

I could never use the factory Bluetooth because it would not look for a new phone and kept bringing up messages about previous phones which could not be deleted, I tried and then lost the will to live.

 

My head unit worked but I kept getting error messages saying the factory bluetooth module could not connect to the radio (no surprise) so I had to disconnect it like you and also remove it from the Can gateway installation list as it then showed no comms with the ECU.

 

The Bluetooth on the head unit on the previous Octavia was really rubbish, microphone in wrong place and it wanted pairing again everytime I restarted the car so I have not even bothered trying with this Chinese head unit, it has enough flakiness already without trying another function.

 

But I have a perfectly serviceable factory Bluetooth module with the factory microphone in the correct position, does anyone know if this could talk to and work with the Chinese head unit or does it have to be the OEM basic radio which I would not revert to.