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Radio Can bus Question and spkr question.

18K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  DreamCarOwner 
#1 ·
I have taken the plunge and ordered me a 2 DIN android NAV radio to replace the lowline radio in my 451. It seems radios are alot more sophisticated and do alot more. I researched my tail end off for about 3 days before settling on the model of radio that had the features I wanted in my price range. The radio I just ordered has 2 wires that are marked to go to the CanBus. They are wire #2 and wire #12 .



I know the one is recieve and the other is transmitt, but other than that I am lost. Has anyone else dealt with these wires on a Smart and can give me some advice on whether to connect them or not. Also where would they connect to the systemm the ODBII connector? I am lost on this and even what the purpose is to connect the radio to the CanBus other than to maybe read fault codes? I bought an adapter kit that has the faceplate and also the wiring adapter plug that plugs into the existing Smart harness and gives me the stripped wires to connect to the plug of the new radio.

And lastly I have read the old threads on installing a small set of rear speakers in my cargo area. I would either like to do them beside the sealt belt retractors or overhead pointing down. As near as I can tell there's only about 1 1/4 inches between the plastic and the tridion. Any advice on a cheap set of speakers I could order? Thanks. DCO
 
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#5 ·
The canbus is generally to tap into an automobile's existing screen, for example touch screen climate controls a'la Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, or an automobile's existing controller based screens a' la Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Infiniti, etc,. Using it is unnecessary in the smart 451 as there was no touchscreen interface to tap into.

That head unit will take advantage of steering wheel controls as well, however the smart 451 never used them so those wire(s) (usually marked SWC) are also going to be ignored...
 
#6 ·
Ignore those two wires. There is no CAN connection to the radio on a smart. In any case, the two CAN wires on the vehicle are not transmit and receive but CAN-hi and CAN-lo. If I remember correctly they are both biased to about 2.5 volts with CAN-hi going higher and CAN-lo going lower when data packets are active. The voltages on the two lines mirror each other when viewed with a oscilloscope.

Connecting anything to the CAN-bus wires on a vehicle is asking for trouble unless you know exactly what you are doing.
 
#7 ·
It's a nice head unit. It can do everything an Android tablet can do, and IMO Androids are the most logical layout for aftermarket automotive entertainment. Unfortunately however, they're primarily off brand units which means they are prone to random failures, bizarre user interfaces, etc,. I'm confident though, that it will serve you better than the 451's extremely basic head unit.
 
#8 ·
As far as steering wheel controls go I ordered a bluetooth one that will communicate with the radio. I am under the assumption that a car with factory steering radio controls are bluetooth and not hard wired. I could be wrong about this but at any rate here's the controller I ordered from China for around $3.




As far as the CanBus connections, as finnicky as the SAM is I really didn't want to risk connecting the radio to it without some positive evidence that others have done it. Thank you Mister Smart LA for the heads up on what the connection might be for. Just a couple of weeks ago I installed a radio in my brothers 2007 Jeep that has more options than a new Cadilac. It had an aftermarket radio in it from Pyle and it had 2 yellow wires marked Canbus, but they weren't connected. The new radio I put in it had marked Canbus wires but I didn;t connect them either. I thought that it might have to do with reading engine codes with the proper android program. Atoto is a relatively new company and guess I'll find out if they make a good head unit. I know the lowline radio has several different connections and didn't know if any ran to the Canbus or not. Thanks Rusted Wrench for that heads up. I will leave the Canbus wires taped up and not used. Thanks. DCO
 
#10 ·
I am under the assumption that a car with factory steering radio controls are bluetooth and not hard wired. I could be wrong about this but at any rate here's the controller I ordered from China for around $3. DCO
You are incorrect. - The Factory steering radio controls on any car are 100% hardwired. (hence the can bus)

In your setup, that controller should work fine..

Best of luck with it..
 
#11 ·
Android is the most versatile choice for the head unit. It allows you to choose or change your offline map app. I went through 3 apps until I found one I liked. I even added a dedicated WIFI router to my garage to make it easier to get apps or updates. You can also use your phone as a hot spot, of course.
 
#12 ·
MisfitSailor what map app's did you try and what one did you end up liking? The radio I ordered comes with TomTom and I am not familar with it. I guess I'll see. I just emailed the customer support and got a very quick response from them. Here is what they had to say about the CanBus wires on the connector of the radio:

The 2 wires(#2,#12 ) are not really wires, just 2 holes in case we may use the same socket for specific vehicles. That being said, this unit does not have any interface or wire to connect to CAN-BUS box. But if you could get a CAN-BUS decoder and there are 2 wires of steering wheel control wires from the box decoded to be analog signal, then they can be connected to Steering wheel wires from ATOTO M4171.

They also explained the 2 downloads on the Adrive site. The dashboard app that was a downloadable APK android app file was outdated and they pulled it off the Adrive download site. He explained the head unit would come with the latest version of the dashboard app to work with the bluetooth odbII dongle I ordered. They also gave me the password to be able to download the manual for the radio, which I just did.
They seem to be a good company and I'm anxious to get the unit in and get it installed. I already have the cargo area torn apart in an "attempt" to place 2 rear speakers somewhere. The plastic is only about an inch from the tridion all over that area. I would love to be able to place 2 speakers overhead in the cargo area. Most people put them by the seat belt mechanisms. I even thought about the cargo accesses to the tailights. The drivers side would be easy, but the passenger side would be difficult. It looks like it comes off like the driver side, but the front half with the screw in it is fake and is made on that whole panel. That whole panel to get to the ECU comes off somehow, but haven't figured that out yet, but I need too add to rear speakers for the new head unit.
On top of all of this my latching relays came today to convert my button bank to switches for my fog lights, my DRL's, and my inverter that powers my computer speaker system for the subs and the satelites speakers. Why do I need to add two more speakers to the rear? Well thats because the new head unit is designed for 4 speakers whereas my lowline Smart radio was only designed for 2 in the doors. I will also be able to mount my rear DVR camera and my rear fog LED and have all this done with wires hidden. I've ran enough wire in Max to stretch a mile and then some. But it's all good and is being done in such a way as to be hidden and look basically stock. DCO
 
#15 ·
My head is spinning from all the choices concerning this new wave of Android possibilitiies for a car infotainment center. I'm a retired computer tech and I embrace and understand new technology, but it seems just recently the choices of technology and automobiles have multiplied expotentially. The possibilities ! I already have a front facing DVR installed and am now just installing the rear DVR camera. The rear backup camera is connected to my MP5 rear view mirror and it has a 32 GB SD card and a 128 GB usb pen drive connected to it to watch movies or play music. Now I have a possibility for another recording dash cam with the new radio, so I'll install an extra camera I have for the interior of the car.But now the new Android radio holds a SD card of 256 GB and a USB pen drive for more storage. Also the radio allows me to add a USB DVD player which I have. Now I must get downstairs and solve my rear speaker dilema. If the Metra adapter kit I ordered would have came today I could have installed the new radio already. So my head is spinning, my Smart sits downstairs with the interior torn to pieces and I am thinking about just sleeping in the car now since I now have all these tech toys that interface with my Android phone and my Android tablet. Oh it will be so bad if the battery dies !
 
#17 ·
Atoto makes good head units. The controller in the picture above is only for the MK4 series of Atoto radio. That's the one I have presently in my Fortwo. The present series of Atoto radio I believe it's the A6 if I remember correctly uses a different controller: Ignore the price, it must be a typo. Mine was $24.95. I think Amazon sells them too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATOTO-Wire...247044&hash=item34069214c5:g:M64AAOSwqk1ZeUJd

But I bought this controller to replace my other one and it would not work with my MK4. Atoto codes all their accessories like controllers and backup cams to a particular model of radio by them. They are proprietary so Atoto model ## will only work with accessories designed for model ##. Mk4 stuff is not compatible with A6 stuff. I really wanted to upgrade to the above mentioned controller because it was small enough to sit in that lower spot on my steering wheel. I had to trim down my original one to make it fit on that space. DCO
 
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