Hi,

This is a long shot but thought I'd ask anyway. I've been toying with the idea of hooking up a Raspberry Pi with the existing SatNav screen (I have a spare one I can sacrifice) but I can't find datasheets of the display module. Tried searching with all the numbers and letters I could find on the module but no avail. Does anyone here have more information on this? I'm pretty sure it's doable...

 

I know nothing about this except that the X Type community in UK have been chatting about it here

Raspberry pi (Kodi setup)

You might get something out of it.

 

We have a RGB signal from the Sat Nav head to the screen. A standard video output will not work. You would need a converter which are basically unavailable now. Keep an eye on eBay, sometimes they come up.

See here post #45
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...s-56937/page3/

 

The current Raspberry PI model B has HDMI and composite video outputs. You would want to use the composite output.

Although the composite video to RGB converter Jandreau references (the PAC VCI-X) is no longer available, some of the of the others referenced in the link provided by Astromorg are still available.

I used to have a plug-and-play adapter for the Nav screen that worked with the PAC VCI-X, but since it is discontinued, I need to retool my adapter for one of the other units. Until then, the other units can still be hardwired in using the nav. wiring diagram page of the XK8/R electrical system available on Jagrepair.com.

 

Thanks guys. Gives me new ideas to think about. Was kinda after controlling the display itself directly without any video conversions. I've taken the sat nav unit into pieces and the display is made by Sharp. Not sure about the part number as on the back side there's several numbers: B0043, 9500624, LQ6BW558 and 9501501. I'm guessing the LQ6BW558 is the model number but can find very little information on this.

The only reason I'd like to use this display is that it fits perfectly. I have not been able to find alternative displays of this size. They tend to be either 5" (too small) or 7" (too big).

 

I can provide you the Datasheet of the Sharp-LCD, but i think, this will not be much of a help...

There are several TFT-Panels with an appropriate size on the market, my favourites ATM are HV056WX1 or LTD056, both 5.6" sized widescreen units ( I think these will fit better than the original 6") They are sold, often together with controller-boards for VGA,HDMI,DVI, on ebay.

Maybe some day i will go the same way by exchanging the Sharp for a better screen, but the last months i was "busy" with building the controller-firmware for translating the OEM-button's beside of the screen into USB-Keystrokes.

Greetings
Wolf

 

Thanks! That's the only datasheet I found as well. Good for dimensions but that's about it. I'll have a look at the othere screens you posted!

 

This option is starting to sound good actually. Have you been able to find a touch screen digitizer of this size by any chance?

May I ask why are you doing this? I was thinking of hooking up the buttons directly to the Raspberry Pi's GPIO.

 

Hello Kari!

I bought a 6 inch resistive touchpanel from an ebay seller 'chinatobby', that fits the OEM Sharp nearly perfect. But you have to modify the case of the display-unit a little bit to compensate the additional 1,5mm in thickness.

6inch 145mmx88mm Resistive Touch screen USB Controller card | eBay

Because i'm using this ATM, i haven't checked out other sizes.

I have plans to use a WP9900 navigation-unit (also known as CS9900) from Wondeproud. It's sold by Axion here in Germany. This can be connected to the OEM-Wiring (RGB+Sync) and mounted into the rack in the trunk. Basically this is a android based SBC, you can see it as a smartphone without display and added RGBs-Interface & some USB-Ports.

This Unit works with the Sharp-display and also with the previous mentioned touchscreen, but my finding was, that i like to have 'real' buttons for some functions. Although i really want to stay with the Alpine-HU - Ok, one might say, that it's outdated or crap, but every other solution, i've seen so far, will break the existing interior design in my opinion. Ok, if you exchange the whole center-console, this might be also acceptable...

So i'm working on an interface, that 'translates' the Alpine-Bus. Will say, if you press a button at the screen, a programmed keystroke should be sent to the nav-unit like from a PC-keyboard. Beside of that i get an Aux-In & MP3-USB Interface with my controller, fully integrated with the OEM-Equipment (Radio, Navi, Steering-Wheel buttons).
The problem is, that the timing on the bus is really crucial and the whole thing is undocumented, it's very time consuming to develop the software to a stable state - but i'm doing it as a 'hobby', so what - others do crosswords

But i'm very interested in your expereiences, if you can integrate a better panel. Where do you want to mount the raspi, Center-console? Did you have a look at the cubieboard3?

Greetings
Wolf

 

Very interesting. My plans at the moment are very much up in the air. I'm not entirely sure which way to go yet. Originally I was going to put an Android phone in the place of the screen and hook it up to the head unit. I bought a suitable phone but for some reason I didn't put it in the car. Somehow it felt a bit half arsed solution. The existing buttons would have not worked for example.

Raspberry Pi at least would be more open and customizable. You could even run Android on it although I'm not sure what the limitations are. Would be great if you could run co-pilot on it. Or maybe just run the standard Rasbian and compile Navit for it...

Need to research more

 

I received my touch screen digitizer today from the same seller. It almost works out of the box in Linux (both my laptop and raspberry pi). One of the axis seems to be flipped. Not sure which one as I don't know which way is up Also the touch area doesn't move the cursor all the way to the edges of the screen. Guess this is just a configuration issue. Did you compile the drivers on the included disc or did you use something else?

EDIT: Never mind. I figured it out. Just had to use xinput_calibrator to get it configured

 

I tested the touchscreen with the provided USB-Interface on a Win-PC, the Android-box I use has it's own touchscreen-controller, so simply the 4-wires had to be adapted to the devices connector.

Good luck...

Edit: IIRC the doc's for the panel are not accurate, maybe in the description is one x with the y-wire switched?

 

Thanks man! All is good. I got it working properly after using the xinput_calibrator. Got my display in mail today too so soon I'll be doing some real tests

 

Some photos of my new toys. Hope to get these in the car very soon




Touch screen digitizer and display fit perfectly behind the old sat nav frame after a few minor mods.




Touch screen digitizer and display from behind.




The display driver board is small enough to fit behind the screen I think.




Raspberry Pi 2 model B with the Toshiba LTD056EV7F display via NT68676.2A driver board.

 

Thanks for the Pic's & Info. Looks great!

Have you tested the Display in sunlight? I think, that is one of the culprits of the original part. I wonder, if the LTD is better.

Greetings from Germany,
Wolf

 

ok help me here. what will this do?

 

The Raspberry Pi is a mini-computer, quite possibly more powerful than any of the computers on the car itself. As such it can be programmed to do pretty much anything you want, including sat nav, music player, OBD data display etc.

There are almost endless possibilities for someone who is prepared to invest the time into playing around with it.

For everyone else a much simpler (and more limited) swap is to fit a Garmin sat nav in the space, which will be a huge improvement over the original obsolete sat nav.

 

How does it get a sat nav signal? Does it have touchscreen keyboard in it?

 

There are a few different GPS boards/modules available, some with built in antennas, others with wired aerials. Yes, you can add a touchscreen keyboard.

 

I'll let you know when we have a sunny day here in the UK. Don't hold your breath though