Hacking VE Colour LCD HVAC and Radio

[ZerOne]

Ok, I have kind of bummed out on some things, and made progress with others..

1) I may have fried my backup fascia (The one with the EEPROM plug soldered on board.
When I tried using it on both my original HVAC main unit, and my backup HVAC unit, it did nothing.
(It didnt light up, the buttons were not responding, it was totally DEAD)
I am hoping that it is something as simple as a bad solder joint, or a track for the EEPROM has been damaged.

2) My backup HVAC main unit works, but I couldnt test the VIN setting, as you need the fascia programming to match the main unit for everything to work. Because my backup fascia isnt working, I dont have a fascia that matches the Backup unit. (Unless I Upload the backup fascia EEPROM data to my main fascia, but I REALLY dont want to mess with my original gear at this time.

3) Using the backup main unit, with my original fascia, the background colors were red (Like SS and HSV models), not blue like Calais models....
So this is telling me that the background colours and possibly startup screen logos may be held in the man unit EEPROM after all ? (Unfortunately I need to get my backup fascia working to know for sure.

4) i did some tests on the VGA input...
OK, this one is going to be tricky. For the input to work, you need the GMLAN to NAV Module connected.
Whether this broadcasts on the GMLAN that a Nav module is fitted, or whether it listens for a NAV startup request, I dont know, but I don now know that when its disconnected, Pressing the NAV button on the Radio does nothing.
It doesnt bring up a VGA blank screen, it doesnt switch On r off the radio, it just becomes a dead button,
So if you want to use the VGA Video input for an in car PC, we need to work out what this GMLAn Module does exactly.

[crackers01]

Hey mate any progress on the Stereo hack

[ZerOne]

TIme has been a big problem lately.
Lots of overtime, and many other important tasks to complete, leaving very little time to play around...

There are two things I need to do to progress.

1) I need to repair the backup LCD screen,so as I can quickly change its EEPROM details to test on both main units.
2) I need to remove the main unit from my car. The problem I have here is disconnecting the Antennas on the passenger side of the main unit.
You need to drop the glove box down a fair bit to get good access to these connectors.
To do this, I need to remove the factory Sat Nav unit, which is very difficult because they have tightened the VGA connector screws on very tightly. There is no room back there to get a flat headed screw driver in, or pliers to try and loosen the screws.

The above Step 1 is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing I need to do right now....
Getting some time to complete this though is another matter

[ZerOne]

Ok, some small progress...
I got my second LCD fascia working again, complete with its EEPROM socket plug.

Here is a picture of the new face, when I originally got it and connected it to my original main unit...



And here is the new face, running on my original main unit, with a copy of the Original Fascia EEPROM....

[ZerOne]

Now that I have a face that I can swap EEPROMs in and out quickly, I need to do the following....

1) See if I can get the larger EEPROMs that I have lying around to work with the fascia unit, as currently I only have the one original EEPROM from the new Fascia unit to play with... (Which will make progress rather slow !!!!!)

2) Trying changing some values and see what happens... (Not that I expect much to change here, as I am thinking that most of the good stuff is located on the main units EEPROM)...

3) Try connecting my second Main Unit up, with the second Fascia EEPROM, to see if setting the VIN number works.. (I dont see any reason why it shouldnt work at this stage)....

4) Try and change some settings on the main unit EEPROM.... (!?!?!?!?!?!)

[jezzab]

Good work mate. Looking forward to see how you progress

[crackers01]

Great work mate

[ZerOne]

A little bit more progress.
(I dont have time during the week to try and test my second main deck with the second face to work out if the VIN hack works)...

Anyway I have been playing around with the Fascia EEPROMs.
I have been trying to work out what locations are used to allow / deny the fascia to work with the main unit / vehicle.

It looks like memory locations 0032 through to 003C are used for the above.

My Fascia EEPROM location findings so far.

0001 -> 0007 : Common between the EEPROMs
0008 -> 000C : Unknown (No Operation Difference)
000D -> 000F : Common between the EEPROMs
0010 -> 0011 : Unknown (No Operation Difference)
0012 -> 0031 : Common between the EEPROMs
0032 -> 0036 : ?????? (TO BE TESTED) ??????
0037 -> 0038 : Common between the EEPROMs
0039 -> 003A : ?????? (TO BE TESTED) ??????
003B -> 003C : ?????? (TO BE TESTED) ??????
003D -> 007F : Common between the EEPROMs

Locations 0080 -> 00FF is a copy of the above locations....

Other news, I am successfully using 24C08 EEPROMs (From VY/VZ clusters) for the Fascia...

[ZerOne]

Latest news, think the software mismatch is causing a slight bug....

If my Aircon is on, and I press the Aircon button, the display says the aircon is off, but it is still on.
I need to turn it back on, then off again to get the aircon to turn off.

I have been running the second fascia now for around one week, and apart from the above bug, I cannot tell the difference. All the other functions work (Sat Nav, Park Assist, audio, etc).

The HVAC/Radio Engineering mode is exactly the same. No new features there.

On a side note, if you press and hold the right disc button, and the left track button, and whilst holding these down, press and hold the Power knob for ten seconds, you get a ROAD TEST message that comes up...
I have NFI what this is, what it does, or if there is any point to it, but I thought I would mention it as it is kinda on topic...

[ZerOne]

Latest news,
I found the EEPROM location that links the Fascia to the Main Unit.
0032 -> 0036 - I havent had a chance to look at these values yet, and to try and work out where the match is on the Main Unit EEPROM,
but at least its a start....

Here is an update of the Fascia EEPROM map...

0001 -> 0007 : Common between the EEPROMs
0008 -> 000C : Unknown (No Operation Difference)
000D -> 000F : Common between the EEPROMs
0010 -> 0011 : Unknown (No Operation Difference)
0012 -> 0031 : Common between the EEPROMs
0032 -> 0036 : Links Fascia to Main Unit (Security Code)
0037 -> 0038 : Common between the EEPROMs
0039 -> 003A : Possible Climate Control Settings (Temp, Outlet, Dual/Single Zone, etc)
003B -> 003C : Possible Climate Control Settings (Temp, Outlet, Dual/Single Zone, etc)
003D -> 007F : Common between the EEPROMs