V36 Nav And Language Swap - Faq

[Chris Rogers]

Sorry to be maybe asking stupid questions, but I am thinking of buying one of these in the near future..

What exactly can you use on these systems as they roll of the boat???

I realise that all the buttons and menus are in japanese but can you even use the fm radio??

absolutely nix.

FM radio - toss a band expander on it and that works. B'tooth - depends on your phone and the protocols it requires.

[Perazzi]

Joy.....

[xfuzion]

Bluetooth worked fine with my HTC mozart, and is fine with my Nexus 4. You can also use the compact flash card for music, though that's limited to the first 512 songs...

[miqmaq]

Is anyone driving a 2009 or 2010 Skyline model?

Is the story any different re bluetooth with iPhone4 and USB integration with two year old iPod Nano?

I can't help but be drawn to the NAVI option because I understand it includes the BOSE sound system.

I've been trying to find some reference to options packs available on the 2010 SP model (in English) but without any real luck.

Might have to toss a coin as to whether to import a NAVI or non-NAVI model and get aftermarket NAVI instead.

I just don't know what else I will miss out on if I go non-NAVI!

[awsam]

I've read on some other v series forums that the 2010/11 can drop a english unit of the same year in. Can't find the link now, and haven't found any youtube video's about it.

[Chris Rogers]

Not without hardware changes..

[Chris Rogers]

Non navi . Yes in theory you can swap them. I have yet to prove it though. Considering that the only markets that got therein English were the UK & USA . Parts from there would be the best bet.

USA would mean the the button set would need changing as would the controller that runs them.

[awsam]

Seems like the best option for navi owners is the fabled mimmicsx2. Wish I knew someone who owned one so I could get it copied.
Friend of mine tried dumping the HDD as well, but the os seems to be stored on eeprom and that's more work than we have time for

I wonder if the jap 2010+ has english files?

[Chris Rogers]

Would not think so. Why build a unit for your home market with unnecessary features..

I have only done one 2010 and the hardware wasvthevsame as 2007 versions.

[Chris Rogers]

Even using that idea you still need to switch video out. That unit won't do it.

[awsam]

Chris, have you seen a Mimmicsx2 before? It basically allows your current touch screen as an input for your phone.

Couple of people have hooked a permenant android phone with rca into the console and wire the mimmics to one of the buttons and disable the drive video lock.

Seems like it would be the cheapest way, and nothing beats google maps ^_^ But seeing as Mimmics is now impossible to buy I'm trying to figure out another touch input

method.

Edited May 11, 2013 by awsam

[Chris Rogers]

Yes I have. However it relies on the aux in. Mine does not. Part of the reason I mentioned video switching. I can lay hands on PLENTY of similar items out of china that do the exact same thing EXCEPT the switch the video out as well allowing the radio to still function.

[awsam]

Sounds good, where can I buy such a unit? and don't say China No one I've contacted in Adelaide has even seen a PV36, let alone have any idea about it's internals.

I'm not understanding what you mean by switching the video out.

[Chris Rogers]

Meaning the displayed items coming off the factory system can be turned off and the visual / touch portion of it switches on demand to the new system whilst the radio/ cd still functions.

As for obtaining such a item , I can buy them out of china.

[awsam]

Able to still receive audio from the external device though correct? That would mean I could use an android carputer via aux that would still respond to the cars volume controls and still have instant access to the aircon visuals and the auto reverse cams.

How much $$$ posted to Adelaide? I have soooo many Galaxy S2 & S3 mainboards that work, but are imei blocked so only good for GPS & WiFi. Could so easily hide the board under the console.

[MikeLo]

I came across this site and gave me a list of the HDD contents of a similar Xanavi system. I've got used to the system in my 370GT but its always good to have a tinker if you dare. Not sure I fancy pulling the HDD out, but I do think that Canadian cluster for the dash maybe worthwhile..

http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic/23304-compactflash-music-player-music-box-limitation/page__st__40

HDD is password protected but the password appears to be the phone number for Xanavi in Japan. They got this far. The system is based on PYTHON POSIX standard, most likely from the QNX derived OS and yes the OS is very small, but the main data will likely still be in the HDD.

If you have the will it looks like the system partition has the language and language audio files for the car compressed into a DAT file.

If your friend dumped the harddrive you should be able to browse it, the only hope of doing anything from here would be to HEX edit the file and look for the japanese UNICODE characters and map them to English.. Or from here try hacking together files from another similar car system. I saw a post from Chris saying he had found a similar system on a Nissan in OZ.

Not sure I would want to brick my HDD and possibly not be able to start the motor, but thought I would share the information I found if others dare.

[MikeLo]

If anyone did get this far, try using this program to search the files on the HDD for any of the english phrases in the menus.

http://vedit.software.informer.com/

[Chris Rogers]

Been there have a 30 gb jdm image sitting here . Hdd tools will pop the lock off . MHDD will disable it. From there I hit it with a hex editor and shortly after left it for some thing else. The thing to realise is this is a different box to what t other cars have. There is a TV tuner to control, e card reader to control and a traffic mgt unit to control . All of that has to be tied into the main code somewhere so a literal dump of a English unit will not boot in a jap box. Already been there with aftermarket units . Both of those ran windows industrial but they were different enough internally that the system would not boot at all.

If you do decide to unlock and image one you won't do damage IF you do your homework before hand.

The toshiba unit used in these is there for a reason . Automotive grade unit capable of taking more abuse than a standard drive. We all know the standard drive can take a fair bit , these take more again.

[Rhinorebel]

Wow, no wonder you told me not to get the Navi version... Too late now...

Will just get the expander when it gets here then!

[Chris Rogers]

Yep. There is usually a reason I say things