My Advent install

[MikeNH]

I'll open by saying I'll have photos of what I did this weekend. My mounting of the input hub/module took way longer than needed because some **** didn't put his tools back where they belong last time he used them (let it be said I have the only keys to my toolbox, draw your own conclusion ).

 

I mounted the USB/AUX input box in the upper glove box (I have an LT-trim truck). I have retained functionality of the factory USB port! All the previous postings in other threads about adaptors proved un-nessecary. The backside of the factory USB port is a female mini (not to be confused with micro, which is the connection on most cell phones these days). All you need to retain functionality of the factory port is a male mini to male A USB cable. I had one of these kicking around at home. Initially I purchased a female mini (5-pin) to male A USB adaptor then a cable that was male A to female A. This setup, for whatever reason did NOT work. So I took the truck apart again (much faster the second time ), ran the cable as described in the first part of the paragraph from the backside of the dash port to the new media hub and it worked fine. If I want to pull video from my iPhone, I simply unplug the cable I ran and plug in the J-Link cable that came with the deck.

 

I did have to do the firmware update as Walt described in a seperate thread. This is pretty simple but I did manage to mess up on one part. You download a zipped file, you unzip it and end up with a folder. I copied this folder directly onto the microSD card from the unit but this is not correct. You simply copy the files from the new folder onto the card and go through the update as described.

 

 

I only briefly toyed with the settings on the deck, putting in my presets for the radio. Bluetooth set up easily but honestly all I did was make couple test calls, I didn't try streaming or getting my contacts on the screen. GPS works quite well it seems, I made a trip after the install for gas and to grab dinner and it got me to the gas station (I've been there hundreds of times, I wanted to try it out ) just fine. The display looks good but even on the dim setting it does seem bright at night in areas with no streetlights. Thankfully you can turn off the display and still have it play, that I really like.

 

 

That's all I got for now. I gotta be up very early for a flight tomorrow so I'll try to get some photos of what I've done this weekend.

 

Finally, it needs to be said again how awesome Walt is to work with. I called him for help on the update process as well as one other concern I had and he got me through it quickly each time. If anyone is on the fence, I can't recommend ADC enough.

[jdubub]

Glad you got it in before you had to fly out

[redjewel2ss]

i wonder if you can buy the factory USB port and replace one of the cigarette lighters without having to buy a new dash panel.... one of the covers of my cigarette lighters broke off.

[MikeNH]

You can't have two "active" USB ports as I understand it, the deck won't support it. I've basically used a glorified extension cord to go from the media hub the normal port.

[MikeNH]

Ok I wrote the post below for another forum so some of the explanaitons are a bit over-done since most of us are familiar with the deck but I didn't want to type all this crap twice.

 

I haven't done anything with the truck for a while but the upcoming move is going to have me driving my truck to customer sites all the time so I wanted to do something better than a portable unit I'd have to stash every time I stopped. So I added this earlier in the week:

 

 

It's an OE-style deck made by a company called Advent (Audiovox). Installation was largely plug and play with no splicing, adapter modules or anything else. Factory Bluetooth, OnStar, XM, steering wheel controls are all retained. The boot screen was added by the vendor I bought it from, he has dozens of pre-made ones available and can load a custom one if you email it to him. This photo is washed out because I had too much light behind me. The screen is quite sharp in real life.

 

If you follow the instructions, you would lose the factory USB port as the new deck uses this module for USB/AUX in:

 

 

I mounted this in the upper glove box of my truck so it would be out of the way but I wanted to retain the factory USB port. Normally your iPod/whatever would plug directly into the USB port pictured. Instead, I ran a standard USB cable (male A to male mini) from that module to the backside of the factory USB port. So playing music can be done as you would with a factory deck. That module does support video from iPods with a special cable so if I want to watch a movie from my iPhone, I simply unplug my USB extension cable and plug in the special video cable that has the Apple connector at one end and a USB and 1/8" AUX jack at the other.

 

The interface is pretty nice, here are some screen shots-

 

Standard radio:

 

As you can see it supports RDS text.

 

XM:

 

iPod:

Notice the album art is displayed, I really like that feature.

 

Main menu:

 

The bluetooth is by Parrot, and they're supposed to be among the best. The deck has all my contacts stored, you can do voice dialing, there is a normal phone keypad on screen as well. It does not use the factory mic, the deck comes with a new one I mounted up by the mirror and ran the cable down. This is needed because the factory mic is not related at all to the radio, it goes to the VCIM for OnStar and factory Bluetooth. But the mic is unobtrusive and so far has worked quite well.

 

I didn't get a screen shot of the navigation because I live in the middle of nowhere so all you see is one yellow stripe in a field of green but the nav unit works great. The maps are by a company called iGo Primo and the database seems to be very up to date.

 

Another neat feature is the deck supports a rear camera which I have (displays in the mirror). I could've easily spliced into the truck wiring to get a signal to this too but I elected not to as the camera GM uses is extremely low resolution and while it works fine for the small mirror screen, it looks rather poor on the large dash screen. Also on the "back up" screen is a vehicle icon used in conjunction with the ultrasonic park assist. It is neat because it has indicators split into 4 sections to show where the object is behind you. I've only been able to mess around with the deck for about a day overall as I've been away but so far I am extremely happy with it and would recommend it to anyone with a 900-series GM truck.

 

Oh and this is the cable you'll need to retain your factory USB port on an LT/SLE truck:

 

[RAK80]

Mike, nice write up....I just thought I'd give you a little heads up on your dash trim piece....see on the top left corner how the gap is bigger between the trim piece and the Advent then on the right? I had this issue as well, but if you watch Walt's LT install video, you'll see that to properly reinstall the trim piece, that you need to pop the "knee knocker" panel below the steering wheel down, so that the dash trim piece can slide in behind it. As soon as I did that, the fit was perfect and the uneven gap was gone. Just thought I'd let you know b/c it drove me crazy! Maybe you did do this, but that is exactly how mine looked before I figured out what I had done wrong!

[MikeNH]

I did pull the panel down, but it still didn't fit well. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

[RAK80]

I did pull the panel down, but it still didn't fit well. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

 

 

ok, also make sure that on the panel to the right of the knee knocker, that the dash trim piece goes in behind it as well on the far left corner. I had to drop the trim piece behind that first, then start to pop the clips back into place on the trim piece, then put the knee knocker panel up last.

[MikeNH]

Looks like you were right! There was a bit of the trim that didn't tuck right below the three buttons for pedals, park assist and stabilitrac. I probably never would've noticed as I've been driving almost entirely at night lately.

[RAK80]

Looks like you were right! There was a bit of the trim that didn't tuck right below the three buttons for pedals, park assist and stabilitrac. I probably never would've noticed as I've been driving almost entirely at night lately.

 

 

Awesome! It made me fall more in love with it once I got it right! lol. I installed mine at night and didn't notice it until the next morning. Glad it helped!

[holty]

Excellent documentation, thank you!

[bsmall1564]

"Oh and this is the cable you'll need to retain your factory USB port on an LT/SLE truck"

 

 

I have a stupid question, what exactly is this cable used for? Is it just for the IPhone? Or could it be used for downloading firmware updates???

If I don't have an IPhone is it nessassary to have installed?

Thanks you,

[MikeNH]

"Oh and this is the cable you'll need to retain your factory USB port on an LT/SLE truck"

 

 

I have a stupid question, what exactly is this cable used for? Is it just for the IPhone? Or could it be used for downloading firmware updates???

If I don't have an IPhone is it nessassary to have installed?

Thanks you,

 

 

That cable plugs into the new media hub on one end and into the backside of the factory USB port on the other side (small plug). This way, you can charge your phone, listen to music or whatever from the normal location but if you want video you simply unplug this cable and attach the special cable for video. This should work with any phone, but I only can promise it will work on an iPhone as that is what I have.

[bsmall1564]

"Oh and this is the cable you'll need to retain your factory USB port on an LT/SLE truck"

 

 

I have a stupid question, what exactly is this cable used for? Is it just for the IPhone? Or could it be used for downloading firmware updates???

If I don't have an IPhone is it nessassary to have installed?

Thanks you,

 

 

That cable plugs into the new media hub on one end and into the backside of the factory USB port on the other side (small plug). This way, you can charge your phone, listen to music or whatever from the normal location but if you want video you simply unplug this cable and attach the special cable for video. This should work with any phone, but I only can promise it will work on an iPhone as that is what I have.

 

 

Thanks Mike for the answer.

[bc0508]

I am going to do my install this weekend I like the idea of retaining the factory usb port I am not a big fan on that block. I am actually trying to find a 4 pole extension cable so I drill a small hole and have the aux port right next to the usb.

On your fix did you plug your mini end to what used to plug in to the radio end?