Hacking Auto-check LCD

[HPmuirt]

IIRC on the German Meckis forum there is already someone who made a one-off S2 OSD featuring all this data.
I asked the man 2 years ago if he would be willing to mass-produce this or at least share the info, but he did not want to do it.

I can not find the link with pictures of it it anymore though......

Bram, I still have the set of S2 clocks sitting in a box ready to post to you for him to mod, shame it never came off

In fact I was thinking recently that I must PM you and find out the latest news on this. If you every catch up with him, please re-ask for me

Cheers n

Si

[Evilgoat76]

Ok this went from something really simple to a bit of a pig

I'll see if I cant get a bridge working first. Once thats done I'll use that as a starting point to plug another module into. I dont want to be making mods to the dash itself if I can avoid it.

I seem to recall on a couple of 90s I have seen that there is an audi up/down/reset switch that was used in one of the switch blanks rather than in the wiper stalk like the S2. Anyone seen these?

I'll have to look at revisiting the rewiring the mirror switch too I think as if I do this I want it to stay looking stock, no aftermarket switches etc.

So, You would be looking at:

Display Bridge
Display ECU to try and do all the requests above
Modified Mirror Switch to control the ECU

Or maybe a better way would be to do the bridge for them that want to tinker themselves and do the rest as a hard mod to the dash? Would mean soldering though or sending the autocheck board away.

My first step is to find whats left of my test dash or get a new one from some place.

[Zoig]

Ok this went from something really simple to a bit of a pig

Well it's an intresting topic, I've been rolling the idea for few years to find a good use for this display that is mostly without use. Looks like I'm not alone.

Or maybe a better way would be to do the bridge for them that want to tinker themselves and do the rest as a hard mod to the dash? Would mean soldering though or sending the autocheck board away.

I would opt for this variant, if that means i could customize it a bit. Would like to have a possibility to customize addon modules for the display ECU and how they are displayed in the Autocheck screen.

For the mirror switch, it would be perfect if the switch would operate the Display bridge/ECU in the mirror selector middle position and operate as usual when mirror is selected. Would keep the interior as stock as possible.

Edit: the switch you are thinking about should be the one from pre facelift C3 Audi 100/200 for computer control.

Somelthing like this on the picture:

[Evilgoat76]

Thanks to Flatonmyback theres an auto-check unit on its way

Zoig, the switch I had in mind had up/down and in the centre a reset button, I think I have a pic on the lappy at home.

[Zoig]

That's the switch then, just rotate it 90 degrees, to put it in the B4/C4 chassis cars.

[S2central.net]

This one is always a hot topic... I've never had time to invest in it so I hope someone else can make progress here.

[Evilgoat76]

This one is always a hot topic... I've never had time to invest in it so I hope someone else can make progress here.

I have to admit, I was waiting for your response in here.

I'm as far along as I can go right now. I have a board that *SHOULD* work, it'll need new firmware but being based on the one I have now it'll be good. I've dropped the radio passthru for now and added a single +12 input, intention is for it to be used to sense the dash lighting being on so you can dim the car pc.

CAD files went off to my PCB co this afternoon so the first board should be back by end of next week. Assuming some the shop stays quiet I'll get to tinker and post some results.

The module as it stands has an 8 pin molex connector for then three connections to t14, power, ground and passthru signals if used. On tother end you have an RJ45 giving serial in/out, programming (my use only) and 2 digital lines that could be used for whatever took your fancy.

I'm aiming for nice simple commands all character based. It should then be possible to bolt other things onto the serial port other than a PC, eg OBDII modules, boost guages, teratrip, GPS absolute speed etc. I am thinking of putting the mirror control interface in here too so that it can pass back the button presses to whatever is plugged in.

[Evilgoat76]

Ok, the 'dumb' version does as follows... Well, should do when I test it.

power up the car, you have 15 seconds to get that lcd clear, so that means autocheck saying 'ok' and going away.

15 seconds you get the control unit Version and your Reg (security thing). I'll need your reg no to code this/or supply software so

V1.01
M111AGL

Stays there 4 S

Then user programmed message for another 5 seconds, then off

programming it from your car pc is simple as
D<yourtext><CR>
O<CR> turns display on
X<CR> turns off

Theres 4 switch inputs you can use, these expect +12v signals and I'll do a mod for the mirror switch when I get one of them to mess with. These will send back N, E, S, W to the host, each followed by a CR.

sending !<CR> will give you the state of a fifth channel intended for monitoring lighting.

interpreting this on a pc is pretty easy and I'll put together something to dump those button presses into the keybpard buffer so applications like Centrefuse can use them. I MIGHT make the reg no user definable or lock it in so only I can make changes. What say you all?

All of the above works as is, its just the display link that needs testing. I realise there isnt anything groundbreaking here but its only meant as a display interface. The fun comes later.

[Evilgoat76]

Ok this is a whole can of worms

I now Have 2 different Auto Checks, and I KNOW the one on my S2 is different again as is the 100's as they give different software version (hold down clock button, turn on ignition, give you your software version)

The one I had but was dead, is through hole technology with a display duaghter board
The one Flatonmyback sent (ta) SMT technology, no daughter board but no speed warning function (also jammed in german :S)
One in My S2, Reports V53 and has speed warning
One in the 100, Reports V58 and also has speed warning

Oh, and the circuit diagrams dont match ANY of them, d'oh. Just nbeed to get the display clear so I can then activate the radio input, just got Bulb failur warning and Battery warning left to clear :S

Taking what I was told for granted about not being able to do graphics might have been silly. Looking at the way this goes together it would be a major headache for audi to disable this ability.

[Error404]

I'm not sure I understand any of this except that the end result would be awesome.

I've got a spare autocheck if you need it for test purposes