XM Radio in 2011-2013 Cars and other software tweaks...

Electronic systems, stereo and Holden iQ, wiring, it all goes here....
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mnp
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:06 pm

XM Radio in 2011-2013 Cars and other software tweaks...

Post by mnp »

Well, even though I don't even have a Caprice, Caprice parts seem to find me... I ended up with a 2012 PPV radio for testing. So being a wise guy, I decided to do a 9C3 conversion into my G8, and I have to say I LOVE how it turned out.

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Now you might be wondering how it is red, well that's the kicker, let me explain. These radios were designed by Continental, yes that Continental. The update/programming process is as follows, a file containing partial amounts of OS data is pushed to the radio. Then the radio asks for a USB drive, this USB contains graphics, software information, hardware settings and locks that disable certain features, like Bluetooth on factory Caprice radios. These radios are VERY picky about the type of USB stick they will accept, so this is the first challenge for the DIY-er. Not to mention the "special" cable needed for data transfer, you can rig something up, but the cable is cheap enough... Anyway, the USB stick is the part of the programming process that defines things such as vehicle options. So, I figured why not try to put the Australian files I received onto this radio. Well, I later found out why. The whole installation went off without a hitch, no visible issues, radio stations worked, Bluetooth worked, USB media worked, all of it. Until I got to the CDs, now the Australian radios pretty much universally have the ability to store CDs onto the internal flash memory. The "Stored CDs" option showed up, further confirming that the USB step in the programming process unlocks said feature. However, the CD drive is different between the up-level (Australian) and low-level (PPV/Omega) radio. And attempting to load/eject/save or even tap on CD, will result in a hard OS crash that requires power to be cut from the radio LOL. BUT this is not where it ends, at least for now. Some may know jezzab from CarModder, he has successfully modified the file that is uploaded to the radio from USB. With this as motivation, I plan to mix and match pieces of the software to get the red graphics, or possibly even custom graphics, onto PPV radios.

So why should anyone care? Well, I don't know, this is cool to me and I hope it is to some people also. Now to the really interesting part in my opinion...
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Keep in mind, this is from the PPV files that SPS generated and are UNMODIFIED in any way. Does this mean that XM was planned? Probably. My guess is it works similar to how the G8 and other GM cars work. There is a "Digital Radio Reciever" that handles communication to XM satellites, and over GMLAN it tells the radio that XM is available, and sends song/category/artist information all over GMLAN. This is really interesting to me, and I'm focusing on successfully modifying the USB file because I believe it is just turned off. Please please please give me feedback. This community is full of insanely smart individuals and I'd love to see if we can pull this off.

~ MNP
GammaFlat
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:26 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: XM Radio in 2011-2013 Cars and other software tweaks...

Post by GammaFlat »

This stuff looks very interesting to me. I have a software engineering background (previous life). I also have a '13 9C3. My radio came from Australia and has "more" capabilities (backup camera, android auto, aux in, other stuff I'm sure I've forgotten). What you're doing is very interesting. I'm not sure how much time I have for this with lots of my attention currently on drive-train fun but certainly keep us posted.
I'd bet there's a market for "upgrades" to factory radios. I'm sure you're aware of White Auto and Media...
Current: 2013 9C3, deeper trans pan, 12VoltSolutions Remote, Class III hitch, Android Auto capable radio
mnp
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:06 pm

Re: XM Radio in 2011-2013 Cars and other software tweaks...

Post by mnp »

I have a Australian radio on the way (thanks Facebook marketplace) with Nav. I also plan on getting a stable version of U.S. maps going on it. The nav boards run Windows CE so it can be done, but hard to say exactly without having it in my hands yet.
mnp
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:06 pm

Re: XM Radio in 2011-2013 Cars and other software tweaks...

Post by mnp »

UPDATE:
I randomly remembered that Ghidra has decompilers for C++ so I loaded it up (probably haven't used it since 2014 LOL) and left it overnight to analyze the source. These are all the valid C/C++ functions it found. This should be fun.

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