truemagellen

Lamma is 15 mins from me So I was their guinea pig...took a while but we got it...big pain in the *** How did u change the switch to visualization time (even if it is one minute)?

Flyboyindy made an RX-8 inspired theme/skin pack for his setup

yeah xbox pulls about 6amps or around 85 watt spike 65-70 median...bill gates needs some tips on energy conservation

Speedrx8er

ahhaha Dam all this talk about the X mod makes me want to drive over to my little nephew's house and jack his box(he don't play with it anymore) ehehhe. One thing stoping me is that I don't want to spend $$$ on an lcd.(no nav).Can't find a decent small one for a decent price..

G0t m4xx 21

In XBMC you go to Settings-> Appearance, then choose "screensaver" on the side bar. Then you can adjust the timeout (the screensaver will go to the visualization if its playing music).

And yeah thats about the same amount of power draw that I measured.

truemagellen

hmmm, I'll check the xml file I bet I can switch it to 0 seconds it is just that the defined preset values are in larger incriments , although switching it that short may cause trouble

I'll tinker at home

btw what do you use for power inside? I had a test bench 12volt power supply but it was $80 and it had a lot of feedback. I bought a converter for Igloo coolers that handles 7amps and was $12 on clearance at target works great!

G0t m4xx 21

I bought one of these to power it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...0%3D%26fvi%3D1

It's a little bit overkill at 12.5 Amps but I also use it to power some of my high-end battery chargers I use for my RC cars and stuff.

truemagellen

nice, that would probably be better but no big deal

also I change the settings to 1min but it went to a screen saver, simple visualization

I am going for the full screen visualizaiton like Milkdrop, GAIM or G-Force, etc. since u can control tracks from there

-J

G0t m4xx 21

nah theres a checkbox to have it go to the screensaver normally, but have it go to the milkdrop visualization or whatever ONLY if it is playing music. It's there at least in the newest version, and the previous 2 versions, IDK bout farther back.

If you don't have the newest version I'd go get it from xbins. (Newest is 2005-10-23 build)

truemagellen

nice! the new ones have the dvd player built into the core ...I'll have to get the latest build

G0t m4xx 21

OK, I figured out how to make the volume louder with this AUX input mod!!!!

Theory:

Because the CD player is outputing silence, the signal amplifier inside the CD player is trying to hold the output signals low. Therefore, whenever another signal is being fed into this, that amp is pulling down the signal, and reducing its volume.

In the stock 6CD Changer (All of this is based off the CD Changer, I don't know about the regular cd player), there is about 82 ohms of resistance in series with the audio outputs, so, when the CD player is playing silence, it is connecting the output signals to ground through an 82 ohm resistor.

What can be done, however, is to cut the audio L and R tracks somewhere between the signal amp in the CD player, and where you splice in the AUX input, and add more resistance to the circuit. More resistance will reduce the amount of voltage drop from the AUX input, and will have a minimal effect on volume from the CD player (it makes it slightly softer).

I found a nice place to do this, it is inside the CD player, on the bottom board. There are two sets of jumpers where the audio signals must jump over other traces, and you can remove these jumpers and replace them with a resistor. (anywhere from 250-1000 ohms is good).

Remember, these pictures are of the CD Changer, the regular CD may or may not look different from these pics, I really don't know.

First, remove the CD Changer from the rest of the head unit (as shown in the tutorial for addin gthe AUX input).

There are 5 phillips screws holding the top and bottom covers of the Changer on. They are circled in these pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0156edited.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0155edited.jpg

Then pry the top lid off (it has some tabs on either side), then slide the bottom cover off. WARNING! The bottom circuit board is mounted to the bottom cover, and is connected to the mainboard with a thin ribbon cable. Remove the bottom cover CAREFULLY as not to damage this ribbon cable.

The board mounted to the bottom cover is the one we will be working with. Near the center of the board you will see a set of 6 jumpers. The two outside pairs are the audio L and R, and the center pair is the ground. You will desolder the two pairs of OUTSIDE jumpers (the easiest way to do this is to drown the part in solder, then lift it off), and replace them with the resistor of your choice, 250-1000 ohms. The higher the resistance, the louder your aux input will be, but the softer your CD player will be (the effect on the CD player's volume is MINIMAL though).

This pic shows the 2 pairs of outside jumpers replaced with 2 1000 ohm resistors:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMGA0154.jpg

now put some electrical tape on the resistors for good measure, then reassemble the changer, and the rest of the headunit.

put the HU back in your RX8, and enjoy some LOUD from your AUX input!!!

michPZ

Hi all
New UK RX-8 owner here
followed this excellence guide pat of the way so i could fit a AuxMod into the rear tape deck connector , which gives me a Aux line-in to plug my ipod into.

my problem is now that i have put it all back together the red lights behind all the audio and heater switches arn't working.

i think i may of damaged a wire while pulling out the stereo to get my hand around the back to unplug the connectors

all conectors are pluged in and every switch works just no lights.

i have an UK 2006 model which now has a single plug at the bottom for the heater controls (this guide showed 2 connectors) and i suspect this has the power supply for the lights.

so does anyone know the colour of the wire in the conector that supplys power so i can test it with lights turned on/off

Thanks , i have tried looking at the wiring diagrams but i just can't figure it out

michPZ

well i have just striped the center console back down unpluged all the connectors and found a loose wire in the Large white connector at the back of the stereo after fixing this everything is now working Thank God

ATL RX-8

I used this guide to install my AuxMod chip yesterday. Good write-up but the removal was a B-I-T-C-H. My radio didn't want to slide out far enough to get my hand behind it to disconnect the connectors. It took some serious fiddling, and my hands are all beat up from it, but it was worth it.

Charles Cope

Thanks for the great instructions! I removed the bracket on page 4 (four screws, use a #2 screwdriver, upper left screw is really tight!). This gives a direct view of the hidden bolt. If you'd like the original photo, untouched, let me know!

LoGiC

Ok, I just signed up today to say thank you for this thread! I've been a long time viewer of RX8CLUB, but never really found a reason to become a member. I have a 2004 Sunlight Silver RX-8 w/ GT package. I love it! It's my dream car! And to think I used to drive a crappy Saturn! The only thing I miss from my old car was the ability to hook my Ipod into my aftermarket stereo. Lately I'm on a very tight budget and I can't afford to buy a new deck and have it installed. Plus, my firmware is only 9.50 so I couldn't even add an expensive PIE system. I was just surfing around the other day and found this thread. It seemed easy enough to do even with my limited soldering skills. So I went out today and bought an $8 soldering kit from Radio Shack ( I already had an RCA hookup) and within a couple of hours I had everything wired up and installed. IT WORKS PERFECT! I didn't even need a ground loop isolator like others have mentioned. Maybe that's because I used a high end RCA hookup with shielded cables. I'm still amazed how easy it was. This made my day for sure! I just wanna say thanks to everyone for this wonderful info! This site is awesome!

UnstoppableDrew

Great DIY. I used it for the instructions on pulling the head unit, I just hooked up my audiolink to the back of the radio. Didn't even have to fully disconnect the radio to get room. The hardest part was getting the connector off the mode switch fro the heater controls. That sumbitch took me like 10 minutes of fighting & cursing.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

great diy. props to OP.

aliveoutofhabit

I just want to say that, even though I will probably never perform this mod, this is the best DIY I have ever read.

Good job!

l008com

Thanks

I'm currently in the process of upgrading that whole site, and I'm dreading the RX8 iPod install pages, cause its 20 plus pages. Its going to be a real pain in the *** :-)

dozer

iTrader: (3)

will this work for any MP3 player????i dont own an Ipod but i do have a psp with a lot of songs on it???would that still work??

l008com

Yes this is a standard headphone jack so it will work with anything.

Also I put a 'digg' link on my website, so if you really like the DIY, digg it for me :-)

Also, FYI, I'm now on my second RX-8 and on the new one, I use that ipod adapter from the RPM store, not this hack. I paid $120 and what I get out of it is the use of my next/prev steering wheel buttons, and no soldering. I really suck at soldering. When I did this hack for the first time, I actually mailed the headphone cable and the board in the radio to my friend in another state to have him solder it, and send it back :-)

DanRedRx8

Just finished this mod and it was great and even fun!

I have a single cd unit with firmware 9.50 on an 04 manual rx8 so the audio-link was not an option and i did not want to send in my head unit for an upgrade.

This was a VERY cost efficient way to add an aux input.

while i had the head unit out i added another mod i read on this forum

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-gps-hard-wire-install-133581/

i pretty much tapped into the cig lighter and added an extra 12v socket behind the dash where i plug in my belkin ipod adapter to be completley out of sight. I ran the ipod conecter through the top of the cig lighter door and i will soon place my ipod nano video (sometimes called 3rd generation nano) just to the left of the "seek track" button. So far everything works perfectly and you dont even need a silent cd to test out the system... when you plug anything in, it pretty much significantly dulls down the volume of the cd playing and the aux input is now the main audio/volume source. ( i found this out as i put in the "Korn-follow the leader" cd as it has about a minute of silence at the beginning)

also some tips i found out....

if you buy a radio shack RCA cable, you will find that when you cut off the white and red connecters that there is a mesh of copper inside.... when you strip the primary black insulater you will notice that there are copper wires surrounding a clear plastic tube. The clear plastic tube is insulating the positive copper wires while the outisde copper surrounding it is the negative or ground wires...

if you have no experience with soldering, i would recommend taking it to an electrician, otherwise i would recommend getting extra viscus electrical flux. It is easier to handle and allows for more precision. Also, I taped off the other solder points when applying the flux so i dont accidentlaly smudge the other connection and accidentally "double-solder". Like the DIY says... hot glue will help with stability.

Last but not least.... i didnt even mess with replacing the infamous bolt holding the radio behind the dash.... i see no point... the unit sits firmly enough....

Thank you again I008COM for posting such an awsome DIY

refugeefrompistons

If your still around, I love you. Thanks for that picture, omfg I was taking off one that was a lot higher up :-(.

Grungepup

iTrader: (2)

Friggin AWESOME .... got my RPM package today at work, took the car out back, 45 min later IPOD for tunes.... no more fm modulator. Thanks for the write up and pictures helped out greatly.

xsnipersgox

woot finally did it.. couple things to note.

all the connections have clips on em, except the antenna

google for silent CD for silent wave files.

i didn't reattach the bolt... (but that really was the easy part)

xsnipersgox

anyone know where i may have screwed up based on the following problem?

the left and right audio is working, left goes left, right goes right.

however, i can hear a high pitch noise in the background and it gets louder/softer/dissapear with the engine rpm.

ideas?