Navigation Input Override (Speed Sensor Bypass)

And for those of us w/ the USB audio, Toyota lets us freely search through playlists, songs, albums, all while driving. And with their crummy menu system that IS a distraction... go figure.

 

Yep... I already use my smartphone while driving instead of features on my navigation.. why?... I have no limitations!

I can call anybody I want regardless of where they are in my contact list, get weather and traffic updates, watch TV etc etc etc......

It won't be long people will either not pay the high price or elect to not even get it at all if it doesn't service the customer.

There are very few things I need to do while sitting still and traffic is not condusive to pull over every time I want to do something.

Its "safer" to not have have navigation or a screen to look at period right?.. so why do we have one?

Its all about where you want to draw the line in the sand to make Toyota Lawyers feel warm and fuzzy.

Not good for sales however.

Lots of things are safer ... for instance.. lets make the speed limit 20mph on the freeways!

 

On mine I can't scroll through my USB file list while the car is in motion...it grays out the scroll buttons.

 

Yea, Toyota follows what the Corporate Lawyers say that protects them from lawsuits more than functional common sense.

Seems everything a newer cutting edge function comes out, they are afraid to let you use it while moving.... good thing my cellphone doesn't work that way as its way more dangerous trying to get off the freeway and back on just to make a call.

The decision to buy high end electronics in the packages is getting clearer and clearer.

Buy a Tom Tom that lets you do what you want when you want or you can pay 10X that much for installed navigation that controls when you can use it..... humm... decisions decisions!

Or better yet.. get all the same functions right from your smartphone!
The gap is narrowing!

 

On my 2007 Lexus RX 400H, there are secret buttons onthe two top corners of the screen you can tap in a certain sequence and it would override the lockout safety feature. Is there no such thing for the 2010 prius?

The iPhone ipod support is a joke, unless you like to just shuffle the songs, its not worth using. I just use the AUX port with a Kinsington LiquidAUX instead.

 

Hello everyone! Long time reader, but just signed up because I recently got my new Prius.

I wanted to shed some more light on overriding the Nav lockout.
I don't think it would be that easy to hack the software to bypass the lockout. The option to enable or disable the "override" is NOT built into the DVD. Here's what led me to believe this... I had created a 5.1/8.1 hybrid DVD for my '09 Sienna Limited and it worked like a charm! But pop that baby into the Gen III Prius and option to override is still missing. That means the contents of the service menu was hard coded into the Nav and is not on the DVD. If any hacking is to take place, it would not be done on the DVD but rather on the unit itself. At least on the DVD, you can read/edit files easily on a computer. Now you have to figure out how to access the firmware just to be able to play with it. With the previous generation of Nav, all you had to do is to replace "loading.kwi" from v8.1 with the one from v5.1. Burn a new disc and you're done! But if the override option is not even there in the service menu, you have to find a way to put it there first.

Maybe if we can get our hands on a Euro unit and compare the code relative to ours. In the mean time, I'm going to build myself a pulse generator and splice the speed sensor wire. At least I know people who have been successful already.

Thank you to all who have provided schematics and detail descriptions of what they have done!

 

Hopefully someone will come up with a crack soon!

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I've discovered a trick a few weeks ago to scroll through the file list and folder list on USB while the car is in motion.
While on the scroll page, hit the bottom song. The song will start playing. hit the next track button on the steering wheel or on the radio and the screen will jump to the next set of songs. This will also work with folders. Hope this helps.

 

This sounds great. Is there a way i can get instructions on how to do this? Thanksvery much.

Sorry, i'm new to the list and didn't realize that there were pages and pages of posts after the one i was replying to. Thanks to all who posted information about this...

 

Sorry, i'm new to the list and didn't realize there were pages and pages of posts after the one i responded to. Thanks for all of this helpful information.

 

so i guess hardware hack is the only option at this point?

 

yes

 

that blows

 

Although it requires a hardware hack, at least it is possible. A plug and play hack is available from Prestigious Society or it could be built with parts from radio shack.

 

i just don't wanna deal with taking anything apart etc.

 

I have an idea and no clue how one would go about this, but I'll put it out here in case someone can figure it out. I haven't read this yet in any of the posts, but I haven't rea them all yet...

Suppose someone figured out how to build in this override, but tie the override availability to the weight sensor in the passenger seat. Then, as long as there's a passenger the nav features could be accessed while in motion.

Many times I have wished my wife could work the nav system or use the phone system while I focused on the driving.

Anyone know if this is possible? It just makes sense to me that Toyota should have built it this way. And since the airbag is tied to the weight sensor, why didn't they realize this?

 

The way I did mine was I added a 3 position SPDT ON-OFF-(ON) switch. The momentary on activates the speed lock bypass for about 60 seconds. After 60 seconds the speed lock engages and locks out. You don't want to activated it all the time because the NAV would only see a couple MPH and severely hinder the nav's operation. The weight switch in the passenger seat activates the pass airbag so I wouldn't mess with. Besides, adding a rocker switch allows the driver to have total control of the speed lockout.

 

Have you tried the Voice Control? It works while driving, and I found it pretty easy to use.

 

voice control works but you have to know the commands. If you don't know and you ask for list of commands, it'll tell you something in the effect of not available while driving.

 

I performed this same mod on my wife's 2010 is250. Learned about it from clublexus. It was sufficient for us to use the navi while one of us was driving. So, instead of creating a circuit board(which I have never done) I would like to do the "old" way.
One question, Are the wire colors the same on the 2011 prius? I am asking because I noticed differences with the electrical when I was installing my fog lights.