Ottonavi HU: How to customize (a bit) the UI

Hi Strados,

very interesting! So you are saying G2 has the 9 Band EQ?

I saw the screen in the GUI but how do you access it?
I didn't play with this yet but I'm quite sure I haven't seen the option anywhere...

 

Strados, thanks so much for sharing this!

Ottonavi first advertised it as a G2.
But from what you are saying, it looks like we have in fact the hybrid version.
That is: black_orange GUI (hence the equalizer screens) but G1 hardware.

Is there a way to know for sure which hardware eactly we have?
(because may be a MCU firmware upgrade might enable these features...)

 

So here's what I get:



Looks like an old G1 hardware... snif.
And no info on the AUDIO chip.

 

I have too many attachments already...
And it's a pain to convert the jpg files all the time.
That's why I post external links...
Sorry; I'll try to make more room if it's a problem on your end...

The second EXE program you sent is actually the same .exe program I ran before.
The first one gave this screen:

Unfortunately, no AUDIO info.

@Strados: another question some people had here before was about XM SAT...
I noticed some of the GUI screens has the XM SAT Radio icon.
Do you know if that would be possible for us and what's required to enable this?

 

Here's the back of the unit for Prius:



I don't see any plugs for TV or SAT.
I even removed the oval rubber plug to look inside but there's nothing.
Of course we can always plug an adapter directly to the RCA plugs but that would not be controlled through the GUI.

Or may be it's possible by using a USB XM Sat adapter; but I doubt that RR would support that...

I'm not dying to get XM SAT to work; but I know some people did not buy Ottonavi because it doesn't support XM SAT directly.

 

Interesting bit of info...


This Internet icon never really worked and apparently this is because it expects some hardware modem like WCDMA or EDGE.
I found out that the program it's trying to run is: \Nand Flash\Bin_CE\RRNetAppConsole.exe
May be it's possible to make it work with some hardware.

But you can also simply overwrite that program to something else!

In my case, since I can use a Wifi USB stick for Internet access, I simply renamed that file to .old.
Then I copied a browser program in the same folder and renamed it to RRNetAppConsole.exe.
Then when I hit the Internet icon, it goes directly to my browser.
For example, here's a picture of the IEBrowser started with this icon.


You should already have the IEBrowser; it's a custom browser shipped with this unit. I don't know yet how good it is though.
Path is \Nand Flash\Bin_CE\IEBrowser.exe.
Of course, you can use any other program if you want.

Kind of nice that this icon is finally working!

 

It looks like all the skins under GUI 2.78.10 do not have keyboards.
It's possible to activate one by going into the Windows desktop to start one that stays on screen and then coming back to the shell Manager.exe and use it.
I tried that and I was able to enetr a name but even then it doesn't seem to save it anyway.

I believe RR did not finish completely this GUI... or it's buggy.

 

yes, Ottonavi ships with 2.78.10.

We tried 2.83.5 before but it was lacking RDS.
I already tested last week 2.85.1 and it seems to work.
But only dark color; the Volkswagen don't; the graphics got garbaged.

Thanks for telling us about the new 2.85.2; I will test it later.

Just curious; why do you think we should use 2.83.2? Something special for us?

 

Finally, here is the new GUI 2.85.1 (not just a skin) that works with Ottonavi!
Courtesy of our German friends (who seems to receive updates from RR way before us...)

This GUI contains many skins mainly for Volkswagen.
I have tested the "dark color.rrui" and everything seems to work fine for Ottonavi including the RDS.
The other ones don't work.

In order to install it, you will need to follow the procedure described in the FAQ on post #1 http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...navi-hu-how-customize-bit-ui.html#post1468293.

You CANNOT simply load or copy the RRUI file; that will not work.
(I might try to make it compatible with 2.78.10; but I'm not sure if it's feasible)
Also be aware, that Manager.exe and Lang.dll of this version still have the same spelling errors and RDS problem as 2.78.10.
We haven't patched those files yet.
The file is here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63503986/GUI_IAI7037_2.85.1.zip
And a few samples from the "dark color.rrui" skin:

Enjoy!

 

Very nice!
Are you making a photo-realistic skin? That would be awesome!

 

So I decided to experiment a little bit and redesigned the Home screen to make things quickly accessible.
I mean only one touch away if possible.

Hardware buttons like Menu, Phone,DVD, Radio, Navi, Music are already on the unit so the Home screen only needs the missing icons: iPOD, AUX, and Internet if you have it.
And of course, you really want that Audio icon in the Home screen.
And why not put the LCD OFF icon too! (when you need to switch off light for the mood...
For the style, I wanted to get an LCD look and colors as close to the current Prius dash.
So I reused Clayfree's Metal skin (for the colors).
Then I reused Dehhh's Metro icons because they are simpler and closer to a LCD look. (Thanks to both of them!)
In the process, I made a (crude) Prius font for the digital clock and made it bigger.
Also, I aligned the day, current date at the top of the screen; where it belongs.
The info for the currently playing sound was aligned on the line just below.

(BTW did you know that when a song is playing you can touch the title or artist name in the Home screen and it will bring the Music or Radio or iPod screen? Ahhh...)
So basically, I simply reedited the .txt file produced by the RRUITool to reorganize things a bit.
Here's how my Home screen looks now:


I called this skin Turbo; quick access to what you need.
Excuse the Art because (I'm not an artist) but I think the end result is an interesting night skin.
May be not the most aesthetically pleasing but very functional.
I would also argue it's safer because you don't need to fool around with the other screens while driving.
For those who think it's a good idea or just if you want to experiment with it, the file is here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63503986/TurboBulle.zip

 

Here are 2 new UI Shells from our German friends.

2.85.2 is pretty much the same as 2.85.1
It contains "dark color" and the Volkswagen's one.
I don't know what are the differences.
The file is here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63503986/GUI_2.85.2.zip

2.86.3 is an interesting UI shell. File is here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63503986/GUI_I9_I10_2.86.3_Beta.zip
First, it contains all the known official RR skins:
"black orange", "dark color", "shallow bright" and the Volkswagen's.
But what is nice is that they all work under Ottonavi.
This is also what they called a BETA GUI meaning the Manager.exe is bigger (it's a DEBUG build).
I'm not sure if it is slower but it seems to work ok.

Also interesting, there is a new Console button in Home->Apps->Options->System.
If you click on it, you get a window with a log of the communication between the MCU and the UI Shell.
(This could be useful later if for example we decide to replace Manager.exe altogether...)



*** ATTENTION ***
You can not copy only the skins to your unit if your UI shell is 2.78.10.
You need to actually replace the whole UI shell.
Or if you just want to have a peek at it, use the procedure below.



The best way to test a new skin or UI shell
If you just want to test a new UI shell or skin, here is an easy way to test them out without affecting your current settings.
Note: You can use either a USB stick or an SD card.
1) You will need to copy the entire contents of some I9 folder to a USB stick.
If you want to test a new UI shell, copy the I9 folder that comes with it to the USB.
If you just want to test a skin in your current UI shell, copy the I9 folder from your unit to the USB.
- make sure the I9 folder contains manager.exe and the DLLs
- you also need the following folders: Filters, Fonts, Photos and of course Skins
- it's a good idea to empty Photos anyway since you don't need them for testing a skin.
- in the Skins folder, put the skin (.rrui) you want to test
(you can put as many skins as you want (max. 12) and pick later)
- make sure there is a config.ini
2) If not done already, copy update.exe at the root of the USB.
3) Power on the unit, wait for the Home screen, then insert the USB stick
4) Go on Apps->Options->System and hit Update
5) Once inside the Windows desktop, either run the FileBrowser or CECmd.exe
6) Access the USB root, go to the I9 folder and run (double click) Manager.exe
This will load the UI shell and the default skin from the USB stick and will allow you to test it.
From there you can load and test other skins as usual.
Any changes to the system will be saved in the I9 folder on the USB stick.
So this will not interfere with your current settings which are saved in the I9 folder in local memory.
When done with the testing, simply power off the unit.
Next time you power on, your previous settings (and skin) will be back.