OpenAuto Pro and subwoofer installation

The Daily - Toyota 4Runner (2004)

Posted by: chrisfromwa | Published date: May 22, 2023

OpenAuto Pro

After installing an OpenAuto Pro installation in the Camaro.  I wanted to go a step further and do an install in the 4Runner.  This time I used a Raspberry PI 4 with 8gb of Ram,  and a SSD USB.  This made the UI much more snappy and less laggy compared to the Camaro.  Next for safe shutdown,  I used the CarPihat.  This is a HAT for the raspberry pi and saved some space behind the screen, it also has some other feature like being able to run relays and other features.  It's worth the cost just in space savings alone.

Next one of the requirements was to maintain the steering wheels controls,  with the help of the Bluewave forum I was able to create a script loaded onto a Audrino that maps the button of the steering wheel into keyboard presses.   

I also added a backup camera since because,  why not?

I now have wireless Android Auto, I also have a OBDII Dongle and can display diagnostic information right on the screen. You can also add Wireless carplay, with an additional plugin and dongle.  I also purchased an STR dongle, to maintain over the air FM radio using the official Bluewave FM radio app.  

What's really cool about using a Raspberry Pi, is that you can run almost any Linux program on it. You can even create your own apps, and run them in the background.  Check out their forums for some cool things others have done. 

OpenAuto update:  2/28/24.  

After 2 years of no updates from Bluewave (the makers of OpenAuto Pro),  they have finally released a .1 update with some small changes. But they have decided to no longer support an update script. So if you want to update your version of OAP,  you'll need to reformat your SSD and lose any custom apps, or configurations made over the years.  This is just unacceptable, so I will no longer recommend OAP to other users.  There are other options out there for projects like this.  One such free open source project that comes to mind is OpenDash.  It may not have all the refinements that OAP once offered, but it makes up for it with a community of developers, and also it can be just installed as a program and does not require a full reformat each time you want to update. 

Other Audio improvements

The stock JBL system, sounded OK but not great.  Especially in the bass department,  that sub woofer is a joke.  So I replaced everything (since I had to anyways really because of the Open Auto Pro project).  First replaced the door speakers with HERTZ Millie 6.5 components. These sound amazing!!
 

Next I built a layered MDF subwoofer box for a Rockford Fosgate T1 10 inch.  The whole system is ran off of a Rockford Fosgate Power T1000x5ad 5 channel amplifier.  

The system sounds amazing, the subwoofer is such an improvement over the stock system.  It's just incredible this little 10 can do what it does. 

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