10lexus350

Any news on upgrades for v1 owners? I rarely use mine anymore since its so laggy and slow. Buyers remorse has really set in for me.

gromaudio

The unit should not be slow. Few things to do:
1. Update to the latest OTA recently published. It includes speed improvements
2. Factory reset to bare state
3. Install only apps you really need
4. Do not use 2 mapping apps at the same time
If still slow, send our support a note, they will check what else can be wrong.

MT1981

when do you plan on adding this to more "current" models to the VLine2 android module? i have a 2018 NX300 and im itching to add an android interface to it

wildta

Firmware 34 OTA on VL1 Gen 5 is buggy. Instant restarts. The homescreen barely flashed long enough for me to press the YES button in order to downgrade the firmware to v32 via USB. This was after a factory wipe so it was a super clean firmware upgrade. Anyway, I downgraded to 32 and it's fine again. I was hoping 34 (plus new ROM update) would get rid of memory leakage in the ROM which occurs over time and makes the entire OS slow and even buggier. It's apparent because if I don't factory wipe every 2-3 months, the system becomes unusable. It will randomly shutoff my entire radio system upon initial car starting, and it won't boot back up unless you turn off the engine and unplug the box from the car (to drain the residual power in the box). Even performing the aforementioned, only sometimes will it boot back up. I've also noticed that heat can play a role into whether or not it will boot up too. If my car has been sitting in the sun, it's less likely to boot up vs sitting in the shade or garage--this is only apparent after a couple months from a factory wipe.

I *think* Intelligent sleeping is likely to drain your car battery dead if left undriven for 1-2+ weeks (depending on your car and battery life/quality). I unplug my VL1 before any extended trips as it has killed my battery twice.

If you want stability, don't install GAPPS and instead side load them. Also, USB2 storage mounting is hit or miss. Right now my box will not read any USB drive--I tried two different ones, cleanly formatted as FAT32, saved the Headunit Reloaded (HUR) Beta APK there, and neither were read under the MTN file folder system (FW updates via USB still work though so who knows?). So my workaround was to do a BT file transfer. WiFi Direct does not work--it will start a connection and then instantly reboot which shows that the system is still very unstable.

As of this post I am running their latest ROM update from OTA, Firmware 32 via USB, sideloaded HUR Beta via XDA Labs, and disabled/cleared cache of all unnecessary apps like calculator, calendar, etc. We'll see how stable this method will be....

BTW, if you aren't aware, HUR will allow you to use Android Auto via USB or WiFi (using wifi hotspot). I know CarPlay just got this latter feature but Android Auto has had the ability to do this for a while now. HUR also allows WiFi Direct but so far VL1 has major instability issues with WiFi Direct so it's not an option.

Be warned this product is still very beta. A faster CPU and more RAM in the VL2 isn't going to fix the software/ROM issues.

It'd be better if Grom cooked up two different ROMs, one for Apple users that includes the CarPlay stuff and one for Android users who only need HUR and none of the other crap in the ROM.

summerst1

Wow that is great - hopefully GROM will pull through and enable wireless Carplay so we don't have to fool around. It seems really simple. If other people have done it and the wifi works for airplay, they should be able to do it. I really hope they do. I don't think Grom fully understands how many units they would sell if this was the case. They have a very niche product that if they got a tiny bit of press through feeding to Apple fanboys websites (like 9to5Mac or Macrumors) they could easily sell a hundred thousand units. There are a million fanboys out there who want wireless carplay, but aren't willing to replace their existing NAV hardware or get a new car.

The problem is - GROM does not appear to be Apple fans. The videos demos an iPhone 5C - that thing is from 2013.

I did call in once and talk to someone about this. They said Carplay wireless is much slower. But it's probably because they were using an outdated phone. I simply don't care about speed of carplay. No one buying this thing does, clearly, because everyone who is reviewing a unit on this site is saying don't buy, it is too slow. But we still do.

WE NEED WIRELESS CARPLAY PLEASE DAD!

gromaudio

Seems like LEX5 image got corrupted during automated upload process. V34 is fixed now. Thanks for pointing it out !
There is no leakage in ROM. Clearing cache once in a while + keeping number of apps low will ensure no slowdown over time. Same applies to any smart electronic device.
Wifi Direct has never been advertised to work, use at your own risk ! We do not officially support that feature yet.

unagijimbo

I just downloaded the update and am running VCore VL3.3.7.0 and VBase: 90.16 (L20) and CarPlay has issues. It has no trouble connecting, but the CarPlay home screen never generates. The touch screen works as if CarPlay is up, but I cannot get the CarPlay screen to generate, everything else is normal.

Also, I understand AirPlay is in beta, and it worked for audio, but I could not get the screen to mirror. It was connected on my phone for screen mirroring, but it never started to mirror my nav screen.

Please advise on fix, I would go back to previous version if possible.

summerst1

Another dedicated Apple user who seems to use Vline mostly for Carplay. I am sure they crave wireless carplay as well. GROM, please enable this. It is possible with the hardware.

rehr0001

I'm a dedicated apple user who uses vline for mostly Carplay. I couldn't care less about wireless carplay. Don't get me wrong, I think it might be nice, but i'd prefer to have everything stable before they go down the road of trying to get wireless carplay working. I haven't done extensive research, but have read about plenty of frustrations from users with wireless connectivity issues/lags, etc. My guess is it isn't really all that simple to get working and it requires a wireless access point. Can the vline function as an access point? Sounds like wifi direct isn't supported at this point .....

armourer

Do someone have issues with Spotify buffering ? The audio stop every minute or two for 20-40 sec. Youtube on the same connection works perfect...

MykaiRO

Hi guys. I preordered one V2 unit for an Infiniti FX. I am curious about the max volume of Vline. Is it loud enough at max level that you need to set it at 70-80% or do you feel that it could use a pre amp to increase it?
i am asking because my android phone (s7) lowers max volume whenever I use equalizer and from what I read this is an inherited Android OS issue that can only be bypased by rooting (and vline cannot be rooted).

rcJten

Grom, do you have any videos of the system functioning with the remote touch in the newer Lexus vehicles?

gromaudio

Please see demo here:
Maps:

Music:

gromaudio

On Infiniti we are using digital audio out, so the audio volume will heavily depend on your stereo's DAC. On Lexus we use VLine internal DAC and level matching to provide fully balanced 2RMS analog audio.

rcJten

Very nice! I'm sold. Pre-ordered. Ever since selling my 08' IS with iVIC, I've been dying to get something similar in my RC350.