Thread: M-Bus CD changer adapter for car pc integration

Originally Posted by AdReNaLiN

So do you currently have an Ai-Net headunit or a M-Bus headunit?

Right now it is MBus, I saw that MBus and AINet compatible in some sense. AI-NET is more rich in commands and allow to do more, but basic set is pretty common.

In my experience with Ai-Net and M-Bus it appears that Ai-Net is very different to M-Bus. I know that you can make a M-Bus CD Changer (CDC) compatible with an Ai-Net headunit through an Alpine adaptor but not the other way around.

It is very difficult finding any kind of information about the Ai-Net protocol on the internet. It seems no one has attempted this before.

My original plan was to get an Alpine IPod Adaptor and make my car pc emulate an Ipod.

Originally Posted by AdReNaLiN

It is very difficult finding any kind of information about the Ai-Net protocol on the internet. It seems no one has attempted this before.

My original plan was to get an Alpine IPod Adaptor and make my car pc emulate an Ipod.

Agree. There is some compatibility exists. I though of going the same way but instead seeing what commands are sent through the adapter.
I think there are some IPod emulators exists on PC. Need to look at it.

Originally Posted by jbors

Agree. There is some compatibility exists. I though of going the same way but instead seeing what commands are sent through the adapter.
I think there are some IPod emulators exists on PC. Need to look at it.

This guy seems to be getting close to something similar to what we're after (scroll down) http://www.maushammer.com/systems/ip...od-remote.html

This site also has some information on the Ipod Protocol. http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e0026607/...e/ipod_ap.html

This guy talks about the Ai-Net bus and hacking it but does not get too far: http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/UBB_...1;t=022355;p=1

This is an old discussion on here I dug up. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/general-hardware-discussion/3510-research-needed-print.html

I did a little research, and I will continue the hunt. What are you using to record the outputs on the M-Bus of your headunit?

MBus is pretty much known, so I just got the Excel spreadsheet and used that along with the simple RS232 interface.
http://joerg.hohensohn.bei.t-online.de/mbus/index.htm
The simple part is to have Alpine output, but input is much harder to get. I will get an MP3 CD changer or IPod and try to sniff the bus with the RS232 converter. If you want I can send you instructions along with the schematics and PIC program so you can do it by yourself.

I'll take alook at the Kenwood next month when AiNet gets completed.
Will keep you posted.

Hi Jbors,

I think the software that runs with this device needs to be completely customisable like Girder. Each command press from the unit should be able to be customised to perform a different task on the PC.

I agree. But it will be the app responsibility to map it to whatever it wants. I will provide a way to retrieve and send those codes only. It will work on Windows and Linux the same way.