lilliput in-dash 7" - Page 74

TBAPb · 06-22-2006, 06:12 PM

Got the GL701 with TV tuner function recently.
Here is the story: (this is an email to the eBay seller, you get all the details from here)

Just to let you know your service has been great and that we are in no way upset with you. The problem Alex and I are both experiencing with our Lilliput 701 head units (5/06 manufacturing date) is that all of a sudden after about a week of normal operation, something weird now occurs. Please keep in mind that only started happening after about a week of NORMAL use where all the featured worked. After the ignition switch is turned to the off position, all the settings on the lilliput return back to the previous state and after we set it again, same thing. Ex. fader control or bass control set -8, after it is changed back to 0. If the car is shut or or ignition is turned off, the next time the head unit starts, the fader or bass control will revert back to -8. This is only half the problem. AM radio never scanned correctly from the get-go but now it;s the FM radio which is what im mostly concerned with. Preset seem to work fine, at least the ones I was able to set before this problem occurred, but the seek option lost functionality at this point. If you try to scan for nearest radio stations , it scan to a 88.3 and then goes back to 87.5, if you try to scan upper station - it automatically goes 108.5 - so basically it seems likes it's jumping from top to bottom. I cannot find an explanation for this. I tried to seek without an antenna plugged in, seemed to work better but never picked a station, but as soon as the antenna is plugged back in - it goes back to 87.5 or 88.3, one of those (Cannot be an antenna gain problem, since other weird things are happening and seeking works just fine of the stock head unit and this is happening on 2 cars). Another weird thing that we both noticed. When the unit worked fine and preserved settings, and was able to scan, the Video1 and Video 2 modes did not activate while the radio was in use, only VGAMode activated when the radio was in use. What happens now is all three modes started working with the radio in use. There are a few obvious observations that we came across. I'm clueless at this point of what it might be but it;s happening to both Lilliputs on different cars with different batteries, one of the batteries was recently swapped out for a new one. Any theories that I come up with that have to do with something else being defective, car , battery, wiring do not hold up. Battery works fine, recently replaced and tested. Wiring is fine, no burns or outages in other areas of the car, Stock unit works fine! There doesn't seem to be any documentation on this issue in the manual or online. It feels like it entered an different mode or something where some things some and others don't.

Do you know anything about this or how to fix this? Has anyone else reported this? This has got to be a bug in the programming of lilliput since the chances or 2 units being defective, having same symptoms and stopping to work after the same amount of time are very slim. Is there any protection algorithm on the units like unplugging it for a certain amount of time replugging to power source a certain number of times. Are there reset codes or combination for the unit.

Who can we contact to receive technical support or more detailed documentation and if this does not go away, how can we receive an exchange. I hate to do this, but everything point into the direction of the lilliput. Its no surprise that this is a beta version probably in very early stages of development, but it's really causing an inconvenience. I've been researching different monitors and option for my carPC and everything else does not have half the features of the lilliput 701 and this is the only unit we need. The question is what can you do for us now that you know the issue, because this will most likely happen to other buyers of your Lilliputs and you will be receiving same emails with same complaints. Do you have a direct contact with the manufacturer to get some support?

Thank You

Here is the current responce:
V,
my sales rep is away. check theweb site www.lilliput.com.cn also check mp3 cars.com. I will do some research and make a few calls Chris

Any suggested or questions are always welcome.

Vlad

over there >>>> · 06-23-2006, 01:25 AM

Sounds to me like another poor design for power management. There were some units being sent out a few months back that were surprisingly decent, before that they were all complete and total crap.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, they shouldn't be charging legit customers $400+ to be beta testers for thier crap unit.

I have had mine working 40% for about 4 months after waiting almost 8 months for a decent replacement that actually powered on. Just in this past week the touchscreen part went flakey where it acts like it's being pressed in the lower left hand corner. The start menu comes up and no matter what I do it wont' go away.

so right now my $400+ unit pretty much only flips the screen in and out and displays the vga signal (even that is fuzzy and pink colored due to a crappy cord).

I for one am completely disappointed in lilliput's ability to make a working version of this model.

Good luck to you with getting a refund, 'cuz I think you'd be dreaming to think they produce a solid unit to replace yours with.

I hate to be harsh, but read the 70 some pages here, these units are NO good.

coucouillu · 06-23-2006, 06:44 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by over there >>>>

but read the 70 some pages here, these units are NO good.

Yes they are not good!! but I think they are dumb in LILLIPUT, because they have a huge potential...Their products, with a stronger after sales and working on upgrade firmware version, would be the best on the market.

They are making their own bad reputation

Mines (because I have 3 of these) totaly blocked after few minutes working.

I have solved the problem...

EEPROM SOLVED

I have opened and hacked them :

We can count two parts in INDASH LILLIPUT screen.

The screen and the rest.
They are independent, they just communicate together together by a I2C BUS (i think).
EDIT : I was wrong. It is not I2C. It looks like asynchronous signal, perhaps serial.

The two parts have both a microcontroler SM89516A (DATASHEET HERE) which is the brain of the part.

The screen part is very stable. I have put this part in another simple indash model and now it works great (look into my prototypes in signature)

The problem comes from the bottom part.

The problems I had came from the EEPROM 24C02 under the main bord.

This eeprom seemed to store some information about the unit (angle position of the screen, radio and tuner informations...).

At a moment The unit freeze (not the screen, it goes well) but the bottom part doesn't answer any button pressed...

I think the cause is the firmware of the µcontroller of the bottom part.

When it communicate wit the EEPROM, for some reason it doesn't work very well and corrupt information in EEPROM and/or the µcontroller block.

TBAPb · 06-23-2006, 01:03 PM

SO is there a to atke apart the Lilliput and modify it to be simply a regular screen that would always default to VGAMODE on powerup?
That way i can build it into the dash

TBAPb · 06-23-2006, 01:25 PM

Chris,
After a long evening of testing, troubleshooting and goggling, we've compiled a list of unexplainable faults that occurred after a week of regular usage:

- Radio is now Always ON, Cannot turn off radio. This interferes with any other playback
- TV option in the menu is not accessible, meaning that this unit is possibly not with TV tuner
- Loud annoying beep when screen is touched in VGA mode - with no way of turning it off
- Cannot use the volume control knob on the head unit to control volume out of VGA RCA Jacks
- Radio appears locked to particular frequencies - No seek function is available anymore
- Any settings or adjustments are not preserved after car is restarted or turned off or ignition switch is activated
- Open/Eject button appears to act as a power button when head unit is off

I'm sure there are a lot more of these glitches or programming bugs. Having a programming background myself, it amazes me how is such a product being sold. The unit is obviously in early stages of development. Sorry, but I cannot be a beta tester at this price. We are forced to ask for our money back.

Vladimir Bekker

coucouillu · 06-23-2006, 08:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TBAPb

SO is there a to atke apart the Lilliput and modify it to be simply a regular screen that would always default to VGAMODE on powerup?
That way i can build it into the dash

yes it is possible...The "SCREEN PART" works exaclty like an stand alone screen ...but you need a stabilized +12V and +5 volts, alimentation of PC is great for it.

i have hacked it and made a full pinout of the flat flexible cable...I will post it as soon as possible...

TBAPb · 06-23-2006, 08:29 PM

Awesome, i see your are a guru at this sort of thing.
Do you work with this stuff?

coucouillu · 06-23-2006, 08:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TBAPb

Do you work with this stuff?

What do you mean???

TBAPb · 06-23-2006, 08:38 PM

Just curious how you learned tto do this stuff

coucouillu · 06-24-2006, 09:18 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TBAPb

Just curious how you learned tto do this stuff

unscrewed it, looking at it and search during long long time on datasheets on internet....and some little experience.....The most problem was the costs of this learning...

Rjaniz · 06-26-2006, 04:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by stuartpug206

yes mate i connected mine up to my amps and i had no volume control what so ever, only way i could resolve it was to mount my original indash cd player in the glovebox and run the audio from that just use it lilliput as a screen nothing else

Same here.

Only I sent my audio-out to my computer. It scans radio stations and everything, but I have no volume control without computer help. It also doesn't seem to remember what radio station I'm on when I turn the car off. Sucks, but at least it's 95% working. (yay?)

Still debating if I should send it back or not.

TBAPb · 06-26-2006, 04:53 PM

to get it to remember your presets - use the remote to set them up - just set it to a preset and when you turn it off it should be fine
So when in VGA mode, your radio still plays??

Rjaniz · 06-26-2006, 06:49 PM

Yeah, VGA-mode still plays Radio. I'll have to give the preset suggestion a try. Thanks

TBAPb · 06-26-2006, 06:51 PM

So think about it, if radio still plays while VGA is on, there is really no way to turn the radio off. Looks like you have the same symptoms as myself. If i were you I would send it back right away and save yourself the headache.

Rjaniz · 06-27-2006, 12:45 PM

Oh sorry. I misunderstood.

No, the Radio is optional in VGA mode (for me). I can turn it on or it stays off (not sure if I can turn it off and on, never tried that actually). But when it is on (and "muted" by the PC), unlike yours, I don't have a any interference to the rest of my sound. I also don' have the beep when the VGA is used.

But you're right, I probably should send it back. This is a little too much money to be beta testing.

Edited for spelling.