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Android Phones & MMI Bluetooth

52731 Views 46 Replies 19 Participants Last post by  mulletmaster, 
D
Just got an Android based Samsung Galaxy S but before buying it, could not find much on compatibility of Andriod phones with Audi MMI interfaces. Took the plunge anyway, and thought I would share the findings in case it helps anyone else who may be looking:

1) For BT High, the phone interface does not allow a user to enable or disable RemoteSIM mode. If you pair from the MMI, it will "find" the phone and automatically pair with RemoteSIM enabled. If you want RemoteSIM disabled, delete the pairing and then start the pairing process from the handset and "search" for the car. In the MMI Phone settings, remember to set the Bluetooth to be Visible whilst pairing, it can be set back to Hidden afterwards.

2) With BT High and RemoteSIM enabled, any contacts that are stored in the SIM card will be visible in the MMI. However, call logs such as Missed calls, Received calls, Dialled calls, etc, will be blank on the MMI screen. The SMS text messages will appear on the MMI screen but this is inconvenient as they are stored in the MMI so you cannot read them later on the phone outside the car which is the way it is designed, it is not an Android issue. The external antennas provide better signal quality but only operate on the 2G frequencies, so you will better off in areas which have good 2G signal, but worse off in areas where 3G signals exist but no 2G signal. When RemoteSIM is enabled, the phone becomes "offline" so eMail and other features cease to operate on the handset.

3) With BT High and RemoteSIM disabled, or with BT Low, the situation is more encouraging. All contacts in the phone book become visible on the MMI screen. The call logs such as Missed calls, Received calls, Dialled calls, etc, will be visible on the MMI screen. You will not see SMS messages on the MMI screen, but the messages will be in the phone to read anytime/anywhere. The phone handset antenna will be used so whilst it may be slightly less capable than the external antenna in 2G areas, it will provide coverages in areas where 3G is also available. Other phone online features such as eMail continue to work.

Nothing to do with the A5, but whilst writing, I would say that all the 5 star reviews all over the web are absolutely right, it is an awesome piece of hardware!
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HAWKiS5
In addition to my previous post: everytime you get in the car, you get the Authentication Request (for accessing the address book). If you say Deny (again few times) it keeps working, if you make the mistake to say Accept one time................after few minutes connection lost and not reconnectable [email protected][email protected]

Very irritating this, so if anybody finds a better way to make this work.................. (if you Google on HTC Desire carkit or Android bluetooth connection, you will find many problems with this..........it seems there is a small "patch" but then you have to "Root" your HTC and will it not be under warranty probably...........if no other solution, I have to follow that way I am afraid.

It seems Android and BT is not a solid combination yet.................
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HAWKiS5
Ok, another work around: just ignore the authorisation rexquest, and erything keeps working (until now). This will be sufficient for me now, but awaiting a BT upgrade on my Desire..............
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pparrett
I'm having lots of issues with my Verizon Samsung Fascinate. I can't even get it to connect long enough to make a phone call. It will pair and say connected for about 5 seconds but then disconnects. I've tried initiating pairing from the MMI and from the phone, both fail. I never get prompted to download contacts. Anyone else using a Samsung Fascinate?
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F
HAWKiS5 said:
In addition to my previous post: everytime you get in the car, you get the Authentication Request (for accessing the address book). If you say Deny (again few times) it keeps working, if you make the mistake to say Accept one time................after few minutes connection lost and not reconnectable [email protected][email protected]

Very irritating this, so if anybody finds a better way to make this work.................. (if you Google on HTC Desire carkit or Android bluetooth connection, you will find many problems with this..........it seems there is a small "patch" but then you have to "Root" your HTC and will it not be under warranty probably...........if no other solution, I have to follow that way I am afraid.

It seems Android and BT is not a solid combination yet.................
Click to expand...
can you post a link to the patch for phones that are rooted? i cannot find it....
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HAWKiS5
flyfishing said:
can you post a link to the patch for phones that are rooted? i cannot find it....
Click to expand...
You can find it HERE. But be careful with flashing ROMS, etc, you must know exactly what you are doing.

If it works, let us know!
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S
I wanted to piggy back on this tread rather then start a new one. I have a HTC EVO 4G Android phone paired with my 2009 A5. The questions I have is regarding A2DP. I understand to be able to stream music you need the additional BT kit which you plug into the MMI but I was wondering if there might be any other way to stream music without the external kit, using the built in BT?

The reason I ask is because my phone's voicemail downloads the message (I assume as a .wav file or something similar) to the phone so that I can listen to the messages in any order. When I play these back in the car, it never dials into my voicemail but just plays the voicemail through the car speakers. Any one have any ideas why it works there but not for other things on the phone?
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F
ok i downloaded that patch. my phone is already rooted. works great. i no longer have to deny bluetooth authorization and now my contacts etc show up in the MMI properly.
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HAWKiS5
flyfishing said:
ok i downloaded that patch. my phone is already rooted. works great. i no longer have to deny bluetooth authorization and now my contacts etc show up in the MMI properly.
Click to expand...
Sounds good......which Android phone do you have and do you have the original ROM rooted, or a special ROM?

My HTC Desire Z was recently updated OTA with new OS from HTC and seems not easy to root anymore............
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F
i have rooted phone using fresh rom (basically OTA rom). it is very close to the newest OTA, but not the newest one.
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U
I just got a 2009 S5 (US) about 3 weeks ago and had much the same issues with the Bluetooth kit and my Moto Droid (1st gen). The phone would pair, connect, and work, but no phonebook in the car. I was running stock Verizon Froyo (2.2.1) on the Droid. It was getting really frustrating and no-one seems to have an answer on what the problem really is. The dealer showed me the Audi's list of compatible phones and told me to get one of those to fix the problem... not that I expected much more from the dealer.
But, I ended up rooting my phone recently and flashing it with the latest stable build of CyanogenMod ROM and to my surprise the phone works great with the car now, including the Phonebook. Plus the Droid is faster and more memory efficient. I'm quite happy now. :)
Word of caution... rooting and moding your Android phone is a risky proposition, so make your own decions on this. I'm just describing what worked for me and in no way advocating advocating that you do the same. Of course, people with different Android phone may have completely different experience.
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C
MMI 3G has two SD card slots in DVD or HDD form, if it has the extra SIM slot then it has phone prep high built in with rSAP, but with or without the SIM slot it is still MMI 3G. roof antenna is dependant on a few things, high system always has a roof antenna, low systems have a roof antenna if you have the cradle plate that supports an antenna connection, otherwise no roof antenna.

MMI 2G has no SD card slots. It can come with high or low phone systems, roof antenna is dependant on a few things, high system always has a roof antenna, low systems have a roof antenna if you have the cradle plate that supports an antenna connection, otherwise no roof antenna.

MMI 3G+ is only in the new 2011 A8/A7/A6

If you have a high system, it is possible to use it in low mode as well.

Deepmeister said:
Not quite. MMI 3G has the extra SIM slot. MMI 2G does not have a dash based SIM slot. MMI 2G Bluetooth High has the external antenna and Remote SIM (rSAP) whilst MMI 2G Bluetooth Low has no Remote SIM and no external antenna.
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craigyb said:
MMI 3G has two SD card slots in DVD or HDD form, if it has the extra SIM slot then it has phone prep high built in with rSAP, but with or without the SIM slot it is still MMI 3G. roof antenna is dependant on a few things, high system always has a roof antenna, low systems have a roof antenna if you have the cradle plate that supports an antenna connection, otherwise no roof antenna.

MMI 2G has no SD card slots. It can come with high or low phone systems, roof antenna is dependant on a few things, high system always has a roof antenna, low systems have a roof antenna if you have the cradle plate that supports an antenna connection, otherwise no roof antenna.

MMI 3G+ is only in the new 2011 A8/A7/A6

If you have a high system, it is possible to use it in low mode as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification! So much has advanced since those early days of 2G MMI and updates to the "knowledge base" are always appreciated!

I recently changed the car which now has MMI 3G, I am still discovering new and improved features every day!

Thanks for your input.
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T
I have a possibly HTC specific issue..
HTC sense combines Facebook and Twitter contacts somehow and annoyingly they all appear in the phone book in the Audi. As impressive as it might look to have Aldrin, Buzz as your first phone contact it's annoying to have fifty plus contacts appear who are just people you follow on Twitter.
I've tried all combinations of disabling Twitter sync on the HTC but with no joy.
Anyone succeeded in getting just the 'real' phone contacts to appear on the MMI?
Cheers for any assistance or suggestions.
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tomhorn
I have the Samsung Captivate (AT&T's version of the Galaxy S). Have successfully connected it to my MMI2G with several ROMs from stock Froyo to Ice Cream Sandwich (thanks XDA Developers) by doing nothing more than pairing and entering the code once.
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DeMOROlized
The Hemulen said:
I have a possibly HTC specific issue..
HTC sense combines Facebook and Twitter contacts somehow and annoyingly they all appear in the phone book in the Audi. As impressive as it might look to have Aldrin, Buzz as your first phone contact it's annoying to have fifty plus contacts appear who are just people you follow on Twitter.
I've tried all combinations of disabling Twitter sync on the HTC but with no joy.
Anyone succeeded in getting just the 'real' phone contacts to appear on the MMI?
Cheers for any assistance or suggestions.
Click to expand...
Check you phone's phonebook app for an option to list only contacts with phone numbers.
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T
Thanks DeMOROlized. I've just ticked that option and crossing fingers that will sort it. :2thumbsup: Your quick reply very much appreciated.
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Alejandro
I've got a Samsung Galaxy SII and I have problems when trying to pair it with my MMI 2G. Everything works as it should, but after a few minutes I notice an incoming SMS sign on my MMI screen. When I try to open, read or remove the SMS, the connection is lost. At the end the only way to make it work as it should, I simply ignore the section with messages and don't pay attention to incoming SMS notice. Also, the SMS that is shown as new, is actually a few months old and it simply keeps showing as a new message.

I've update firmware of my phone, but that didn't help. I am not sure on how to solve this.
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P
2011 A5 Android Compatiblity

I have an A5 2011 i thought that when i moved to Android all i had to do was buy the MMI to USB cable but flash drive work but my Galaxy Note II i get a message saying device no compatible. How can i fix this? Is there and app i can download to make my phone look like a flash drive to the MMI or a hack? I head i can use a usb to iphone bluetooth adapter and just pair it with my phone. Do you think that is possible? Whats my best option other than MMI to 3.5mm jack.
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D
The Galaxy Note II uses the same Jelly Bean version of Android as the Galaxy S3 which I presently use so I hope this reply will be useful.

These newer phones do not support USB Mass Storage which previously made the phone act like a USB memory stick, and thus your MMI was previously able to "see" it via the USB connection. The newer phones use MTP which identifies media devices and that is not compatible with the Audi AMI.

The 3.5mm jack is your most economical option. But, if you want wireless connectivity, Audi make a bluetooth audio streaming interface for the older MMI which plugs into the AMI instead of your USB cable. The phone then pairs to this bluetooth audio streaming interface and music played on the phone should play via the MMI.

The simpler option is to buy a USB memory stick, copy your music to the USB memory stick, and just leave it permanently connection to the AMI USB cable!

Hope it helps!
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W
Just a quick post here as this "bug" (repeatedly asking to access contact info and not copying contacts across, all other phone functions working fine) has been driving me crazy for 6 months. I've been to every forum imaginable trying to find an answer, loads of people have this issue but yesterday I found an answer to my problem.

I've had a quick read through this thread and there seem to some very thorough suggestions but a more basic one if you have the same issue as above is to be sure that the numbers you have stored are on your SIM NOT on your phone, otherwise they won't copy across.

This obviously has limitations, the main one being that you can only store one number and one email for each contact on your SIM so end up with things like Mum Home, Mum Mob (Cell) etc but this seems to be the trade off you need to make if you want this to work.
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