Hooking up the idatalink maestro RR

There was mention on page 1 about a heads up that the idatalink maestro can't read the signal that the parking brake is engaged. Surprised there haven't been more mentions of that. I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure out what's wrong for a week after my install, but maybe that's just it...it won't work like I want. Frustrating since my Pioneer HU needs that brake signal for any video, as well as like 1/3 of the settings in the setup of the unit!

Even the Crutchfield guys don't know about this...their advice was for me to check the crimp on the light green wire on their harness (as you can see in the idatalink instructions, the light green wire is supposed to be for brake signal).

So, I guess the only solution to get a brake signal flowing through is to cut it from going into the idatalink and run it right to the brake switch in the truck (i.e. like the Pioneer instructions say to do, since they assume you don't have a maestro in the first place).

 

I'm pretty sure that's what I did.

 

Why aren't you bypassing the parking brake? I didn't think anyone actually hooked the darn thing up.

 

I probably should, I just don't know how to do that. Admittedly I haven't had time to search here or google, but not sure if it's easily findable and laid out in easy steps for someone who hasn't done this stuff before?

 

What radio model are you installing?
Agreed... don’t know why not bypassing but it’s fine either way i suppose.

 

One question I have about the Maestro RR.

If you unhook the car battery do you have to re-initialize the steering wheel controls? I have a PAC module that gets all screwed up every time it sees a blackout on the 12v supply.

 

Some one mentioned on another thread that certain radios can’t be bypassed (ie pioneer AVH 4400). I guess I’ll find out first hand next week.

 

I have an AVH-1440NEX

Anyone know how to do the bypass for that?

 

I think I heard something similar. Pioneer makes it more difficult with some (newer?) models by requiring it to detect the brake On, Off, then On again, so just leaving it "on" wouldn't work.

 

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, it doesn't screw it up. It's a firmware flash to the RR, so power loss shouldn't matter. That would be a massive pain if it did, lol.

 

I would like to confirm this if someone has tried. It changes how I will go about the placement of the RR module.

 

There's no power to the module when you unplug it from your PC to when you install it into your truck, right?

 

You're confusing "Flash" with initialization. In hardware/embedded-software when we say "flash" we mean that we're ramming a program binary into some kind of non-volatile storage (Usually flash). When we refer to "Initialization" we're talking about a volatile configuration that requires power to be maintained. The PAC module has both a "Flash" setting and an "Initialization" which is why removing power from the module impacts the steering control functions.

The question I'm asking is whether or not the Maestro has any volatile configuration settings? If I unplug the car battery I don't want to have to pull the RR module out to re-initialize the steering functions.

 

I know what you're asking...

My tongue-in-cheek response was to illustrate that from the time you unplug the Maestro from your computer, where 100% of the configuration is written, to the time you install it in your truck, where it is read, it is fully intact.

In other words, there are no volatile settings.

 

idatalink site says it gives parking brake output, which probably means it works when the parking brake is engaged.

You need the micro bypass , if you're trying to uses the restricted features without the parking brake on.

Doubt any company other than the company that offers the micro bypass(or any parking brake bypass) will give any info about getting around it. They don't want to be sued, if someone blames those featured for distracting them and causing an accident.

I once asked alpine tech support about bypassing a restyle kit, guy said " I know nothing about that".

 

There's only so many ways that they can configure the parking brake wire to work otherwise it won't actually work on any actual parking brakes at all.

A parking brake is probably a level triggered signal. i.e it's either 12v, 0v or floating. This means the parking signal itself will probably never be a complex signal because of these facts. I've read that some radios want to see a HIGH,LOW,HIGH or a LOW,HIGH,LOW sequence before it thinks the parking brake is on and they can probably get away, but they can't do much more with the signal.

One foolproof thing they can do is look at the reverse wire and/or the speed wire and then compare that with the status of the parking wire to see if the state makes sense. If the car is moving or in reverse then it can't possibly be in park right?

So that's how it goes. If your radio has a speed/reverse signal then it's possible for the radio manufacturer to prevent parking brake bypass, but if the radio doesn't have speed/reverse there's little they can do/change in the firmware.

Cheers!

 

@loginfailed,
Apologies for pulling you into this discussion, but I'm wondering if you can shed some light on what's being discussed. I recall you have a strong car audio background and also successfully wired up a NEX headunit with the Maestro in your truck. I'm thinking about upgrading to a NEX headunit after seeing the OBDII gauge capability and hoping to solve any mysteries prior to the switch/installation.

Thanks for any help!

 

I'm wiring up the Maestro RR to the AVIC-8200 NEX tomorrow, but only using the module to get steering controls, factory aux and idatalink. I have an aftermarket backup cam and JL amp so will use RCA's and 12v remote for cam/amp. I'll follow up in my current audio thread with the results from tomorrow and talk about the benefits/cons compared to the PAC steering integration module that I will be replacing with the Maestro RR if everything works properly.

Here's my thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2015-full-system-jbl-tear-out.567718

 

Here is what I used for this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A9AQPUU?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title#immersive-view_1538799282377


-RJM

 

Which part are you referring to? The parking brake bypass? If so, see the post above by @Loco38SUP