Be careful when messing with developer settings on the Sport Touring/Touring model head units

348 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by castlepeak, 3 d ago

castlepeak

Discussion Starter · 4 d ago

Since the 9 inch head unit on the touring models is based on Android, I enabled developer settings to see if I can get deeper access to the OS. My main intention was to increase DPI settings so Android Auto would display more information with the new UI. Under display, there is an option called simulate second screen. I chose the 4K option under this. Since then, there is a 4k overlay on my screen that covers 80% of the overall screen and touch doesn't work in this mode on the overlay. You can touch around the overlay and it works alright. To disable it, you need to access developer settings again and disable it or you need to boot into safe mode to do it.

Since the overlay covered all the apps on the screen, I can't access the settings anymore 😑The only other way is to factory reset. I booked an appointment with dealer to see if they can factory reset with an external computer but looks like all they can do it disconnect the battery and reconnect it. It only reboots the system and this overlay persists on reboots. They might have to get a replacement head unit if they can't factory reset it externally 😬

TL;DR Don't mess with developer settings, especially the simulate secondary display option.

If anyone knows how to boot this head unit into safe mode, please let me know

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robardin

· #2 · 4 d ago (Edited)

So let me get this straight: you used "Android developer settings access" (how did you do that, BTW?) to put on an overlay to the display that covers 80% of the screen, which doesn't support touch interface, and the way to re-enter developer settings is via an app that is under the overlay that you can't move/get to now?

The setting is called "simulate second screen". That implies it's designed for projecting that "overlay" onto a second screen, as if for cars with two displays (like a HUD as well as an infotainment panel). And I guess there's no way to attach a second screen to feed it?

As for "factory reset" on the 9" Touring head unit - have you tried the "soft reboot" hidden menus?

How to Reboot 9" Head Unit Infotainment

There is a way, its just hella annoying access it. 1 Hold home+power+previous 2 Tap detailed information and settings 3 Hold back+power+previous 4 Tap system reboot I find this can help with laggyness.

www.civic11forum.com

I don't see one for "system reset" there (the whole point of that thread was to find out how to reboot the infotainment unit WITHOUT doing a full, hard factory reset), but maybe a soft reset would help you here, or you could try some of the other options on those hidden menus.

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castlepeak

Discussion Starter · #3 · 3 d ago

robardin said:
So let me get this straight: you used "Android developer settings access" (how did you do that, BTW?) to put on an overlay to the display that covers 80% of the screen, which doesn't support touch interface, and the way to re-enter developer settings is via an app that is under the overlay that you can't move/get to now?

The setting is called "simulate second screen". That implies it's designed for projecting that "overlay" onto a second screen, as if for cars with two displays (like a HUD as well as an infotainment panel). And I guess there's no way to attach a second screen to feed it?

As for "factory reset" on the 9" Touring head unit - have you tried the "soft reboot" hidden menus?

How to Reboot 9" Head Unit Infotainment

There is a way, its just hella annoying access it. 1 Hold home+power+previous 2 Tap detailed information and settings 3 Hold back+power+previous 4 Tap system reboot I find this can help with laggyness.

www.civic11forum.com

I don't see one for "system reset" there (the whole point of that thread was to find out how to reboot the infotainment unit WITHOUT doing a full, hard factory reset), but maybe a soft reset would help you here, or you could try some of the other options on those hidden menus.

You can enable developer settings like how you do on a typical Android phone. You go to settings -> about and then tap multiple times on the build number. I don't remember quite how I did in the civic. It's something similar. Check the settings and find software info page and try tapping the build number continuously and you can access the menu.

The simulate secondary display is mainly used by developers to test how their android apps look and scale on a different resolution display. This is not civic specific, so you don't need a second screen to enable or use this. The unfortunate thing I did was I chose an overlay screen with enough resolution that covered most of the usable display. This isn't an issue when you have USB debugging enabled (also present in developer settings) and adb shell access (essentially connect to the head unit on a laptop via USB), but Honda disabled the USB port by default for anything else other than Android Auto/Carplay/USB media access.

I even tried connecting a keyboard and a mouse to see if it would be accepted as input, but no luck.

As for the system reboot option, I was aware of that menu and tried rebooting it from there but it only reboots the system and this setting persists across reboots, so one of the fixes is to boot into safe mode (Android devices typically have a safe mode entry via a combination press of hardware buttons) and this wouldn't take effect in this mode so you can go to the settings and disable it. I'm not aware if there is a hardware combo you can press to enter safe mode on the civic's head unit.

The only other option is to factory reset which is unfortunately inaccessible behind the overlay screen.

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robardin

· #4 · 3 d ago

castlepeak said:
You can enable developer settings like how you do on a typical Android phone. You go to settings -> about and then tap multiple times on the build number. I don't remember quite how I did in the civic. It's something similar. Check the settings and find software info page and try tapping the build number continuously and you can access the menu.

The simulate secondary display is mainly used by developers to test how their android apps look and scale on a different resolution display. This is not civic specific, so you don't need a second screen to enable or use this. The unfortunate thing I did was I chose an overlay screen with enough resolution that covered most of the usable display. This isn't an issue when you have USB debugging enabled (also present in developer settings) and adb shell access (essentially connect to the head unit on a laptop via USB), but Honda disabled the USB port by default for anything else other than Android Auto/Carplay/USB media access.

I even tried connecting a keyboard and a mouse to see if it would be accepted as input, but no luck.

As for the system reboot option, I was aware of that menu and tried rebooting it from there but it only reboots the system and this setting persists across reboots, so one of the fixes is to boot into safe mode (Android devices typically have a safe mode entry via a combination press of hardware buttons) and this wouldn't take effect in this mode so you can go to the settings and disable it. I'm not aware if there is a hardware combo you can press to enter safe mode on the civic's head unit.

The only other option is to factory reset which is unfortunately inaccessible behind the overlay screen.

Ha, I had no idea that was the backdoor to go into "developer settings" on an Android device. Then again I have never had a reason to look into it. Hackalicious!

But going through the key combos to bring up the hidden menus on the 2022 Touring infotainment, that came up in the correct resolution? You could see all the menu options and touch on them (as to try the soft reboot thing, to no good effect)?

I'm sure you've explored the other menu options, then, but I wonder what they'd be, particularly "Functional Setup" or "System Update". Maybe doing an "update" to the same version would be equivalent to a hard reset, something like that.

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castlepeak

Discussion Starter · #5 · 3 d ago

robardin said:
Ha, I had no idea that was the backdoor to go into "developer settings" on an Android device. Then again I have never had a reason to look into it. Hackalicious!

But going through the key combos to bring up the hidden menus on the 2022 Touring infotainment, that came up in the correct resolution? You could see all the menu options and touch on them (as to try the soft reboot thing, to no good effect)?

I'm sure you've explored the other menu options, then, but I wonder what they'd be, particularly "Functional Setup" or "System Update". Maybe doing an "update" to the same version would be equivalent to a hard reset, something like that.

I'm guessing whatever update or anything that needs to be done, I don't have system or access via USB. So at this point I'm hoping the dealer has a way to access it from the technical docs. I've seen the TSB for the Cruise Control where they had to update the software via an external computer so I'm
hoping there's something like that here

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How to Reboot 9" Head Unit Infotainment

How to Reboot 9" Head Unit Infotainment

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