Here is one link about adding RAM to Android. There are so many out there, I just knew it could be done. There is another that shows it very nicely done and I'll post that one when I find it again. Here is one that tells about adding RAM to Android.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram...-microsd-card/

Here is another link: This is the App link that has a load of different RAM expansions for our radios. Enjoy.

https://play.google.com/store/search...%20card&c=apps

 

I received a new head today. I immediately plugged in the new unit and it worked. Im ready to put this baby to bed now. I still have the old head that is suppose to go back, so I pulled it out and plugged it into the new harness I built. It works now also. I plugged in the original harness, and it won't work. I took the old harness and ran every wire. No problems anywhere, but when it plugs in, shorts out. I took the harness and pulled each wire out individually and reinstalled it. Next to the last wire set, I found one wire with 2 or 3 strands of wire touching the last wire, which was causing a short. It was a defective factory wire plug. It's funny as all the wires resistance was right and working. The wiring, touching each other, wouldn't show on a resistance meter, so it wasn't something to look for in a brand new unit or part.

Oh well, it works now, so tomorrow I'm adding all my goodies, and will post a picture of the head with carded hub, 64GB flash drive, and whatever else necessary to give me a true computer, with some memory and extra RAM. I was impressed by the controls stored for steering wheel controls and such. I have so many parts for setting up a tablet, that this will be an interested setup when I finish. I like the dual camera use, and ability to upgrade. Tomorrow should be a fun day with the install and all.

 

Glad to hear it. I still need to make a video for the people waiting on that....

 

I was playing around with it today, while watching the SB, and found out that you indeed can add more storage and can use a part for RAM. I have only 1 USB port out the back, so the first thing I did was add a 4 port hub. To this, I added the Mass card reader and hub. I then added three 32GB flash drives for storage. I'll change one to 64 when it gets here. The 64 I have is corrupted and will only take 22 GB.

On the front, I have a TF card. It is available for music, video, whatever. I put a couple android programs on it, for when I want to go to 4.4.4. Some guys said this was for GPS maps, but it isn't. It is for quick playing of items that can be put on a TF card. Very convenient actually. The flash drives are all hidden, so I don't anticipate any problems. but will wrap a piece of tape around the metal m/f coupling, for safety.

I downloaded the IDK icon maker and started making some switches to the face. Some of these original icons leave a bit to be desired. lol. I also downloaded the 207 icon packages, so I can find some good ones to make the interface, more pleasant, once in the car. I'll probably do that this Wednesday or Thursday, now that the weather is warming up again and is in the mid 30's and higher.

Anyways, I wanted Zebracakes to know, and the others who are following this, that you can add a s/load of memory if you want and it will recognize it all on the screen. I put on 96GB of flashdrives (3x32GB) and a 32GB TF for the front. Like I said, I'm going to upgrade them to the 64GB's but that is what I had handy today to try and see how this project was going to work out. I'm liking it so far, now to add some speakers and set up that side of the unit. Till then.

 

Damn that sounds pretty awesome. Which one are you working with? Im really trying to find one that will work for me, audiologically speaking.

 

I went with the Eincar, which is also a Pupug and also a Pumpkin. There are a couple other brands that are this same unit, just a different number. I paid 199.00 delivered. This unit does not have a DVD or CD player. I haven't liked the discs for years, so this was ideal for me.

Ok, today I found my 64GB flash drives and installed 2 of them in the hub unit. I also took out my 32GB TF card and replaced with a 64GB TF card. Upon looking after the installs, I had 200 GB of stored memory. This is perfect for installing music and videos or whatever I need to have available to view. The head itself comes with 8GB only. This required more thought so I went with the flash drives. I have a 1TB stand alone memory module, and could use that also, but I am trying to keep my clutter down to a minimum.

This head came with GPS navigation, Bluetooth, WiFi, and other installed items. It is Android Kit Kat (4.2.2) so it can be upgraded to 4.4.4 or even 5.0 Lollipop, if you should decide to go that far. For what I'll use it for, leaving it at 4.2.2 is fine. This will run 98% of the program apps, so that is fine with me. If a program comes out that I really want, then I can decide if I want to go thru the effort of updating the system.

I put music on a 64GB SD card and put it into the Mass hub. I put 15,139 MP3 songs on the 64GB card. That is all it would take. I took a 32GB TF card and put that into another slot on the Mass hub, and it has a ****load of Thomas the Train and something called P. Pig???videos for the grandkids. Anyways, the video I have stored is on the TF card and accessible from the main screen. This is working out quite nicely. I see many promising ideas that can be done with one of these type radio heads.

I did decide that I liked the navigation program, CoPilot, over what comes installed. The CoPilot video seems easier to follow and less harse to watch. CoPilot's screen seems smoother and more refined, in my opinion. I haven't found one of the apps yet that is close to the factory navigation though. Some are somewhat similar, but if I could find the one that looks closer to Ford's true screen, I'd be happier. I also changed logo's on the wallpapers, to Ford logo design. I put 22 pictures into a folder for wallpapers, so I can pick and choose what I want for a homescreen.

This Android system is the cat's meow when it come down to being able to shape a system to exactly what you want it to be. I'm also installing front and rear camera's. The rear will have guiding lines for backing up and the front will just be a regular camera. By adding the 64GB flash drives, I can now add Cap-T, a DVR style USB plug and play, that takes and makes video capture possible. This means that you can have a basic dashcam, without being seen.

 

Following

 

My sdcard slot on the front is for maps only. I put an mp4 on there and could not access it with anything. Fs file explorer saw it on the card but could not open it, music would not play, etc. Replacing the stock launcher will fix all icon problems without the need for multiple apps. Right now I only have a 16gb flash drive plugged in to the usb, I stream music more often than I listen to local music. Ram extender mounted a 4gb swap file for me, but I had to do it manually on reboot each time, even with automount on. So I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. The radio works pretty well with just 1gb of ram. Also one of the stock apps on the radio is capable of being the dvr, so a usb dvr wouldn't be necessary.

 

What was the brand you installed zebracakes? After reading the stuff people put out on the system, I just couldn't figure why the front TF card is only for Maps? My maps is stored inside the memory and has nothing to do with the front card slot. All my logo pictures where uploaded thru the front port. I felt that it was there, so I'd try it.

I put all the movies for the kids on this disc, then decided to put them to the flash sticks. It has to be the brand and how they are configured to keep the TF slot for navigation alone. I'm quite happy with the new head since it arrived. I've gotten it set the way I want now, and will put it in this week. I'll take some screen pictures, once installed, and show how the front and other memory works with this head.

You explained the difference in brands quite nicely. Some will let you upgrade, some will not. It depends on the operating system. Do you have 4.4.4 Zebracakes? The 4.2.2 is why I'm holding onto it right now and not upgrading. I did the 4.4.4 on my Samsung Galaxy S4, and it closed off some of the things I was using before. I did find out, that you can do a lot of things in 4.2 that cant be done in 4.4 and vice versa.

Now I'm going to try and add my new Explorer rear DVD system to this head, and hope that I can make it work. There isn't much difference overall, other than plugs, that should keep this from working. Let's call this a work in progress. I bought a new, complete Ford aux DVD, roof mounted system off eBay a few months ago, for the cost of $32.00 plus postage. New, never used, so it will be worth the effort if it can be incorporated into the head. The fun really begins now. lol It should look nice in my 98 F150 SCab.

 

It has 4.4.4 kitkat on it. I'm currently running a modded rom called Malaysk rom. It's got some mods to it to make it slightly better, like the fuse support that makes all 16gbs one partition. Thus allowing you more room for customization, and a larger app/ system app section.

I'm not a fan of dvd players in vehicles, i'm tall and they take up room in the mirror for me.