I got AUX WORKING !!!!

alex_c · Jan 30, 2004

Thanks to the excellent post by Viscouse and with the help of the info provided by Saba, I finally got AUX working, wired and ready to use!!!!

First, I used a 4 wire cable from Radio Shack (I spliced the white cable and removed it, to make it a 3 conductor cable).

Second, I got an RS-232 DB25 port, in order to use the individual female pins to be connected to the male port on the back of the EHU.

Third, a standard 1/8" stereo jack from Radio Shack.

Here's a picture of the items:

Here's the cable with the pins connected and the 1/8 jack soldered at the other end:

added after the original post...
In order to get a better fit and prevent any possible problems, I added another step to insulate each one of the pins.

I bought a bag of Butt Connectors, Radio Shack Part # 64-3073 (see picture below) which is nothing more than a small barrel with a removable plastic insulator.

What I did was first remove the barrel from the insulator and then use the yellow thing to cover the pins on my cable. Please note that if you can't slide the insulation all the way back, you may need to cut the bottom of the insulator to be flush with with the pin.

If you see the picture, first is the bag of connectors, to the right is a disassembled barrel/insulation and on the bottom you can see how I used the insulation to cover one of the pins.

I actually covered each one of the pins and that made for a very sturdy and tight fit on the back of the EHU. After I was done, I realized that I could've have used the butt connectors complete, instead of using the pins from the DB-25 and covering them.

If you decide to use the butt connector as it is, you may need to press a little bit on the end with pliers to make the hole smaller and get a better fit between the connector and the pins on the back of the EHU.

Once I had the cable, I removed the EHU according to Saba's instructions. I found out that it is much easier to remove if you have the car on Drive (automatic) so the shifter will be out of the way. I used a thick towel not to scratch the shift knob and/or the dashboard.

I tested the connector to see if that was indeed the correct one and if the pins were the correct. They were: Pin 10 for ground and pins 3 and 4 for left and right (or right and left?) The are 2 12 pin connectors side by side. The AUX is the one on the right according to this picture:

I connected each individual pin to the EHU and secured the cable with some tape:

I routed the cable thru the back and then to the bottom of the passenger side...

Some final testing.... IT WORKS !!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy!

[/i]

joshd2012 · Jan 30, 2004

Nice Work :!

Glad to see that this is doable. Do you plan on running the input into the center console?

alex_c · Jan 30, 2004

Yes, that's why I had the cable on the floor, just before routing it to the console. I drilled a small hole on the AUX cover and attached the 1/8" Stereo Jack, just as the factory harness. By the way, I just tried connecting my phone's headphone jack to the AUX and... I can listen to my phone on the stereo, and obviously I can change the volume with the steering wheel controls. Yeahhh!!!

kedvale · Jan 31, 2004

That looks awesome. Thanks for the details. I have a question though...what do you mean you tested the pins? Ie, did you do physically do something verify the locations of the ground, L and R pins, or you just went by the schematic posted on the other thread? And, after getting this to work, have you been able to tell which one is L and which is R? Thanks!

-andrew- · Jan 31, 2004

alex_c said:
Yes, that's why I had the cable on the floor, just before routing it to the console. I drilled a small hole on the AUX cover and attached the 1/8" Stereo Jack, just as the factory harness. By the way, I just tried connecting my phone's headphone jack to the AUX and... I can listen to my phone on the stereo, and obviously I can change the volume with the steering wheel controls. Yeahhh!!!

How hard was it route the cable into the center console and install the jack in the "aux cover"?

This is great. I had my iPod hardwired into my GTI and realized it's hard to live without. I just picked up my arc a few days ago and luck has it that I didnt have to wait long for this at all! I just have to avoid my fiance who is sure to kill me for taking apart the new car right after picking it up!

finklejag · Jan 31, 2004

You da man. Very nice work for being a newbie. :cheesy:

XM here I come.

MarkJ · Jan 31, 2004

Excellent work Alex!! Now why can't Saab USA put out a cable and set of instructions to the dealers??

How do you choose AUX as a source (besides radio and CDX)? My 2004 Aero does not have AUX as a choice when I cycle through them...

CosmicSaab · Jan 31, 2004

MarkJ said:
How do you choose AUX as a source (besides radio and CDX)? My 2004 Aero does not have AUX as a choice when I cycle through them...

Aux has to be turned on with the Tech II unit. It is not an option by default.

saabfan · Jan 31, 2004

I'm impressed. Good job.

Now, for those of us not willing to tear our car apart (read: not talented enough to do it properly), when is Saab going to release the parts for this and provide instructions for dealers to do it?

I want AUX for use with an iPod. No more burning CDs would be really nice. BTW, do you notice any degradation in sound quality?

Thanks.

moz · Jan 31, 2004

Great work Alex, almost brings a tear to my eye.

italiancousin · Jan 31, 2004

Here's a question... can I "hardwire" my phone's audio output into the AUX in and use that as a poor mans Tel1 install?

My phone car kit actually uses a standard minidin (phono cable) to output to its car speaker.

WASAAB · Jan 31, 2004

Wow..Great Alex..

You are voted for the NEW MEMBER OF THE YEAR :wink:
BTW, How's the sound quality?

Viscouse · Jan 31, 2004

alex_c, my hat is off to you!

Excellent step-by-step, by the way. Probably the cheapest solution too. For some reason, I was so gung-ho on an intermediate cable, this solution never gelled in my head.

I'm still working on finding proper plugs though. :cheesy:

Alex, 3 questions:
1. As asked before, how's the sound? Comparable to radio, CD?
2. I swear (but can't remember where) I saw something about someone who did this, and ended up with a lot of interference from other electrical signals. I was wondering if a filter (those fat cylinders on your printer/perepheral/phone) was needed. Is it?

Great job! I LOVE THIS FORUM!

Jet 9-3 · Jan 31, 2004

Wow. Nice job. I guess I'll be asking for them to turn on aux in when I bring in for service

jcancio · Jan 31, 2004

great job! this is so awesome!

alex_c · Jan 31, 2004

Wow! Thank you for all your nice comments!

I'll try answer some of the questions:

Sound quality: EXCELLENT, just like CD, no degradation or distorsion at all.

Italiancousin: Yes, you can hook up your telephone's audio out (or headphone jack) to the AUX in, and hear the sound thru the stereo. I did this and is awesome!

How do you select AUX: You press the SRC (source) button on the steering wheel and it will go from RADIO to CDX and then to AUX. Also, you can press the DISC button on the Infotainment console and it will select the CD, press again and it will select AUX. Also, you can press the DISC button and then scroll down to DISC SOURCE and it will show "CDX (Front)" and "AUX (Input)"

How hard it is to route the cable: Very easy. From the back of the EHU you can lower the cable to the passenger side and then with the side console cover removed (only one torx screw) you can guide the cable very easy all the way to the console where the jack should be.

Saba · Jan 31, 2004

Congratulations Alex. I will be going down to my local electrics store today and getting same. This is a great day in Saabcentral folklore. The day Alex took on GM and won! Guys go get your aux-in activated before it is no longer available.

hts666 · Jan 31, 2004

Dude, Alex, you're my favorite person today

I'm taking my car to the dealer to get AUX enabled first thing in the morning, hope they don't give me problems with it. Then I'm doing the install

. Man I can't wait. And I almost ordered an fm modulator and antenna adapters today. Good thing I held off.

Man, mad props to everybody that made this possible, you guys rock!!!

BTW, do i need ROW seetings for the AUX to be enabled, or that doesn't matter (logic says it shouldn't, but....)

silent2n · Jan 31, 2004

This is definitely a great day.. when someone other than Saab had to figure this one out. Perhaps now we should send them the instructions on how to do this. hehe

Vector-SS · Jan 31, 2004

Alex,

Can you please tell me in what part you used the "D-sub connectors?

sam_jam · Jan 31, 2004

Thank you Aelx c

u made my day !

mopo · Jan 31, 2004

YAY
it has happened

i should have thought of the db-25 pin trick... i got enough of them lying around.

i will be doing this tomorrow.

Saline · Jan 31, 2004

Sniff sniff... reminds me of the good old days when we had to build our own cables and write our own software for the good old Tandy Color Computers...
Nice job!

MarkJ · Jan 31, 2004

Could someone post the step by step Tech II instructions for enabling AUX?

My dealer doesn't look very hard when I make Tech II requests unless I can walk them through it.

silent2n · Jan 31, 2004

With this method, we don't even need to buy that Phone Harness Cable from Saab.
My only question is when you connected your phone jack to the AUX in, does it uses the car's onboard microphone? The same one that's connected to the Onstar system? Or did you have to use your own?

alex_c · Jan 31, 2004

Can you please tell me in what part you used the "D-sub connectors?

If you look at the second picture, I attached a pin to the end of each cable to they can be connected to the back of the EHU. By the way, in order to get a better fit and prevent any possible problems, I added another step to insulate each one of the pins.

I bought a bag of Butt Connectors, Radio Shack Part # 64-3073 (see picture below) which is nothing more than a small barrel with a removable plastic insulator.

What I did was first remove the barrel from the insulator and then use the yellow thing to cover the pins on my cable. Please note that if you can't slide the insulation all the way back, you may need to cut the bottom of the insulator to be flush with with the pin.

If you see the picture, first is the bag of connectors, to the right is a disassembled barrel/insulation and on the bottom you can see how I used the insulation to cover one of the pins.

I actually covered each one of the pins and that made for a very sturdy and tight fit on the back of the EHU. After I was done, I realized that I could've have used the butt connectors complete, instead of using the pins from the DB-25 and covering them.

If you decide to use the butt connector as it is, you may need to press a little bit on the end with pliers to make the hole smaller and get a better fit between the connector and the pins on the back of the EHU.

I got AUX WORKING !!!!

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