Hi everyone, new to the forum here.

I have been reading this forum for the past week or so which resulted in me buying an AVIC F700BT, so while I am waiting for my unit and reading about all the possibilities it has to be modded, I was wondering - what about Linux?

There are linux solutions for embedded devices based on the ARM platform, I think linux could offer greater customization options and flexibility. I myself would pay for a new redesigned AVIC software that would make it what it should be - a lean mean CarPC, and most important, faster .

Anyway, I just want to say this is a great forum, with lots of useful info. Thanks guys and gals

It's technically possible.... but while you probably can get open source AV software, you'd still need to buy Navi software and I am not sure how many are actiually available for purchase for embedded Linux or ARM.

Besides, WinCE isn't so bad that you'd see significant speed improvements with Linux...

I was thinking more of .NET CF replacement shell with some heavy interop. I'm a .NET programmer, and though it is definitely slower than straight c++, it is MUCH easier to use in WinCE. I don't think I can tackle the whole thing myself though, so I'd be curious to see if there are enough people that are willing to contribute on a replacement shell initiative. Clearly, it would be better since any customization in that case is possible. Additionally, Pioneer contains all the necessary libraries to talk to Ipod, play mp3/mp4/aac audio/video files, and maybe even interactions with IGO.

...Maybe I should start a thread to see if there's any interest in this.

That does look like a better option, and I think I could even contribute something...

Yeah, I don't mean "We should switch to linux, it is better" but rather I think a custom made shell, based on whatever is best will be a good solution, obviously Pioneer has done a real crappy job from what I hear, and the hope that they will fix it remains, but if there is a ready to use solution, why not use it? All these little GPS units use win CE, and they seem to do a fine job, also the car pc scene has tons of frontends and other stuff available.

And I am not by any means programming savvy or anything, just pushing ideas here that's all

Most car-pc projects are x86-compatible, which means they are able to run regular Windows, like WinXP. Centrafuse is a decent front-end, but unfortunately, it doesn't run under WinCE.

You are definitely right about the x86 compatibility, but there are frontends like Roadrunner for example, so what if it could be ported to WinCE, and of course you don't need all the bells and whistles of a full blown carpc, but still, i think it would be nice.

maybe you can find something here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/front-ends/

maybe you can find something here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/front-ends/

Well, yes, that's where I get all these crazy ideas from...

Why not anyway? It is essentially a PC, there's also Windows XP embedded, XP that can run off a flash disk. But looks like Win CE is the best option.

Since the unit has an ARM processor, Embedded XP isn't much of an option...

Yeah boris is right. You can't run XP Embedded on a non-x86 platform. You need to write the application directly for WinCE running an ARM processor for it to be compatible with AVIC units. One can attempt to port one of the pieces of software from x86 to ARM but I imagine it's a huge pain.