Motorola MA1

[Bowruss]

Hello all and apologies if this has been thrashed through before.

How do people find the MA1?  Mine's set up initially via my Poco f3  using the user dash data port and I  thought that once all was connected  for the first time, I would leave it connected and then be able to get in the car with the phone on and within 30 seconds,  AA would  load up and appear on my Media screen in place of the standard Toyota deal.

I'm clearly not doing something  right as I have to open the media then bluetooth and set the phone to AA only greying out phone and media.  Comms remain ok as calls and media work through  AA.

All a bit laborious and not quite  what I  expected. I was seduced by the descriptions of delivery guys nipping out  then back in, starting up and getting the AA loading up in 30 seconds  while  they buckle up.

I need some special  training  on this....!

Russ

[Extreme_One]

Motorola MA1 Quick Start Guide

3. Setting up your adapter

Before setting up your adapter, connect your phone to Android Auto using a wired USB connection following your vehicle manufacturer's instructions.

While the Android Auto connection is active on your car screen, unplug your phone from the car and immediately plug your adapter into the same USB port.

To use Android Auto wirelessly, your phone should be running version 11 or higher of the Android operating system.

4. Pair with the wireless car adapter

When the adapter LED flashes blue, pair your phone with it (look for 'AndroidAuto-XXXX' under Settings > bluetooth on your phone).

Now, wait for your phone to automatically re-establish its Android Auto connection wirelessly through the adapter; this may take a while.

On subsequent drives, Android Auto will start wirelessly after the car connects to your phone

 

It's meant to be simple to set up, it's definitely not working as it should.

If I were in your shoes I would make the car forget your current bluetooth connection to your phone, I'd factory reset the MA1 and I'd try the setup again from scratch.

5. Factory reset

While powered on, press and hold the adapter button. To pair a new phone, release the button when it begins blinking blue. The adapter is now ready to accept a new bluetooth pairing request from a nearby phone.

To erase adapter memory, do not release the button when it starts blinking blue; instead, continue holding it down until it blinks yellow, and release only when it turns white; remembered phones are now cleared.

[Bowruss]

Thank you for this helpful reply.  The forum strikes again!

I've  pulled up the instruction link you posted and it does have additional  info.  I was using  the brief leaflet that came with the MA1 packaging. 

I'm  going to have a serious go at this tomorrow starting with unpairing the phone and then getting the MA1 to forget my phone via the  reset button.

I think my error was to simply plug the MA1 in without setting up with the phone via wired connect first. Rushing without  reading carefully.  A lesson to us all!

I'll post tomorrow with progress.

One last question.  If all goes well I  assume you don't need your  phone again hence the advantages of wireless  for people such as delivery drivers who are in and out a lot.

As the man said - I'll  be back....

Thanks again, Russ 

 

[Extreme_One]

14 minutes ago, Bowruss said:

I  assume you don't need your  phone again

You need your phone to be with you, you can't leave the phone at home! 🙃

The beauty is you can leave your phone in your pocket or in your man-bag. 😉

[Bowruss]

Yes I think I  now understand.   Just takes a while!

Russ 

[Extreme_One]

@Bowruss just to clarify:-

Imagine the car was able to do Wireless Android Auto natively, without needing to use a dongle like the MA1 or AAWireless. 

The car would connect to your phone wirelessly and your phone contacts, music, maps etc would all be available on your car via Android Auto. But you'd need your phone with you for the car to be able to access all of that, albeit without plugging it into the car.

So, in the absence of native wireless Android Auto, the MA1 provides that connecting bridge - so your phone connects wirelessly to the MA1, and the MA1 connects to the car via USB, meaning you can access your contacts, music, maps etc from your phone, wirelessly, on the car multimedia system.

Hope that makes sense.

I'd definitely be interested to hear if you manage to get the MA1 working successfully.... Good luck.

[Bowruss]

Here we go.  Spent two hours following the good advice above including unpairing both phone and trying a full reset of the  MA1.   No go.  Can't  even get the MA1 to fully forget all phones by holding the reset button.   It won't  go through the colours to do a full forget! 

Rapidly running out of patience and am poised to do a public execution  on the MA1  by returning it to Amazon.

Frustratingly  the system  will work with the phone connected by wire.  Problem is getting  the MA1 to connect  with the phone.

The spirit is weakening but I might invest another hour or so.  Can't see why the MA1 won't go through the reset colours routine to forget all phones.

Watch this space.....

Seasons greetings to all who may be patiently wondering what this idiot is doing!

Russ 

 

[Don Mac]

Russ, sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with this. Wireless AA is great (when it works).

If you are looking at returning the MA1 to Amazon, you might like to know that AAWireless is back on sale there. Whilst the two boxes sound very similar in how they're meant to set up & work I can confirm that the AAWireless I have does actually work with my MY23 Corolla.

(Disclaimer - I am not going to get paid by AAWireless for this post, blahblahblah,)

[Extreme_One]

8 hours ago, Bowruss said:

Can't see why the MA1 won't go through the reset colours routine to forget all phones.

How long are you pressing the button for?

On 12/21/2023 at 9:40 AM, Extreme_One said:

erase adapter memory, do not release the button when it starts blinking blue; instead, continue holding it down until it blinks yellow, and release only when it turns white; remembered phones are now cleared

On 12/21/2023 at 9:40 AM, Extreme_One said:

 

 

[Bowruss]

Thanks.  I've downloaded a MA1 user sheet which has more detail than the leaflet in the MA1 package.

It says exactly what you advise and I've held the reset button with the MA1 connected of course.  It will cycle through blue, green and then red.  It won't cycle to yellow then white so something seemes odd.  Stays on solid red.  I've held the rest button for a good 4 minutes so it should cycle through to white and reset.  I've never seen yellow or white.

Going out now to have another hour of hope!  Thanks for all the advice from people.

Russ

R

[Extreme_One]

@Bowruss I've just done a quick Google search to see if others had the same issue.

The advice is, when you want to reset the MA1, to use a different USB Power supply, such as a charger bank or the power pack you use to power your phone, rather than the cars USB port.

Hopefully that helps. 🤞

[Bowruss]

Thanks to Don and Ext 1 for your support and knowledge in this seemingly  baffling  matter.

I've been trying again for an hour or so and have made small progress. 

I can get the MA1 to connect to the Poco F3 phone!  I  can use AA but if I turn the car off and on again, the MA1 will not connect  to the phone. 

The only way to move on is to check the Corolla media screen bluetooth and select devices.  This shows the Poco as not connected  so it is clear that the MA1 is disconnecting the phone when the car is turned on and will not reconnect on restart. 

This must mean that on attempted routine reconnection, the MA1 does not recognise the phone.

This has lead to my many attempts to factory reset the MA1 and I simply cannot achieve this!

Ext one's search for which I am very grateful  suggests a separate power source such as power bank.  I actually got to this point last night but after repeated attempts, I cannot get the MA1 to cycle through to the yellow  and white lights.

Seems I'm totally stuck and feel a product return  looming.  I'm thinking that the AAwireless Don uses in his Corolla may be the answer.  Pity really as I'm sure there are many people on here who have Toyota media systems working fine with the MA1. 

I've got utill the and of January to make return decision so I'll think it through yet again.

As before, many thanks for all the very helpful advice.

Russ 

[Extreme_One]

5 minutes ago, Bowruss said:

I can get the MA1 to connect to the Poco F3 phone!  I  can use AA but if I turn the car off and on again, the MA1 will not connect  to the phone. 

That's exactly what happened to me with the AAWireless device.

I tested it in a Skoda Fabia and a Ford Tourneo both of which worked perfectly.

It only ended up failing when using it with the Corolla.

I ended up returning it.

 

[Bowruss]

Hmm.  So you changed to the  MA1  anit works with tour Corolla?  I think you'll have same media system as mine.

Russ 

[Don Mac]

Russ, Whilst I am certainly not technically qualified on this subject a couple of things you say ring some bells.

AAW was perfect when I originally connected it, but stopped connecting automatically a couple of months later. I then discovered the following;

The car will only connect to the phone as AA or phone/media (you can see this in the head unit's 'bluetooth device' settings). Once you've connected via AA this option is selected, setting it to phone/media, connecting to the car and then switching it back could make the AAW connect to the car. Apparently wireless AA (the Google app, not AAW the dongle) wouldn't connect to the car unless the phone had connected to the car already via bluetooth (which the Toyota system wasn't doing).

A couple of weeks later AAW started working again (I had tried every fix that AAW could suggest unsuccessfully in the meantime). I cannot prove anything, but I had an AA update the morning it stopped and another one before it started working again... Originally I suspected a Toyota update, now it smells more like Google's fault.

There are known differences (and issues) between certain makes of phone in how well they work with AA (& presumably wireless AA), different manufacturer head units and even the AAW dongle. AAW has a companion app that allows you to change a load of settings in order to work around connection issues, I don't know if the MA1 has anything similar.

My only suggestion is to have a look at your phone. Check that all of the software is updated to the latest version and that bluetooth autoconnect etc. is fully enabled (I bet you've already done this). Then try checking the internet for any reports of issues with your phone and AA.

 

[Bowruss]

Thanks again Don.  My Poco has bluetooth set to quickly connect compatible devices and AA is listed as an app which will turn on bluetooth  so I'm assuming all is ok at the phone end.

I'm just beginning to think that the MA1 has some connectivity sensitivity to either my Corolla media system or the Poco F3 or both...

Russ 

[Extreme_One]

20 minutes ago, Bowruss said:

Hmm.  So you changed to the  MA1  anit works with tour Corolla?

No. I considering it but decided to wait until you reported back with your experience.

Based on what you've said I don't think it will work any better for me, than the AAWireless did.

I've decided to stick to a wired connection. Thankfully it's almost instant so I'll forgo the convenience of wireless and simply remember to plug in before I set off and remember to pick up my phone at my destination.

[Bowruss]

Thanks for your reply.  Surely we aren't both beaten?

Oh well I think I'm also going to give up on wireless connection for a while and try living with the dreaded wires.  Might even just use the media system which was fine for me before I got the techno bug.

Russ 

[Extreme_One]

11 minutes ago, Bowruss said:

Might even just use the media system which was fine for me before I got the techno bug.

To be perfectly honest, whilst I used to immediately replace every car's infotainment system with Android Auto as they're generally so poor, the MY23 Corolla has changed that.

I do use Android Auto for my music and phone calls, but I'm happy to use the system SatNav (It's TomTom software and it's quite impressive!)

This means I'm using a hybrid method where I flip between Android Auto and the Toyota system. In previous cars over the last 6 or 7 years Android Auto has been my go to.

I'm quite amazed that the Toyota system has changed that.

I can live with the wire.

[2badmice]

On 12/21/2023 at 8:41 AM, Bowruss said:

Hello all and apologies if this has been thrashed through before.

How do people find the MA1?  Mine's set up initially via my Poco f3  using the user dash data port and I  thought that once all was connected  for the first time, I would leave it connected and then be able to get in the car with the phone on and within 30 seconds,  AA would  load up and appear on my Media screen in place of the standard Toyota deal.

I'm clearly not doing something  right as I have to open the media then bluetooth and set the phone to AA only greying out phone and media.  Comms remain ok as calls and media work through  AA.

All a bit laborious and not quite  what I  expected. I was seduced by the descriptions of delivery guys nipping out  then back in, starting up and getting the AA loading up in 30 seconds  while  they buckle up.

I need some special  training  on this....!

Russ

Have you turned on Wireless Android Auto in the settings of Android Auto on your phone?

 

Make sure that is set.  It should then just connect to the MA1 as long as you have linked this correctly following the steps.

You should never need to touch your phone as it will automatically do this once you power on your car and the phone links with the wireless AA device.

 

 

[Bowruss]

Thanks for this.  The Poco f3 is set for Adroid Auto and has connected wirelessly. 

I appreciate  your point but as I cannot factory reset the MA1, I'm sure it has a reconnect (after engine off) problem.

As above, I'm about to return it and live with Toyota  media with occasional safaris into wired Android Auto. 

All the best, Russ 

[Bowruss]

Ok friends here's the latest.  My MA1 is going back to Amazon.  I've just given up and as I said above, I'm going to stick with the Toyota system for the present.  If an improved and stable wireless adapter comes out, maybe I'll have a rethink. 

Thanks to all who suffered with me on my journey.

All the very best to you all for the New Year! 

Russ

[erem]

On 12/30/2023 at 8:35 AM, Bowruss said:

Ok friends here's the latest.  My MA1 is going back to Amazon.  I've just given up and as I said above, I'm going to stick with the Toyota system for the present.  If an improved and stable wireless adapter comes out, maybe I'll have a rethink. 

Thanks to all who suffered with me on my journey.

All the very best to you all for the New Year! 

Russ

Sorry to hear that. I've found this thread looking for just the same solution for my MY23 corolla and S20 Ultra. I was hoping that MA1 could be the tool, but it isn't, as it proves...

Maybe the culprit is that corolla is not (officially) compatible wit AA, see https://www.android.com/auto/compatibility/...

There are many reports on the web showing that it is rather hit-and-miss game, with toyota. 

 

[Bowruss]

Hello erem.

Sorry to say that I've nothing further to report. 

I'm  comfortably settled without MA1 and unless others on here post info about either Toyota's updates or MA1 updates,  I'll stay as I am.

Good luck with your investigation.   Maybe Toyota is at the root of all this as MA1 works fine elsewhere. 

Russ

[miks]

5 hours ago, Bowruss said:

..

Maybe Toyota is at the root of all this as MA1 works fine elsewhere. 

Russ

most probably. i have 2024 car with native wireless AA yet it does not work with my s23 Samsung phone. Dealer already warned me about car's AA problems with some phones. ive ordered carlinkit 5.0 to solve this and if that wount help i have AAwireless next on list.