NTG4.7 Mystery - Reverse Camera works in video mode but not in reverse mode

[2012SLK200]

MY 2012 SLK-200 JDM Head Unit was reprogrammed for New Zealand and works fabulously. Except for one problem.

Put it in reverse, the screen goes black with the yellow guidelines, but no video.

So I ordered and installed the following products recommended in a posting at SLK World
Camera: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7WY3T6C
Cable: RG316 Fakra Female Angle to RCA FEMALE RF Cable FAST-SHIP LOT | eBay (3 foot length)

No joy on the reverse screen, but when I started pressing buttons, I discovered it works as a Video feed. Press Video. Press Back and it comes on as an AUX feed. Because I wired the positive to the reverse light (back up light), it only turns on when in reverse, but pressing the extra buttons to see how close I am to the car behind when parking is a pain. Plus when I put it in Drive and start moving, it issues me a warning that it is turning the video off (which by this point is a blank screen because the power is off to the camera). To get back to Android Spotify mode, I have to press more buttons.

I've used the Setup function to ensure the Reverse Camera Function is on and entered Engineering mode to ensure the settings are right (notably NTSC for the NTSC ENREDO brand camera)

• (1) Front Monitor RVC = NTSC
• (2) Rear monitor 1 RVC = NTSC
• (3) Input signal setting 1 RVC = NTSC

Engineering Menu Settings:

• 7.7 HU 22 Parameter (4/16) Rearview camera = SRVC
• 7.7 HU 22 Parameter (2/16) 8 RDS Functions : activated
• 7.7 HU 22 Parameter (2/16) 10 IC Asia : not installed
• 7.7 HU 22 Parameter (2/16) 11 Rear cover not available - changed to available, made no difference

Because the camera works, it obviously is a software setting issue. Next I will try hooking up the Autel OBD scanner to see if it has anything, but if anyone has more expertise in NTG4.7 settings, I would appreciate it.

 

[richard]

Try the other connector on the double green fakra that you are currently plugged into
I think that you Video AUX turned on in the settings somewhere, and are connected to the video aux input rather than the reverse camera input

R

 

[2012SLK200]

SOLVED: Thank you Richard. One more teardown of the HU, swapped positions and it works. I moved it from the right side (non-clip hole) to left side (clip hole) and now it turns on as soon as I put the car in reverse, regardless of what the radio is doing.



NEXT CHALLENGE:

The yellow lines (two sets, one generated by head unit and one from camera) show on the video display but they do not respond to turning the wheel. While that is icing on the cake, any idea what setting would activate it? To eliminate the camera lines, I just cut some wires, but to integrate the head unit lines with the steering wheel must be a software setting.

 

[richard]

There is no setting because on Mercedes with moving lines the camera is the one that generates the lines.
R

 

[2012SLK200]

That's odd because this is what the screen showed before I installed the camera.



After I installed the camera, I get this (taken at night)



The red/yellow/green lines come from the camera. Th comb-like yellow and red arc at the bottom must come from the Head Unit.

 

[richard]

They are not moving lines. Moving lines come from camera (or camera control module on old s class) on Mercedes. Fixed lines can come from the head unit (and I can’t remember how to turn off on ntg4.7).

 

[markjay]

BTW, are you sure it's NTG4.7? A 2012 car should have NTG4.5 Gen2 (I think). Not that it matters much anyway....

 

[2012SLK200]

Yeah, I had a shop install the NZ files over the JDM, so I could get NZ radio, and it seems they upgraded the OS from 4.5 to 4.7.

See https://incartec.blob.core.windows.net/instructions/Mercedes NTG Head Unit Differences.pdf which says:

COMAND APS NTG 4.7 (2013>) Comand 4.7 or 3rd generation of Comand NTG4.5 was installed in vehicles from June 2013 onwards, such as GLK350(2015). It now supports direct tethering of iPhone / iOS Devices / Android OS to support the internet function which was not previously possible with these devices. It also features internet radio plus slight changes to the route guidance. The differences to NTG4.5 are new Mercedes Apps; CPU upgrading; 80G to 100G SATA; better Navigator figure performance, which enable a more fluent system as a whole.

So I expect what happened is I still have the old 80GB Sata and older CPU, but the 4.7 OS. It does integrate instantly with my Android and my wife's iPhone... calls, Spotify and Google maps, all perfectly integrated. They did upgrade the MB Navigation with NZ maps as well, but compared to Google maps, it's Stone Age.

 

[markjay]

My understanding was the Gen1 (papyrus/brown theme) and Gen2 (silver/red theme) had the same hardware, and therefore it is possible to upgrade a Gen1 HU to Gen2 via firmware update, but Gen3 (aka NTG4.7) had different hardware and therefore an upgrade from Gen1/Gen2 to Gen3 via firmware update is not possible.

As for iPhone and Android support, all versions of NTG4.5 supported both iPhone and Android for voice calls and music streaming over Bluetooth. However, Gen1 and Gen2 supported Internet connectivity via PAN (basically, COMAND getting Internet access via your mobile phone) via Android phones only, but not via iPhone. With Gen3, you can have COMAND access the Internet via either Android or iPhone.

Havibg said that, the Mercedes Benz apps for NTG4.5 are quite old now and of not much use. Personally, I was using the Internet Radio app (TuneIn) which was great, and sometimes also the Weather app, but that's about it. Google Street View was stopped by MB in 2015, and the Web browser was stopped a couple of years later. There's also the ability to send destinations from Here We Go (on a PC) directly to the car, but I never found this feature particularly useful. And, there is an Internet search function for petrol stations and hotels etc, but again not really useful.

 

[2012SLK200]

My understanding was the Gen1 (papyrus/brown theme) and Gen2 (silver/red theme) had the same hardware, and therefore it is possible to upgrade a Gen1 HU to Gen2 via firmware update, but Gen3 (aka NTG4.7) had different hardware and therefore an upgrade from Gen1/Gen2 to Gen3 via firmware update is not possible.

As for iPhone and Android support, all versions of NTG4.5 supported both iPhone and Android for voice calls and music streaming over Bluetooth. However, Gen1 and Gen2 supported Internet connectivity via PAN (basically, COMAND getting Internet access via your mobile phone) via Android phones only, but not via iPhone. With Gen3, you can have COMAND access the Internet via either Android or iPhone.

Havibg said that, the Mercedes Benz apps for NTG4.5 are quite old now and of not much use. Personally, I was using the Internet Radio app (TuneIn) which was great, and sometimes also the Weather app, but that's about it. Google Street View was stopped by MB in 2015, and the Web browser was stopped a couple of years later. There's also the ability to send destinations from Here We Go (on a PC) directly to the car, but I never found this feature particularly useful. And, there is an Internet search function for petrol stations and hotels etc, but again not really useful.

While cars evolve slowly, tech has a very short half life. Most of the MB features are superseded by Android, but the interface is what makes it work - unlike an older interface that only used Bluetooth to answer the phone.

All Mercedes is doing in the HU and steering wheel controls is interfacing and allowing sufficient smart phone controls. The Engineering menu says MB maps are a TomTom database last updated 2018 - very Stone Age tech, but I suppose it would be useful if the cell phone failed whilst in the middle of nowhere.

The only reason to spend NZ$400 to reprogram from Japan to NZ is to get the NZ FM radio band, but happily, in doing so, it also upgraded the software, giving the following features:

• Android audio goes to and from the HU. OK Google responds to "navigate by car to..." and it fires up GPS directions. Google maps reads out directions.
• A Carmount on the dash (see photo) to clips cell phone via magnet to view visual progress maps including traffic, GPS speed and ETA.
• Google maps searches for petrol stations, hotels, stores, etc.
• Get in and turn on car, automatically picks up and plays Spotify from where it left off
• Responds to voice commands to change songs, read texts, send texts
• Steering wheel controls also switch songs, changes volume and mutes
• When the phone rings, steering wheel button controls the phone and suppresses music and navigation.

I've not figured out how to load music or the owners manual on the hard drive, which is empty, but that really only matters when I am out of signal range or down on data. None of these are particularly sophisticated uses, but it's really all I need, and I report them herein for other owners to get the most out of their older HU.

Thus, while most of the MB tech is obsolete, the HU is advanced enough to keep it linked to a 2021 Android. When the phone becomes obsolete, and they introduce a new technology the HU does not read, then I'm cooked.




As for the HU, looking at the engineering menu suggests it is NTG4.5 Japan hardware. It came with an SD slot that was preloaded with music (Handel's Messiah) the previous owner forgot - works the same as playing the radio.

 

[markjay]

You can copy mp3 audio files to the Music Register (that's a partition on the internal HDD) from either an SD-Card inserted in the SD-Card slot in the HU, or from a USB drive connected to the USB port inside the centre arm rest (if your car is equipped with it).

But obviously you'll need to download the mp3 audio files to your PC or Mac first, and then copy them to the SD-Card (via a USB SD-Card reader) or to the USB drive, before you take the SD-Card or USB drive to the car and copy the mp3 audio files to the internal Music Register. To access the audio files, you press the DISC button several times until the Music Register appears on screen.

Alternatively, you can simply play the music directly from the SD-Card or USB drive, as you did with Handle's Messiah.

As for the Owner's Manual, I don't believe that COMAND supports PDF files and so you won't be able to get COMAND to display the Owner's Manual.

 

[markjay]

Regarding the maps, in Europe, MB uses cartography data provided by HERE (previously NavTeq), a consortium that MB actually has a share in.

The other cartography data provider is TomTom (who acquired Teleatlas), and I'm guessing that for your region MB favoured the Teleatlas maps, or possibly the HERE data doesn't cover NZ.

In Europe, MB also use the TomTom Live Traffic service, however I have no idea if a live traffic service for COMAND is available in NZ, and in any event the hardware support for it (3g modem) was only introduced in MB cars in mid 2013.

That been said, since you use your smartphone for navigation rather than COMAND, this information is probably not relevant to you anyway....