Car dock for One M9?

[n8nagel]

Hi all,

just bought a HTC One M9 because my old phone was dying (very unresponsive, needed to be rebooted several times a day) and I was due for a replacement anyway. I made a purchasing decision possibly too quickly but I needed something right away - the last straw was when due to the unresponsiveness of the old phone any my prodding at the screen I ended up calling a friend that was in the hospital at 10:30 PM the other night. I'd already been shopping and thought that I wanted the M9 and the rep at the Sprint store assured me that they carried car mounts for the M9. Well, go to pick it up and their idea of a car mount is a universal mount and charging cable; I'm a heavy Waze user and I had my old phone set up to automatically go into vehicle mode when in the dock and then start Waze which is what I'd like to keep doing. Even HTC's web site sells a semi-universal dock, they claim it puts the phone in vehicle mode but still requires to you put the phone in and then plug in the cable.

I found a thread asking of the HTC D190 mount would work (intended for HTC One M8) - I'd post a link but apparently my post count is too low.

has anyone tried this and does it work?

Alternately, is there any solution that does what I want it to do, or should I just get the most inexpensive quality universal mount that I can find?

Currently I have nothing as I don't have a universal mount in my junk box, and buying one in stores is silly expensive...

thanks!

 

[sjcdal]

Hi,
I have that HTC D190 Car mount for my M8. It is a little pricey, but it is a great mount. Unfortunately, while the M9 slides in perfectly, and even aligns with the little charger bit nicely, it is just a TINY TINY bit thicker..and won"t go all the way onto the charger cable. That cable clicks out and you could easily slide in and secure another cable just high enough to fit into the M9. I ordered this cable from Amazon that says it will trigger dock mode on the phone...sadly it doesn't. So looking for another cable that will work. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU4369779 oh and her is the mount for anybody wondering what we are talking about. http://is.gd/Aw1WkX

 

[n8nagel]

Great, thanks for the useful reply! So it is the cable itself that triggers dock mode? Anyone know what it is about it that does so? (pins tied together? resistor across to pins? Something else?)

Please post back and let us know if you figure it out. I for one would be very grateful for the info as I use my phone as much in the car to run Waze as I do as a proper phone. Since you have the cable for the M8 can you puzzle it out with a meter? Or is there a bit you could shave/modify on he M8 cable to make it work with the M9?

 

[msm0511]

I saw one on Seidio's website for the M9. Not sure if it will go into dock mode though.

 

[sjcdal]

Yes, it is the cable. I can plug in the cable from the HTC car mount and whether powered or not, it triggers car dock mode on the M9.
(Here is a discussion on XDA about the dock mode cable. Fun with resistors (home/car dock mode + mor… | Samsung Galaxy S I9000 | XDA Forums)

I contacted support for the cable I purchased from Amazon, and they have promised to send another cable..hoping that works.
You could also use Tasker or what I use..AutomateIt Pro and have them trigger dock mode when you pass over an NFC tag, or connect to a specific bluetooth device in your car. This is what I was doing and it works fine. I still prefer the cable to trigger it because then it stays in dock mode even if I cut power to the bluetooth (like when filling up at a gas station).
I love AutomateIt for all the other things that I have dock mode set off.
Turn off wifi
Turn on Bluetooth
Start Application CarHomeUltra
Enable a rule that sends a reply text to my son saying I am driving if he texts me.
Starts Waze (except if Maps is already active)
Set volume to max
Screen timeout to 5 minutes
Enable GPS

And then a similar rule to reverse all of the above when I disconnect from dock.

 

[n8nagel]

Nice. Thanks again for a helpful reply, and please let us know how the cable works for you.

I would prefer a hardware/cable solution as well, because *leaving* my vehicle is problematic, although I may just try your solution and see if it's livable.

Also, I'm wondering if I shouldn't have at least one universal car mount as I don't currently have one, and waiting for a 100% solution for the M9 might take a while it seems...

I see you apparently use both Waze and CarHome Ultra and also are an NPR junkie. This sounds vaguely familiar

 

[sjcdal]

Update from my 4/21 car dock cable post.

Replacement cable from manufacturer arrived only to find it also does not trigger dock mode. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU4390847

So..... I have ordered this one that has an actual HTC part number. HTC USB Cable Activates Car Dock App | eBay $15...more than it should cost, but if it will let me re-use my D-190 HTC car mount that was designed for the M8, it will be worth it. In the meantime, I currently am using that D-190 by unclipping the cable from the base, flipping the M9 over and putting it in head first, and then manually connecting the cable. That works fine, I just want to eliminate putting the cable in manually.

 

[n8nagel]

An updates on this? Really need to get something as I've been using my phone sitting in the ashtray and I'm sick of it sliding onto the floor every time I make a left hand turn. Need something to hold to dashboard as well as a fast charge capable car charger. Any combo proven to work? Or just go universal?

 

[sjcdal]

The cable from ebay did work to invoke car dock.

But it was too large to fit into my old HTC dock for the m8....
I also changed cars, so now I use a magnetic dock and the AutomateIT script that I mentioned in earlier post. It invokes a bunch of commands upon connecting to the SPECIFIC bluetooth named in my car.

I use this for the rotating vent magnetic mount (note there are two different size grippers for the vents depending on which way you turn it)
https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/EujEyNzjM?af=134300979

But I like the little round disk to mount to the back of my phone better from this mount.
https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/YRNBubemE?af=134300979

I ended up using the mount part from the second one on my desk....

Total for the two mount systems.. less than $5. They do ship from China, but both arrived within 14 days from order placement.