Discovered Clarity Hidden Diagnostics and Settings Menu

  • Thread starter Thread starter zman
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 33
  • Views Views 18K
Z

zman

Member
I found that if you press and hold the Power + Menu + Night/Brightness buttons simultaneously, it will bring up the hidden diagnostics and settings menu. I didn't play around with it much yet. Photos attached.
 

Attachments

  • image1.webp
    image1.webp
    31.6 KB · Views: 725
  • image2.webp
    image2.webp
    26.9 KB · Views: 686
  • image3.webp
    image3.webp
    19.9 KB · Views: 661
zman said:
I found that if you press and hold the Power + Menu + Night/Brightness buttons simultaneously, it will bring up the hidden diagnostics and settings menu. I didn't play around with it much yet. Photos attached.
Click to expand...
Awesome! How the heck did you find that?
 
Just tried it and navigated around a bit. Version brings up a whole lot of versions, so plan on taking a picture or writing it all down.

For others who want to try it, by "Power," TheDom means the Audio button on the upper left of the center display.
 
Clarity Dave said:
Just tried it and navigated around a bit. Version brings up a whole lot of versions, so plan on taking a picture or writing it all down.

For others who want to try it, by "Power," TheDom means the Audio button on the upper left of the center display.
Click to expand...

Correct. The "Audio" button has a graphic that combines a zero and a one. Engineers sometimes use the binary zero and one to mean "on" (one) and "off" (zero) so I intuitively said "power." I found it because I knew that the other Honda infotainments had similar hidden menus, so I just tried every combination until I found it. :cool:
 
zman said:
Correct. The "Audio" button has a graphic that combines a zero and a one. Engineers sometimes use the binary zero and one to mean "on" (one) and "off" (zero) so I intuitively said "power." I found it because I knew that the other Honda infotainments had similar hidden menus, so I just tried every combination until I found it. :cool:
Click to expand...

Just wanted to make sure folks didn't think you meant the Power button that turns on the car.

Thanks for posting the tip. It's a great find!
 
So why isn’t this built into the regular User Interface (UI)? If one thing I’ve learned over the last decade is users want DATA. The easier it is to get data, the more they like the product. Why hide a load of information behind arcane and unintuitive controls?


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
AnthonyW said:
See post 67 for a walk through of this menu.

Honda Service Express Bulletins for 2018 Clarity PHEV
https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...Express-Bulletins-for-2018-Clarity-PHEV.2183/


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...

Once again, thank you AnthonyW for sourcing these wonderful documents about our Clarity! I finally looked at the audio description document and it confirms that Active Noise Cancellation is part of the audio unit (perhaps someone has already noted that, but I missed it). The text says it shuts itself off rather than mess with the bass portion of the audio output, but it monitors only the front speakers:

The ANC system uses two microphones to detect and monitor low frequency noise in the passenger compartment. The microphones
feed information back to the audio-navigation unit which adjusts the speaker output to reduce the noise. The ANC also receives input from the door open/close signal from the body control module. Anytime a door is opened, the ANC system temporarily stops working. Each signal send to the active noise cancellation unit via the F-CAN.

The active noise cancellation unit monitors the stereo amplifier output signals to front speakers, and if front speakers gives a sound
more than rated value, the active noise cancellation unit stops ANC control. This control is for not deleting bass of an audio output.
 
This hidden menu is cool. So, I was exploring the different parts and clicked on GPS, even though I don't have the Touring with a navigation system. It looks like even the base level has the GPS hardware. The hidden menu shows the GPS system picking up satellites and figuring out the current position. I guess this isn't surprising, but it does beg the question why Honda doesn't offer a software upgrade for the navigation system. I may not be willing to pay thousands of dollars for the full Touring, but I may be willing to pay many hundreds of dollars for the navigation system.
 
Good observation, Tim. This, IMHO, represents the major divide between traditional automobile companies and those with a totally different approach, like Tesla. The Teslas of this world understand deeply the attractiveness and profitability of Over-the-Air (OTA) software upgrades, features and enhancements. The basic hardware of inexpensive versions of a vehicle may not be too different but there are those that will opt for smaller batteries but pay almost an equivalent amount over time for software upgrades that turn on features they opted out. Traditional automobile organizations think Hardware is what customers buy whereas the newer organizations realize it’s Software that’s the golden egg. Honda and other traditional organizations also rely on dealership to do the heavy lifting whereas newer organizations understand a few clicks of the smart phone is all that’s needed to turn on and embellish the product.
Of course, we all know how this will play out. The traditional organizations will either adapt or be buried.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
tim said:
This hidden menu is cool. So, I was exploring the different parts and clicked on GPS, even though I don't have the Touring with a navigation system. It looks like even the base level has the GPS hardware. The hidden menu shows the GPS system picking up satellites and figuring out the current position. I guess this isn't surprising, but it does beg the question why Honda doesn't offer a software upgrade for the navigation system. I may not be willing to pay thousands of dollars for the full Touring, but I may be willing to pay many hundreds of dollars for the navigation system.
Click to expand...

Yes, base has GPS as part of the cellular connection the car has for HondaLink. Agree that nav should be a software option. Maybe the bean counters didn't figure it out?
 
I'm sure there are a lot of variables going on here. The cost of Garmin licensing for one (that hand held Garmin GPS you buy is bundled with their software on their hardware). The hardware backend on the Clarity nav is not Garmin's, so Garmin licenses the navigation package. No idea the price as it includes lifetime user updates, but I am sure it is more than that little portable GPS unit for $150. Funny, since the Infotainment system is open source you can hack it and void your warranty - and load whatever open source mapping / nav package you wish, but you will need to open it up and increase the file server storage just a bit.

I agree that the option to buy a license and install the nav software would be cool, but as someone who has made hardware and software in a market more regulated than the automobile industry, I get why they don't. As for Tesla, I hope they make it in spite of Musk. Not because their car is good, it's ok, but it's nice to have a new US auto manufacturer in the mix after the bail-outs. However, as others say, IMHO, I am glad I didn't (and wouldn't) buy a Tesla. I like purchasing and owning hardware, I have a different opinion - software is a dynamic process, and often only licensed. I like purchasing and owning a PC, and loading whatever OS and software I want on it. I'm just not part of that "software/hardware as a service" generation. I miss owning software, anyone remember when you could actually buy AutoCAD (not subscribe)?
I don't want an iPad for a car, if I chose to void the warranty and work on my own car, that is my choice, but I still own the car...I own the hardware. Yes, when the warranty expires, I fully plan on loading a Linux Kernel in the BMS! :);):confused::cool:

I am not a smart man, but do pay attention to those that are actually testing such concepts and corporations. The facts speak for themselves.



or



whether you like these guys or their market brand stance - it is a more eloquent and demonstrative (videos are cooler than pics) argument for my desperate belief in Hardware, right to repair, and actually owning it. Oh, and I do really like my Clarity, would buy two or three versus one Fisker...

Cheers and beers (and likely running for cover...),

Cash
 
Last edited:
tim said:
I may not be willing to pay thousands of dollars for the full Touring, but I may be willing to pay many hundreds of dollars for the navigation system.
Click to expand...

Why pay anything at all?? Just root the head unit and install Google Maps. If you don't have the technical knowledge to do it yourself, there's an auto-root app you can buy for $5 basic / $20 pro, just Google HondaHack. You can find a guide on XDA for how to enable developer mode.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top