FAQs

The first connection may take up to two minutes to succeed. If the connection is still unsuccessful after this time, try unplugging and re-plugging the USB cable from the Cobalt Cube and waiting another two minutes.

If the connection is still unsuccessful, try the other suggestions in this section.

Some vehicles may show a notification that needs to be clicked on, or require navigating to a particular menu to start the connection.

To connect a Cobalt Cube to a vehicle screen, the vehicle must support wired Android Auto. This can be checked by connecting an Android phone to the vehicle’s USB port and seeing if an Android Auto connection is established. Furthermore, in the vehicle’s screen menu an Android Auto logo should be present.

As per the “First-time setup” section in the Getting Started Guide, there are setup prompts that need to be accepted in the Android Auto app. These should be accepted automatically, but sometimes this mechanism can fail.

If this happens, you will need an HDMI screen and a mouse to accept the terms and conditions for using Android Auto. Once complete, subsequent connections to the same car occur without any additional input.

The steps to perform this initial setup are as follows:

1. If not already connected, connect the Cobalt Cube to the vehicle via the OTG port (you may need a USB-C to USB-A adapter).
2. Connect an HDMI monitor to the Cobalt Cube’s HDMI port.
3. Connect a mouse or touchscreen USB connector to the Cobalt Cube’s HOST port.
4. Start Android Auto on the vehicle screen.
5. You should see a series of dialogues appear on the HDMI screen (as seen in Figure 1) - accept all of them.

Figure 1: Some Android Auto first experience screens

Modern vehicles may contain multiple USB ports, some of these ports are for charging only and do not send data to the vehicle. This can be checked by connecting an Android phone to the USB port and seeing if an Android Auto connection is established with the vehicle.

A USB A to USB C adaptor should be used when connecting to the vehicle. The wiring is as follows: USB C (connected to the Cobalt Cube OTG port) to USB A cable, USB A to USB C converter (connected to the vehicle’s USB C port).

VNC Automotive recommends the following USB A to USB C converter for use in vehicles with only USB C ports as it has been verified to work by our engineers:

Google recommends using cables that have been certified by themselves within the last two years for Android Auto connections.

VNC Automotive recommends the following certified cable for use in vehicles as it has been verified to work by our engineers:

VNC Automotive advise to use the shortest cable possible and ideally install the Cobalt Cube near to the car’s Android Auto USB port.

Google’s official advice on USB cables is available through their knowledge base here: 

For quick reference it is recommended that you use a cable that is:

• Less than 3 feet (1 meter) long and don’t use USB hubs or cable extensions.
• USB-IF certified within the last two years. Here is a database you can check:

 

This may occur if power was lost during an update of the device, or if the USB stick became loose or was removed whilst data was being copied. You will need to return the unit to VNC Automotive to be restored by a technician.

The Cobalt Cube software is out of date and requires updating. The latest update would have been provided to you via your technical representative at VNC Automotive.

This may occur if the USB C to USB A cable is not Google USB-IF certified or the cable is longer than 3 feet (1 meter).

The Cobalt Cube is likely not receiving 12V of power. Please check the power supply to the Cobalt Cube.

Detach the HDMI screen from the Cobalt Cube and reboot the Cobalt Cube.

Restart the Cobalt Link+ Windows Server on the Windows PC and restart the MDT Control application on the Cobalt Cube.

Yes. A USB mouse can be connected to the HOST port of the Cobalt Cube. Alongside an HDMI screen, this allows navigation around the Cobalt Cube. To go back to the previous screen the navigation bar can be used, or the “back” button in the mouse, if available.

The USB stick must be formatted to FAT32 and have a minimum size of 2GB.

If using Windows to format the USB stick you may require a third party tool to 
achieve this.

The update file must have a .ccu file extension and have a name with less than 85 characters in it.

The update file must be placed in the top directory of the USB stick. The update package must not be placed in any sub-folders, otherwise the Cobalt Cube will not recognise the file.

The USB stick containing the update package must be plugged into the HOST port of the Cobalt Cube.

Check the SHA256 checksum by running "certUtil -hashfile <location of the update file> SHA256" on a PC's command line and comparing the output to the update email received from VNC Automotive. If they do not match, please download/copy the file again.

This is due to an update file remaining on the SD Card after an update. The file can be removed by going into the My Settings app and clicking “Remove left-over update files”. After this, the pop-up will no longer appear.

This may occur if power was lost during an update of the device, or if the USB stick became loose whilst data was being copied. You will need to return the unit to be restored by a technician.

No, they cannot. To use a device as an audio source, it must be paired with the Cobalt Cube to share media audio via Bluetooth. Multiple devices can be paired, but only one device can be active at a time. Cobalt Cube will attempt to connect to any known device within range automatically, after it powers on. The "My Settings'' app can be used to manage known devices.

Note: phone call audio and media audio are both supported in parallel from more than one device, if required (as well as from the same device). Phone call support requires a dedicated setting beyond Bluetooth audio; please refer to the phone call audio section in the Getting Started Guide.

Check that the Cobalt Cube is not paired over Bluetooth to the vehicle. If it is, unpair it and try again.

In a wired connection, ensure the Ethernet cable from the Cobalt Cube to the Windows PC is plugged in and that compatible IP addresses are assigned to both devices (using DHCP or statically, see the Windows Server Getting Started Guide for details).

In a wireless connection, ensure both the Cobalt Cube and Windows PC are connected to the same wireless network.

On the Windows PC, open Task Manager via the Windows start menu.

There should be a process called CobaltLink+Service running.

If it is not, the Windows Server is not running. Please see refer to the Windows Server Getting Started Guide to setup the start-up configuration.

This can be the result of using a vehicle screen with a low resolution and a phone with a high resolution. Generally, the higher the resolution of the vehicle screen, the better the phone's display will look.

Putting the phone in portrait mode for a portrait vehicle screen or landscape mode for a landscape vehicle screen will also help maximise the usable space and picture quality.

For the Wi-Fi hotspot to turn on, Smartphone Control needs to be opened. If this still does not turn on the hotspot, please ensure that the Wi-Fi hotspot password is at least 8 characters long. Using a password of less than 8 characters will result in the hotspot not turning on.

This is due to a change in behaviour in Android 15. A fix for this will be
included in a future Cobalt Cube release. To restore touch control either switch
to USB control or carry out the steps laid out below. Note, this initial pairing
only needs to be done once per device. Once the following steps are performed,
subsequent intervention is not required for any future sessions.

1. Initiate a connection from Smartphone Control to the phone by selecting it in the list of devices.
2. If the Cobalt Cube and phone are not connected over Bluetooth, set the phone to be discoverable and select it in the Bluetooth device list. A pairing request will show on the phone. Accept the pairing request.
3. Once in the Smartphone Control session, press the home key on the Cobalt Cube navigation bar.
4. On the phone, forget the Cobalt Cube Bluetooth pairing.
5. Smartphone Control will automatically send a new Bluetooth pairing
   request to the phone. Accept the pairing request on the phone and on the Cobalt Cube.
6. Once the Bluetooth connection between the phone and the Cobalt Cube has been re-established, relaunch Smartphone Control on the Cobalt Cube. Touch control should now be working.
7.  In the unlikely case that touch input still does not work, turn Bluetooth off on the phone and then back on. Once the phone has reconnected to the Cobalt Cube, touch control should then work.

The lights and siren controller is not connected to the Cobalt Cube correctly.

Please refer to the corresponding lights and siren controller Guide to troubleshoot this issue.

Yes. The option can be found in:

Settings > System > Advanced > Reset Options > Erase all data (factory reset)

Note that you will need to reactivate the device afterwards.

At present the Cobalt Cube only supports English for both Text To Speech and displayed text. Please contact your VNC Automotive sales representative if you require another language.