Getting Access
Nearly all modifications require you to have SSH access to the Linux system used in the MZD Connect. To establish a SSH Connection, you need to have a Network connection between your Computer (or your Mobile) and your Infotainment System. There are two ways to create a network connection to your car:
Ethernet
The car supports some USB-To-Ethernet adapters. Using these, you can connect your car by a standard network patchcable to either your router or directly to your computer (this may require a cross-over cable, if your components cannot Autosense).
WLAN
The MZD Connect is also equipped with a Wireless LAN connection. To use this, connect to your Home WLAN or a portable Hotspot using the Devices menu in the Settings dialog. If you are in North America or Japan, the WLAN adapter may be disabled (due to Mazda discontinuing the Connected Car features in these regions). If that is the case with your car, you can either
- downgrade your OS-Version to a Version where WLAN was still enabled, disable the Update validation and install a modified Update with WLAN still enabled
- use Ethernet (either constantly or only to enable the WLAN features)
WARNING: You should only connect to Networks you trust (e.g. not to public WLANs), since everyone in that network could possibly brick (=make unusable) your device!
IP
Once you have created a network link, the car will try to fetch an IP-Address via DHCP. If it fails to get a valid IP 10 times, it will use 192.168.42.1/24 [1]. Depending on your setup, you have different ways of finding out what IP the car uses:
- You can see active leases in your DHCP-Server (e.g. your home router's Webinterface shows you)
- You use a network scan to find the car
- You have no reachable DHCP and the car uses the static IP
SSH
Once you know your car's ip and are in the same network, you can connect using SSH. The login information is
User: root Password: jci
Remount filesystem as read/write
By default, the file system is in read-only mode, which prevents you from making changes. To remount it as writable, run the following command via SSH:
mount -o rw,remount /
This will allow you to change files on the system until the next reboot (you will have to reissue the command after rebooting)
Disable Auto-Reboot
The original firmware is configured to reboot on any error (hoping that that will fix it). This makes it very hard to repair anything, since you won't have time to revert your changes via SSH before the System reboots.
ToDo: Explain both disabling the JS-Reboot and enabling debug mode, get confirmation this actually stops the system from rebooting.