Gnatsum21
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- Joined
- Oct 31, 2021
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- Location
- Fort Lauderdale FL
- Vehicle(s)
- Former: GT 21 Roush Twister Orange RIP | ECO 2016
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- #1
December 15th, 2021
All of this I found online, no code etc. was developed by me. It's all available for free. Except the FORscan adapter, USB stick(s), and a laptop you will need.
WARNING: only proceed if you want to "root", "jailbreak" (or whatever you want to call it) your Sync display. I am pretty sure that will void your warranty if anything should go wrong and you need professional assistance to get it back working. Once you add those components I haven't figured out yet how to remove them.
And once you install a custom theme it will stick until you either downgrade your sync to a previous version and then upgrade again. Not 100% sure.
EDIT: You can always overwrite the current theme with a new one, of course.
The link to the themes is further below.
Maybe it's possible to get it back using FORscan. Maybe someone can test that down the line. Make sure to start out by reverting your custom mods (Sync start logo, Lincoln, Shelby themes and what not back to stock). I did this on a 2021 Mustang GT, Sync version 3.4.21194.
"Hello new backgrounds! Bye bye warranty!"
1. Get your FORscan working:
I have this adapter
OBDLink EX FORScan OBD Adapter
Download FORscan
FORscan license
2. Jailbreak Sync... Follow those instructions and get the 3 zip files needed. I only used 1 USB stick. I ran into other suggestions online but this one is the correct start. Your Sync will be updated 3 times by installing
a. "Hack"
b. Installing the "Daemon"
c. Installing the "Mod Tools"
EDIT: you need a gmail account since the website will allow you to download the 3 zip files to your "Google Drive" root folder. If you have an Android phone you automatically have a gmail account.
If everything goes well you can do the next step, that is installing the "Custom Background Loader" to Sync ..
Without that piece you can't upload any pics. (pics need to be 800x480 pixels)
2. Install the "Custom Background loader". It's located here, the source of all "evil", FMods.net
I believe you need to register first before you can download anything, at least I had to do it.
3. Create/edit or modify background images. I used a (somewhat free) website for editing my images. As I have found out images must be 800 pixels in length and 480 pixels in width. See below.
Once satisfied copy images to your USB stick. The main folder has to be in this format (customerBackgrounds).
Inside of it 2 folders, day and night.
Example inside the day folder (no special characters). Sync needs those in order to find your day/night pictures.
Hint, when editing pictures adjust the contrast or brightness to dark for night pictures, but its totally up to you, you can leave them like the day pictures, as long they can be found in both folders.
When you're ready head over to your Mustang, turn on ignition, wait until everything is loaded. 1 minute or so. Insert stick (I used the front USB port for loading pictures). You should see something on the top like "USB indexing.." Just wait another minute. Then go to settings, display, add pictures. You will notice new buttons as well, part of the "Customers Background loader" tool that was installed earlier. For me I had to try 1 or 2 times for Sync to load the pictures. You can only load all pics at once, there is not picking out pictures. I believe the same goes for deleting pictures, I think it deletes everything it can find in your Sync, haven't tested it yet.
EDIT: Confirmed, when pressing delete it will delete ALL backgrounds from Sync, EXCEPT the stock pictures and the backgrounds that came with the custom themes. Its good to have one USB with all your personal background pictures. After I hit "delete", I hit "add again" (with USB stick inserted) everything was reloaded from the stick I created earlier.
When the first load doesn't work, turn off ignition, close door and lock car, then try again after 2 minutes. They show up on their own, or you need to retry. I just got this working, so I am a complete noob to modifying Sync like you.
Oh, the themes can be found here. I chose the Aqua red theme for now.
And the snowflakes and other cool tools (Video Player, etc.) can be found here. It will add moving snowflakes over the whole display, if you're navigating, inside Android Auto, everywhere. It needs to be enabled/disabled in Display after install.
When installing a theme clear out the USB stick and copy the contents of the unzipped file you downloaded straight to the USB stick. Same goes for snowflakes if you want them.
Questions and answer are pretty much all answered here.
Have fun and happy sharing. L
EDIT: when adding themes, etc. make sure the only USB device connected to the car is your USB stick!
EDIT: I can only delete pictures when no USB or cable is attached to the car. As mentioned earlier, it will delete ALL pictures except Sync stock or theme pictures. And it will add ALL pictures it can find on the stick, if formatted properly by file and folder locations. I had to try 2 - 3 times for pictures to delete. Trial and error..
Result:
All of this I found online, no code etc. was developed by me. It's all available for free. Except the FORscan adapter, USB stick(s), and a laptop you will need.
WARNING: only proceed if you want to "root", "jailbreak" (or whatever you want to call it) your Sync display. I am pretty sure that will void your warranty if anything should go wrong and you need professional assistance to get it back working. Once you add those components I haven't figured out yet how to remove them.
And once you install a custom theme it will stick until you either downgrade your sync to a previous version and then upgrade again. Not 100% sure.
EDIT: You can always overwrite the current theme with a new one, of course.
The link to the themes is further below.
Maybe it's possible to get it back using FORscan. Maybe someone can test that down the line. Make sure to start out by reverting your custom mods (Sync start logo, Lincoln, Shelby themes and what not back to stock). I did this on a 2021 Mustang GT, Sync version 3.4.21194.
"Hello new backgrounds! Bye bye warranty!"
1. Get your FORscan working:
I have this adapter
OBDLink EX FORScan OBD Adapter
Download FORscan
FORscan license
2. Jailbreak Sync... Follow those instructions and get the 3 zip files needed. I only used 1 USB stick. I ran into other suggestions online but this one is the correct start. Your Sync will be updated 3 times by installing
a. "Hack"
b. Installing the "Daemon"
c. Installing the "Mod Tools"
EDIT: you need a gmail account since the website will allow you to download the 3 zip files to your "Google Drive" root folder. If you have an Android phone you automatically have a gmail account.
If everything goes well you can do the next step, that is installing the "Custom Background Loader" to Sync ..
Without that piece you can't upload any pics. (pics need to be 800x480 pixels)
2. Install the "Custom Background loader". It's located here, the source of all "evil", FMods.net
I believe you need to register first before you can download anything, at least I had to do it.
3. Create/edit or modify background images. I used a (somewhat free) website for editing my images. As I have found out images must be 800 pixels in length and 480 pixels in width. See below.
Once satisfied copy images to your USB stick. The main folder has to be in this format (customerBackgrounds).
Inside of it 2 folders, day and night.
Example inside the day folder (no special characters). Sync needs those in order to find your day/night pictures.
Hint, when editing pictures adjust the contrast or brightness to dark for night pictures, but its totally up to you, you can leave them like the day pictures, as long they can be found in both folders.
When you're ready head over to your Mustang, turn on ignition, wait until everything is loaded. 1 minute or so. Insert stick (I used the front USB port for loading pictures). You should see something on the top like "USB indexing.." Just wait another minute. Then go to settings, display, add pictures. You will notice new buttons as well, part of the "Customers Background loader" tool that was installed earlier. For me I had to try 1 or 2 times for Sync to load the pictures. You can only load all pics at once, there is not picking out pictures. I believe the same goes for deleting pictures, I think it deletes everything it can find in your Sync, haven't tested it yet.
EDIT: Confirmed, when pressing delete it will delete ALL backgrounds from Sync, EXCEPT the stock pictures and the backgrounds that came with the custom themes. Its good to have one USB with all your personal background pictures. After I hit "delete", I hit "add again" (with USB stick inserted) everything was reloaded from the stick I created earlier.
When the first load doesn't work, turn off ignition, close door and lock car, then try again after 2 minutes. They show up on their own, or you need to retry. I just got this working, so I am a complete noob to modifying Sync like you.
Oh, the themes can be found here. I chose the Aqua red theme for now.
And the snowflakes and other cool tools (Video Player, etc.) can be found here. It will add moving snowflakes over the whole display, if you're navigating, inside Android Auto, everywhere. It needs to be enabled/disabled in Display after install.
When installing a theme clear out the USB stick and copy the contents of the unzipped file you downloaded straight to the USB stick. Same goes for snowflakes if you want them.
Questions and answer are pretty much all answered here.
Have fun and happy sharing. L
EDIT: when adding themes, etc. make sure the only USB device connected to the car is your USB stick!
EDIT: I can only delete pictures when no USB or cable is attached to the car. As mentioned earlier, it will delete ALL pictures except Sync stock or theme pictures. And it will add ALL pictures it can find on the stick, if formatted properly by file and folder locations. I had to try 2 - 3 times for pictures to delete. Trial and error..
Result:
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Last edited:
