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AI Box Fix

Power & connectionReviewed

Mstick4 "Connection Interrupted" at Random: What Helps

MGears Mstick4 drops Android Auto or says connection interrupted? Give it a second power source with a Y-cable, then check the car's USB port and clock.

Quick answer

Power the Mstick4 from a second source with a Y-cable whose power plug goes into another USB port or a 12 V adapter, and remove angle adapters from the data line. That stopped the random drops for three of the four owners who reported back. If drops continue, check the connector behind the car's USB port and that the head unit's date and time are correct.

Symptoms

  • Android Auto disappears from the car screen and the stick shows "connection interrupted"
  • The stick keeps running (blue LED, Wi-Fi hotspot on, reachable from the phone app) while the car has lost it
  • Drops happen at random, several times a day or once a week, and a replug fixes them
  • The stick starts, runs for 10–30 seconds, vanishes from the screen, then comes back
  • It stopped connecting one morning after working the night before

Applies to

Connection to the car
Android Auto
Head units mentioned in reports
Chery / Exeed Chery and Exeed head units; Stellantis Uconnect 4 / 5; Tank / GWM Tank head units; Volkswagen MIB 2.5
Firmware in confirmed reports
MGears Mstick4: 1.9.4
Highest risk on this page
Safe
Status
Workaround confirmed by the community

Why it happens

The Mstick4 runs entirely from the car’s Android Auto USB port, and talks to the head unit through it. Anything that interrupts power or data on that port for a moment breaks the Android Auto session, while the stick itself keeps running. That is why the phone app still reaches the stick when the car says the connection is interrupted.

Power is the most common cause. MGears support told one owner that the stick draws under 1 A at peak without LTE but around 1.2 A with LTE in a weak-signal area, and that some cars briefly cut USB power during Android Auto. Many Android Auto ports were designed to charge a phone slowly, so the margin is thin; a long route through weak coverage, heat, or an angle adapter that adds resistance can push the stick over it.

Car USB portdata (+ weak power)2nd USB / 12 Vpower onlyY-cableAI boxUSB-C indatapower
With a Y-cable the data plug stays in the car's Android Auto port and the stick takes its power from a second port or a 12 V adapter.

The rest are things that break the data link: a loose connector behind the USB socket, or an Android Auto handshake refused because the clocks on the stick and the head unit disagree.

Fixes, ranked

Give the stick a second power source

  • Safe
  • Time: 10 minutes
  • Worked for 3 of 4 reports
  1. Use the Y-cable (double cable) from the stick’s box, or a dual-power cable with the right plugs for your car.
  2. Plug the data end into the car’s Android Auto port, the one where a phone starts Android Auto.
  3. Plug the power end into a second USB port that supplies at least 1.5 A, or into a 12 V USB adapter.
  4. Remove angle adapters and extensions from the data line if you can.
  5. Drive for a few days with your usual apps, SIM and screen layout, and note whether the drops return.

Three owners reported this worked. One had random drops several times a day on firmware 1.9.4, tried many cables, and was about to book a dealer visit; with extra power the stick ran three days without a single drop. A Tank 300 owner found that with angle adapters on the cable the stick rebooted ten seconds after start, and that dual power cured it. A third owner saw false starts on the single cable, with the stick vanishing from the screen and its LED turning red, and none on the double cable.

Owners who checked the stock double cable found its data plug carries only data and its power plug only power. So the power plug has to go into a port that can carry the stick on its own; plugging the stock double cable in as a single cable does not start the stick at all. One owner on a different car found the double cable did not stop the restarts, so if this changes nothing, move on. MGears’ compatibility page also notes that some vehicles need a Y extension cable.

A second power port that switches off with the ignition will also switch the stick off when you stop the engine. For more on weak ports, see AI box keeps rebooting.

Check the connector behind the car's USB port

  • Safe
  • Time: 30 minutes (or a dealer visit)
  • Worked for 1 of 1 report
  1. Plug an Android phone into the same port by cable and use Android Auto for a while. If the phone drops too, the car side is at fault.
  2. Wiggle the stick’s plug gently while Android Auto runs. A drop when you touch it points to a worn socket or cable.
  3. Have the connector behind the USB socket or at the back of the head unit checked and reseated.

An Exeed VX owner whose stick kept dropping off the head unit traced it to the connector behind the head unit, which was not seated properly. After it was fixed, the stick and every other device ran without drops, even on a single cable. A second Exeed VX owner reported the same symptom.

Make sure the head unit's date and time are correct

  • Safe
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Worked for 1 of 1 report
  1. Compare the date and time on the head unit with the stick’s clock.
  2. If the head unit takes its time from GPS and it is wrong, switch it to manual and set the correct date and time.
  3. On the stick, keep automatic network time on and make sure mobile data or a hotspot is working.
  4. Reconnect.

Android Auto refuses the connection when the two clocks differ. An owner whose head unit took a wrong time from a disrupted GPS signal set it manually and the stick connected normally, even with GPS unavailable.

Let a damp stick dry, then reset the head unit's Android Auto

  • Safe
  • Time: 2 hours
  • Worked for 1 of 1 report
  1. Unplug the stick and let it dry and warm up at room temperature.
  2. Try a different, known-good data cable.
  3. If it still fails, reset the head unit’s Android Auto or phone-projection settings (on Škoda, this is the SmartLink factory reset).
  4. Reconnect.

A VW Tiguan owner with a MIB 2.5 head unit found the stick showing “connection interrupted” one morning, after a night of fog and condensation, although it worked with the phone app. A new cable and a phone on the same port worked. They left the stick on the dashboard in the sun for two hours and it connected again without a head-unit reset; they said the drying may have been coincidence. A Uconnect owner sees the same episodes at random and has found they clear by themselves.

Confirm the car supports wired Android Auto

  • Safe
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Recommended in the community FAQ
  1. Connect an Android phone to the USB port you use for the stick.
  2. If Android Auto starts, the port supports it and the stick can work there.
  3. If it does not, try other USB ports. If none starts Android Auto, the stick will not work in that car.

The community FAQ for the stick is explicit: the Mstick4 works only over Android Auto. A car with CarPlay only, or a charging-only USB port, never shows it. This is a check rather than an owner-confirmed repair: no owner in the threads reported it as the cause of their drops.

Things to try (unverified)

  • MGears’ own checklist. The manufacturer’s troubleshooting page asks you to register the stick in the Mgears Go app, use a USB port that supports Android Auto rather than a charging port, and delete all paired Bluetooth devices from the car and reconnect. No owner in the threads reported these as the fix for random drops, but they cost nothing.
  • Reconnects only with a SIM inserted. One owner saw several reconnects at every start with a SIM in the stick and none on a phone hotspot. Another suggested the start-up delay in the stick’s boot menu; nobody reported the result. The same idea is covered for other boxes in car doesn’t detect the AI box.
  • Heat. An owner whose stick shut down after about 15 minutes of split-screen navigation and video was told to add two 40 mm heatsinks to the front of the case; another found the stick overheated when its own microphone was selected instead of the car’s. See AI box overheating shutdowns.
  • Firmware 1.9.4. Two owners noticed more drops after updating to 1.9.4, while a third on the same build had none. Not enough to blame the firmware.

If nothing works

Note the stick’s firmware version, whether it is rooted, the car’s make, model, year and head unit, how the stick is powered (single cable, stock double cable, other cable, which ports), whether a SIM is inserted, and when the drops happen (at start, after a set time, in weak coverage, in heat). A phone video of the screen and the stick’s LED during a drop helps.

Send it to MGears support through its official site. If an Android phone on the same port also drops, take the car to a dealer: the socket, wiring or head unit is at fault. If the stick drops on every car and every power source, it is a warranty case, and start here compares other ways to run apps on your car screen.

Parts the fixes above need

  • USB Y-cable (second power lead)

    Moves the box's power draw onto a second USB port or a 12 V adapter so the car's data port only carries data.

Related fixes

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Changelog

  • Last reviewed against new community reports:
  • Confirmed by 6 community reports on MGears Mstick4.
  • Page updated:

"Confirmed" means a community member reported that the fix worked on their unit. We have not tested it on our own hardware. How we verify.