Carputer (pc In My R33)

[kleicl]

it works!!!!! i put the wires in the wrong place.. hah well i had to get a new battery today.. but also brought that creative audigy 2 usb sound card. so in 2 more weeks the screen will be comming and it will be all up and running.. will take some pix with whole job is done its turning out great..

[kleicl]

[bubba]

lol it was really simple,, connected it today again, and it was just a matter of flicking through the different video options, it had video 1, video 2, and then Pc

but i think i wired the speakers wrong, caus everytime i turn off the ignition i get a loud noise from the speakers,,,

Like a loud 'pop' noise? If so it's just your soundcard isn't gracefully disconnecting when it shuts down Not a lot you can do unfortunately except maybe rig up some kinda relay on the amp power trigger wire to switch it off before the soundcard kills the connection...

Pretty sure the M2-ATX power supply I'm using has a feature to prevent that 'pop'

which LCD are you guys using? any problems with it in the car? currently shopping around for the LCD at the moment since I have a laptop lying around.

I'm using a 7" single din, non motorised unit from a company over east called Porares. Same specs as the top of the line Lilliput screen.

[Trav33]

Pretty sure the M2-ATX power supply I'm using has a feature to prevent that 'pop'

I'd be interested if you can provide more info on this, i've got the same PSU and hear a pop (and can see the sub move through its extents) on power-on and power-off. I've put it down to the sound cards i've used.

I'm currently using the Audigy 2NX USB (External) card - this creates problems with roadrunner (several threads on mp3car about this sound card), something to do with the USB side of things - the computer resumes from hibernation and the sound card doesnt re-appear in time.

[jrm]

You should find that the M2-ATX has a remote-power on for amps so that they wont power up the amps until the computer is on (which should miss the 'pop' from the sound card initializing).

It was documented in the one sheet 'manual' for mine. *google* ..

Try here ..

Good luck!

[bubba]

You should find that the M2-ATX has a remote-power on for amps so that they wont power up the amps until the computer is on (which should miss the 'pop' from the sound card initializing).

It was documented in the one sheet 'manual' for mine. *google* ..

Try here ..

Good luck!

Yup, that's it

Loud amplifier pops when PC starts.

If your PC is connected to your car amplifier, you will hear a loud pop when the

computer is first started. The M2-ATX has an ‘anti-thump’ control that will keep

your amp OFF while the PC starts. Simply connect J6 to your amplifier remote

control pins to activate the ‘anti-thump’ feature.

[iseekool]

I got my car PC in my R34 running smoothly - got movies, music and internet on the go - all i need now is to find/make a good mount and possibly have a hardwired solution - I'm currently running it off the ciggie lighter.

Specs:

- Second hand 10" HP Tablet PC

- XP Tablet Edition 2005 - (Made lightweight - removed the stuff I didn't want and disabled any un-needed services)

- Pentium M 1.2 GHz

- 512MB RAM

- 64GB SSD + 4GB SD card (No mechanical HDDs to damage)

- ECU software which connects via USB to my "ECU display aka ECUTalk"

- NetStumbler

- Internet connection -> via mobile phone (bluetooth pairing) or WiFi

- Firefox installed for web browsing.

- Movies and Music played via Windows Media Player with K-lite codec pack.

- VLC installed

- Audio out through AUX socket.

Coming soon:

- Integrate a USB hub somewhere in the vehicle - Probably hide it under the center console.

- USB Micro cameras (front and rear facing) for taking video of track days/incidents - police videos style.

- USB digital TV tuner.

- New battery - current one only lasts 1 hour - no issues so far as the PC runs from the power socket on the car.

- Buy/create "Proper" car mount

- Better icons and possibly a better CarPC front end.

- If funding permits - PCMCIA GPS unit and some software.

[Samon]

Second hand 10" HP Tablet PC

Which model HP Tablet did you use? I've got an old TC1100 in the cupboard but its not touch-sensitive... you need to use the stylus... is yours that way? or can you just use your finger?

Edited October 7, 2009 by Samon

[iseekool]

Which model HP Tablet did you use? I've got an old TC1100 in the cupboard but its not touch-sensitive... you need to use the stylus... is yours that way? or can you just use your finger?

Yep that's the one - it had a busted HDD - which I ended up changing to a SSD. I have to use the stylus - I tried with my finger but it does not seem to respond or I could be doing it wrong

[Samon]

Yep that's the one - it had a busted HDD - which I ended up changing to a SSD. I have to use the stylus - I tried with my finger but it does not seem to respond or I could be doing it wrong

Nah, the TC1100 uses a stylus-only digitizer... though you can buy touch overlays which connect up via USB... I used a smaller version (designed for the eeePC actually) on my 7" screen for my CarPuter... works perfectly.

[iseekool]

Nah, the TC1100 uses a stylus-only digitizer... though you can buy touch overlays which connect up via USB... I used a smaller version (designed for the eeePC actually) on my 7" screen for my CarPuter... works perfectly.

Sounds like a plan. Might have to consider it in the future once I start using a better user interface. Looks like I'll have to use the pen for now - which not such a bad thing at the moment as with anything Windows - related the icons and onscreen keyboard would be too small for my fingers.

BTW - are the touch overlays expensive?

[Samon]

Sounds like a plan. Might have to consider it in the future once I start using a better user interface. Looks like I'll have to use the pen for now - which not such a bad thing at the moment as with anything Windows - related the icons and onscreen keyboard would be too small for my fingers.

BTW - are the touch overlays expensive?

I think I paid around $50 on eBay for the eeePC (7") one... but as you'll need the 10.1" its bound to be a little more pricey.

[W0rp3D]

I used a smaller version (designed for the eeePC actually) on my 7" screen for my CarPuter... works perfectly.

How do you think one of these would work as an in car entertainment unit, would separate the screen and mount it in the dash, just have an external usb port mounted some where for transferring files from a usb stick.

[Samon]

How do you think one of these would work as an in car entertainment unit, would separate the screen and mount it in the dash, just have an external usb port mounted some where for transferring files from a usb stick.

I've been toying with that idea for my Lancer for a while... just add the touch-overlay to the screen and disconnect it from the main base, mount it up in the dash and it's practically done. Grab a 12V car charger and wire that in, hook up the soundcard output up to my amps (possibly need an external soundcard for decent audio quality, if my experiences with the CarPuter in my Skyline are anything to go by), plug in a USB GPS receiver and viola, fairly self-contained CarPC.

[r33skylinegtst]

I've just finished installing a full car PC system in my car, can post pics up for those interested.

It consists of:

Zotac 9300itx Wi-Fi board

Celeron 440 Single core @ 2ghz

4gb Kingston DDR2 800mhz RAM

320gb Western Digital 7200RPM HD

Mo-Co-So mini-Itx case with PCI slot

Slot load Panasonic DVD burner mounted under the passenger seat

4 Port USB hub in the glovebox

GPS reciever

Xenarc 700IDT 7" in dash screen

Currently running Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

I have it running through the aux input on a JVC KD-DV9406 DVD head deck

Aftermarket front and rear speakers (the rears run off a seperate amp)

800W Class D amp running 2 x 12" Alpine Type R's

As well as a 300W inverter running a modified Playstation 2 that can boot games from it's 160gb harddrive just for good measure.

All in all it's a pretty fully featured system. And complete overkill.

Edited October 7, 2009 by r33skylinegtst

[iseekool]

^ That's a pretty wild unit you have there. Just wondering do you have any issues with bumps/rough road for the HDDs?

[nicr4wks]

I've been planning a carpc for my 33 for the past few months, so far I have..

Lilliput 7" LED backlit LCD

Intel 1.6ghz dual core mini-itx atom

Fusion Brain (for controlling windows, sunroof etc)

320gb SATA drive (looking in to ssd/sd/cf options)

M4-ATX 12v PSU (still to be ordered)

4x50wrms for speakers

1x1500wrms driving 2x12" pioneers

I've had the pc side running off an inverter using Centrafuse 2 as a frontend to test it all out, however the pc parts have been pulled out until I can find a nice way to mount the screen and i actuall order a 12v psu. I've seen pics on here of someone whos moulded the same screen to his dash which looked nice. Hoping to keep the head unit in place though for tactile volume & controls as well as fm and cd playback, no need to mount a cd drive then!

What frontends are people using?

And pics of screen installs!

[bubba]

I use RoadRunner as a basic front end and just throwing this out there.. for fiddling stuff I actually keep a track ball to the left of the centre console so that I can be more accurate than a finger point.

Got a CarPC to go in the Stag but still trying to figure out what to do screen wise as I want something bigger than 7" this time as it will be more of an entertainment centre than the Skyline CarPC which is pretty much purely for diagnostics.

[r33skylinegtst]

^ That's a pretty wild unit you have there. Just wondering do you have any issues with bumps/rough road for the HDDs?

Suprisingly, no. And i say that because i live on a property that has a 5km dirt road that i have to travel across every day. It gets very rough at times and still no issues. The carPC has only been in about 2 weeks, but the PS2 has been in there for a good 3 or more months and it's still going strong.

Whilst i like the appeal of solid state drives, i figured it wasn't worth the increased cost and decreased capacity. I don't keep anything too important on my CarPC so if the hard drive did faill, it'd be more of an inconvenience than anything.

I have bought a little GPS reciever that sits on the parcel shelf but i don't have any software for it. What do other people here use? Preferrably i'd like something that doesnt require internet access as besides a wireless card to connect to the network at home to transfer files etc across, there is no internet connectivity in my system and no plans for it either (hard to justify a monthly fee for something i'll almost never use).

[iseekool]

Suprisingly, no. And i say that because i live on a property that has a 5km dirt road that i have to travel across every day. It gets very rough at times and still no issues. The carPC has only been in about 2 weeks, but the PS2 has been in there for a good 3 or more months and it's still going strong.

Whilst i like the appeal of solid state drives, i figured it wasn't worth the increased cost and decreased capacity. I don't keep anything too important on my CarPC so if the hard drive did faill, it'd be more of an inconvenience than anything.

I have bought a little GPS reciever that sits on the parcel shelf but i don't have any software for it. What do other people here use? Preferrably i'd like something that doesnt require internet access as besides a wireless card to connect to the network at home to transfer files etc across, there is no internet connectivity in my system and no plans for it either (hard to justify a monthly fee for something i'll almost never use).

I ended up buying a USB GPS unit for my car PC from eBay. I too need to find software, the only one that seems to suit my needs is co-pilot live. http://www.travroute.com.au/index.php?opti...33&Itemid=1

Wondering if anyone out there knows any alternatives to co-pilot.