2004 Cavalier Automatic, 2.2 Eco
Here's what I want to do--
I want to put a computer in my car. I want to put it in the trunk. I got a hardwired FM Modulator, this is to get the audio from the computer to the stock radio. I will tune my stock radio to the frequency specified, and disconnect my antenna. this way there will be no interference.
This is the FM Modulator: N-724
http://www.autosound2000.com/index.htm
I want to relocate the radio underneath/behind my dash somewhere, because I will never have to see it or touch it again. I am going to put a 5" LCD screen + slim slot loading DVD Drive where the radio used to be with some fiberglass work.
The computer will have a USB FM radio tuner, which I will connect to my car's antenna. It will have GPS, and WiFi capability. I will be able to play CDs, DVDs, Mp3s, Divx, whatever. I will be able to boot the system into a WindowsXP Pro environment in roughly 5 seconds from poweron.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are my questions:
1) Is there any space up behind the dash to hide the stock radio? I don't really want to put it in the glove box, and I want it out of the way. I want this to look as clean and stock as possible
2) Any suggestions on mounting the computer in the trunk? I want to keep my spare tire, and I was thinking of mounting the computer in a metal case, and mount it on the roof of the trunk where the speakers are, not the lid...
3) Please tell me how to supply power to everything when I turn the ignition on. This is my main concern. I know I will be able to pull current from the accessory wire which is only powered when the key is on. Only problem with this, is that it will not pull enough power. I want to run a power cable straight from the battery to an invertor ...
I guess I am looking to use some kind of relay or something. Please help me out, I don't know much about this stuff! Any suggestions are welcome!
Thanks, and I'll keep you guys updated.
Buy a cheap 4 channel amp and forget the relocation of the HU and FM modulator and with that you will have a true 4 channel(Dolby PL or Digital with your computer)
For the power supplies they make small one for that if you use a mini itx board, 200w or less or if you use a ordinary PC you can use a inverter with a relay plug on the 12V ACC wire (a ordinary 30A automotive relay should work find)
for PS look at those 2 store
http://www.mp3car.com
http://www.mini-box.com
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
All I can say is when you mount the computer be sure it can give a little. You dont want it to bounce too hard when you hit a bump or you'll crash your HD. Rubber mounted etc... Wouldn't it be easier to place the radio under the seat? That way when you needed to get to it in case it ever went out or something jacked up you could get to it easier without ripping your dash apart. Also I would recommend a cheap son/pioneer/kenwood CD player instead. These tend to be a lot smaller. The cavy radio is a deck and a half. Thats pretty big to hide somewhere. If you're going through all this work then do it right.
Get a smaller radio and stick it under the passenger seat.
if your using a tower type of computer..there's a lot of stuff you'll have to mount and it'll take up quite a bit of space. the spare tire well would be ideal. don't forget fans for cooling..and all that good stuff.
here are a few links you can look at..with pics and what not. should help you along the way.
http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/212327/1
http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/my_car/car_pc/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
Offical dealer for the following-
SOUNDSTREAM
DB LINK
DB DRIVE
PANASONIC
GARMIN
ROSEN
SCOSCHE
XE DESIGNS
SOUNDGATE
PAC
LITEGLOW
Yes, if you would like it to work properly you're going to lose the sparetire well or most of your trunk. I dont know if you realize but if you remove the case from a computer it actually runs hotter then if it was on. Its the same thing as when you drive with your hood off. It actually runs hotter with the hood off. Because when you take the case of a computer off the air does not flow like it was designed to. Unless you have a computer already and its set up for this, I would check into a laptop.
that's true, it'll run hotter, that's why i mentioned fans earlier, he'll have to have a way to bring in cool air and remove the warm air.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Offical dealer for the following-
SOUNDSTREAM
DB LINK
DB DRIVE
PANASONIC
GARMIN
ROSEN
SCOSCHE
XE DESIGNS
SOUNDGATE
PAC
LITEGLOW
thanks for all of your suggestions, but I have everything covered. The board I'm using was made for a laptop, and I'm custom building a casing for it.
I'm not using a hard drive, i'm using a compact flash card, and have turned it to Read-Only. This way, I will never worry about temperatures or head crashes, corrupt files, etc
I was thinking about buying a 4 channel amp but I can't right now. I may go with an amp in the future, but for now, that's not in my budget
Will the stock HU fit underneath the passenger seat? I can't justify buying a new radio just to hide it LOL. Thanks for this suggestion, I was worried I wouldn't be able to hide it in the dash....
My BIGGEST question so far is powering everything on at the same time. Can someone explain this to me? I know I need some kind of relay (30A as suggested above) Could you explain how to wire it up for me please? There's a bunch of pins on the bottom, and no wiring diagram.
Thanks so much guys you all have been a great help! I'll keep you guys posted on the progress!
[M wrote:ATTRESS]thanks for all of your suggestions, but I have everything covered. The board I'm using was made for a laptop, and I'm custom building a casing for it.
I'm not using a hard drive, i'm using a compact flash card, and have turned it to Read-Only. This way, I will never worry about temperatures or head crashes, corrupt files, etc
I was thinking about buying a 4 channel amp but I can't right now. I may go with an amp in the future, but for now, that's not in my budget
Will the stock HU fit underneath the passenger seat? I can't justify buying a new radio just to hide it LOL. Thanks for this suggestion, I was worried I wouldn't be able to hide it in the dash....
My BIGGEST question so far is powering everything on at the same time. Can someone explain this to me? I know I need some kind of relay (30A as suggested above) Could you explain how to wire it up for me please? There's a bunch of pins on the bottom, and no wiring diagram.
Thanks so much guys you all have been a great help! I'll keep you guys posted on the progress!
i would LOVE to see pictures of this computer using a compact flash card as a HD, its not that i don't doubht you, i just have never even heard of this, and would love to see pictures articles or how to's on this
Its not how fast your car goes....its how much nerve the driver has to push it that fast.
sure thing buddy, I'll post pics, and I'll write up an article on it.
Basically I will be using parts from Windows XP Embedded (available free for download if you have an MSDN account)
There's a part called EWF (dunno what it stands for) ... it's almost like putting your computer into hibernation ... all it does is go into hibernation, saves everything to your hibernation file (hiberfil.sys or something) ... from this point forward, your computer will always "resume" from hibernation. Any changes made are only done in RAM, and are never written to your hard drive. This is good for a CarPC because once I get the front end software setup and everything, it will never have to be changed again.
There's another part called minlogon. This removes multi-user access from your setup, and only logs un under the system account. this cuts more time off the boot up cycle.
1 thing to remember is that compact flash cards have a limited write capacity ... meaning you can only write data on them "X" amount of times before they become a paper weight. though it may be in the thousands or some high number, using EWF solves this problem, and nothing is ever written to it.
Another thing I use is nLite. This is a program used to rip out all the uneeded crap from a WindowsXP install. I'm able to get a full working copy of Windows XP Pro, GPS Software, Radio software, front end, etc etc all on a 512 mb card.
Later on I will get a 2.5 floppy HDD and get a USB enclosure for it. This way I will always have a library of movies and music to chose from if I don't want to stick a CD/DVD in the drive.
I'll be happy to write up a tutorial on this type of thing. Thanks for your interest
86 to the ground
85 to 12V acc
30 to 12V batt
87 to the +12V of the inverter
You can look at that
small 4 channels amp , it's cheap,$34.89, 5 buck more then the fm modulator but have more power than the stock HU, 25W rms x 4 @ 4 ohms
2 x Adire Brahma 15", 2 x PA A3000DB
i would love to see an article or talk online with you, my aim name is iittlebill
Its not how fast your car goes....its how much nerve the driver has to push it that fast.
