Well ... it's my first test run with this project I've been building up for what feels like FOREVER... and i'm very excited (giddy like a girl) that everything actually works. Here's all the information. If you have any questions or comments, let me know
The carputer consists of:
P4 2.0ghz
512mb ram
GeForce 2 GTS 32mb
OPUS 150W DC-DC Power Supply
Wifi w/ external antenna
GPS
1Gb 80x CF to boot from
slot loading DVD rom drive (will be mounted in dash)
Mini Keyboard
5" LCD (PSone hacked to except VGA inputs)
Software:
Windows XP Pro
Meedio (w/ plugin for D3, xamp visuals, custom skin)
Destinator3
Powerstrip
nvidia nvdvd decoders
(I haven't optimized anything yet, this is basically my first test run to make sure everything works before I start tweaking. I plan to use nlite to slim down the OS, and do a horm setup with EWF and minlogon, and some various other tweaks, and load it all to my CF card.)
Audio system:
Pioneer DEH-P7700MP HU
Infinity Reference 4x6 2-way Plate speakers (front)
Infinity Reference 6x9 3-way Loud speakers (rear)
Infinity Reference 4-Channel amp (110watts rms x 4 channels)
1 Farad Cap
4 Gauge power wire, and a grounding kit for under the hood.
Pics:
Future plans:
As stated earlier, the computer is booting off of a standard harddrive with no optimizations or anything. I plan to use nLite to slim down the OS, and encorporate EWF and MinLogon and create a HORM setup, and load it all to my 1gig CF card. I may switch front ends in the future, but since I don't have a touch screen, or a 800x600 (or whatever the widescreen 7" screens are) most of the front ends aren't friendly on my display.
I plan to hide the headunit somewhere (haven't figured that out) and relocate the faceplate. I plan on using cat5 cable, and soldering the individual wires to the pins, and mounting the faceplate somewhere (undecided).
I will mount my 5" lcd in my dash behind a piece of plexiglass (blacking out the excess space with black vinyl on the back) where the headunit usually goes with windshield adhesive. I haven't figured out how I will mount the slim slot loading DVD rom drive in the dash yet... I'm guessing either above or below the LCD screen.
I'm going to make lirc IR receiver and use this double sided playstation 2 DVD remote to control the computer, and use girder to act as the middle man between the IR Receiver and the OS.
And finally ... I'll put LCD screens EVERYWHERE haha.. When I bought these sony PSone LCD screens, they were only $12 and some change, so I bought 9 of them haha. I'll put a screen in each of the head rests, maybe in the sun visors, and where ever else I can think of.
huh, as a car computer builder myself, I don't like it
I have a 7" screen and it's difficult to use at times, 5" isn't going to be fun. GeForce 2 is a liiittle out dated
and I would want more than 1GB of drive space
but, it's better than naught.
what a mess!! lmao
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would it be feasible to take an old laptop and take the screen form it and mount it in the dash somehow... you'd have a good 15" then depending on what you used for it?? I dunno just a thought... and won't the hard drive fail from vibrations and bumps??
gieldamj wrote: and won't the hard drive fail from vibrations and bumps??
yea, i was thinking the same thing...does anyone have a computer in their car know? i was considering this sorta thing, but i was worried about the hard drive aswell from taking the bumps of the road.
if he's going to load the os from the cf card, how would that be a problem? it's solid state, no moving parts.
the only vibration problem i see is making sure nothing on the motherboard vibrates loose. ever see what happens when a card is half-azzed in it's socket?
-DS
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"I'm a product, of my environment
So don't blame me, I just work here
But I wanna f*** it up"
Offspring - americana
it's a compact flash card. it's going to be the boot device. I will have a 40 gig laptop hard drive in a USB enclosure that I can bring in and out of the car to update when needed with mp3's, movies, whatever.
Geforce 2 outdated? surely. but why do I need a radeon 9800 pro or something? I'm not going to be doing any intensive gaming, I won't need any Anti-Aliasing, or Anistropic filtering. I won't need Direct X 9 support.
All I'm going to be doing with this computer is watching DVD's or DivX movies, along with 3D visuals to go along with the beat of music. This surely won't choke the graphics card.
Sure, you're comment about a 5" LCD screen being small is justifyable.
But let me give yo some background info. These LCD screens are what got me into the "CarPC" realm. I read a thread on avsforums.com about how to hack apart a sony playstation 1 portable LCD screen to make it accept VGA inputs. So I went to my local Toys R Us to buy one... and they had them clearanced out at $12.72 a peice, so I bought all 9 they had in stock. This is what opened my eyes to all the capabilities a 5" LCD screen that accepted VGA inputs had. Car computer is what I went for. My car computer has gone through about 3 different phases with different parts and cases until I finally got where I am now. Here's a pic of the case, notice the vu meter
hope this clears things up a little
Ryan Granholm wrote:gieldamj wrote: and won't the hard drive fail from vibrations and bumps??
trust me i took this into consideration when desiging this beast, that's why I'm using solid storage instead of a hard drive. a 80x Lexar 1gig compact flash card. as the music/movie storage drive, I will use a 40 gig laptop drive in an external usb enclosure
well if ur using a laptop drive, let me suggest staying real clear of anything that compaq uses... I have had 4 fail on my laptop since I got it a couple of years ago... adn I normally have it sitting on a desk... thank god my school services them for free for us...
toshiba laptop drives are some of the best, I had one that was beat to hell and still worked. in my old car I used a regular desktop drive, and drove over some bumpy dirt roads, no problems
I mentioned that a geforce2 was outdated because modern on-board video can be a better option noadays. the geforce4 I had was choked when playing 3D visuals, I just stopped doing that though, I couldn't stare at the visuals while I was driving and nobody riding with me wanted to look either.
I'm glad you have some 5" screens and you like them and they were cheap, etc etc etc. but personally I couldn't even begin to use one, especially not while driving,
oh, and the keyboard is going to be a pain in the ass while driving too, especially one with buttons that small
I'd deem that setup "for passenger use only"
remember this is all personal preference, I'm not saying your setup is bad in any way, just saying I don't care for it
how do you get a computer to boot off a CF card?
for the hdd. the big vibrations arent a problem its the little ones....secure the hardd with rubber grommets and you're good.
LCD out of a laptop has been tried and doesnt work...the controller interface is just too much mwork/cost to make feasible.
good luck getting XP to less than a gig....
A laptop would do the same thing and fit under your passanger seat
Ryan Granholm wrote:how do you get a computer to boot off a CF card?
you can buy compact flash to IDE adapters. you must make the OS read-only, because CF cards have a "finite" number of writes. (meaning you may be able to write to them a hundred times, maybe a thousand times, but sooner or later the more writing you do to them they will eventually fail.)
Machzel08 wrote:for the hdd. the big vibrations arent a problem its the little ones....secure the hardd with rubber grommets and you're good.
LCD out of a laptop has been tried and doesnt work...the controller interface is just too much mwork/cost to make feasible.
good luck getting XP to less than a gig....
you're right about the vibrations, and rubber gromets are a good idea. Another thing that helps is when you mount the harddrive so the heads are perpandicular with the ground (basically mount them sideways). you're also right about laptop LCD's. you can buy controllers and inverters, and all that, but it's not worth it.
getting XP less than a gig is VERY easy. I can get XP Pro + a car PC front end software, + any extras down smaller than 512mb. checkout mp3car.com they have a section devoted to it. checkout nlite.
Scotty B wrote:A laptop would do the same thing and fit under your passanger seat
you may be right, but it is very impractical. you would have to manually turn it on and off anytime you wanted to use it. you'd have to find a way to keep it in place while driving around. what i'm doing is integrating the computer into the car. the LCD will go into the dash, along with a slot loading DVD drive. eventually I will get an ODB2 interface and will be able to have all kinds of graphs and monitors and guages. I can also get a USB relay device and make an interface to unlock the doors, open the sunroof, turn the headlights on/off, etc. it's pretty amazing what all you can do with a dedicated computer system. plus this is a hobby, and a huge learning experience for me
your speaking a different language here lol
I was thinking just using a tablet PC and taking off the casing and just running the wiring directly. They come with a touch screen LCD in which you can use windows XP's on-screen keyboard for typing, and obviously mouse operations would be simple. They're also built to run on batteries which means the HDD, RAM, processor, and most of the other components are built to run on lower voltages. My laptop could last a very long time on its batteries if it didnt have to run the LCD. 8 hours run time with the LCD off, 4 with it on, 1 with the video card running full throttle. And this laptop was built to run Doom 3.
But good job, just dont go too crazy with the LCD screens. get creative, digitize your dash (tachs, speedo, etc.) have a diagnostics screen (engine temps, fuel level, etc.), make your car not only fancy, but useful. That is my goal whenever I'm trying to create something: to create something that is not only stylish and cool-looking, but also to help me out with minor, or even major, things. I wouldnt go with more than 2 screens side-by-side (wide screen-looking) for the visualizations.
PS I like how you got "cavillac" onto your stereo's LCD.
how did u get cavillac on ur car faceplate/
dirty elf wrote:how did u get cavillac on ur car faceplate/
I wish I could say something cool like I used a computer's serial interface to tap into the firmware on the headunit... but i'd be lying lol.
My headunit ( Pioneer DEH-P7700MP ) has an aux input on the back of it called an IP-BUS connection for use with Pioneer CD Changers. You can get an adapter that goes from IP-BUS to RCA's, so you can have any auxillery input device you want.
My headunit allows you to name the aux input ... so the first thing I could think of was Cavillac lol...
Calvin, thanks for the suggestions, I never thought of having dual LCD's displaying different information, that would actually be very useful to have my car's information on one, and the entertainment stuff on the other. Thanks for that
