my car-computer setup

[ELEmental59437]

I have been working on a custom car-computer system to "enhance" my driving a little. Here is what I have so far for those in the know of parts:

- 7" Xenarc touchscreen VGA LCD monitor
- EPIA M1000 1Gig Motherboard/Processor
- Casetronic MINI ITX-2699R Case
- 512 MB DDR Ram
- 20 Gig HD, (I will prob swap my spare 40 Gig in)
- AverTV Card for FM and TV signals (with remote)
- Alpine MRV F340 - 4 Channel amp for door speakers

The motherboard has onboard everything:
- 6 Channel audio out
- Ethernet port
- Plenty of USB ports
- Firewire
- IrDA
- RCA out
- VGA and all that other regular stuff.

I found that building a car computer would be the best setup for me with all the troubles of regular CD/MP3/DVD players and the room they take. All in a one case I can have CD-less mp3s, movies, and music videos. Adding a simple DVD ROM I can play dvd movies and a GPS unit I can have navigation. I can add a wireless internet card in place of the tv tuner and radio card and surf the web at a monthly fee. If I want to get hardcore I can spend some more money and get realtime engine management software. All of this and the case for the computer is 11 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 10 3/4". Case Pictures

Has anyone else in this board thought about putting a pc in their car? Comments or suggestions are welcome.

 

[uclap5]

ive thought about it. its a great idea. i just dont have the cash or motivation, and came to the conclusion that im not in my car enough to really make full use of one... even with 800 mile trips i take nearly evey month.

 

[Kooldino]

Yeah, that's something i've considered for years. I have no real reason to do it w/ this setup, but given the right car, I'd go for it.

 

[ELEmental59437]

I am funding this with some of the money I got from graduation, otherwise I wouldnt have this kind of money. I used to drive 45 min to and from work every day so it would have been nice to have then. I like to be unique I guess.

 

[Micah]

ok, a few things - Get the Haupage or MSI TV card. I had the AverTV studio card, and it has major issues with VFW overlay, also the interface really lacks polish. You might want to look at the ATI TV wonder series of cards, very nice interface, would make control easy with a touch screen.

How much are you getting the Xenarc screen for?

Don't forget that you are going to have to consider the power application for the PC. A DC-DC inverter PSU is best for voltage efficiency. But most people will use a DC-AC Convertor and then simply plug into the standard power supply.

You will also want to consider your start up and shut down options for power management. Do you want a relay connected to the ignition? Will you have the computer finish a shutdown command when you turn off the car?

OS selection is important as well.

I looked at doing a PC in the car several times. I've decided to just build a laptop if my craving ever returns.

Or you could look at the lifebook p2000 and p1000 series of notebooks from Fujitsu - they have the smaller form factor and the touch screen option.

In any case, take lots of pictures of your install process and setup.

www.mini-itx.com is also a good place to search for people who have done the same thing - one guy in particular "strife" is on there and has actually coded a voice recognition software that he has working for video/music playback and some GPS software functionality.

 

[traitorhound]

im building one. ....

ELEmental59437 knows that im in the process too. how';s your setup coming along?

i actually had to put my project on hold for a little while and im dealing without a screen but everything is pretty much installed. i will eventually build a custom case to fit under my seat and keep the psu in the trunk somewhere.

the reason for the delay for me was that i saw a cool lappy at sams and decided that i would need a laptop more than a carputer but all i need is the screen to finish that out and ill have that in a couple weeks. right now im just getting used to this laptop thing.

oh yea, how well does the cubid fit under the seat?

 

[saided18]

nice setup. but a indash TV with Ps2 plus a CD/MP3 player will also do just fine.

plus i would be affraid that the computer couldn't take the bumy roads.

i wish you luck. pics would be nice too.

 

[Dexter]

im still working on locating a cheap enough touchscreen for me. how much was that 7" xenarc?
my components now are
celeron 566mhz
intel D810emo flex atx board
HEC 145w microATX PSU
13gb hard drive (definetly will upgrade)
Red Hat Linux 8

the system is very stable, ive been testing it for the past 2 months, its constantly been on without the CPU fan plugged in. no overheating and quiet. just need to find a damn screen that is bright enough to see in the sun and doesnt cost 700 dollars

 

[jali-p5]

has anyone considered that the DVD/CD-ROM would skip a lot since it was not built for road travel unless you get the laptop type CD/DVD-ROMs, but even still, they're not built that well

 

[traitorhound]

i got mine xenarc for 409 shipped... . right now im in the process of building a false floor or amp rack to hold my amps and carputer.....

my system specs are:
biostar mvig pro (60 bux)
duron 1.3 (35 bux)
volcano 8 hsf (17bux)
seagate baracudda 40 gig (90 a year ago)
256mb pc133 (free from my friend)
cheapie 300 watt atx PSU (lyin around)
400 watt power inverter (50 bux)
so total so far is 662 USD

i still need to spend like 20 bux to buy some relays and capacitors to building my shutdown circuit and power on and off delay circuit

 

[saided18]

its constantly been on without the CPU fan plugged in. no overheating and quiet.

i wouldn't do that if i was you. in the long wrong that would fry your chip. it won't happen right away. but in time it will.

 

[Dexter]

i wouldn't do that if i was you. in the long wrong that would fry your chip. it won't happen right away. but in time it will.

not really. the chip isn't that high on the heat output scale. the heatsink on there dissipates enough heat to keep the chip running a-ok. and hell man, even if it does blow in a year, its only a celly 566, it'll be like 5 bux on ebay

and its been going on 3 months running this way. so...whatev *shrugs*

 

[Micah]

yeah, you should be ok - I have a Celeron 333 that still just has a big ass heatsink on it - and it's fine.

Linux is a nice choice for an OS in the car. Nothing wrong with being differint, and the start up and shut down is a little bit faster. The only thing I don't like about it is that I play alot of games. Granted, a good deal of them could be run through wine or other emulators. But the speed wouldn't be there.

Hey, where did you find the touchscreen Xenarc for $400 - that is a good price? Also, about the DC/DC vs. DC/AC: With DC/DC - you should have a lower amount of power consumption - which is a good thing. However, you will also be more succeptable to voltage jumps. With the DC/AC - there are more than a few capacitors in the unit, this would help with the voltage. But you are looking at a higher voltage consumption. Not to mention that they do get very hot.

If I was doing it - I would use a dc/dc power inverter. You can actually find DC/DC PSU's for computers. Cost is a little bit higher. But it's the best tool for the job IMHO.

Honestly, I think the best OS to use would be Win98SE-LE. You can strip out all the crap you don't need. Boot times are very fast. Most codecs and emulators will still be supported without a problem. And you still have the USB support just incase you need it. Add an 802.11 and you could wardrive and really have some fun. Sprint PCS also offers unlimited G3 wireless service for computers for about $80 a month. I haven't checked other providers, but I am sure someone can beat that.

 

[1sty]

How much is all this going to cost you guys?
Keep in mind the massive niose issues in cars and the problems they creat for car audio specific gear. I would hate to see someone spend an ass load of time to have massive alternator whine in everything.

 

[traitorhound]

i did a test run on with my desktop rig a while back just too see the feasibility of it and there wasn't any noticible noise unless all sound was totally muted (never for me).... and there are other ways to get rid of noise (dc/dc switching psu's) but that's more $$$$.. . .for help there is mp3car.com forums. . .they are a great little community where i ask questions about carputer stuff and i use it just about as much as this forum for info...

monetarily the most expensive component was my screen which was ~400usd

for the computer itself it's pretty much how much performance you want in your car. . .people have used old 486's to just play mp3's only to full p4's (i think are overkill for this application)

it all boils down to how much money you are willing to shell out

 

[REMillers]

Been planning doing something like that for awhile. Had a friend in Cisco class that did it to his MX6 and feel in love with it.
Only instead of a case he built a sub box with a seperate chamber that housed the pc parts.

Plus via work I get free wireless internet access

 

[ELEmental59437]

Whoa.. I must have missed this thread taking off.. sorry

I have all the components and I am waiting on 4 gauge power wire for the amp. I did notice a nasty whine from the speakers when running the power all off the car and an inverter, but grounding the computer chassis will almost eliminate this problem. I eventually plan on going with a DC-DC power supply but that runs close to 200 bucks for the Opus one I want.

The screen deal can be had if you check out the forums at mp3car.com

I will post a few pics of the computer setup and the in dash work I am doing for the LCD mount. I originally wanted to make a removable bezel so if I wanted to switch back to the double DIN opening later on I could without a problem. I changed my mind when I bought a spare radio trim piece and I am going to bondo a frame for the LCD directly to the radio trim and keep my stock one as a spare for if I decide to switch back. I currently have the amp wire running throught the car and soldered and shrink tubed to a radio harness. All that is left to do is run the power line when it comes, finish the LCD bondo job, and properly ground everything. Later on comes the DC-DC power supply, additional Alpine amp for the Sub's, and the Type R subs.

I have a CompactFlash to IDE adapter on the way that will allow me to boot from an XPembedded image operating system. Total boot time should take less than 5 seconds in most cases.


Here are the pics, let me know what you think. traitorhound was a major source of info on taking on this project. I have bought everything pretty much new (except the laptop dvd rom drive) and It is costing me very little over $1,000 including the 4 chan Alpine amp. The screen is touchscreen, but I bought a USB desk-less trackball mouse that basically slips over your finger. I can have the mouse in my hand and shift at the same time so that makes things a lot less hectic for controlling winamp. As for the DVD drive skipping, the drive is very stable as it is but the only real time I plan on playing DVD's is when showing it off at a car-show or meet.

Custom dash in progress

Keyboard, mouse and computer.. small isnt it?

Innards, notice the ancient japanese art of ribbon cable folding.

Laptop DVD drive.. sorry about the smudges.

FIREWIRE!!!

 

[REMillers]

Sweet.
Where do you plan on wiring the keyboard to? Or is the computer going to be close to the front.

My plan for the keyboard was to make a port for it in the spare change holder that sits next to the foglight switch.
That way I can keep the keyboard say under the seat and when I want to use it just plug it in there.

 

[ELEmental59437]

The computer is going to be mounted under the passenger seat for now so the cord should be long enough. The mouse will reach to at least the shifter so that will work well. I want to buy another mouse like this and expiriment with making it into a shift knob.. that would be cool but might be uncomfortable in certain gears.. The spare change holder that your talking about is currently being occupied with the remote switch for my sub's amp.

I am installing XP as we speak because I had problems with 2000 messing everything up. All the problems seem to be fixed now. I am also looking into GPS and voice control options. There is just too much that I want and not enough money right now.

I hope to be done with this project soon and make everything as clean as possible. One think tripping me out is that I may have ruined something while installing an amp power wire. I keep throwing a CEL and the code is something for an exhaust sensor.

I would highly reccoment the mouse and keyboard style I have for use in a car because they are small and easy to use.

 

[REMillers]

Ever considered a wireless keyboard and mouse? Was probably going to take my wirelss trackball and use it.

My friend had a mouse from a laptop that he mounted next to the shifter where you just slide your finger around a pad. Worked pretty well and match the color of the interior.