Audio problems when making a phone call

Try to use a usb stick with windows installed on it. I've had the same issues in the past and this has worked for me. SSd's have given me trouble in the past 2, I'm running duel's in my carpc system now, so I know they work.

If you have your home system running and not on your carpc, that's all the more reason to GET it working on your carpc. that's why you're into computers isnt it? to try and figure these things out on your own. to learn and reap the rewards of a freakin computer in your car.

It's your car but I say give it another shot. post on our Centrafuse forums if you continue to have hardware problems. I know someone there or on here can help you fix anything that comes up - heck, that's how almost all of us learned.

Hi NoTec,

So I'm not the only one who has had trouble installing XP onto a SSD. Glad to hear you managed to sort it out. Thanks for the advice on the using a USB stick, I will give it a go.
I know it probably sounds like I've given up on the carputer, when talking about alternative uses for the hardware. That is my way of preparing for the worst case of not getting it to work. I still like the idea of one central unit controlling all my in car navigation, communication and entertainment needs. However the status of the project has changed from being a professional application to being something I work on as a hobby trying your USB stick suggestion first.

Now for a general interest item. I have a navigation, communication and entertainment system on my motorbike based on an Autocom Pro-M1 unit with a bluetooth module, Garmin Zumo 550 GPS unit, UHF radio, iPod and mobile phone. Everything feeds into the Autocom which connects to my helment which has stereo speakers and a mic. The bluetooth module answers and hangs up incomming calls automaticly so I can keep on riding. When I receive a call the music is muted. UHF has full VOX, permanent transmit or push-to-talk function set via a switch/button at the left hand grip. When I use the UHF radio the music is lowered to half volume. The Zumo has an MP3 player. Music and navigation prompts are sent via hard wire to the Autocom. The Zumo can bluetooth audio to the Autocom but it sounds better hard wired. I can pair my phone to the Zumo but I prefer the way Autocom controls it so I only use this function in the car. When I don't need the Zumo I use my iPod for music. And it has been working perfectly since installed in 2003!!!

Cheers, Berber

Hello from the long lost Berber,

It has been a few weeks since I made my last post and for most of that time I have done nothing with my carputer, needing to step back and think about my next move. Last weekend, when I could find some time between helping my son move house and other stuff, I decided to spend some time on my hobby. Remember I said that my carputer has been shelved as a professional application and designated to hobby status? So I got the thing powered up on the bench again with the CRT monitor etc. Instead of trying to install Windows XP from a USB stick, (no offence intended NoTec), I decided to go for a reformat and fresh install of Windows 7. I managed to get a hold of Garmin Mobile PC 5.006 software only, have a GPS receiver anyway, and installed it instead of Destinator. I installed the GMPC beta 1.2 plugin, which requires GMPC 5.007. I then got the GMPC 5.007 update installed and plonked in a set of Australian maps to complete the setup.

So the results so far:

With the carputer on the bench I got Centrafuse set up and working with Garmin Mobile PC, but without my USB GPS receiver which is installed in the car still. No error messages have popped up and it all looked very stable. I even tried making a phone call and it seems that the delayed audio problem has gone too!! Woot!! I was so happy with the results that I decided to give it a go in the car.

So I connected the touchscreen, the GPS receiver, etc. and turned the ignition key to accessory position. The carputer booted up into Windows as it should so I did the touchscreen calibration first. Then I started up the GPS receiver software to see if it was working. Got plenty of satallites and a 3d fix so all was good there. Then I decided to start GMPC on its own to see how it works with a receiver attached. I get a screen that asks me if there was a GPS receiver connected so I clicked on "Yes". After a couple more button clicks it starts to scan for the GPS.....and scan.....and scan.....and eventualy gives up with a message saying it can't find it and that some functions wont work, etc. I feel the urge to pull it out of the car again so I stop working on it for the moment and just use it for music and phone till I get a chance to work on it again. I manage to convince myself that I have made progress and that I just need to sort this little glitch out and everything will be alright. So I spend my spare time after work for the next few days doing research into this problem and come up with....not much.

Then one day I get this idea into my head that maybe I should click "No" instead of "Yes" when GMPC asks if a GPS receiver is connected. So I go to my descktop PC which I have also installed GMPC on and boot it up. I start GMPC and get the same screen but this time I pay more attention to what is written and see that it is asking if the software came with a GPS receiver. I suddenly feel so stupid. Doh!!! Of course it didn't. So that is why it can't find my GPS receiver. Its looking for the bundled Garmin receiver. Double Doh!!! So I click "No" and I get to the screen where you type in the activation code. This isn't the system I want the software to be running on so I stop there. I go out to my car and get the carputer out of hibernation and CF running as it should. I exit CF and start GMPC and do what I did on my desktop PC only this time I enter the activation code. I get to the screen where you start scanning for your GPS receiver and after a shot scan there it is, COM5 Serial2, full signal bars and lots of beautiful satallites giving me a 3D fix. And there was much rejoicing!!!

Ok, so now I seem to have a system that is stable, no error codes popping up, and haven't noticed that delayed audio during phone call problem. There is just one thing that needs to be fixed before I can say I am completely happy. I have noticed that sometimes the bluetooth is a bit unreliable. I doesn't always initialise when the system comes out of hibernation. This seems to be a common issue from what I have read in the forum but this may be solved with Centrafuse 3.5. Also I have read that CF 3.5 has been tweaked to work better on a Windows 7 system. So when I get around to it I will get CF 3.5 and give it a whirl. Now where did I put that round to-it?

So if PhilG and NoTec read this, be proud to know it was your words of encouragement that made me decide not to abandon this project altogether. Thanks guys!!!

Cheers, Berber

Great to hear Berber, now just use it and enjoy it for a while so before you start tweaking on it again (and I know you will). That way you will have accumulated some more hours of deserved pain from the hours of great use you got and you won't feel cheated. :)
On the note about BT, maybe shut down instead of Hibernate and live with the longer boot times to solve the BT initialization problem for now? Then you can work any bugs out of the system for the next few weeks and go back at that one once you know if there is anything else to be fixed at the same time. I shutdown the PC everytime mind you I never just go a few blocks when I fire up the trucka nd it will sit for days/weeks even in the winter without moving.

Hi everyone, Berber here again.

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi and give y'all an update on my carputer if you are still interested.

Well as mentioned in my last post I have stayed with Windows 7 but went on to use Garmin Mobile PC instead of Destinator. That was the best decision I made with regards to keeping my carputer running nice and smooth. I like using GMPC as it is similar to using my Garmin Zumo 550, its such a shame that Garmin have stopped supporting GMPC. I have been happy with the performance of my carputer so far with only a minor problem with a free plug-in that is supposed to auto dim the screen but I can't get to work properly. I have uninstalled the plug-in but now the "dim" button in the CF system menu does nothing so I have to use the buttons on the Mini Touch 700 or it's remote to adjust the brightness.

I have just downloaded the trial version of CF 3.5 to my P4 desktop for evaluation so I have 30 days to see what has been fixed. One thing I have tried to do and failed is upload my mobile phone's address book to CF. I see a message pop up for a fraction of a second saying that it is importing the address book but there are no contacts within CF's phone screen when I go there. All my contacts are stored on the phone, not on the sim card so I'm wondering if they have to be on the sim card before CF can import them. I will have to figure out how to transfer my contacts from the phone to the sim card one day and see if that works. I like the fact that the headset icon to the right of the clock has been replaced by the actual bluetooth icon on the home screen. To me it makes the association between the signal bars to the left of the clock and the strength of the bluetooth signal more clear. The larger green status bar for the wifi connection is also a nice touch IMHO.

There are a couple of things that are preventing me from using CF 3.5 in my carputer however. The most important thing being the lack of a free plug-in for GMPC for 3.5. Yeah, I know that there is Rebellium 4 available from TempGP but I don't want to hand over more cash until I know that the improvements in CF 3.5 are worth it. I'm thinking that it may just be worth waiting for CF 4 to come out as I am fairly happy with my carputer running CF 3.1 and GMPC with the free plug-in. Its a pitty that the person who developed the free plug-in hasn't developed one for CF 3.5 as I'm sure it would work well.

Well thats all for now, cheers, Berber