E46 - CarPC Work Log

**bes51659** · 10-13-2009, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by kraimer21

WE HAVE A PULSE!!!

Excellent!!!

Originally Posted by kraimer21

I also have question about wiring for power - I am planning on running a seperate BAT+ line from the battery, however I am not sure where to draw the ACC+ from? Is the fusebox a good choice? And if so how to do it safely?

Make sure you fuse both battery and ignition. With my pcb you will not need to wire ignition at all. It is all in IBus. I recomend a temp solution with a manual switch.

Originally Posted by kraimer21

Price does not scare me at all, I would really love to see a video once you get it set up and I think I know the answer, but would you guide me through the install/set-up portion?

Pew.

I will definitely make sure you get the installation right.

I have now ordered 6 pcb's. One as template. It took a loooong time to make the layout even if I used autoroute. I made +40 atempts that got 99% of the wires before final success. Every run taker 2-4 hours.... My PC has been running on 100% cpu for over a week now :-)

I have also made a front and a brace for the DVD so that it will stay in place. I will try and get some paint on the front while waiting inpatiently for the pcb's that I will get next week.

Ps. I did not get notification from the forum, so I saw your post just now when I wanted to add progress. Sorry.

**bes51659** · 10-14-2009, 06:24 AM

I just a my car broken into :-(
Two windows broken. Fortunately the PC was left, but sub and amp was gone. The wiring was not so badly damage either so I can without to much work restore the car. I think that if I had had an aftermarket Liliput screen or alike I would have lost that one too.
I feel violated...

**kraimer21** · 10-14-2009, 11:08 AM

Let me start of by saying that being a victim of vandalism I know exactly how you feel! I honestly always say that if I were to ever catch someone in an act, I wouldn't care about the consequences!!! These pieces of *&*% don't deserve to live........I guess this happens everywhere

I haven't had a good month myself....first the robbery and then this:

during stop and go traffic

the culprit!

yes..a woman driver! hard to believe how little damage she had!

car's in the body shop now and her insurance is covering 100% cost for everything including my rental. I will see how the car comes out when it is done and then I will decide what to do with it...

However that will not stop me from working on my project!!

I will take your suggestion on using a switch as a temp solution!
I finally got my DVD drive and of course it is way too long to fit in the BM so I will need to modify it a bit. In the following picture you can see how I will be fitting the "mouthpiece" for my new drive to fit into the BM plate, therefore I will not need the original one - if you still need it, just pm me your address.

I know I will have to cut the openings for the LEDs, but I don't think that should be a problem...except you chose square ones and those would probably be a pain

but that's all right. Maybe I'll prototype it.

**kraimer21** · 10-14-2009, 11:13 AM

Oh, one thing..for the life of me I can't seem to find the top metal cover for my BM and also the metal bracket that's used to secure the BM to dashboard (first picture on first page you can see the bracket I am talking about). Do you happen to have a spare one?

**bes51659** · 10-14-2009, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by kraimer21

yes..a woman driver! hard to believe how little damage she had!

My experience is that women get hit from behind :-)

Originally Posted by kraimer21

I will take your suggestion on using a switch as a temp solution!
I finally got my DVD drive and of course it is way too long to fit in the BM so I will need to modify it a bit. In the following picture you can see how I will be fitting the "mouthpiece" for my new drive to fit into the BM plate, therefore I will not need the original one - if you still need it, just pm me your address.

Yes, if I remember correctly the dept is only 126mm.
PM will come, thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by kraimer21

I know I will have to cut the openings for the LEDs, but I don't think that should be a problem..

You have holes for the positioning LED's already, so you will probably want to put those LED's on wires. The top mid one is only for bringing attention that there is a CD halfway out so you can skip that one. Two more holes. One for the photo sensor and its LED. The photosensor on top is in the top wall and will not be seen at all. The LED for it is put out of sight below, so you will be able to keep your system to lock entirely OEM! That's great!

Originally Posted by kraimer21

Oh, one thing..for the life of me I can't seem to find the top metal cover for my BM and also the metal bracket that's used to secure the BM to dashboard (first picture on first page you can see the bracket I am talking about). Do you happen to have a spare one?

On my BM that is one single part...
Unfortunately I have no extra :-( But its big. You ought to be able to find it

**kraimer21** · 10-14-2009, 02:53 PM

Yes, but this time a woman him ME from behind....

something's wrong here

If you get the parts next week, when do you estimate for the pcb to be complete?

**bes51659** · 10-14-2009, 03:11 PM

I have all the parts except for the pcb. They made it today, but I was giving myself some slack in case it does not make it to me by friday.

Once I have the pcb I will verify the design function by function. This is an iteration when I first build power regulator, then the cpu system, then the io. In case everything works immidiately this is done in a week.

Then I build all the pcb's. This is done in one weekend, hopefully next weekend.

At that point I can send you your board and start working on finalizing the sw. When sw is done I send it to you so that you can install it. (did you order the Silabs emulator?) Or if you prefer I can send hardware with software installed when I am confident the sw does its job.

Sorry for the delays.

**bes51659** · 10-18-2009, 05:49 AM

I have 3.3 Volt. And the cpu system is working too. No surprices yet. On the pic you can see the emulator too.

I wanted a green soldering mask, but there was a missunderstanding and I got the pcb without that. I will put a protectiv lack on top when all is assembled.

**kraimer21** · 10-19-2009, 12:10 PM

Love seeing an actual product and compare it to a model on a computer!!! Great work!
You know honestly, I haven't ordered the emulator yet. I was putting it off till the last minute...if you can install all the software and send as a package, that would be great. Down the line when I'm more or less happy with the install, I will get the emulator and play around.

**bes51659** · 10-19-2009, 06:10 PM

Thanks. I'm just checking the motor drive :-) So far everything is working as it should.

If you have not got an emulator I will have to hold on to the board until I am 100% sure it is working (=no bugs). But that is no problem for me. Did you find the top cover btw?

In case you have your unit in pieces, you could extend the wires to the sensor and motor. 2-3 cm is plenty. See the picture.

The middle one is a cable I have soldered in instead of the eject button on the DVD. When the door has opened, the pcb will simulate an eject button press and eject the CD automatically. It goes side by side with the motor connector on the pcb.