Intel MiniMac Worklog with P1900 and WinXP

**CdRsKuLL** · 04-02-2007, 03:39 PM

Hi peeps, well I thought I would document my finds on installing XP onto my minimac and then installing it into the car..

Items.

1 x 1.66 Intel Mini Mac
1 x P1900 Incar DC-DC PSU
1 x MiniMac Power kit for the P1900

First thing I did was take the minimac apart using a paint stripper tool and swapped out the 60gig drive to a 100gig and also fitted the Power Switch lead.

Below is a pic of where I put the switch lead through..

I then needed to install the MacOS, when I stuck the disc in it booted then I needed to create a partition for the MacOS to install on to. Once the MacOS was all done I downloaded bootcamp from apple and installed this onto the Mac. This then allowed me to burn the minimac xp driver cd through the installed bootcamp and then I inserted my xp cd and it rebooted to the normal xp screen.

Now when it first came up with partitions I wanted to use as much as possible for XP, so I deleted the MacOS partition and left the 200mb bootcamp.. this then seemed to install fine but suffered a hal.dll error on reboot. After a bit of surfing I found you needed to delete this partition too.. so I did a c: partition at 30 gig and used the rest for D drive which will be for my music / movies etc..

Once this was all done I installed the drivers that I burnt from the macOS which installed all but 3 devices. .ones a tmp security thing, a unknown one I thinks the infrared apple remote thing and another one I cant remember what it was.

So with the minimac installed with XP and all the rest winamp / roadrunner etc.. it was time to stick it in the car...

This is where the fun started. I got the P1900 out of its box and was quite impressed with its size and quality. I looked through the instructions a few times and configured the jumpers to what I though I would need. I then went to the car and installed all the wires.. using the 2nd voltage to power my 3 screens and my video booster (more info later)..

Anyway I turned the key and nothing.. on looking at the p1900 just the red led blinking at me. So after about 30 mins of checking and checking.. I couldnt find anything wrong. So back on the internet and after searching I found since my P1900 was a version 2.1 and not 2.2 I needed to solder a resister inside it. Now if you want to use your P1900 for a INTEL mini mac then request a P1900 v2.2 or above.

So I went to the local shop and picked up a 6.8k resister (10p) and soldered this in.. Now whilst I was looking for an answer to the current problem I found that I would also need to upgrade the firmware in it as it wouldnt turn it on it its current state.

So I've ordered a programmer from the uk £9.00 which should be here tomorrow..

Resister thats been soldered in. [updated to show my soldering]

right, thats it so far.. waiting on the pic programmer so I can update the firmware.

[updated]

Right my programmer came this morning.. the lead between the connection could of been a bit longer.. but after going through the instructions on the carnetix website (very good might I add) The p1900 has now been upgraded and I can confirm it now boots the mini mac without a problem.. I may alter the firmware slightly in the future maybe if I find it needs it.

So I'm happy now, just been out to the car and stuck it in just to test everything, the br353 works great, my joypad hacked up to the steering remote controls RR and all my other little bits seem to work great. The good thing about this minimac is its so small, it already have bluetooth and wifi built in, which on first tests seems to be very good and because I've used the macpac I can dissconect it with a minute and carry it into the house.

The one thing I would improve on would be the little connector that you use for the power switch, it wouldnt take much to damage this if you want to keep taking the mac in and out of your car.. MikeB if your reading this.. get some bigger plugs.. maybe a mono mini jack like you would use for a microphone would be better..

I will be writing a full worklog of my install over on freedrive soon, this will include my headrest screens, my minimac and my xbox install :-) All I hope controllable through my minimac :-)

CdR

**Bugbyte** · 04-02-2007, 05:22 PM

Brave man to solder that baby right there. Good job.

**nickmgray** · 04-02-2007, 05:35 PM

keeps us posted with new updates. My project htta i've been putting off for so long should be almost identical to yours.

**GoHybrid** · 04-02-2007, 05:38 PM

i can't for the life of me figure out why carnetix wants you to try soldering a resistor right there when it's about 60 bajillion times easier to solder it to the other side of the board between the iSense and GND pins. It's the same thing and probably more vibration resistant. But props to you for the tiny soldering skills. My attempt did not go as well.

so here's what i did:

crappy pic i know, but that thing is in there rock solid. I don't worry about it coming loose, and it clears the case without bending it too.

**CdRsKuLL** · 04-02-2007, 05:39 PM

thanks fella, but thats a pic from MikeB's site.. although mine does look just like that, I will update the picture tomorrow when my programmer arrives :-) I've also ordered a silabs usb radio and I'm thinking of getting a matroxdualhead something or other, this gives you dual screen output from a single output.. so enabling you to run two seperate screens at the same resolution. I've already got a usb 3g+ phone modem which I get a connection at 3.5mb ,ideal for surfing :-)

lots more info to come.. CdR

**iamgnat** · 04-02-2007, 05:41 PM

What do you need the new firmware for?

I have a 2.1 and all I needed to do was add the resistor and it's worked like a champ ever since.

-dave

**CdRsKuLL** · 04-02-2007, 05:43 PM

It doesnt want to turn on my mac mini at the moment and the new firmware addresses these issues it seems..

Firmware version 2.8 changes the following:

1. Prevents Mac mini from being able to wake from sleep without going into overcurrent.
2. Changed Low Battery threshold from 10.6V to 11.5V.
3. Extended ACPI pulse from1.5 sec to 1.7 sec. (some Intel Mac minis need this).

Will find out tomorrow !

**GoHybrid** · 04-02-2007, 05:46 PM

i think mine is 2.1, intel mini too. no issues.

**CdRsKuLL** · 04-02-2007, 05:58 PM

Just my luck.. lol I would of updated the firmware anyway as the voltage change from 10.6 to 11.5 means my engine should crank were as before when the atx-m2 decided to cut out it wouldnt.. that extra volt might mean me getting home :-)