Thread: Got a Car PC...need some help.

Originally Posted by starrman

I am new to car pc's and have been lurking here trying to learn. I found a car pc for sale and pulled the trigger...might shouldn't have done that. So that I don't burn my car to the ground or blow up the computer, could a noob get a bit of help? Mod if this needs to be moved, please just let me know where, I really want to learn this stuff.

Here is the PC:

the easiest way to test it is to use a computer power supply. disconnect the 20-pin connector near the top of that picture to the left of the fan, and plug in the normal pc power supply there. then you just need to short the power button pins on the board. anything from a old computer power button to a butter knife will work for this.

this method does not test the dc-dc power supply, but that is easy enough to test within the car. the power supply is fused, and any wires you run to it should be fused, so a fire should not happen unless you bypassed the fuses or used too large of a rating. i believe the m2 has a 15A fuse on-board, so as close to that as you can find on your battery fuse would be best.

Originally Posted by starrman

The wires from the rca jacks on the rear are not connected to anything:

no big deal. these cases are kind of generic, so to not have those connected just means that there might not have been a spot for it on that motherboard, or it was not needed in the previous owners build.

Originally Posted by starrman

I was told to use the pink, blue and green 3.5 plugs on the back and use these:

forget those for now. just connect directly to those ports.
those are GLI's, or Ground Loop Isolator, and i only recommend them only after you have issues with rpm whine, or constant whine in the audio signal. if you don't have any issues like these, these are a unnecessary layer to fix a problem that doesn't exist-- hence why i only recommend messing with them only after you have the problem..

Originally Posted by starrman

These were included, have no idea what they are:

those are power filters from lilliput monitors--2 of them, from 2 different screens. i haven't been convinced that they help anything, but at the same time, i don't think they hurt anything either.. those are meant to be installed on the power input lead going to the screen. do you need them? the best answer i've heard is if your powering the screen via the carpc's dc-dc, then no. but if your powering the screen from car power, then yes.

Originally Posted by starrman

I got this but don't need it...anyone who wants it can have it:

are you familiar with what that is? it's a obd port reader-- considering you've got a 96+ tuned car(at least it looks that way, if you run a stand alone engine management, then it really doesn't matter), it might be worth keeping around. at the very least, you can check and clear codes with it..

Originally Posted by starrman

But the big question is... I want to test this in the house so I know I need a power adapter...but the m2 atx power supply only has 3 wires connected red, white and black...the rest are not being utilized and have no idea why or where to hook what in the car.

to test the power supply, the easiest way is to pop your hood.

i can never remember if it is the red or the white that is the trigger wire, but i know that both are positive wires. one requires a constant +12v, the other is the trigger wire to turn it on- the acc wire like on a aftermarket amp.

the black wire is your ground.

to test it off a car battery, just connect the red and white to the positive terminal, and the black to the negative terminal.

Soundman, thanks a bunch! and yes the reason I don't need the obd reader is running aem ems...my obd port is just dead weight. Thanks again for the help...this should be fun!