Introducing myself and my dream...

**Sylvester** · 12-15-2005, 04:44 PM

Ok, extreme Noob here, and actually just stumbled onto the whole carputer thing. And I must say, I am quite optimistic about what I want to achieve, and realize it probably wont happen (at least not completely). So with that being said, all I ask is for your expert(?) advise and suggestions, and pointing out any flaws or impossibilities/impracticallities that I may face (in a kind manner).

First a little background on my situation:

I lived in New Orleans, so naturally now I have to start all over. I recently purchased a 1999 Mercury Cougar, and I love it. I had a 1994 Chevy Lumina until the flood, which I also loved. In there, I just had 2 12"s and an JVC El Kameleon deck. But anyway, I don't have a whole bunch of money to "throw away" into my car right now, but I am a huge music aficionado, with well over 40 GB of music that I have always wanted to take with me in my car whereever I go. Thus, my interest in carputers.

My Experience:

I am extremely computer-savvy, having built severl home PCs for myself, friends and family. I completely understand everything regarding the computer aspects of this project. However, I am extremely car-dumb. I dont know squat about how cars work, though I have been trying to educate myself through the internet (which isnt all that great for hands-on experience as you can imagine). I have done the mundane such as install an aftermarket stereo, but who couldnt pull out an old stereo and pop in a new one?
I have recently read up alot on installing amps and such, and thus am slowly gaining an insight into powering components in a car. I feel fairly confident I could do a whole system install, except for the fact that I would hate to take apart my car to do so (if you know anything about the '99 Cougar, you know you have to remove just about every panel in the car to get to the speakers themselves).
So, in short, what I am mainly going to need help with is the installation of the carputer and LCD; the computer stuff I already have under control.

The Car:

So my Cougar came pretty factory. Previous owner kept the car in great condition, but made no upgrades to factory components. Thus, I have recently purchased a pair of 5x7 Polk DB570's, and will shortly purchase some sort of components for the front (looking at some Infinity's). Of course I am going to be buying amp (5 channel, that way if these 4 speakers don't give enough bump for me I can throw in a 10" or something). And luckily my El Kameleon is still in working order, so I will be using it until I can get my carputer up and running.

The Carputer:

This is what I've been able to come up with in the past 24 hours. This ish is exciting and i cant stop thinking about all of the possibilities. These are the "pretty much certain"'s:

- Lilliput 7" touchscreen, hopefully to be custom installed by moi to be flush in the factory radio dash opening
- Microphone for voice command
- Two Polk DB570's, Two Infinity components, 5 channel amp, possilby a 10" woofer (as I stated)
- External USB Dvd/CD-rw slot drive, most likely to be mounted in the center console.
- External USB hub to be mounted on the center console as well
- PS2 (this is a long term goal, as the money for this right now is out of the question)

And, well thats about it thus far. As for the actual carputer, I have a couple of options I've been toying with. And this is where I am stuck:

I was originally going to do the whole CarPC thing, with a more "home PC" approach, most likely to be mounted behind the rear seats (in the "trunk", er, hatch). BUT, the idea of using a laptop is appealing to me for the plug and play ability, and the fact that I already own a laptop with all of my music on it. However, after thinking about it, I dont really want to have to lug my laptop in and out of the damn car evertime i go somewhere.

So this is where I'm at. And these are the components I think i will need for each setup:

Desktop-Type:
- Not sure of exact model, but probably something like http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8738416530 this , but with an 80gig laptop harddrive
- Opus converter (if needed?) and DSSC (also if needed?) <-I'm not sure about these...are the necessary if I buy the above unit?
- One reason I would prefer this setup is the possibility of manual Startup, auto Shutdown. I want to be able to push a button on the dash to start up the computer and LCD, and then to automatically shutdown when I turn off the car. Can someone point me onto how to go about this? I found a thread on this site but it really didnt provide me with any noob-safe information.

Laptop:
- I already own a Dell Inspiron 8200, 40GB HD, 40GB (laptop) external HD, 768MB RAM, 1.7GHz P4, wireless B/G, DVD/CDrw. But as I said, I really dont want to keep moving my laptop from the house to the car everytime I go somewhere.
- The main reason I would choose this option is because there is less to buy. I would only need a inverter to plug the laptop PSU into, correct?

If you cant tell, my main problem right now is this whole power thing. I've read the FAQ, and the Power Supply FAQ, and I am more confused now after having read it. If someone would be so kind, tell me the absolute minimum I would need for both of these situations.

Wow I didnt mean for this to be so long. I'll stop now and see what kind of response I get. Thanks alot for all of those willing to help!

-Sly

**kirbycope** · 12-15-2005, 04:54 PM

The ampie/voom pc/blue amp lokking thingy comes with a psu, but its weak. some guys squeeze an m1atx 90w psu in there, it also has startup and shut down i believe.

and that ebay thing is a jip, you can get the same thing here for $450 shipped, give or take.

**Sylvester** · 12-15-2005, 07:28 PM

Word, thanks for the info. I wasnt necessarily going to go with that exact one, but just as a point of reference. But thanks nonetheless!

So I could use an Opus instead of the one supplied with that though, correct? And that would handle all of my startup/shutdown/power needs? If so, that thing is awesome!

**Montanaja** · 12-15-2005, 07:39 PM

VoomPC is designed for a M1-ATX.

**Haystack** · 12-15-2005, 08:34 PM

As for power, I would just get a power supply with an inverter if you dont mind an on/off switch. Most people hate those here, but it hasent bugged me too much.

**Sylvester** · 12-15-2005, 08:43 PM

Montanaja: So you are saying that I could only put in an M1-ATX, not an Opus? These two are similar though, correct?

Haystack: So you are saying that with an inverter, I could just mount a power switch on my dash and manually turn the pc on and off?

This was going to be my next question to the pros, but I guess since it was addressed by Haystack I will address it now:

I wanted to have a push-button on the dash that I could manually turn the PC on with, but have it automatically turn off when I shut off the car. If I were to use an inverter instead of a converter, could I still achieve this, or is there no way to automatically power off the computer using only an inverter?

Thanks again fellas.

**piabu** · 12-15-2005, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Sylvester

I wanted to have a push-button on the dash that I could manually turn the PC on with, but have it automatically turn off when I shut off the car. If I were to use an inverter instead of a converter, could I still achieve this, or is there no way to automatically power off the computer using only an inverter?

Thanks again fellas.

That is what the startup/shutdown controllers are for. You need to build or install the circuit to automatically power on/off the computer based on the state of your ACC line of the car.

Forgetting to power off computer when you walk away from car for the night means a dead battery in the morning if you are powering it directly off an inverter. From what I can figure out so far, power and possibly heat are going to be the primary technical constraints.

I am in the same position as you: PC-okay but car-idiot. Am taking a slightly different approach from you though. I am trying to building it on the bench so that I can keep an eye on the power requirements.

Planning to use a dedicated DC-DC power supply for my purposes. I want to spend my time assembling a carputer, not building specialised power supplies!

**kamikaze2112** · 12-16-2005, 12:42 AM

if you are using an inverter, you will need to cut the power to it also. I killed 2 redtops before i realized what was happening. The carpc, even when off, draws a bit of power. that bit of power becomes a steady drain to your battery. Regular car batteries will NOT survive frequent full discharges. I have a circut now, that turns the inverter on when i turn the key to on or acc, and then when the carpc powers up, it holds the inverter on even if i shut off the car. then i set carpc to hibernate after 30 min of inactivity, or i press the power button to hibernate it and when it shuts off (if the key is off also) then the power to the inverter is cut also.

Ghetto Startup/Shutdown Control for Inverter

that thread has tons of info on making your own shutdown controller, but if your budget allows, i'd go with a opus. it has everything built in. I'll someday be getting one cause of the simplicity. i just can't afford one right now

**Sylvester** · 12-16-2005, 04:01 AM

Ok, so I guess I've been persueded to go with the stand-alone carPC computer. I am looking at getting/building a system that has the following. Please tell me if I should go with other options.

- VIA Epia Mini-ITX MII1200 mainboard w/ processor around 1 GHz
- 256 or 512 MB RAM
- 80GB HD
- M1-ATX
- External Slim Slot-load DVD/CD-RW, to be mounted in center console
- Lilliput 7" TS display, mounted flush in dash (hopefully)

Now, it is going to take me quite some time to even think about getting all of these components together. I would rather buy a system already put together, but I havent found one with exactly what I want. They usually either have too much or too little in certain areas.

This is the only major hardware concern I am left with:

Is there a way to override the M1-ATX with a push-button mounted in the dash? In other words, I can turn the unit off and on without the SDC interfereing, but on the next ignition start the M1-ATX takes over again? I just dont like the fact that I can't control the system should I need/desire to.

Any Ideas? (Please remember I don't have a great understanding of physical electronic components and wiring and such....so layman's terms is good with me.)

Also, I'd like for the push button to be lit when the unit is on, and not lit when it is off (I am assuming I can tap into the computer's power led leads?).

ACTUALLY, what I'd really like to do (but I dont know how feasible this is) is to use the open buttons on my control panel in my cougar (i.e. where the rear defrost button is). I believe there are 3 unused ones. Is there a way I can convert one of the unused ones to be my power button, using the same orange light that is used on the rear defrost button? Anyone ever do this?

Slowly my picture is coming together, thanks to the help of you kind-folk.

-Sly

**WhoIsThisGuy?** · 12-16-2005, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by Sylvester

Ok, so I guess I've been persueded to go with the stand-alone carPC computer. I am looking at getting/building a system that has the following. Please tell me if I should go with other options.

- VIA Epia Mini-ITX MII1200 mainboard w/ processor around 1 GHz
- 256 or 512 MB RAM
- 80GB HD
- M1-ATX
- External Slim Slot-load DVD/CD-RW, to be mounted in center console
- Lilliput 7" TS display, mounted flush in dash (hopefully)

Now, it is going to take me quite some time to even think about getting all of these components together. I would rather buy a system already put together, but I havent found one with exactly what I want. They usually either have too much or too little in certain areas.

This is the only major hardware concern I am left with:

Is there a way to override the M1-ATX with a push-button mounted in the dash? In other words, I can turn the unit off and on without the SDC interfereing, but on the next ignition start the M1-ATX takes over again? I just dont like the fact that I can't control the system should I need/desire to.

Any Ideas? (Please remember I don't have a great understanding of physical electronic components and wiring and such....so layman's terms is good with me.)

Also, I'd like for the push button to be lit when the unit is on, and not lit when it is off (I am assuming I can tap into the computer's power led leads?).

ACTUALLY, what I'd really like to do (but I dont know how feasible this is) is to use the open buttons on my control panel in my cougar (i.e. where the rear defrost button is). I believe there are 3 unused ones. Is there a way I can convert one of the unused ones to be my power button, using the same orange light that is used on the rear defrost button? Anyone ever do this?

Slowly my picture is coming together, thanks to the help of you kind-folk.

-Sly

M1-ATX manual. Read it it might help u
http://resources.mini-box.com/online...ATX-manual.pdf

If u get an on/off switch with a light in u can do the illuminated switch thing as long as u check it out properly - u can just power the led in the switch off the motherboard power led jumper.

Not sure exactly what u want to do with converting a switch. if its just using a blank switch position in the cougar then should be possible. get the right factory switch and u should have the points on the switch to connect to. not sure on cougar specific switches but I've messed around with similar-ish stuff in my focus.