New here introduction

hello all
My name is Ryan, i own a 98 Chevy cavalier, with a 2200 OHV 3 speed auto :nutz: i am not new to cars at all. I am a auto tech at sears auto center (not the greatest, but i just graduated high school today:))..

here is some of pics of my car, i know it looks like crap right now, i have like 6 different project going at once on this thing.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29.../treeslake.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...hedproduct.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...g333/upper.jpg

I broke the cd deck that i had in this car, and i've always wanted a carPC for MP3/radio/cd, dvd, navigation and be able to control the standalone used in my car (megasquirt, which only connects to a serial cable)

I also have an Dell Inspiron 5100 (a few years old) that a computer kid from my school took apart to figure out what was wrong with it, turns out some how the motherboard is fried...

Would i be able to use the HD for a simple set-up in my car?
if i ordered a new motherboard could i use that also?
what about the CD/dvd rom drive from it?

all this type of computer stuff still confuses me a ton, so bear with me please.

first good choice on the megasquirt next you can connect them via USB with a serial USB converter.
yes you can use the hard drive although it might be a bit small
Yes you could use the mobo if you got a new one but you need to watch the power it will take and work out your power supply. depending on the chip form factor you might be as well getting a new board and chip or go mini ITX and be much smaller.
CD/DVD isnt worth using as they arent meant to be used on the move so will jump a lot and probably damage disks. Much better to use a slimline laptop drive the extra bonus being they use less power too.

what would i need to know inorder to find another Mobo that would work with the harddrive, besides the factory mobo? and the chip? i'm assuming you mean the chip on the mobo, shouldn't this come with a mobo?

almost any mother board can be made to work with any drive for the most part all you need are the correct cables(there are some exceptions to this rule but i wont try to confuse the issue here. the motherboard he was talking about is a not an atx mobo like your 5100 more then likely is. it is an ITX form factor. there ultra small draw less power, and sometimes have a cpu embedded on them. then still use the atx ps though.

for an itx example,

http://www.mp3car.com/store/product_...products_id=72

most of what you need can be found in the mp3car store. also i suggest you goto the show off your project section and then to the worklog section. you can see alot of people that post what there doing and explain how and why there doing it. welcome to the boards man and good luck,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by v8 scimitar

first good choice on the megasquirt next you can connect them via USB with a serial USB converter.
yes you can use the hard drive although it might be a bit small
Yes you could use the mobo if you got a new one but you need to watch the power it will take and work out your power supply. depending on the chip form factor you might be as well getting a new board and chip or go mini ITX and be much smaller.
CD/DVD isnt worth using as they arent meant to be used on the move so will jump a lot and probably damage disks. Much better to use a slimline laptop drive the extra bonus being they use less power too.

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quick question here, you say that the cd/dvd drive isn't worth using from the 5100, and use a slim line laptop drive...whats the difference between a slim line laptop drive, and the 5100 lap top drive??


also yrean and everyone else, thanks for the help on answering the questions so throughly

slimline laptop drive is low power which is the first advantage second is that it is designed to work while moving. The disk is held much more securely as well as the laser drive being specifically designed to track the CD while it is bouncing around a bit which is what happens in a car but not a desktop pc. They are also much smaller in physical size making them easier to package into a car. Personally I dont even have a drive in my car PC as all my MP3's and vid files are on the hard drive. My head unit playes DVD, CD and to get files onto it I can either use my key fob, phone or I have a usb drive to plug into it as well as WIFI to the house but I can see the value of one for some people. If I was fitting one it would absalutely have to be a slimline drive tho.

okay i can see the advantage in that with the low power neeeded.

usb is a good idea, too..but it would nice to be able to load any CD when a friend or someone has it.

thanks again for your help

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yrean

almost any mother board can be made to work with any drive for the most part all you need are the correct cables(there are some exceptions to this rule but i wont try to confuse the issue here. the motherboard he was talking about is a not an atx mobo like your 5100 more then likely is. it is an ITX form factor. there ultra small draw less power, and sometimes have a cpu embedded on them. then still use the atx ps though.

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how can i figure out if my harddrive will work with a certain mobo?

whats the difference between an ITX and a ATX?

Learn about hard drives and the interfaces they utilize: PATA, SATA, SCSI, first of all. If you're contemplating a project like building a PC for your ride, then you need to know some basics about building a PC.
Not knowing about HDDs indicates you don't know the basics, so I suggest educating yourself before you dive into this project.

Try connecting the drive to the motherboard and see if it gets recognized during POST.

It's miniITX and ATX. They are simply formfactors for motherboards.
Wikipedia has a decent writeup about formfactors, as well as one on hard drives. It's a good starting point.

:whs:

your drive will be IDE which is the same as PATA or ATA it will work with about 99% of mobo's.