M2 Again - turn on problem

**NiGoea** · 08-24-2007, 02:54 PM

Hi all

(first, sorry for my english...)

Yesterday I connected my first version of the car pc in the car. As a test, I simply connected the car's battery to M2, and the M2 to the PC.
Everything works fine, but when I star the car's engine immediately the PC power off. I think in the engine's starting moment the battery volgate goes too down.

How I can resolve this problem ?

I thought to use a secondary battery to power the PC while the engine is starting. But what method can I use to switch between the battery ? Maybe a relay?

Another question is the timing, that is how to determine when I turn the key, in order to switch battery.

Has someone tried a similar solution ?

Someone can help me ?

THANKS A LOT GUYS !!

bye

**BiG K** · 08-24-2007, 04:10 PM

I think you want a cheap, simple solution.

Get a capacitor, the one's they use for car audio. A 1 Farad capacitor will store enough juice to surivive a crank. As an added bonus, it will sort out the fluctuations a bit too, saving the M2-ATX from having to, resulting in a more stable power output.

It is really simple to wire up and configure too. The capacitor will come with two terminals, connect one to the 12v line from the battery and the other to the M2-ATX.

That's it!

**v8 scimitar** · 08-24-2007, 04:12 PM

The computer shutting down during cranking is not a normal problem and the M2 is supposed to be able to survive cranking. You need to find and cure the problem and not go adding tank batteries and the like to try and solve it as it should do just fine on a normal single good battery.

Check the voltage when cranking if it goes really low then you probably need to replace your car battery. If it doesn't then you have some other problem like bad wiring or bad M2

**Bmrbch** · 12-15-2008, 03:44 PM

I'm having this problem too. What is strange is that I am also having a power down when I turn off the ignition. Any ideas for this? I tried multiple jumper settings to no avail. (M2 powering a MiniITX 1800) Also, brand new battery with 850 CCA...

**chibimateo** · 02-19-2009, 03:06 PM

I'm also having this problem, and it's being discussed over in this thread, as well.

**miko55** · 02-19-2009, 03:34 PM

Read The F

g manual

Use jumpers. Go thru manual. There are detailed steps how to make it work.

No affence

**chibimateo** · 02-19-2009, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by miko55

Read The F

g manual

Use jumpers. Go thru manual. There are detailed steps how to make it work.

No affence

Please show me a manual that has anything relevant to the problems described in this thread, and I'll be glad to read it cover-to-cover. Alternately, if you can't link to it (or even if you can), please explain what those "detailed steps" would happen to be.

Nothing in the manual addresses the problems I am having. In fact, the manual specifically states that it should survive engine crank (without any special settings/wiring), and there is not any option that should cause the power to the PC to cut off (not a shut down) immediately on loss of ACC power (the shortest setting is a 5 second delay).

I have looked at the manual hosted from mp3car.com's store, and I have also gone to mini-box's website and gotten the updated version there (it shows extended jumper settings including use of the D pins, and it also mentions the 60 second hold on the power that should let the PC continue booting to avoid HDD corruption).