M1-ATX and Xbox Success!

**ifuwanttolisten** · 07-18-2006, 04:43 PM

no no

ok here is cool tricks you can do by pairing wires

12v gnd = 12v
5v gnd = 5v
3v gnd = 3v
12v 5v = 7v
12v 3v = 9v
5v 3v = 2v

Voltage is potential difference.. so if u have a 12v wire and a 0v (ground) you get 12... if u pair 12v wire w/ 5v(in place of the ground) you get 7v

get what i mean?

last semester i had to design an alarm system and i didnt want to spend much money so i used an old at power supply and needed 7v for the siren i had so i used the 12v and 5v line... i'm not positive but im sure cd and dvd drives have to do stuff like that

i will check into the use of the other 5v lines and let u know what my friend thinks

**lez** · 07-19-2006, 05:10 AM

Originally Posted by ifuwanttolisten

no no

ok here is cool tricks you can do by pairing wires

12v 5v = 7v
12v 3v = 9v
5v 3v = 2v

Voltage is potential difference.. so if u have a 12v wire and a 0v (ground) you get 12... if u pair 12v wire w/ 5v(in place of the ground) you get 7v

get what i mean?

Yes, I get what you mean, and if you start doing this with switch mode power supplys you may get more than you bargained for!

(especially if you get a gnd-gnd connection between anyof the bits)

IE 12 and 5 for a 7, youconnect equipment to the 12 and 5, the 12 will go through your equipment and bring the 5 upto 12, as its designed to SOURCE not DRAIN current/voltage, result (hopefully) power supply sees its 5 is now above 5 and trips.

Bad result is 5v rail trips, 12 doesnt, now you have a either a 12 and o/c OR 12 and gnd.......... your 7 just became 12....

Just a thought from someone who has had this happen

**K.J.** · 07-19-2006, 09:25 AM

Yea, that's what I'd be worried about. But Lez, is there any reason I shouldn't be able to run the 5v standby in parallel with the regular 5v line to increase available amps on the standby line (while not in standby, of course)?

Also, has anybody run a Xbox off an inverter in their car and know how much noise it introduces to the a/v signal? If it's not much, I might just take the easy route. After all, it's not that important to have the Xbox automagically turn on. A simple lighted on/off switch can control the inverter and a momentary push button connected to ground can turn the xbox on/off.

**lez** · 07-19-2006, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by K.J.

Yea, that's what I'd be worried about. But Lez, is there any reason I shouldn't be able to run the 5v standby in parallel with the regular 5v line to increase available amps on the standby line (while not in standby, of course)?

Its not going to be a problem that I can see with an AC pc psu as they tend to have diode outputs, but with a dc-dc psu I would need to see its diagram.

You could put a diode on the lines, amps choosen to suit, and get 4.4 volt, but that may not be enough, but it should do no damage to test.

If its really needs 5 volt then its going to a relay to get no loss.

If you need 5 volt all the time why switch it off?

Does this mean we can have a xbox based carpc ???

**K.J.** · 07-20-2006, 01:20 PM

I'm going to try powering it off an inverter first. That's an awful lot of money and work for something that "might" work, so I'm going to see if I can get clean sound off an inverter I've got sitting around.

In other news, NEVER BUY ANY LEGACY PRODUCT!! I bought an LM56 trying to go cheap on a display. I didn't care much about it as long as it was readable. The product description said "high resolution" and the photo of the device had brilliant picture quality. Well it's all a lie. The screen is grainy AND blurry (I didn't think you could have both), and it shakes ridiculously even on a clean 12v power line from a psu. I've seen higher resolution on my grandmother's b/w furniture tv while watching I Love Lucy.

And to answer your question, YES, you can use an Xbox as a carputer. The Xbox pretty much is a computer, and if you mod it you can run software called Xbox Media Center. The software is AMAZING. It can run pretty much any format and has a very clean and easy to use layout. I've been using it as a Media Center for years and have always wanted to do an install in my car. With Xbox's dirt cheap and beefy hard drives even cheaper, I figured now was the time.

**ifuwanttolisten** · 07-20-2006, 01:24 PM

KJ.... What I did worked for me.

**kevinlekiller** · 07-20-2006, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by K.J.

Also, has anybody run a Xbox off an inverter in their car and know how much noise it introduces to the a/v signal?

GOnna go try now , I got an inverter lying around somewhere , brb.

**lez** · 07-20-2006, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by K.J.

And to answer your question, YES, you can use an Xbox as a carputer. The Xbox pretty much is a computer, and if you mod it you can run software called Xbox Media Center. The software is AMAZING.

Yes I bought a modded one off ebay about 3 years ago, cost me 3* the retail price of the xbox, then after just over a year the hd stopped spinning....

It sat on a shelf about another year as I did not know how to do the hard drive key stuff.

Now its working again but I have lost interest in it.

Thought it may make a good car pc, but have not seen a destinator clone for it......

**kevinlekiller** · 07-20-2006, 05:34 PM

Bah , couldnt find the inverter.

**lakersraidersfa** · 07-27-2006, 12:52 AM

i have tried 4 different inverters (including one "Pure Sine") all of which produced an awful buzzing interference. So, now i am trying to go the 12v power supply route....