Dell Studio Hybrid (Installed in vehicle, 12v-24v) - Page 5

WayneVanRooyen · 03-31-2009, 02:21 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Brainless

all of them worked perfect, I only got the power adapter bios message the first time i plugged one of them in and hit f1 to continue. After that i never received the message again even after switching between adapters.

Could you check which bios version you have as i have tried a universal power brick from the cig lighter and when i get that message it doesnt have an option to continue(F1) it displays the message and then shuts down.

I have cut open the power brick that came with it to see what is providing the feed on the center pin but not have an osciliscope i cant really test if its a signal or voltage. I can say though if i connect a multi meter between center and positive i get a voltage reading out.

Brainless · 03-31-2009, 11:04 AM

Version:
1.0.6 09/26/08
Studio Hybrid 140g

WayneVanRooyen · 04-02-2009, 05:00 AM

Okay downloaded the newer bios i am on version 1.0.2 damn.
One thing i have done is cut open the power brick that comes with this unit and can say that it has not got a very nice circuit going to the center pin.
It is feed through a resister whcih goes to the dallas 1-wire eprom into a second dallas then to a second resistor and then back down the center pin.
Doesnt look like a easy one to get working from one of the startup shutdown controller like the P1900. I am having an electronics guru check it out for me. If push comes to shove i will take these components off the power brick if possible and build board to plug onto the power outs of the P1900.
Looks like the only way to get it to work with aftermarket power supplies.

MindDrive · 04-02-2009, 08:44 AM

dell has ALWAYS jacked up something with the power supply, even from the days of AT through ATX --- im really supprized they didnt try swapping "something" so standard equipment couldnt be used

pretty neat lil case... might even work just as a "bolt" in case for some cars and their interiors... be nice tho if the back external connectors were a little more "equiped"

HiJackZX1 · 04-02-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by MindDrive

dell has ALWAYS jacked up something with the power supply, even from the days of AT through ATX --- im really supprized they didnt try swapping "something" so standard equipment couldnt be used

pretty neat lil case... might even work just as a "bolt" in case for some cars and their interiors... be nice tho if the back external connectors were a little more "equiped"

Now adays it may not be cost effective for them to try to make parts custom, especially since people from sites like this will find away around it.

MindDrive · 04-02-2009, 10:51 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

Now adays it may not be cost effective for them to try to make parts custom, especially since people from sites like this will find away around it.

MUA HAHAHAH thats right

... but still... it is anoying to have to do anything at all other than plug it in ~_~

i hate proprietary crap in an ever "standard" industry just so when someone plugs something in, it goes PFFFFFFFTT and that dredded smell eminates from the device

WayneVanRooyen · 04-06-2009, 02:26 AM

Haha, i have done the mod to run of a normal 12V -> 19V dc dc convertor. This was a bit of a hack of the original power supply that comes with the Hybrid.

There is a tiny circuit, resistor and 1 wire eprom that is the ID cicuit, after splitting the power supply, what i did was intead of trying to re-design this from scratch i just cut this section of the pcb with a dremel.
The cut of section is about 1.5cm x 1cm. Hooking this up to my dc dc convertor + to +, GRND to GRND and then the GREEN to the board it obviously thinks its a dell power adapter as no more invalid power supply messages where you have to press the F1 key to boot. After doing this i just unscrewed my dc dc convertor wrapped the cut off piece in some tape so it cant short out anything and tucked it into my current dc dc convertor, closed it all up again and you cant tell the difference.

So knowing this little trick works i am pretty sure that it can hookup to the
P1900 with the same method.

jparks27 · 08-17-2009, 03:47 AM

I can confirm that Bios 1.06 and greater will allow you to POST without a dell adaptor..

It still gives you the annoying power on warning message that requires to press F1, but it doesn't force you to power down anymore...

afterdigital · 08-17-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by MindDrive

MUA HAHAHAH thats right

... but still... it is anoying to have to do anything at all other than plug it in ~_~

i hate proprietary crap in an ever "standard" industry just so when someone plugs something in, it goes PFFFFFFFTT and that dredded smell eminates from the device

dude, i realize it's been awhile but could you take pics of the mod itself....

thanks

whats77inaname · 08-27-2009, 11:21 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by afterdigital

dude, i realize it's been awhile but could you take pics of the mod itself....

thanks

There's no need to hack anything. The Studio Hybrid is based off Dell's Studio XPS laptop architecture. All you need is Dell's 12v cigarette lighter adapter for the laptop. The Dell part number is 310-8814 and the price is $89.99.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=310-8814

ik632 · 08-27-2009, 01:10 PM

You still need a startup/shutdown controller to make it all work properly.

whats77inaname · 08-27-2009, 03:55 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ik632

You still need a startup/shutdown controller to make it all work properly.

I dunno. I figure most would take apart the cigarette lighter end and wire it directly to a constant 12v coming from the car. Depending upon where it's mounted (mine is in the reach of driver's seat), you can simply turn it off/off via the button on front of the PC.

ik632 · 08-27-2009, 08:48 PM

I had a setup like that on one of my first car pc's. I had an inverter running a desktop and you had to turn the pc on each time you got in the car. The turn on controller makes it a bit easier because it gets old turning the car on and off via the power button. You could cut off the cigarette lighter and connect the power adapter to constant 12v. The only problem is that it will constantly suck power. After that, you could hook the power button to a momentary relay that's ignition powered.

With that setup you could technically use suspend to ram rather than suspend to disk and the startup would be very fast.

whats77inaname · 08-28-2009, 10:15 AM

Roadrunner has the hibernate option, so I can hibernate prior to turning off the car in between short trips. With it hooked to a constant 12v, at that time, the battery drainage is minimal. The on/off switch is only used when the car is parked for long periods of time, such as when I'm at work or when I turn it off for the night.

As an added measure, my car alarm automatically senses when the battery voltage drops critically low and starts the car to charge the battery, so drainage isn't an issue. I do like the relay suggestion, and will have to look into that. Thanks!

WayneVanRooyen · 09-29-2009, 07:22 AM

Some follow up on the Hybrid.
I have a ford Focus ST the Hybrid sits in the cubby hole(glove box) i have not yet had any overheating issues and South Africa Durban gets damn hot at time.
Second i didnt go with the cigarette lighter option as this still requires the laptop power brick, didnt see the point in having a power brick as well as the carnetix P1900 so i did as i mentioned above, wired the green wire to the small cut off pcb with the eprom on, attached the other cables from the original dell power brick to the carnetix and all works perfect.
Have recently loaded win 7 on this hybrid and the system loads centrafuse and starts playing music before i have even had time to back out the garage.
I may need to take the machine out this weekend to do some GPS and TV antenna hookups if so i will take some picks and post here.

My System Currently:

Headunit: 7inch touch driven by the Hybrid this in place of stanard Sony Head
Rockford Splits in Rear and Fron Doors
Rockford 12" Sub
Rockford Amps
Rockford 3Sixty.2 controlled through plugin for Centrafuse.
See http://forums.fluxmedia.net/centrafu...s-sub-etc.html

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