Finally I got some pics of my setup

Axkicker · 05-01-2001, 11:57 PM

Here is a link to some of my mp3 system.
It is a touchscreen 6.5 in from flat-panel.com Socket A motherboard 600MHZ duron with 96mb of ram. I am using suspend to ram so the boot time is down to 5 sec. It also uses Dschmidt shutdown controller so the system is activated by the key in the iginition. Any questions feel free to ask.
web page

Heedunk · 05-02-2001, 02:08 AM

nice system!!! how did you get that lcd into the dash and make it look so professionally done? I need to add a shroud of some sort so i can fit my lcd in my dash.. any suggestions would be helpful. great system though!

moahdib · 05-02-2001, 02:44 AM

How are you using suspend to ram?
is it hibernation on winMe or what?

Axkicker · 05-02-2001, 08:26 AM

Suspend to ram is a motherboard feature. I have an ABIT KT7-RAID motherboard. It is an ATX feature. Under ACPI power mode called S3. It basically writes your settings to ram and then powers off. Hibernation writes your settings to your harddrive and then powers off. With suspend to ram the computer draws a tiny amount of power when turned off. It is equivilent to the power your car stereo draws to keep its presets. With such a small drain you do not have to worry about killing your battery. After you enable this bios setting windows will automatically go into this when you goto standby mode. So I set it up so when the power button is pressed the computer auto enters this mode (this is a windows setting under power options). The shut down controller monitors the acc line on the car and when the key is removed it waits three sec and the relay trips the atx switch. When the acc line becomes active again it waits 5 sec and the relay trips again to power it back on. So technically the total boot time is 10 sec becuase the 5 for the computer and 5 for the relay. The reason for the 5 sec delay is that when the engine cranks it can drop below 10V which is what I need to power my DC powersupply (from keypower) (yes it cost me $170 but it was worth it). At first I was dissapointed by the 5 sec wait on the relay but by the time I back out of my driveway the computer is on and it is playing from the point it left off at. The operation system is windows me but I avoided hibernation because it takes to long to boot compared to this feature and you need all the hardware to be compatable.
The dash was a bit of a pain but I figured it out in 2 days. I had to gut behind it. I went in there with a small screw driver and removed all of the metal pieces. The black plate is from a radio shack project box. I used a rotozip to cut it to size. I moved the radio below using the same thing. I had to by a second woodgrain cover since I cut it ( the car is a lease and I wanted to make sure everything would be easily removable and the original equipment could be slid back in). But this was not bad since it was only $30. The deck is a Kenwood 716s and the face flips over when the car is off or I can remove it.
I never knew I could type so much so I'll stop now. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Later.

Arby · 05-02-2001, 01:26 PM

Purty.

I haven't heard of that GPS software before... is that specially made for cars/touchsceens?

Axkicker · 05-02-2001, 03:25 PM

Its not made for touch screens but it works great for them. It is Travroute's Copilot 2001.

Meatballman · 05-02-2001, 04:00 PM

How is the map detail? And does it work with any NMEA compatible GPS receiver?

Axkicker · 05-02-2001, 04:58 PM

Map detail is great. And there are two modes driver and passanger. In driver when u go over 5 mph the screen changes to a big arrow and it counts down by 1/10 of a mile to your next turn. It gives spoken direction over the speakers in the car. Passanger mode does the same thing except it stays at full detail the whole time even over 5mph. The software also responds to my voice commands.
So is anyone gonna rate me I like the way it looks with stars under your name.

Later

wizardPC · 05-02-2001, 11:59 PM

Is it SirfStar Compliant? I got this GPS reciever and its SirfStar instead of NMEA. The software is CRAP. I NEED NEW SOFTWARE.

Fourgig · 05-03-2001, 02:51 PM

$399 and no option to only buy the software? I don't think so!

Axkicker · 05-03-2001, 05:13 PM

Ebay. $200. Now that makes it worth it. It is the best GPS and software out there. Besides software is easy enough to get, if you know where to look. As far as is it able to be used with other gps units, it says it won't give tech support for other units so maybe it will work ?

Axkicker · 05-03-2001, 05:15 PM

My total system cost came out to $1200. It think that is pretty good for gps/mp3/dvd/touchscreen and vga screen.
Thanks for the votes. I will be posting more picture of my system tonight, so check back.

Heedunk · 05-03-2001, 07:25 PM

what is a radio shack project box? I need some material to mount my lcd in my dash!!! I want it to look clean just likes yours!

Axkicker · 05-03-2001, 07:48 PM

At radio shack they have these black plastic boxes that you can use to make projects. They come in various sizes. Do a search on their web site to find them or goto the store and ask for one. just take your time when you cut it so it looks nice. good luck.

moahdib · 05-04-2001, 03:34 PM

Axkicker> can u post your email? there's something I wanna ask you in private..or u can email me @ danielsoh74@yahoo.com

thanks