CarPC wiring diagram

Tommy · 08-11-2005, 05:33 PM

Ok, so I finally got enough money to buy the rest of my parts. I'm drawing my whole carputer setup out so I can know what little parts I need before hand. My grocery list is down to:

2.5" to 3.5" IDE converter
Long VGA cable
Long USB 2.0 cable
USB 2.0 hub
Dynamat of some sort

I have attached a scan of my little diagram I did during down time today at work. Tell me if there's something I'm missing or something I should change. I'm currently planning on running the LCD power supply from the stereo wires behind the dash and use the Lilliput EGG. Should I run a wire from the M1-ATX to power the LCD instead? That's about the only part I'm unsure about right now. Here's my diagram:

klokman · 08-11-2005, 05:46 PM

It looks pretty good, the first thing that strikes me is that you probably need to external power the USB hub (can't tell from your diagram if your connections are data only or show power as well). But from experience, the amount of things you're powering off your hub, you'll need to externally power it or you'll have issues with those devices. Good Luck!

RPM_VR4 · 08-11-2005, 05:52 PM

I agree with the post above. You will need to find a 13.8V-to-6V DC-DC for that (or just run a 5V line from your PSU).

Also worth noting with usb hubs... a lot of the time you will find that if you have a USB 1.1 device plugged into your USB 2.0 hub, your USB 2.0 devices will only work at 1.1 speeds. Therefore, I advize you to run 2 long USB cables and possibly have 2 hubs (one for 2.0 devices [TV, Cameras, etc.] and one for 1.1 devices [Key, Mouse, Powermate, etc.]).

NeckPayne · 08-11-2005, 11:09 PM

Agree with the powered hub.

Just to make sure also, is the LCD touchscreen? If so, you'll need to wire that to the HUB.

mgithens · 08-12-2005, 04:54 PM

you could run power to the computer from the same lead, share the grounds and you can possibly avoid having any alternator whine...

power the hubs for sure... the 1.1 vs 2.0 issue has more to do with the quality and specs... I have an old 1.1 thumb drive that doesn't slow down my ipod... but that is on a $50 Belkin hub... not the $5 ebay model...

for simplification I went with a 4 channel amp, less wiring... one power wire and actually just one set of RCAs - the amp can work in 2 channel mode, not to be confused with bridged mode... it basically just duplicates the left and right for both the "front" and "rear" channels... I got the RF P4004 which is rated at 4x50 for 4ohms...

I also used the remote turn on lead this time, the part that sucks is that after you kill the key the computer stays on for a bit... depends on your power supply, but I am going to rewire this weekend to have amp kill with key - not sure how I want to go about it... but I just don't like the idea of walking away from my car with music still playing...

oh, and I like you attention to detail... I presume that you drive a 5 speed manual...

Shelbrain · 08-14-2005, 08:03 PM

For sound deadening, I used B-Quiet Extreme. It is really easy to work with and decently priced...