Carputer locking up, WTF?

maxxell · 12-01-2005, 01:59 PM

Hey all,

So here I am in the heat of exams with zero free time. So, of course (thanks, Murphy), the carputer has decided to crap out on me. I simply dont have enough free time to trouble-shoot right now, so I was hoping somebody might have an idea what's going on and how I might go about fixing it...

Here's the story:

A few weeks ago (so I dont know if it's related or not), I hit a bump that wasn't so bad, but did turn off the carputer. Turns out my half-assed attempt at fixing the common opus short-out had failed, so I fixed that.

Now a few days ago things took a turn for the worse. The carputer just froze. The mp3 stops playing, but the seconds keep counting for 3 or 4 more seconds in which time I can still use the touchscreen. But then that stops and the whole system stops responding. The image stays on the screen and everything remains powered up, but the software is dead. I dont have a keyboard attached, so I cant control-alt-delete, but I doubt it would work. All I could do was flip my master power kill switch and reboot.

The next day it happened again. Not on every drive, but almost. Then today it happened thrice (three times) on the way home from lunch! Something's going wrong.

I tried scanning the disk for errors, but that didn't help. I tried defragging, but it said it didn't need to be done. Short of disassembling the whole damn thing and trouble-shooting each component individually, I'm at a loss. And I just dont have the time for that right now. I haven't added any new hardware or software in the past few MONTHS and the problem started in the past week or so, that makes me think it's something in the hardware.

Anyone have any ideas what it could be or what I should try?

Thanks !

maxxell · 12-01-2005, 02:07 PM

Here is the list of what I've got running.

1. Epia Via M10000
2. Opus 150W
3. 120Gig 3.5" 7200 RPM 8MB cache Western Digital Harddrive
4. 512 MB RAM
5. In-Dash Xenarc prepared by Audiomotivegruppe
6. 4-port USB 1.1 hub where the ash tray used to be
7. 2 switches (on the left side of the steering column; one kills the power to the screen and the other interrupts the IGN signal to the OPUS so I can keep the computer off even when I start the car if I so desire.
8. JL Audio 300/4 Slash Series Amplifier
8.3 Audiopipe 2-channel subwoofer amplifier
8.6 A pair of 12" Rockford Fosgate Subwoofers
9. Frodoplayer
10. 5700+ mp3s, 20+ movies, 20+ music videos (Still using less than 50% of the harddrive)
11. Griffin PowerMate
12. Cross-over cable from ethernet port in trunk up through center armrest console. [Allows me to connect my laptop for EASY and FAST updates, plus then I can use the laptop wireless for internet]
13. IGuidance v2.1 & Royaltek Sapphire GPS receiver
14. Blue sound-activated LEDs mounted inside the front center two A/C vents

MatrixPC · 12-01-2005, 02:08 PM

Get a new HD and backup data while you can.
The HD is on it way out OR the HD is NOT secure right.
It could also be somethign else loose card/connection, but the HD is the first suspect.

maxxell · 12-01-2005, 02:14 PM

I was afraid of that. I've had that harddrive less than a year. There's no data on it that I dont already have stored somewhere else. So losing it would just be an inconvenience. Hopefully it's just a plug for the harddrive that's loose and not the whole disk dying. But of all the things that could be going, I guess the harddrive is relatively easy to replace.

tekman78 · 12-12-2005, 04:32 PM

Try different memory chips or memory chips in different slots along with a hard drive switch out.

Tim

Naamanf · 12-12-2005, 04:54 PM

I would first make sure everything is seated properly. You might even try reseating it all. The bump could have jarred something loose.

maxxell · 12-14-2005, 10:08 AM

It sucks that this had to happen right now. I will be done with finals tomorrow and then start trouble-shooting. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

maxxell · 12-16-2005, 11:18 AM

Okay, so finals ended yesterday and I've finally gotten to trouble-shooting. First thing I did was bring the whole setup (without the OPUS) inside and hook it up using my desktop monitor, mouse, and speakers, plus I'm using a regular ac/dc power supply. And now it seems to be working fine. I've had it running Frodoplayer for about 20 minutes now and it hasn't had a problem. I tried loading all my mp3s into a winamp playlist to force the harddrive to scan my entire music collection (approx 28 gigs) AND I installed some software off a CD.
Everything seems copesetic. I guess I'll just shut 'er down and put 'er back in the car and see what happens. Quite bizarre. I'll post back once it's back in a car (and I get back from a test drive).

maxxell · 12-16-2005, 06:53 PM

Well, it's in and working. I drove around and it has held up fine. I dont really understand it, but who cares?

Hooray!