Nickwell24

just a few questions, i've been around the forum alot and can't seem to find thees, and yes i've even been through FAQ's about 5 times each. Here is my questions

1) Do i have to take off the screen to use a laptop for a carPC?
2) If the screen stays on is it possible to hack it so it can be closed and running?
3) could i just install a valet switch to power on/off and by pass the auto start up?

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v8 scimitar

1) No
2) yes, either set "when I close the lid of my laptop" to do nothing in power settings/ advanced or cut the top of the button off.
3) you lost me here what auto start up? You can solder an external switch onto the power button of you laptop if thats what you mean.

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Nickwell24

auto start up if i wired it to something like a carnetix 2140.

v8 scimitar

Ah ok yes you can after you have done the mod to your laptop I stated before or the carnetix wont be able to control it anyway.

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Nickwell24

so what is the best way to control laptops power up function?

nysaz

you might wanna think about a sleep option where its boots automatically

Nickwell24

automatically when i start the car? the problem w/ that is i don't want it running on my small 5 minute commute to campus, i'm mainly installing this for my 3 hour commutes back and for from Kc, and for the GPS part.

Bugbyte

You need a valet switch to keep it from booting when you are commuting only 5 minutes.

You need to search on terms "auto shutdown laptop" or "autostart laptop" or variations of those terms to see what others have done. The solutions range from soldering wires to the motherboard to using a dock and hacking the wiring there or a physical solenoid device.

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Nickwell24

How long does bootup take for the entire system on avg? It'd be nice to have music for those 5-15 minutes trips but if it's going to take 4 minutes just to boot then it's not really worth it.

FusionFanatic

XP should boot up in under a minute. you can tweak it to get it under 30 seconds. it should never take 4 minutes to boot up. you should format and reinstall a clean XP

are you keeping a headunit or will the carPC be replacing your head unit? if you want MP3 or sat radio for music then your computer can handle both, but there is currently no good FM radio solution for carPC's (I don't know about HD radio)

I am like you, I don't want the computer on every time I drive. I only use it for long trips or when I need to use GPS. for my 15 minute commutes or short drives to the store, I just use my head unit. I just bought a cheap auto/air adapter for $25 off eBay to power my laptop. I didn't bother with a startup/shutdown controller, because I didn't want it starting up by itself.

I bought a docking station, and soldered wires onto the docking station's power button so I didn't have to modify the laptop at all. I wired it to a momentary push button on my dash to turn the computer on/off. since I still use a head unit for audio, I only turn the computer on when I want to access my MP3s, use GPS, internet, etc.

good luck

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Nickwell24

See i'm still torn on which route to go, i've planner both to the extent, laptop and desktop. The thing i like about the laptop is that I can get everything preset w/o having to do a lot of bench testing, just work on it as i have a free minute here and there. And that i can make an easy mounting unit to give it plenty of shock protection but also unplug and take inside to fix w/o having to uninstall... What are the options though for powering up w/o having the crack open the actual laptop... i'd prefer side stepping this, and it seems like you've done this type of install.

FusionFanatic

well, you'll have to have remote control of a power switch somehow... if a docking station (with power button) is available for your laptop then you can hack into that instead of hacking into your laptop. (NOTE: only a real docking station will work, not a USB port replicator).

if a docking station (with power button) is not available for your laptop then you'll have to hack into the laptop itself. you can directly wire to the power button itself, or you can wire a jack to it, which will allow you to remove the remote power switch by simply unplugging it (I would strongly recommend this method over wiring it direct )

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