Xenarc buttons?

Alphared · 03-08-2003, 03:39 AM

Just an idea, for those that took the casing off to put into your dash, do you have access to the buttons? I not going to be able to access the buttons without doing some type of mod.

Now Question is, has anyone wired the buttons up to the serial port? That way you can control it from the pc.

Any ideas??

digitallexus · 03-08-2003, 05:39 AM

I plan on at least hooking the power-on and LED status to my shutdown controller. I have the first revision of the xenarc that doesn't power up when a video signal is detected. The other option is to figure out how to eliminate the latching power-on/off and just make the display power up when 12v is applied. I was planning on at least extending the other switches so I could make adjustments if necessary. I don't really want to put the buttons on the dash though.

I am already very short of serial ports, so I am not sure if I can interface them to the computer. I might use the parallel port to control a few things such as the display.

I might pickup one of the USB<-->24 I/O port boards.
http://www.futurlec.com/USB.shtml

I have several USB<-->RS232 adapters to convert things like my shutdown control, Touchscreen, ODBII, etc. Initially they wouldn't work when more than one was used. I researched the chip (ftdi), and found that they support a serialized EEPROM. On the adapter, the EEPROM was simply missing from the PCB board. I ordered some EEPROM chips from futurelec, soldered them on, and used the OEM chip programming tools on FTDI website. You can program your own USB vendor id, and serial # for each device. Now each adapter is recognized as a unique device and I can install a driver for each and configure a unique COMx port.

chrisgearing · 03-11-2003, 07:19 AM

Hi,

I had exactly this problem and placed a reed switch in parallel with each button. I then placed the read switches, about and inch apart, behind a plastic panel in the console. This is all completely invisible.

I can now activate any of the buttons using a magnet, sounds a bit bizarre but actually works very well.

Chris

ares · 03-11-2003, 12:17 PM

well thats interesting, but then I would suppose in theory we could just as easily put any switch in parralel with it, including little buttons that we could mount in the strip below it that is covering up the real buttons in the first place...

basicly in the exact same spot as the stock nav buttons would be.(yeah Im the same ares, hows it goin)