The MP3car.com Store  

Welcome to the MP3Car.com forums.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. Registering will also remove advertisements. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

Go Back   MP3Car.com > Mp3Car Technical > MacCar

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-14-2005, 12:00 PM   #1
Newbie
 
iKenndac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knebworth, UK
Vehicle: 2004 Vauxhall Astra 'H'
Posts: 39
My Photos: (0)
Tutorial: Easily Power a Mac Mini without an inverter or special power supply

Today, I finally got my Mac mini powered in my car.

I've placed a connector in the wire that lets me quickly and easily transfer my Mac mini between my car and house by unplugging the connector from the car and plugging it into the Mini's power supply.

You don't need an inverter or a special power supply... just a laptop car adapter that gives out 18v (link on the page) and a couple of other of little, easy to get bits.

I've put photos and a walkthrough on my site: http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/astramac/power/

Hope it's interesting and/or helpful to you all.

Last edited by iKenndac : 03-14-2005 at 12:51 PM. Reason: Fixed spelling error in topic title
iKenndac is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 03-14-2005, 12:07 PM   #2
Variable Bitrate
 
Grimey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Moody, ME
Vehicle: 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab
Posts: 329
My Photos: (0)
Pretty interesting. I don't have a Mac Mini in front of me yet so I can't really tell how feasible. Also is this just to make it easier to take in and out of the car by adding that plug?
__________________
Dak TruckPuter:

Mac: - Researching and Awaiting Funds

Changed to planning for a Mac Mini Trukputer...w3rd.
Grimey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 12:49 PM   #3
Newbie
 
iKenndac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knebworth, UK
Vehicle: 2004 Vauxhall Astra 'H'
Posts: 39
My Photos: (0)
Quote: Originally Posted by Grimey
Pretty interesting. I don't have a Mac Mini in front of me yet so I can't really tell how feasible.

It's perfectly feasible - I did it today. That's where the pictures came from.*

Quote: Originally Posted by Grimey
Also is this just to make it easier to take in and out of the car by adding that plug?

If you hardwire the mini to the car adapter it will work, but that's it - if you ever want to take it out and use it in the house you need to buy another power supply 'cause you've cut the 10-pin power connector off the one you have. This lets you use the same one 10-pin connector for car and home.

Also, you have to wire that resistor to the proper wires for it to work at all.
iKenndac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 01:28 PM   #4
Low Bitrate
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 109
My Photos: (0)
Can I send you my brick/power wire and you can do this mod for me? Assuming you would charge a fee of course. Just realized your in UK. NM.

Back to my inverter. I'm just not that electronically/wire/soddering wise inclined to attempt something like this.

On a side note.. are you going to relocate your power button? I'm wondering how I am going to incorporate it in the dash and how to actually rewire it/extend the wires into my dash. Any tips on a power button relocation would be appreciated.

Your wiring has inspired me, just gotta get up the guts to do it and figure our where to get the parts.

Last edited by maxipad96 : 03-14-2005 at 01:31 PM.
maxipad96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 02:27 PM   #5
Newbie
 
iKenndac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knebworth, UK
Vehicle: 2004 Vauxhall Astra 'H'
Posts: 39
My Photos: (0)
I plan to have the power controlled by an 'intelligent' car power supply (I have the Opus 90W) that 'pushes' the button when you switch on/off the ignition. I'll still have to extend the wire...

The power button connects to the connector pointed out in the uploaded picture. It isn't a standard power button header though, so you'll have to find one that'll fit somewhere, or cut the wires and splice an extension on there. You can put a soft push button on there if you like to act as a power button.

You can get all the parts I used and have talked about (apart from the laptop adapter) from an electronics shop. In the UK, we have a shop called Maplins. I know there is a nationwide store chain in the USA that sells all this stuff, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.
Attached Images
 
iKenndac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 02:47 PM   #6
Variable Bitrate
 
Grimey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Moody, ME
Vehicle: 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab
Posts: 329
My Photos: (0)
You're probably thinking of Radio Shack or something of the sort.
__________________
Dak TruckPuter:

Mac: - Researching and Awaiting Funds

Changed to planning for a Mac Mini Trukputer...w3rd.
Grimey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 03:09 PM   #7
Low Bitrate
defender90's CarPC Specs
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: The Netherlands
Vehicle: 2001 Land Rover Discovery TD5 and 1990 Land Rover Discovery V8i
Posts: 110
My Photos: (0)
Did you see this:
MacMini Power Button and Indicator



The link was mentioned here before
defender90 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 03:10 PM   #8
Variable Bitrate
 
Grimey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Moody, ME
Vehicle: 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab
Posts: 329
My Photos: (0)
Yea I remember that link but it was just showing the main car install, not the specific button install. If it did I missed it, that's really cool, thanks for pointing that out.
__________________
Dak TruckPuter:

Mac: - Researching and Awaiting Funds

Changed to planning for a Mac Mini Trukputer...w3rd.
Grimey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-14-2005, 03:43 PM   #9
Low Bitrate
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 109
My Photos: (0)
AWESOME!!. Thanks so much for the link. This thing is really starting to come together. As far as what type of wires I should use to extend the button, is their a standard I should be using?

Last edited by maxipad96 : 03-14-2005 at 03:47 PM.
maxipad96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-15-2005, 09:00 AM   #10
Mac Car Moderator
 
kandyman676's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Maryland
Vehicle: 2008 Nissan Altima Sedan 3.5 SL
Posts: 782
My Photos: (1)
This is some great stuff! I'm glad there is another alternative out there on how to do this. I am personally waiting for some used mac mini's on ebay to do my tinkering.
__________________
"If it works this good why F with it?" -KMFDM "Intro"

Strive for ethical wardriving: http://faq.wardrive.net/

My CarCPUs: v1 - 2000 | v2 - 2004
Mp3Car Meets: http://detrimental.org/eyecandy/MP3CarMeets
kandyman676 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 03-16-2005, 07:00 AM   #11
FLAC
 
MikeH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Marietta, GA
Vehicle: 2007 Acura RDX
Posts: 1,109
My Photos: (0)
HERE's some additional detail on the power button mod. It's specific to the P1900, but will give you some more photos in the details of the mod.
__________________
MikeH
CarNetix
------------
Helpful info at http://www.carnetix.com
C134, M10000, 40GHDD, XM-PCR, CarNetix P2140, FP
MikeH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-16-2005, 09:55 AM   #12
Low Bitrate
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 109
My Photos: (0)
Sweet thanks for all the help guys. And as far as wire is concerned any 24 gauge wire will work right? Any special metal i should be looking for?
maxipad96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-16-2005, 09:58 AM   #13
FLAC
 
MikeH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Marietta, GA
Vehicle: 2007 Acura RDX
Posts: 1,109
My Photos: (0)
I used plain old 24GA wire from Radio Shack... It's not critical. There's very little current/power in this line.
__________________
MikeH
CarNetix
------------
Helpful info at http://www.carnetix.com
C134, M10000, 40GHDD, XM-PCR, CarNetix P2140, FP
MikeH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-16-2005, 10:07 AM   #14
Low Bitrate
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 109
My Photos: (0)
Sorry for all the questions, but did you end up integrating the button into your dash? Just trying to figure out how I am going to mount it. I see your from marietta, i'm right up the street in alpharetta. ATL
maxipad96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-16-2005, 10:13 AM   #15
FLAC
 
MikeH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Marietta, GA
Vehicle: 2007 Acura RDX
Posts: 1,109
My Photos: (0)
No, I eliminated the pushbutton. The P1900 has a startup/shutdown controller (SSC) built in. This lets the SSC turn ON/OFF the Mac when you turn ON/OFF your ignition. Or you can start/stop the system with an external pulse (ie with a wireless remote car starter or car alarm system). You can wire the ignition is series with a toggle switch so you can take over manual control of the ON/OFF functions if you like. Here's a schematic of how to do this.
__________________
MikeH
CarNetix
------------
Helpful info at http://www.carnetix.com
C134, M10000, 40GHDD, XM-PCR, CarNetix P2140, FP
MikeH is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
My low cost, easy to build power supply... SkinnyBoy Power Supplies 52 09-27-2006 06:10 PM
HELP!! Power Supply wont supply power Saab General Hardware Discussion 3 08-28-2000 09:33 AM
AT power supply questions JustAGuy General Hardware Discussion 4 07-26-2000 04:35 AM
power supply buzzing help thing i found... read if u have noise TimW General Hardware Discussion 2 03-22-2000 03:30 PM
300 watt power inverter problems DaPyro General Hardware Discussion 6 03-10-2000 02:56 PM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:20 AM.


Sponsored Links
The MP3car.com Store

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.1.0
Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Mp3Car.com Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Message Board Statistics