Car PC troubles

bigbuffs · 03-29-2008, 02:57 PM

OK so I've got my car pc hooked up and running some of the time. The thing is though it is only running about half the time. Here is basically what happens.

Scenario 1: I get in my car and start it. A few seconds later the computer turns on. Then the monitor kicks on and the BIOS screen shows up. Then the screen turns black as if it is starting to load windows. About five seconds later the monitor screen turns blue and says something like no input detected or something like that. The computer stays running the whole time my car does. After I shut the car off the computer shuts like it should.

Scenario 2: The next time I start my car the computer kicks on after a few seconds, this time the BIOS screen does not show up and after about five seconds windows starts in fact it is pretty much completely loaded and the computer runs perfect like it should.

It doesn't always follow this pattern but it typically does. What is going on here. I have tested it outside the car and it runs perfect every time. When I test it outside the car I use an old power supply and rig it up to the PS in the carputer to simulate a car so I don't think it is the power supply but I guess I'm not sure whats going on.

Grrrmachine · 03-29-2008, 06:22 PM

Is it a temperature problem? I had an old 12Gb laptop drive I was using in my car and, garaged overnight, it got cold enough not to spin up properly in the morning, causing the blue screen. Swapped it for a slightly newer drive and all my problems disappeared. If you'e got another drive laying around, check it out.

Caelric · 03-29-2008, 07:04 PM

It sounds like possibly there is something bad in the cable from the PC to the monitor, and when you have the computer in the car, it is pinching or doing something else to the cable.

When you test outside the car, are you suing the same VGA cable that you use in the car?

2k1Toaster · 03-29-2008, 07:12 PM

I bet that its your video drivers. I have the same problem some times recently. Uninstall the video drivers and see if it works normally.

Press F8 when you see the BIOS and select "Boot VGA mode" from the menu. Then go to device manager, uninstall video drivers. Not disable, uninstall.

Then reboot. It should show normall all the way through.

I am trying to find some way of copying over a protected copy of the video driver when windows starts but before the drivers are loaded so that it goes seamlessly, but always has a good non-corrupt copy of the file.

bigbuffs · 03-29-2008, 08:11 PM

I don't think it is a temp problem because it sometimes would sit all night in close to 0 temp and then it would work in the morning. Now its around 40-50 degrees out so that shouldn't be a prob.

The monitor cable is the same when tested and it worked fine. There are no kinks in it either so I pretty sure thats not it.

I didn't see a boot vga mode in the BIOS. The user manual is here but I didn't see it in there. I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to mess with it anymore tonight.

2k1Toaster · 03-29-2008, 08:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by bigbuffs

I don't think it is a temp problem because it sometimes would sit all night in close to 0 temp and then it would work in the morning. Now its around 40-50 degrees out so that shouldn't be a prob.

The monitor cable is the same when tested and it worked fine. There are no kinks in it either so I pretty sure thats not it.

I didn't see a boot vga mode in the BIOS. The user manual is here but I didn't see it in there. I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to mess with it anymore tonight.

No not the BIOS.

While it is posting, you can press F8 to bring up XP starting options. So Safe Mode, Normal Mode, Command Prompt, VGA mode, all that jazz. I usually continually tap the F8 key once the computer RAM test is done just to make sure the command goes through. If you just hold it, it will error the keyboard and not work.

bigbuffs · 03-29-2008, 08:29 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

No not the BIOS.

While it is posting, you can press F8 to bring up XP starting options. So Safe Mode, Normal Mode, Command Prompt, VGA mode, all that jazz. I usually continually tap the F8 key once the computer RAM test is done just to make sure the command goes through. If you just hold it, it will error the keyboard and not work.

Oh I see, I didn't even know that option existed. I'll check it out and see what happens. Do I need to start it that way or can I just uninstall the drivers through a normal startup?

0okami · 03-29-2008, 08:49 PM

are you using XP "Performance edition? " if so get rid of it. Its basicly a hacked up OS with lots of things removed and tweeked to enhance performance... but my experience has been a sour one with it. I had that on my machine, and bootimes kicked up into the 2 minutes sometimes just staying at the black screen with no activity as if waiting for something to finalize before continuing to boot.

the only other thing i can thing are flaky vid drivers or loose cable.

bigbuffs · 03-30-2008, 04:12 PM

no I have xp media center edition

insaneramman · 03-30-2008, 06:10 PM

I would try CCleaner and check the registry for errors. This program is FREE and you can also use Spybot Search and Destroy (also FREE) to check the items that start up when your machine is turned on. Either something is hanging or the comp might be looking for something you might have uninstalled. IF those aren't the prob. I agree with Grrrmachine it could be your drive. Find out who makes it and their web site should offer a diag prog to see if it's healthy or try Speedfan it works on most drives (and it's FREE too). Good Luck.

bigbuffs · 03-30-2008, 06:56 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by insaneramman

I would try CCleaner and check the registry for errors. This program is FREE and you can also use Spybot Search and Destroy (also FREE) to check the items that start up when your machine is turned on. Either something is hanging or the comp might be looking for something you might have uninstalled. IF those aren't the prob. I agree with Grrrmachine it could be your drive. Find out who makes it and their web site should offer a diag prog to see if it's healthy or try Speedfan it works on most drives (and it's FREE too). Good Luck.

I have speedfan and the drive seems to be fine. It's status and health are good. The drive is a Toshiba 120GB drive.

I haven't had a chance to mess with it anymore but tomorrow I should have time so I'll get those two programs you suggested and see what happens.

bigbuffs · 03-31-2008, 11:46 AM

Well I uninstalled the display driver and now it seems to be working fine. I ran it through a few startups and its started perfect every time. I'll have to keep testing it but it looks like that might have fixed it.