New Member Dodge Ram 3500 install with questions...

IssaquahWA1979 · 10-09-2009, 04:40 PM

Hi guys I am not at all new to computers or vehicles just the melding of the two :-) So for now I have a very small budget as in what I have is what I am using.... For the PC I will be running a Dell Poweredge 860 Duo Core server running XP Pro. (chassis is slim enough to fit behind rear seat without modifications)

For power right now I will run it off my 800w inverter as the average wattage draw on 110vac is only 140 watts :-) The only main and significant draw back is that the server does not support power management so its either on or off but fortunately it boots very quickly. I am not sure yet how to do the on/off other than making a circuit that will tie into the power switch and let windows do its own shutdown possibly do something through the ups feature but not sure any ideas are welcome.

My intent is to sell my stock factory nav unit so that I can purchase a high quality monitor around the 10" size and I will go headless for the sound system I figure if I can sell the nav unit on e-bay for $500 which appears doable then I can buy the monitor and amps as well as USB interface for the steering wheel controls, cables etc.

I think I am going to run Ride Runner for the front end although the phone interconnection is confusing to me. It seems as though phoco is included but yet nowhere to do anything with it? Eventually I will install an obdII interface, front and rear cameras and who knows what else. Any ideas are most welcomed.

DarquePervert · 10-09-2009, 06:24 PM

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/advfaq.php

IssaquahWA1979 · 10-09-2009, 06:28 PM

WOW ok so that does me no good on many points, I am simply looking for some ideas and suggestions I have searched for a long time and not found what I was looking for.

DarquePervert · 10-09-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by IssaquahWA1979

WOW ok so that does me no good on many points

It will. Keep the link handy.

Quote:

, I am simply looking for some ideas and suggestions I have searched for a long time and not found what I was looking for.

Ideas & inspiration: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show-off-your-project/

IssaquahWA1979 · 10-09-2009, 06:37 PM

thanks sorry if that came across wrong I think I just did not convey what I was after. I found a lot of the basic info I needed at the beginning from the FAQ now that I am actually decided on some things I am just looking for input on the details. Thanks for the link.

DarquePervert · 10-10-2009, 06:39 AM

No worries, man.
With as much as a prick as I am to people, I have to be able to take it when it comes back my way.
I know that the FAQs have answers to some of your queries, but not all. Some of the details you seek will require you to make some decisions, though.

And everyone here will suggest that you lose the inverter for the PC. A DC-DC PSU are simpler, more efficient, and don't generate as much heat. As far as most PCs go they are pretty much a drop-in replacement.

If you haven't installed already, I suggest you plan the whole thing out in advance, even before buying pieces & parts & bits. Ask for advice, recommendations, suggestions, and so on. Plan it out to the wiring, nut, bolt and even the locations of everything.
A solid plan can only make the project go smoother.

kross · 10-10-2009, 03:32 PM

As much as I like the Dell PowerEdge servers, I would never use one as a car PC, for several reasons:

1. They are loud. Those fans make a lot of noise.
2. They are big. Yeah they're only 1U tall, but they are wide and deep.
3. They draw too much power. "Only" 140 watts you say? My system with a dual-core 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon draws about 50 watts. Dual-core Atom systems will draw about half that. (Not including external devices like monitor, etc).
4. No suspend. I like suspend. I don't like cold booting every time. Hibernate wasn't much better for me, either.
5. Difficult to replace the PSU with a DC-DC PSU with integrated startup/shutdown controller. So you're stuck using an inverter and a seperate startup/shutdown controller, which you will have to somehow wire into the computer.
6. No onboard sound. Many newer motherboards with HD Audio actually have pretty good sound quality, so an add-on sound card wouldn't be necessary.

I say put that computer into a data center somewhere, and rent out web space on it. Put that thing to work! Or sell it and buy a computer that is more suited to a car PC, such as one of the pre-built systems from MoCoSo (around $400), such as this one: http://mo-co-so.com/cart/products/Co...puter-9-5.html

-- Kevin

IssaquahWA1979 · 10-12-2009, 05:13 PM

Kevin thanks for the input but I did try to sell it with no success for $400 for over a month.

The sound card does not bother me as I have a USB sound card as of this afternoon.

The power management has been worked out using hibernate which actually appears to be working fine. Considering I have 3 batteries on the truck for now I am not going to worry about a 15amp load on them.

I don't see any problem switching the supply to DC down the road?

As for noise under the seat its muffled pretty well and the fans only run at full speed when its hot which has not been all that much; plus I have a diesel so not the quietest vehicle to begin with.

As for size it actually works out well under the seat it has the drives (2) dvd and all built into it and still leaves me room for storage under it. Plus being a heavy chassis I don't worry about things denting it etc.

The on/off was easy just soldered a lead onto the front panel switch :-)

IssaquahWA1979 · 10-12-2009, 05:39 PM

My other option would be to use an old Shuttle pc that I have the down side is that its only a 1.7g AMD. If anyone has an opinion on the performance aspect I am all ears.... And for the record it draws 124 watts so no big power advantage; and thats without a CPU fan and lacking one drive....

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