Headunit (Linux/Windows CarPC frontend) + initial screenshots - Page 19

NoPistonPC · 06-11-2005, 08:29 PM

Take a look at this thread for more on GPS/Wine: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...highlight=wine

Thanks again to Yonen for continuing work on Headunit.

Also, please submit bugs directly to the headunit project page on sourceforge (instead of in this thread). Just go to http://sf.net/projects/headunit and click on the "Tracker" link on top. It will make it much easier to organize things.

forevertheuni · 06-12-2005, 12:16 AM

...that's destinator 2 right?i've done it already

..but /dev/ttyS0 wasn't working to COM1....
It always said..device busy...I was saying destinator 3..how to set it up..

....(map monkey would be good)

RoyN · 06-12-2005, 09:52 PM

NoPiston or someone else, is XCar Project dead? I'd like to read more about it... is there a working link? (Thepreviously linked site is no-worky

)

NoPistonPC · 06-13-2005, 02:57 AM

I believe that xcar has been put on indefinite hold, but you should ask hijinks since he is in charge of it.

kbyrd · 08-11-2005, 04:36 PM

What's the status here? I'd like a Linux solution for my carPC. I don't want a whole distro, I really just want a front end. headunit (what's xcar), looks good but appears dead.

Can someone give me the rundown on the Linux options. I know about the Linux Frontends thread what I mean is, is headunit alive? Do people like pyCar on Linux? (I still haven't gotten it to work, etc.), I read some MythTV users. What's that like? I don't like dashPC's way of just using xmms and such.

I'm asking all these questions because I'm happy to throw my coding energy into a project, I'm sure I could come up to speed quickly. I also really want an in car solution sooner rather than later so I'd rather not build a project from scratch or join in a dead/dying project.

NoPistonPC · 08-12-2005, 04:24 AM

kbyrd,

several members have offered to bring headunit back to life, but no one has really followed up on it. i hate being one of those people that leave something half finished, but other priorities in my life have kept me from finishing what i've started. however, i can still help out anyone that is serious about continuing where headunit left off. also, feel free to completely change the design of the software. at the least, the source code provides good examples of how you can integrate xine or directshow (for a cross-platform solution) into your frontend. i, like many other here, just want to see a stable, working frontend for linux. i tried my best, but fell a bit short of my goal (mostly from lack of time). also, talk to jbors as well. his pycar frontend is very stable and is an alternative solution to the bloated X-Windows/Qt solution that headunit is. he has been pushing a lightweight, framebuffer based solution, that I completely agree with. also, he is working on native GPS software that doesn't require wine or X-windows.

i know you mentioned that you wouldn't want a complete distro, but i feel that that would be the best way to get non-linux users to use a linux-based frontend. take a look at geexbox (http://geexbox.org) . it is a good example of what you can achieve with a specialized distro.

btw, mythtv wouldn't really work as a carpc frontend. it is too much of a PVR solution and waaaay too bloated (Qt is pre-req and the UI doesn't really work well with a touchscreen). and don't get me wrong, i've been using mythtv for over a year to drive my home theater, but it just wouldn't fly as a carpc solution.

kbyrd · 08-12-2005, 09:20 AM

I understand other priorities. Please don't think I'm bashing you in anyway, you at least have written something, I'm just a whiny user (ask jbors). I went into the carpc project thinking I could tinker a bit but at least be able to leverage someone else's front end and have something nice installed before resorting to diving into code (I have other time sinks too).

As for MythTV, it was my impression that a few forum members had made skins that made it very workable for touchscreens in a car environment, I need to re-find those threads.

Finally, about the distro. It's an interesting project and all, but I'm not sure converting Windows users should really be a goal. Why do you want "non-Windows users to use a Linux front end"? Now, if this distro provided some concrete advantages over and XP based solution (boot time, stability, resource usage, etc.) then that's a goal. But, it has to be compelling enough on it's own not just because "it runs Linux".

I guess my motivation for a carpc distro would be sort of like an n-lite'd XP, together we can collectively figure out what to stip out to make it lean and mean.

Hmmm, what to do, what to do... Maybe I'll go back to Windows just to see everything work, then tinker with a Linux partion or run Linux under VMware.

NoPistonPC · 08-14-2005, 03:54 AM

> Please don't think I'm bashing you in anyway

Not at all...

> As for MythTV, it was my impression that a few forum members had made skins that made it very workable for touchscreens in a car environment, I need to re-find those threads.

That's true, it is easy to re-skin. I didn't realize others here have been using MythTV successfully. That's good stuff.

> Finally, about the distro. It's an interesting project and all, but I'm not sure converting Windows users should really be a goal. Why do you want "non-Windows users to use a Linux front end"?

You're right, its not about getting windows users to convert. That was a poor choice of words on my part. It's about getting windows AND linux users to convert to a linux frontend. Right now, even linux users who know what they're doing don't want to use linux carpc software because it is too much of a pain to install/compile dependencies, figure out how to optimize startup scripts, determine which programs in their current distro can be removed to save space, figure out how to do things like suspend to disk at a push of a button, setup all the drivers for popular CarPC hardware, etc. It's not just about getting the frontend to run, it's about getting it to run fast and reliably with the minimal use of resources (which is the reason to use Linux in the first place). A distro can accomplish most of these goals and save the end user (both windows and linux users) the hassle of figuring all this out for themselves.

> Hmmm, what to do, what to do... Maybe I'll go back to Windows just to see everything work, then tinker with a Linux partion or run Linux under VMware.

Sounds like the right thing to do. Anyway, let me know if you ever do decide to externd headunit. I may be able to help here and there. Good luck with your setup!

Yonen_ · 08-18-2005, 04:55 PM

NoPistonPC, I was just wondering if you had time to look at the changes I made?

--Yonen

toxic_d · 09-02-2005, 07:50 AM

Yonen_

are you resurrecting thes project? NopistonPC great work... I would love to see this moving again as I am finally getting ready to do this. I have an 85 RX7 and would like to stick with a linux based solution.

Thanks

Toxic_d

Yonen_ · 09-04-2005, 05:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by toxic_d

Yonen_

are you resurrecting thes project? NopistonPC great work... I would love to see this moving again as I am finally getting ready to do this. I have an 85 RX7 and would like to stick with a linux based solution.

Thanks

Toxic_d

well resurrecting is a big word.... I did do some work on it. If you know how to get the CVS version, you can see the changes I made. It's not much, mainly just a skin changer and some panels load faster. I don't have much money to work on a Car PC system right now so I'm not too involved in this project at the moment.

I'd like to see a version 0.4 out soon so that it shows that it is going forward(slowly) but I don't have access to create files.

--

Syridian · 10-06-2005, 01:25 AM

Ok... So from what I have read in this thread, and through other forums, there's isn't actually a specific CarPC Linux distro... Is this right?

The reason I ask, is I am one of those numerous Windows users who would like to use Linux in my CarPC, but cannot find a simple solution to easily get me going so that I might learn more by tinkering.

I learnt what little Win PC skills I have by trial and error, with the simple knowledge that if I stuffed it, I could easily reinstall.

However everything that I have read on here seems to inticate thats not so easy with linux.

Anyway... If anyone knows of a Distro, or even a tutorial on getting a Linux Car PC up and running, could they please let me know.

millec · 10-06-2005, 01:39 AM

That is basically correct.

If you are learning Linux, this isn't the place to start. A carpc will require a custom installation of Linux, strange device drivers (touch screen drivers), enabling hibernation (or tuning the boot process a lot), etc. Maybe start with a mainstream linux distribution on common desktop hardware. Learn how to modify that, and then decide if you want to move onto the carpc environment.

I don't want to be discouraging, I just don't want you to have a discouraging first experience.

pRoFiT · 10-06-2005, 02:21 AM

Yah linux isn't easy. I also was wondering about a linux front end. Syridian, Maybe you could download mandrake or another downloadable copy of linux and play with it first. Windows is much easier to mess with though. I should install my copy of mandrake 10.0 but im lazzy

MrPotatoes · 11-06-2005, 09:59 AM

need ipod libraries...

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