My idea for a Laptop Switch for my MKIV Jetta. Can this work?!?

Man Ace · 03-29-2005, 05:52 PM

3/31/05: I ADDED MY LAPTOP SWITCH PICS ON POST #19

First off some background: I am currently in the planning stages of installing my carputer. I am using a laptop as the computer and it will be stored in my trunk. Currently, the only way to turn on my laptop is to press the button and I can't do that from the front seat, so i need a switch. I plan on soldering two wires to my power switch on my laptop and attach them to a mini-jack that will attach to a mini 1/8 plug. The 1/8 mini plug will by coming from a power source form the engine that will turn on the laptop when I switch it on. I dont want to drill a hole in my dash or use some flaky jimmy rigged switch to turn it on. I want to have OEM look.

Now comes in the VW Euroswitch. The euroswitch is the lighting switch that comes in European VW. They Look like this:

Now a position on this euroswtich is for “rear fogs” when turned on it lights up one bulb in the taillights that is suppose to be viewable in fog. It’s a safety precaution. Looks like this:

I don’t plan on using this function for rear fogs. Instead my plan is to use the rear fog position to turn on my laptop. Couldn’t I just run the wire from the 9 pin (which is the slot in the harness that goes to the rear fogs in the taillights) to my laptop?? Here is the normal installation picture of the 9 Pin going to the rear fogs:

Off the top of my head, it seems like it should work. It is just jumping the laptop power on switch when I turn it to rear fogs and doesnt need to be in the position constantly.

My only concerns are the type of electric current that comes from pin 9 on the euroswitch. Is there anything i should be worried about? Is there a default with how many volts/amps are needed to start my laptop?

Could this work or am I just crazy?

Ryanmt · 03-29-2005, 06:47 PM

use a relay that way it just bridges the two laptop wires and you dont need to worry about voltages etc

Man Ace · 03-29-2005, 07:04 PM

true i need a relay i figure. I was just thinking what kind of damage a 12V power source hooked up to my laptop will do... hmm...

any idea what type of relay i need? im clueless

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 11:38 AM

Well I did some investigative work last night. Tore apart my new laptop in search for a place to solder some wires to. I guess they don't make these laptops like they use to.
There are no soldering points on the switch. The switch is a push down switch and is conneected to a circuit board that has a ribbon coming off of it to another board. So that leaves me dead out of luck. I do not want to butcher this laptop as I want to still be able to take it out of the trunk and it look presentable.

Now my next move is to either wait for a USB controller to be released where you can turn the laptop on remotely. There is a function called Wake On Ring that some BIOS have where if the 56k modem gets a ring it will wake up out of standby. Unfortunately though my BIOS doesnt support that function. Basically I am SOL at this point.

I did see someone who used a brake pad from a bike to manually turn on their laptop from the front seat. But I really dont want a bike brake handle just chillin in my cab.

SO what now?

Ryanmt · 03-30-2005, 11:51 AM

Wire up a silinoid to push the button?
Solder the wires to the bottom of the pcb? <-- my choice

Stonewall78 · 03-30-2005, 01:35 PM

If you where to use that switch you would have a constant output where you just need a temp contact to turn the pc on. You could build a circuit that pulses the pc to turn on when it sees a voltage and pulses again to turn it off when you turn the switch off (ie no voltage).
I have my euro switch wirred to my front fogs and the rear fogs are wirred to my angel eyes in my headlights

Scouse Monkey · 03-30-2005, 02:29 PM

See if you have Wakw on Lan in your bios, you amy be able to use that instead.

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 02:31 PM

All this technical ribbish has caused me a headache. At this point I am just going to do the bike brake trick except get an old trunk release and paint it to match the interior.

All this stuff has got me confused and the fact that my switch is a pain in the *** doesnt help.

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 02:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

See if you have Wakw on Lan in your bios, you amy be able to use that instead.

Nope. Don't ahve it. That or Wake On Ring are not accessible with my bios.

Scouse Monkey · 03-30-2005, 04:03 PM

See if you have Wake on Lan in your bios, you amy be able to use that instead.

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

See if you have Wake on Lan in your bios, you amy be able to use that instead.

Nope. Not available either. So basically i am **** out of luck for hoping that would work.

mwh350 · 03-30-2005, 04:18 PM

Man Ace send me a picture of the button that gets pressed on your laptop. On my laptop there were very small spots to solder on by the switch itself. The way that I tested what pins needed the wire was by jumpering the wire across the very small button. You can get access to it it is just a pain in the rear, and scary as heck if you don't know what you are doing. Most laptop power buttons press against a small silver button that is attached to a circuit board. I would expect that it is possible to solder a wire on like what you were thinking, and then use a relay from your fog light wire, and it would work world class!

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 04:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by mwh350

Man Ace send me a picture of the button that gets pressed on your laptop. On my laptop there were very small spots to solder on by the switch itself. The way that I tested what pins needed the wire was by jumpering the wire across the very small button. You can get access to it it is just a pain in the rear, and scary as heck if you don't know what you are doing. Most laptop power buttons press against a small silver button that is attached to a circuit board. I would expect that it is possible to solder a wire on like what you were thinking, and then use a relay from your fog light wire, and it would work world class!

Ok... I put everything back together last night. Unfortunately I couldnt event unscrew the circuit board that the switch was attached too because I didn't have a small hex screw driver? The wierdest lookin screw i ever saw. They must really not want you to remove it!

I will take a pic of my switch and try to reopen the case and snap a pic of the circuit board it is attached to. This whole laptop problem with powering on is a pain in the ***.

Scouse Monkey · 03-30-2005, 05:16 PM

What about getting a docking station or port replicator for your laptop. The IBM ones have power buttons youc an hack into.

Man Ace · 03-30-2005, 06:18 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

What about getting a docking station or port replicator for your laptop. The IBM ones have power buttons youc an hack into.

I tried looking into that, as I am not familiar with port replicators or docking stations and it seemed to me that my laptop didn't have the port in the back that was needed to connect to the station/replicator. I could of looked at the plug on the docking station but my computer wouldn't seem to fit.

I have a Toshiba M35X-S109 Laptop and tried searching specifically for a docking station for that model with no luck. When I get home I'll post a pic of the back of my laptop. Hopefully I am just looking at them wrong, otherwise a docking station would be great!