HOW TO:use opus with a laptop......

turbocad6 · 11-01-2005, 06:43 PM

I've thought of doing this for a while & knew it should be simple.... in theory.

I have just finished hooking it up & it works great.... my laptop is now startup with ign, shut down with key off, being controlled by my opus 150 that I have left over from my previous p4 install.

I now have my screen powered off of the opus & all usb periferals & external dvd & 3.5" hard drives.... gps antenna, etc... & I have plenty of power for expansion.

the laptop itself is actually powered by a seperate 20v 3.5a supply.... unless your laptop happens to run at 12v you will need a seperate power supply for the laptop.... but this means that the opus has that much more headroom for expansion....

truth is, it's probably not the cheapest way to do this, & I don't know if it would be worth it to actually go out & buy an opus 150 for your laptop install, but as a startup/shutdown controller & 12v/5v power supply it does fine(the 3.3v is harder to make use off... maybe led's?)

..if you happen to already have a dc-dc atx power supply you can use it with your laptop like this

the trick to using an atx supply like this is to have communication between the laptop board & the power supply.... they call this a handshake between the board & supply.... sounds complicated but it's really simple...

the atx power supply (opus & all others) only give 5v on one wire constant when off...this is a purple wire in the atx mb harness... this is called standby power.....this is not used in this installation

when the ign is turned on the opus waits it's required 10 seconds.... then sends a "pulse" to the motherboard on switch... making a momentary contact..... pressing the power button...... this obviously should be connected to the laptop switch...

at this point the power supply has not powered anything..... no 12v or 5v... only the 5 v standby purple wire has power at this point, which in this install powers nothing..... if the opus doesn't "see" the motherboard power up it will send another "pulse" after 5 sec.'s or so..... & repeat this behavior until the computer tells the opus it turned on or the ign is switched back off

now the trick here is to have the laptop "tell" the opus that it has turned on... when the power supply knows the laptop has turned on it will imediately power up all it's rails.... everything comes up & remains up for the whole cycle..

the way to have the laptop do this is to tap into a usb cable plugged into the laptop... just open up a cable between the laptop & the usb hub... inside all the insulation & ground shield you should find 4 wires.... red, black, green & white....

the black & the red are 5v - & +... these should be tapped & extended out of the harness... then carefully re-wrap & replace sheilding at the splice.... a thin strip of tin foil wrapped to connect the interupted shield does the job here...

this red & black from the usb of the laptop should now be used to trip a 5v relay... this will power up as soon as the laptop responds to the "on pulse" from the opus & turns on..... this relay should be used to connect a ground from the opus togeather with a green wire that is at the main atx mb connection from the opus.... this green wire going to ground is what tells the power supply that the system has powered up... causing the power supply to fully power up.... walla..... done...... simple & effective....

shutdown is the opposite... the opus sends out it's "pulse" then the laptop shuts down.... when the laptop powers down it cuts power at the 5v usb & this in turn ungrounds the green wire of the opus by opening the 5v relay.... the opus then turns off

if my discription is unclear I'll try to clarify this with a diagram.... but I think you can understand what I've tried to explain..... hope this helps someone

the 5v relay can be seen mounted to the opus at the top right

Wiredwrx · 11-01-2005, 07:53 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

I've thought of doing this for a while & knew it should be simple.... in theory.

I have just finished hooking it up & it works great.... my laptop is now startup with ign, shut down with key off, being controlled by my opus 150 that I have left over from my previous p4 install.

I now have my screen powered off of the opus & all usb periferals & external dvd & 3.5" hard drives.... gps antenna, etc... & I have plenty of power for expansion.

the laptop itself is actually powered by a seperate 20v 3.5a supply.... unless your laptop happens to run at 12v you will need a seperate power supply for the laptop.... but this means that the opus has that much more headroom for expansion....

truth is, it's probably not the cheapest way to do this, & I don't know if it would be worth it to actually go out & buy an opus 150 for your laptop install, but as a startup/shutdown controller & 12v/5v power supply it does fine(the 3.3v is harder to make use off... maybe led's?)

..if you happen to already have a dc-dc atx power supply you can use it with your laptop like this

the trick to using an atx supply like this is to have communication between the laptop board & the power supply.... they call this a handshake between the board & supply.... sounds complicated but it's really simple...

the atx power supply (opus & all others) only give 5v on one wire constant when off...this is a purple wire in the atx mb harness... this is called standby power.....this is not used in this installation

when the ign is turned on the opus waits it's required 10 seconds.... then sends a "pulse" to the motherboard on switch... making a momentary contact..... pressing the power button...... this obviously should be connected to the laptop switch...

at this point the power supply has not powered anything..... no 12v or 5v... only the 5 v standby purple wire has power at this point, which in this install powers nothing..... if the opus doesn't "see" the motherboard power up it will send another "pulse" after 5 sec.'s or so..... & repeat this behavior until the computer tells the opus it turned on or the ign is switched back off

now the trick here is to have the laptop "tell" the opus that it has turned on... when the power supply knows the laptop has turned on it will imediately power up all it's rails.... everything comes up & remains up for the whole cycle..

the way to have the laptop do this is to tap into a usb cable plugged into the laptop... just open up a cable between the laptop & the usb hub... inside all the insulation & ground shield you should find 4 wires.... red, black, green & white....

the black & the red are 12v - & +... these should be tapped & extended out of the harness... then carefully re-wrap & replace sheilding at the splice.... a thin strip of tin foil wrapped to connect the interupted shield does the job here...

this red & black from the usb of the laptop should now be used to trip a 5v relay... this will power up as soon as the laptop responds to the "on pulse" from the opus & turns on..... this relay should be used to connect a ground from the opus togeather with a green wire that is at the main atx mb connection from the opus.... this green wire going to ground is what tells the power supply that the system has powered up... causing the power supply to fully power up.... walla..... done...... simple & effective....

shutdown is the opposite... the opus sends out it's "pulse" then the laptop shuts down.... when the laptop powers down it cuts power at the 5v usb & this in turn ungrounds the green wire of the opus by opening the 5v relay.... the opus then turns off

if my discription is unclear I'll try to clarify this with a diagram.... but I think you can understand what I've tried to explain..... hope this helps someone

the 5v relay can be seen mounted to the opus at the top right

Just a quick note, USB is 5 volts, and not 12 volts as you mentioned. Also, the wiring colors are not ALWAYS standard. It would be better to mention to check the wires for power and ground. Also, the spec requires the power positive and negative to be on the outside pins, that would help people locate the power wires.

Michael

kingtut · 11-01-2005, 08:41 PM

Diagram, please.

turbocad6 · 11-01-2005, 09:54 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Wiredwrx

Just a quick note, USB is 5 volts, and not 12 volts as you mentioned. Also, the wiring colors are not ALWAYS standard. It would be better to mention to check the wires for power and ground. Also, the spec requires the power positive and negative to be on the outside pins, that would help people locate the power wires.

Michael

the 12v/5v was a typo... thanks

the color codes really are pretty much standard for atx... I don't think I've ever seen one not follow suit... this is the pinout for an atx mb plug:

1 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
2 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
3 COM Black Ground
4 5V Red +5 VDC
5 COM Black Ground
6 5V Red +5 VDC
7 COM Black Ground
8 PWR_OK Gray Power Ok (+5V & +3.3V is ok)
9 5VSB Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage (max 10mA)
10 12V Yellow +12 VDC
11 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
12 -12V Blue -12 VDC
13 COM Black Ground
14 /PS_ON Green Power Supply On (active low)
15 COM Black Ground
16 COM Black Ground
17 COM Black Ground
18 -5V White -5 VDC
19 5V Red +5 VDC
20 5V Red +5 VDC

as far as the usb cable, I've found every one I ever opened used black & red as 5v power & ground, these wires are usually a heavier gauge than the other two signal wires (usually green & white or blue & white or orange & white) micheal makes a good point though, as it can't hurt to check these with a voltmeter... I sure did just out of habit, but definately worth mentioning

I will try to post a diagram....

bluehcc · 11-01-2005, 10:00 PM

use carnetixP1900 for laptop since it has output for 18,19, and 20 volt

turbocad6 · 11-01-2005, 10:25 PM

I thought of that for my next one, I just got a gateway that needs 19v for a different install...

does the carnetixp1900 do 12v & 5v also?, & how much amperage on each rail??? if it can run the laptop & all accessories that would be pretty cool... this one I did because I already had the opus 150... if the carnetix is atx then it can be done like this too...

turbocad6 · 11-02-2005, 09:07 AM

just confirmed this works just as well for hibernate.... this might be a use for the 5v standby purple wire... to power periferals that don't like to be unpowered during hibernate like gps or sound card... the purple 5v standby power can provide up to 1 amp of current though, this is enough to kill your battery overnight.... use this at your discression...

if you only power the one or two specific items that don't come out of hibernation well & only use 100-150ma you should be fine for anything short of parking the car for a week or more without starting before the battery goes dead... I would check actual draw though.... the opus has protection built in for low voltage but I don't know if that includes the 5v standby...

turbocad6 · 03-25-2006, 01:38 AM

just did an opus with another laptop & learned something else...... the laptop ground (not the car ground or the input ground to the laptop) should be made common with the opus ground for the startup to be reliable...

had no issues with the other one, but this one I needed to ground one of the switch pins.... the atx board usually supplies this ground, & usually one of the on switch wires to the laptop are ground also... connecting & grounding the two togeather should be done.

MikeH · 03-25-2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

does the carnetixp1900 do 12v & 5v also?,

The P1900 can provide +18/19/20V (6.3 amps) on its primary output and +12V or +5V (up to 3 amps) on its secondary output. If you need a 3rd output you can add the P5V regulator (+5V @ 3 amps) inside the P1900. This way you will have +19V for laptop, +12V for screen, and +5V for USB devices, and a startup/shutdown controller for the laptop.

Hope this helps.