lacning74

2007 Mini Cooper Project List

Hardware (shipping included):
Asus EEE 1000h 160g laptop ($450)
Carnetix 2140 PSU ($130)
2008 Lilliput 629 Touchscreen ($250)
USG-BU353 GPS Receiver ($37)
L-com Low Profile Right Angle VGA Adapter ($18)
RadioShack Headphone Volume Control cable for power switch mod ($9)
XM PCR Satellite Radio ($44)
Left angle side-exit USB cable ($21)
Kensington 7-Port powered USB Hub ($33)
Power Acoustik CCD-5XS stealth back-up cam ($130)
Radio Shack Ground Loop Isolator ($18)
Mimo 710 USB Monitor ($130)
Elm327 USB OBDII ($60)

Prior hardware from dashcam/back-up cam install:
1/4" CCD Sharp Mini Camera ($35)
High-gain surveillance mic ($15)
Portable DVR ($165)

Fabrication:
Spare center console piece ($50)
Mighty Putty ($10)
Primer/SEM Trim Black spray paint ($20)

Software:
Windows XP home (included with laptop)
Roadrunner (free + donation)
DigitalFX 4.0 (free + donation)
ShutControl (free + donation)
PdaNet ($35)
Garmin Mobile PC ($55)

Future considerations:
USB OBDII interface
USB 4-channel digital video recorder

Updated pics:

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lacning74

Check the thread of my newbie quick and dirty fabrication process for more pictures and details. It's a rough imitation of the masters like Turbocad and Nexson. I'm still shocked that everything fit in that crammed space.

lacning74

I've removed the screen from the laptop. What is left dangling in the picture is the wifi antenna. It fits perfectly in my glovebox. It's like a computer disguised as a keyboard/trackpad. I will need a right-angle vga adapter, though.



I plan to solder W3bMa5t3r's auto-on module to the power switch. Never soldered before, and I'm scared.

Injector

quick tip use a low wattage soldering iron, you don't want to burn the board, place the wire you want to solder ontop of the board, place the iron ontop of the wire, you basically want the heat to flow down the wire to heat up the existing flux on the board, if you're not confortable doing this, you can use hot glue.

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Scion CarPC

Bluetooth Audio Gateway Tutorial

How to speed up boot with buried features in msconfig

lacning74

thanks for the tips! using the existing flux sounds like something i'm comfortable doing. i had nightmare, of spilling solder everywhere like the Terminator. what's low wattage? 15W? 30W? Will this battery powered device work? I got it a while ago for another project but never used it.

Injector

15 watts should be enough.

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Scion CarPC

Bluetooth Audio Gateway Tutorial

How to speed up boot with buried features in msconfig

lacning74

For a preview, here's a pic with my modded lidless eee pc in the glovebox. It's not secured yet and can't quite fit-in until I get a right-angle VGA adapter. The glovebox light is handy to see the keyboard. I dremeled the back left bottom corner of my glovebox to pass the cables. There's also a convenient cool air vent in the glovebox meant for drinks but will help chill my eee pc.



I've been playing around with windows xp, roadrunner, and various skins. Haven't owned a pc for over 5 years, and I'm not enjoying the software as much as the hardware install.

lacning74

A few thoughts in retrospect, I should have gotten the Asus 900HA 160gb. It's cheaper at $329 (Amazon). I would have saved over a $100 and it would have fit better in my glovebox. I don't need built-in bluetooth, and the smaller screen wouldn't matter since I removed it anyway.

For now, I'm cleaning up my mp3s and trying to get DigitalFx 4.0 tweaked properly.

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lacning74

I got DigitalFX 4.0 working pretty well with my embedded art MP3s fixed by Fixtunes. I needed to install a new version of Mp3Art.dll found in this thread. I put it in the roadrunner main directory, registered it, and put "X,Mp3Art" into the menu.skin file directly below the "INC,Plugins.txt" line.

I've not been able to get a response from W3bMa5t3r regarding his laptop auto power-on module. I couldn't wait, so I ordered this $10 528T Pulse Timer with SPDT Relay online. I already had a $9 RadioShack headphone in-line volume device that I rook apart. I'm going to solder the jack line to my laptop's power switch and connect the plug line to the 528T Timer SPDT Relay. Think it will work?

lacning74

I soldered the headphone jack plug to the power switch. It wasn't pretty. I haven't had time to get a real soldering iron so I thought I'd give my never-used battery powered solder iron a try. It was too weak to properly tin and conduct heat through the wire like I saw in the youtube vids. It works for now. Kinda of magical starting the laptop via the headphone jack wires.

lacning74

I took a short cellphone video of my system so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JLf9WTsROM

lacning74

PdaNet rocks for using your compatible cellphone (mine is a Treo Centro) to connect your carputer to the internet. Just start the program on your PDA, and the computer automatically detects and connects. Even more convenient, I have the hotsync button programmed to start PdaNet. The connection is not bad at all.

I'm thinking of installing a docking device for my PDA in the cupholder. That way, the screen is also easily seen while driving. Otherwise, I will just run the sync usb cable to the handbrake console. I don't have an armrest.

lacning74

Some comments on the RJ45 loopback wake-on LAN idea as mentioned by others. I took an old RJ45 cable and twisted wires 1-3 and 2-6 together.



I made sure the windows XP settings of my LAN card was activated for wake-on lan. The BIOS menu also had an option for wake-on LAN that I turned-on.

Well, it works, kind of. The computer must have shut-down or hibernated with power adapter on, and the power adapter also has to connected without interruption while the computer is shut-down or hibernated. Since I don't want my power adapter on draining my battery, this option became a wild-goose chase. Also, I have my computer to automatically go to hibernate after a few minutes without power from my car adapter that is hardwired to an ignition only fuse.

To bad because it would have been easier than soldering the power button leads directly as I showed in the earlier post. An ideal carputer laptop would be one with a BIOS that can automatically turn-on when it detects power. Unfortunately, I don't think many laptops have this option.

lacning74

First remove the battery and power. Then remove all the screws on the bottom as show by the red circle in the picture below:



Then remove the keyboard by pressing on the tabs around the edges starting at the top. Here's one tab location:



Then snap out the keyboard and remove it's ribbon connection along the bottom:



Then remove the screws in the tabs holding the metal plate like the one underneath the yellow sticker that says warranty voided if opened.



Before you can remove the metal plate/plastic body top, you will have to detach the connections labeled with the stars below:



Remove the metal plate/plastic body top snapping it out around the sides, and then the circuit board is exposed.



To remove the screen bezel cover, remove the screws around the perimeter like the one pictured. They are covered by a rubber plug.



Then you can snap of the bezel and expose the lid contents:



From here, I disconnected all connections from the screen and other components in the lid such as the microphone and camera.





I detached the wifi antenna as pictured below to preserve it and the wiring that goes down the side to underneath the circuitboard. It is just taped in.



Then I removed the hinge screws as seen in the pictures above. I soldered the power switch as seen in the prior post. I then reassembled everything without the lid/screen of course. Now I have a tiny computer disguised as a keyboard.

TruckinMP3

nice install and write up.
Thanks for sharing.

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TruckinMP3
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