2009 scion xb mac mini

scatebase · 12-26-2008, 12:34 PM

I just ordered all the parts and I will be updating this thread with details on my install. Here is the list of parts:

Mac mini refurb - $499
Apple bluetooth keyboard refurb - $69
Carnetix P1900 - $99
Carnetix P5V - $24
MacPac wiring - $29
Griffin Powermate - $45
Pac SWI-X steering wheel interface - $74
Scion wiring harness and dash kit - $22
Mulit amp wiring kit - $119
2 JL audio remote volume controls - $119
Bybyte DoubleDin frame w/ liliput 701 - $262
Alpine PDX-5 5 channel amp - $399
H-squared mini shelf - $49

scatebase · 12-26-2008, 01:06 PM

Here's the current plan

scatebase · 12-26-2008, 04:58 PM

I made some card board cut-outs the same size of the amp and the mini. I didn't have as much room under the seats as I had originally thought. I think it will still work, but an under seat sub might not be easy as I thought. I also took out the stock head unit, and there is a ton of space in the dash for all the little parts.
I will hopefully get pictures up soon.

scatebase · 12-27-2008, 04:29 PM

OK, I got some photos with the stock HU out, and with my cardboard cut outs in place.
I love how easily this car comes apart. It literally takes me less than 5 min to get the HU out.

Stock HU:

The bezel just pulls straight off:

Perfect for a 7" touchscreen:

Its hard to tell, but there is a ton of room right here:

I'm thinking about putting the powermate on the silver below the shifter:

and mounting some components inside the console below the silver area:

This is the factory ipod connection, I will hopefully have the JL volume knobs replace those connections:

This is my beautiful cardboard placeholder:

I'm a little concerned about the heater duct, but I think it will be ok:

When the seat is in place, its barely noticeable:

The mini will mount close to the front of the seat so I can easily insert discs:

I'm pretty sure it will be out of site and out of the way:

You can kinda see both in relation to each other. The mini is up higher and should allow for plenty of air flow:

I will get the mini and the screen next week, but a lot of the parts won't be in until the week of the 5th because of the holidays. I'm really excited and I can't wait.

scatebase · 12-27-2008, 05:41 PM

This is the list of software that I plan to use on my mac mini, some of them have overlapping features, but after a while I will hopefully find which ones work best in my car.

ICE3 - a front end with a bright looking future
Neon boombox - another front end with a good UI and bright future
roadnav - open source GPS software, looks like it may support touch
Routebuddy - GPS software, may not support touch, but graphics look good
cursorcerer - Basic utility to easily hide/show the cursor
iTunes - how could I leave it out, plus fullscreen looks so good
frontrow - I probably wont use this much, but its always an option
BluePhoneElite - Bluetooth handsfree software, finally working on iphone
Spaces - built in to OSX to switch between virtual desktops
Hear - cool graphic equalizer
last.fm - internet radio, but the GUI will be hard to use in car.

Let me know what you guys think. Any recommendations?

TTeuer · 12-29-2008, 02:39 AM

Nice, I personally use Front Row for my UI. I mapped my Powermate to control Front Row with the use of Griffin's Proxi software. For GPS I use iGuidance in Windows though. Everything on the Mac absolutely sucks. I haven't found any good UI on the Mac either (sorry to knock on any developers on here). None of them are very touch screen friendly, are ugly, and not intuitive to use - and feel like unpolished, unfinished, open source software. I just took a look at Ice3 though... that is looking nice! (I've been absent from this site since June - things are changing for the better!

)

Btw, Routebuddy is more of a mapping software, from what I remember, rather than a true navigation software.

Looks good though, I'll be keeping track of the progress!

scatebase · 12-29-2008, 02:52 AM

Thanks TTeuer. I know the software choices are very limited right now, but I think I will be happy. As long as music and bluetooth hands-free work well consistently I will be ok. If GPS is a little buggy, I can deal with it.
I still have hope for the maccar platform!

TTeuer · 12-29-2008, 02:56 AM

Let me know how Bluephone works for you too. I've never been able to get it to work with my iPhone. Well, I did once - and then it never worked again, caused the Mini to kernel panic, and so on. It would be nice to have hands free though. I always forget to charge my Bluetooth headset.

scatebase · 12-29-2008, 03:07 AM

I used it all the time with my old phone(nokia N75), especially for SMS. I just recently have been able to use it with my iphone(no SMS). The guys working on that software are awesome. I spent 3 or 4 days sending e-mails back and forth and they worked with me as if I was their only customer. Just the other day I got a beta version that allows iphone to work almost perfectly. The software has great features and is very extensible. I can't wait to use it in my car.

TTeuer · 12-29-2008, 03:14 AM

Nice, glad to hear it. I just redownloaded the current version and got it working with my iPhone, only the Talk-Thru feature as expected though. Any word on when that beta will be available? It's a little limited now. Apple is great, but I really don't understand some of the things they do - such as crippling the iPhone's bluetooth capabilities so they're nearly non-existent.

scatebase · 12-29-2008, 03:22 AM

Yeah, Its a little frustrating. I read that decent bluetooth support is difficult to do well, that's why android G1 just added bluetooth last week. hopefully apple will fix it in a update soon.

In the preferences for BPE you can tell it to download updates for pre-releases.

TTeuer · 12-29-2008, 03:58 AM

Nice! I had a lot of trouble getting everything setup again in the beta, but eventually got it. It was kind of buggy, was unable to reroute the audio once, worked fine after - but the phonebook and power/signal levels is nice! Now if only SMS and proper dialing could go through... Thanks for the tip on the updates.

scatebase · 12-30-2008, 05:13 PM

I found these in a thread the other day. I'm going to try to use one of those to put a usb port on my dash. It will be nice to have a place where i can plug in a flash drive or wired mouse or keyboard.

scatebase · 12-31-2008, 01:02 AM

I got the mini, the screen, and some wiring in today. I temporarily mounted the screen in the dash, but the bracket is a little too big and I need to figure out how to modify it to fit flush. It looks alright but the bezel isn't completely flush.

I also ran some wires from under the seat to the monitor. It all works, but the P1900 power supply won't come in until next week. I tried using an inverter I had, but it's only 90w versus the mini's need for 110w. I'm going to borrow a more powerful inverter from a friend tomorrow, and the amp will come in, so I should get the mini up and running soon.

I have been installing software and configuring settings on the mini and will hopefully get some pictures up soon.

scatebase · 01-01-2009, 06:15 PM

WOW! That went a lot faster than I expected!

I have most of the install done, and im typing this from my car. Everything seemed to go in pretty good.

I am still waiting on my P1900 to come in, so I'm temporarily using an inverter. It powers the computer well, but it is causing a buzz in the audio. If I plug the mini into my house ac power, the buzz is gone, so I hope the P1900 will fix that.

My screen looks and works good, but it sees the signal as 640x480, even though it is really 800x480. I might play with displayconfigx a little more and see if I can get it perfect.

Hopefully I will get some pictures up soon. It's hard to take pictures when actually doing the install.

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