2006 Scion tC Laptop Install - Page 2

Serialk1llr · 06-05-2007, 12:10 PM

Sorry for the late late reply, my desktop computer suffered a self-destruct for no reason event and I've been playing cleanup..

I believe i have my + and - running from the Carnetix PSU to the hacked off end of the power plug from my power brick (the end that goes into the laptop) At least for me I have not had any of the charging issues that I assumed would happen.

bangumandoo · 06-07-2007, 06:25 PM

yeah thats what i was thinking too but when i hacked off my end there were 3 layers of wiring. i have a pic in my thread here:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/powe...ng-laptop.html

also is a relay required to start the laptop or is that an option? what kind of relay did you use?

Serialk1llr · 06-20-2007, 01:04 PM

Update:

I FINALLY updated my BIOS (original version, A01) to the latest A32.

Didn't do a thing for my display problem.

Still working on getting drivers from a forum member that seemed to fix his problem.

Serialk1llr · 06-20-2007, 01:13 PM

Oh yeah, also forgot to mention

The plugs connecting my power button to the relay came loose and I've yet to figure out whi I can't get them to function after replacement. SOMETHING there is messed up enough that the signal coming from the relay to the connectors isn't happening. I';ve tested the replacement ends with a copper wire the complete the circut and that works FINE.

Curses! Spent $5 on Radiohack stuff only to have the new, better plug, still not work

Maybe I'll put in a momentary on/off button and turn the computer on/off manually.

Suggestions?

sexy6s · 07-18-2007, 08:18 PM

any luck fixing the power button/relay issue? Wanted to get my pc hooked up this weekend as well....love the set up!

Serialk1llr · 07-19-2007, 07:18 AM

Not yet. The guy who helped me install it thinks maybe i just need to set that momentary pulse to a longer time.

in the mean time i've wired in a push button switch to get me by.

Also, after the bios update and during all this headach, my laptop seems to not want to hibernate. its fine when its out of the car, but when its in car its a whole different animal :scratch head"

we're going to tackle this problem hopefully in the next week or so.

Serialk1llr · 08-02-2007, 01:45 PM

So After much pondering here are the symptoms and order of events.

1) Carputer working just fine.
2) Removed from car (typical as I have it set up for easy removal)
3) Updated BIOS from A01 to A22 to A32 (as per Dell's instructions)
4) Carputer put back into car
5) auto startup/shutdown no longer functions
6) Hibernate no longer functions while in car (works just fine when powered by the brick)
7) power switch wired to allow for full startup/shutdown
8) troubleshooting reviles hibernate works fine when plugged in like normal laptop, but when plugged in car setup, no dice.

This really fries my noodle.

I'm thinking I should do a format/wipe and revert to original A01 Bios when I know everything worked fine.

ANY ideas from the peanut gallery?

Serialk1llr · 08-03-2007, 11:33 AM

Did a little more troubleshooting today.

Instead of getting the power from the Carnetix, I plugged the brick into a power inverter and ran power from the brick as if I were at home in my living room.

STILL won't hibernate. I am completely at a loss for words for now.

What...the...crap?!?!

sexy6s · 08-03-2007, 11:49 AM

wow..wtf...this is such a pain in the arse man...but when you plug it directly into the house 120 outlet it hibertates fine? REALLYYYYYYYYYYY strange....

Serialk1llr · 08-05-2007, 12:15 PM

I know! I mean, totally bizarre problem. Well, today, I'm going to try and revert back to the original BIOS and wipe the damn computer clean with a format and see what happens.

sexy6s · 08-05-2007, 04:36 PM

Damn it i hate to do that..but atleast it'll be clean hopefully that'll fix the problem...good luck dude.

Serialk1llr · 08-06-2007, 12:14 PM

Update:
flashed BIOS to A22

no dice.

I cannot seem to find ANY A00 or A01 BIOS's in .iso form (laptop doesn't have a disk drive, so i need to boot from a CD)

Dell ONLY has the self-extracting .exe's to put on 3.5 disks. BLAST IT ALL TO HELL!

Any help finding this I would love, I've combed the interweb to no avail.

sexy6s · 08-06-2007, 12:36 PM

“If you are using Linux on an Inspiron 1100/5100 and you have the Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics chipset (845G chipset), do not upgrade to vesion A22. It has been reported that once you upgrade from A06 to A22, Linux will not see more than 1 MB of shared video RAM. If you have the 16 MB ATI Video care, you will not be affected by this. This is Dell's official response:

‘Unfortunately, because of the nature of the upgrade from A06 to A22, it is not possible downgrade. This is normal, and is not a glitch. The heart of the issue is that the A22 revision is a totally different format of BIOS than the previous version. So A22 was specially designed to make that change in the old BIOS and it is not currently a reversible process.’

As a note, the BIOS Version A06 is a Phoenix BIOS and A22 is a Dell BIOS.”

i found this while trying to look for the original bios...dont know if there's any truth to this...
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=510324

Serialk1llr · 08-08-2007, 09:54 AM

Thanks sexy6s,

I am running windowsXP for now, so the Linux is no worries. I also found out similar info as you found the past couple days. it looks like I can't downgrade past A22, and I doubt I can find a Phoeenix bios anywhere online.....

I did find however a thread here on MP3Car located HERE, that looks promising....

Serialk1llr · 08-10-2007, 10:02 AM

Update 8/10.07
I think we have success!!!!

After reinstalling everything (software after a format/clean wipe) I had a successful hibernate/resume on my car today with my wired power switch.

Now we test it on the original wiring and see what happens.!

Woohoo, thank god for the internet and MP3car.com!, the single greatest website ever.