2003 Ford Expedition XLT - Work Log

**jarubio** · 05-01-2007, 11:39 AM

Well, I have restarted my carputer project that I started about two years ago and came to a stop due to a little of laziness and also I may have moved to Australia due to my Job. The move never happen and I forgot about my project until a few days ago when my wife asked me to clean up my office. It’s a mess, trust me. I found my Lilliput 7” screen and my old carputer case that I built from Plexiglas. Everything was still attached to it.
This time I have decided to use an old Dell Optiplex GX 260 SFF that I have in my house that I’m not using, it was just collecting dust. My plan is to place it under the passenger seat. I have already tried this out. It barely fit. I will power it using an inverter. The box has a CDRW/DVD, so that will take care of me watching movies. I plan to use the onboard audio for the moment and connect it to my Sony Stereo.

This is what I have done so far on the project:
•Replaced 80GB HDD with 120GB HDD
•Added eGeForce 6200LE 128MB low profile AGP video card
•Installed Win XP MCE 2005
•Transferred some photos, videos and music
•Created some playlists

I’m hoping I can start some installation later today or during the week. I don’t plan installing the monitor on my dash board for the moment. There is a possibility I may sell my truck. Gas prices are killing me. I will post some pictures as I go along.

**jarubio** · 05-02-2007, 09:40 AM

Well, I was only able to decide where I will be placing my monitor. I did not have any time yesterday to do any further installation. My wife was not felling well, so I had to take care of my 17 month old daughter. Here are a few pics. Sorry for the quality of the pics, I used my cell phone to take the pics.

**jarubio** · 05-02-2007, 11:29 PM

Well, another day has gone by and I was able to advance the project a little bit more. Today I slid the computer under the passenger’s seat and crudely ran the wires. It is not much to look at, but it’s functional. Win XP MCE is working well, it sounds decent. I’m using the onboard audio card. Later I may use a USB audio card. I tested a DVD and some videos on the HD. And tested out the GPS. The system worked.

Next steps:
- Buy a USB extension cable to get the touch screen working
- Find wireless KB and mouse in my so called office/pig stall
- Figure out where to install a USB hub without drilling holes
- Figure out a way to relocate the power button on the computer (I will need tips on this, I will go in to details further in the post)
- Buy and install a wireless card
- Buy and install a USB FM radio??????...........I don’t know about this one. I can use my car’s stereo for this, but if use MCE, I can rewind if I miss something. Something to ponder about. Can I get you guys to comment on this?
- Buy and install a reverse view camera. If I do this, that means I will have to drill a hole. My wife already said no because we will be selling the truck soon…….mmmmmmm another thing to ponder. Should I or shouldn’t I.
-Buy and install Bluetooth. This will be possibly used to talk on to a Bluetooth headset for chatting or making calls with Skype as well as giving commands via voice. Also for transferring files from one Bluetooth device to another.

I think that is it for the moment concerning next steps. Now here is my question. How do I relocate the power button of the computer. Hopefully I can explain my dilemma.
The power button on my computer (Dell Optiplex GX260) is on a small circuit board. The circuit board also has the light for the HD activity as well as the light for the power button. The circuit board is connected to the motherboard via a ribbon cable. In the end of the ribbon cable there is a small connector. This connector is similar to an IDE connector. I hope my explanation makes sense. These are the different options that I have thought of so far.

a) Cut the ribbon cable, strip the ends and solder custom length cables to it
b) Try to find some sort of extension cable (I think this is close to impossible)
c) Try and find a longer cable (I think the cable is proprietary, so this is also close to impossible)

If you guys have any ideas, please pass them on. Well, here are the pictures of my very crude install. Sorry for the quality. I used my cell phone to take the pictures.

**Jay_1.8t** · 07-23-2007, 08:47 PM

Did this go any further?

**jarubio** · 07-30-2007, 03:05 PM

I have not. Some how someone was able to kick the computer under the passengers seat and kicked the cables going in to the computer. That caused a short

For the moment I took every thing out. I have not had a chance to check out the computer and see if it's salvable. I'll keep you posted.