Thread: Evo-puter In-dash WIP

I bought an adapter on ebay for like 10 bucks. It is basically just a laptop AC adapter, but the cord is cut and the wires inside (12V, GND) have connectors attached at the ends. Then the 12V is spliced into 2 cables so that I can connect and disconnect one of them to simulate ACC (ignition).

I actually just got a DSX12VD power supply to replace the M2. There is nothing really wrong with the M2, it just wasn't appropriate for my motherboard and I was jumping through hoops to get it to work. I will use the M2 on my second build.

Originally Posted by mightycrown

Just one simple question, How did you connect the M2-ATX to wall adapter. I have a similar PSU, and got no idea how to hook them together.

There's another way that I use to power my M2ATX -- and other 12V things -- on wall power. If you have anything with a cigarette plug, chop off the plug and cable, and connect the cable to your M2ATX. Plug the cigarette adapter into this device:

12V Adapter

Some time back, I bought one of the Coleman thermoelectric heating/refrigeration units that keeps food hot or cold, depending on which way you run the power. It came with a 120V to 12V adapter with a socket for a standard lighter plug. Very useful, and it'll run a load up to 5A. Here's the way it looks:

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Coleman sells the adapter alone for about $40 on their site, but they're available elsewhere for $25. Lower-amperage units are even lower cost.

looks like it's coming together pretty good

Thanks both of you, contribute your ideas. I have a dell GX270, as we know dell always have their special plugs. Anyway goodluck with your project. looks pretty awesome!

UPDATE:

- New case from Bybyte.com is ready. I drilled and tapped all the mounting holes for my MB and PSU.

- Made a new VGA and USB connector for my touchscreen that is only about 8" long. I also separated the two rather than have that lame Lilli cable.

- Got a new low-profile right-angle SATA cable because the standard one's big connector was resting against the LCD controller.

- Got the DSX12VD power supply to replace my M2-ATX. This thing works nice and shutdown and startup are working nicely now.

- Had to make some new shielding for the VGA cable and ground the shielding due to VGA noise.

Case is all together and running great.

TODOs:

- New mounting bracket so the case won't rattle in the dash.

- New bezel (to be made from Epoxy stuff by me) for the new enclosure.

Good for you man. I say, reinvent the wheel, and everything else too!

Some pics. Criticism welcome.







This is the new VGA connector for my Lilli:


I want to do some more cable management but it is not critical...
New SATA and molex power cables coming soon.

I don't think I've reinvented stuff so much as customized it to be an efficient space saver.

Unless you count my front end (not pictured), that's totally reinventing the wheel! Although I don't think any of the other front ends have built in navigation. They all seem to use third party. I wrote my own nav software that is completely integrated using OSM maps.

Still has a couple bugs, though...

Right angle SATA cable came in the mail today. New power cable adapted to poer my HD Radio (Visteon)

I've never heard of OSM Maps. Now that I'm doing a little research, I see that I was looking for something exactly like this about 6 months ago. I even looked into using US Census Bureau maps, because I wanted to write my own mapping software. I just couldn't find free access to all of the maps in a usable format.

That front end looks really good too.