Thread: 2007 Mini Cooper Project

Originally Posted by Injector

i just battled the same issue you're having right now, and as it turns out my pc was grounding through the aux port instead of the ground, but ground loop isolator fixed it.
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/powe...se-m2-atx.html
also take a look at buggytes engine noise faq

yeah, i've read those scary faqs. i felt very lucky not getting any noise until now due to my tangle of wires.

well, i went to ratshack and got the same ground loop isolator and adapters as you did. i placed it between my XM PCR and the mic-in port of the laptop. it helps to get rid of 90% of the noise. the isolator didn't make any difference at all when placed between the laptop and my car's aux input.

i mind the noise less now when listening to XM radio, but it is annoying when listening to my previously clean MP3s. when i unplug the XM PCR from the mic-in jack of my laptop the noise disappears.

hopefully, using an external usb sound card will get rid of the rest of the noise.

Originally Posted by Injector

did you try grounding the case of the XM? i tried just about everything i could before i bought a GLI because it's more like a band aid and not a real fix, my issue was that my aux port on my stock deck had a better ground than my chassis ground so electricity was taking the path of lease resistance, after 3 weeks of troubleshooting and grounding in different spots i finally broke down and bought one.
basically what i'm trying to say is find the real source of you noise first.

what kind of noise is it? hard drive, engine, whine, static?

the noise is a little bit of everything, background static and hissing as well as alternator whine that varies with acceleration. unplugging the laptop power adapter helps but not as good as using the GLI between the XM PCR and laptop. i haven't messed with the ground yet. grounding the casing of the XM PCR seems like a good idea. i know others have tried this, though, without luck and had to resort to the GLI. before i connected the XM PCR to my laptop's usb port and mic-in port, i had no noise problems whatsoever. the XM PCR is powered and controlled by the usb port so i think that's where the noise is coming from. i had the XM PCR plugged into a 4 way hub that shares my touchscreen and GPS puck. well, i moved the XM PCR to it's own port and now the rest of the noise is pretty much gone! i'm very happy with the clarity now. i'll see how long this lasts. perfect timing cause i got my 5.6" thin mount headrest monitor in the mail. now i need to get a box knife to slash my headrest.

Originally Posted by Injector

i was just about to ask you if the XM was connected to a hub, but im clad the noise went away

yeah, i was thrilled. didn't even think about the hub. i still need the GLI, though, for alternator whine. i think i'm going to stop here, though. my cheap speakers, stock oem headunit, and wind/road noise probably mask any degradation that the GLI produces. btw, as recommended by kbreeden in this thread, i downloaded the Winamp enhancer plug-in (with the line-in plugin checked in the RR config). it really makes things brighter and fuller sounding. as with kbreeden, i don't really think the XM PCR digital-out mod would make much of a difference in my car.

I installed a 5.4" Boss Audio thin-mount TFT headrest monitor in my car's tiny headrest.

First I placed the shroud mount piece over where I wanted the monitor and marked the corners with a pencil.



Then I cut a X with a utility knife a 1/4" inside each corner. Don't cut too much at the beginning.



I peeled back the pleather flaps and trimmed them.



Then I started shaving the foam until it was deep enough for the shroud mount.



After some stretching, I manged to squeeze in the mount. I did need to increase the size of the X a little bit. I pulled the wiring through a hole that was already on the bottom middle of the headrest. I used some screws to the holes in the back of the mount, but since it's just foam behind, they really didn't do much. The stretched pleather seemed to hold the mount very securely. If things loosen up I may have to fashion a more secure board attached to the headrest poles



I then connected the monitor the the wiring and snapped it in the mount.



I used the Avermedia Quickplay to mirror my carpc's screen. It is powered by an usb port. I connected it to my laptop's vga port and then to my Lilliput via a VGA passthrough. It has s-video, component, and composite connections. I used a RCA composite cable (included in box) to connect it to the monitor. No drivers needed since it's hardware driven.

At first, I thought I got an ebay dud, but then I realized the oval things below the power light were buttons. Stupid me. The monitor is pretty bright (350 NITS) with decent contrast. The resolution is only 1153x234 and composite input, so small text is fuzzy but it's perfect for playing videos for my kid in the back. Ideally, I would have a second video and audio card with IR headphones so I can listen to my own music and use the GPS, but I'm going to restrain myself. There are too many wires and boxes in my mini cooper now. At least, I can listen to the voice GPS directions and flip back and forth the screen as needed.

Well, I tried out disabling services via blackviper.com's recommendations and luckily didn't screw anything up. It did help shave a few seconds of boot-up and my computer does seem peppier. Feels good to free up some memory. Anyway, if you're interested, here's a the text from my registry modification file. Main things I got rid of were the system restore and printer spooler service and lots of computer-computer network stuff. To work my Treo Centro PDAnet connection, I needed to keep RasMan and Telephony.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; File from www.blackviper.com
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Alerter]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ALG]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\AppMgmt]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\AudioSrv]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\BITS]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Browser]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\cisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ClipSrv]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\COMSysApp]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\CryptSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\DcomLaunch]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dhcp]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\dmadmin]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\dmserver]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dnscache]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dot3svc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\EapHost]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ERSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Eventlog]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\EventSystem]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\FastUserSwitchingCompatibility]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\helpsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\HidServ]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\hkmsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\HTTPFilter]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ImapiService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\lanmanserver]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\lanmanworkstation]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\LmHosts]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Messenger]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\mnmsrvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\MSDTC]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\MSIServer]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\napagent]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NetDDE]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NetDDEdsdm]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Netlogon]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Netman]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Nla]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NtLmSsp]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NtmsSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\PlugPlay]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\PolicyAgent]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ProtectedStorage]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RasAuto]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RasMan]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RDSessMgr]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RemoteAccess]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RpcLocator]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RpcSs]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RSVP]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SamSs]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SCardSvr]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Schedule]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\seclogon]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SENS]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SharedAccess]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ShellHWDetection]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Spooler]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\srservice]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SSDPSRV]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\stisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SwPrv]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\SysmonLog]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\TapiSrv]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\TermService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Themes]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\TrkWks]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\upnphost]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\UPS]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VSS]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\W32Time]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\WebClient]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\winmgmt]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\WmdmPmSN]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\WmiApSrv]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\wscsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\wuauserv]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\WZCSVC]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\xmlprov]
"Start"=dword:00000004

i removed my rear wiper for a cleaner look and plugged the hole with a new back-up camera this weekend.

i've been having problems with my touchscreen stopping to work as well as the gps after running the carpc for a long period of time. i think it's my cheap iogear 4-port hub since it gets extremely hot. i'm sure it's overheating. i ordered the Logitech Premium 4-Port USB Hub. hopefully that solves the problem.