Thread: 1999 Saab 9-3 Car PC - TuxCar v1

Hi everyone,

I guess I should introduce myself since this is my first post. I'm Wes from Columbus, Ohio. I'm a systems manager with a meteorology degree, car mechanics in the family, hardware and software guru, "jack-of-all-trades master of none". I have too many interests and not enough free time to enjoy them all. I guess it was only a matter of time before I ended up here

This is my worklog for my Linux-based Car PC project. I own a 1999 Saab 9-3. Originally, I wanted to mod my SID (Saab Information Display) as it was getting old and having infamous pixel display problems. The SID is an in-dash LCD readout that displays your typical trip information like temperature, MPG, radio settings, etc. On these models, the SID is known to start "losing" pixels over time as the ribbon cable inside becomes loose from temperature extremes. After doing a self-repair and even sending it in for repair, the screen has slowly faded away over the past few months. My CD player (stock radio) has also started to act funny as it is over 10 years old.

Around then I came across mini-box.com (because of an unrelated project at work -- actually involving putting GPS hardware on Greenland to monitor ice changes) and this car PC thread on SaabCentral. The Car PC project was born.

I've decided to tear out the old head unit, in-dash cupholder, and even the SID itself. I will have to leave the circuitry for the SID, however, as it controls the horn, steering wheel controls, bulb warnings, etc. This is going to be replaced with a 7" Xenarc touchscreen -- more on that adventure later -- connected to mini-ITX hardware in the trunk.

I'm going to store the SID circuitry behind the touchscreen along with various wiring in order to maintain the functions of the SID, mentioned above. The touchscreen, however, will show messages normally destined for the SID as I've successfully gotten software to read data from the Saab I-BUS (CAN-based).

The car (old photo, will upload new ones later)


Mini-ITX case, from mini-box.com


Mini-ITX motherboard with Kingston 64 GB SSD hard drive


Car PC main hardware built and wired for testing
Thanks to this thread for power supply hook-up instructions


More to come later today or tomorrow.