Thread: 2009 Cobalt - basic straight forward install - simplest route

tom, you might want to add a relay in line so you dont pull juice from your pc. other than that should work.... not sure if it will affect the amp to have the regulated 12V vs the unregulated ACC line. probably not.

It might just be easier to just pull an IGN or ACC line and relay that. but if he got it to work w/o any of that than more power to him!

Originally Posted by flboiz13

tom, you might want to add a relay in line so you dont pull juice from your pc. other than that should work.... not sure if it will affect the amp to have the regulated 12V vs the unregulated ACC line. probably not.

It might just be easier to just pull an IGN or ACC line and relay that. but if he got it to work w/o any of that than more power to him!

Most amps only draw @ 200 mA so its not robbing anything from the pc

Originally Posted by flboiz13

honestly i am surprised the window RAP fuse tap worked without the factory head unit installed. Did you connect anything to the GM Lan bus wires? I ask because i am about to to the same on my 09 HHR SS which uses a very similar system. and I was told if the factory head unit is out and you replace it with another headunit (CarPC) that unless you get the ~100 adapter, you would lose the everything on the LAN bus like the RAP (retained accessory power) feature, chimes, onstar, turn signal noise....

anyways, awesome setup! enjoy!

Thanks, yeah I have been enjoying it! It is true that you will lose the chimes and the turn signal noise if you aren't using the stock HU. I don't have onstar, so not sure what would be lost there. But I do know that I don't lose the RAP, and I haven't tapped any of the car's existing wires (like GM Lan bus), just the fuse. Because I have my amp and PC's remotes running from fuse 17, my amp and pc continue to retain power after i have turned off ignition completely. This lasts for ten minutes, then it will auto shut off the amp and pc. If I open the door before that 10 mins elapses, the amp and pc shut down. So rap is working just fine, the same way the HU would behave when it was still in the car. If rap wasn't working, shutdown would occur the moment I turn off ignition

Because I took out the HU, i no longer have audible chimes or turn signal clicks. It's not as bothersome as I thought it would be. I might get that adapter one day, not high on the list tho.

Good luck with the build!

Originally Posted by flboiz13

honestly i am surprised the window RAP fuse tap worked without the factory head unit installed. Did you connect anything to the GM Lan bus wires? I ask because i am about to to the same on my 09 HHR SS which uses a very similar system. and I was told if the factory head unit is out and you replace it with another headunit (CarPC) that unless you get the ~100 adapter, you would lose the everything on the LAN bus like the RAP (retained accessory power) feature, chimes, onstar, turn signal noise....

anyways, awesome setup! enjoy!

I know you loose the chimes, but idk about RAP. I have a cheap harness adapter that I got off of ebay. I'll have to test it out and find out. If it doesn't work, i may have to break down and get the 100 adapter.

Thats great, I'll have to try my remote like that when i finally install my system. As far as the harness, I plan to take the route of kev000.

I don't know if I've heard of many people wanting to keep the door chime... most get annoyed by it and disable/disconnect it somehow.... infact mine was unplugged when I got the car, so I have no idea what it would sound like. But turn signals noise is lost too? that's unfortunate.

I'm just glad you did the install when you did... I wouldn't want to help you now, too damn cold.

Actually, it's not just door chimes, it's also other alerts like seat belt not fastened, low on gas etc.. They are nice to have, but I can live without them for the time being.

Ya that on the cold, brrrrrrrrr.

Hello and thanks for the post !
I was also going around the idea of a car pc for a while now and this actually convinced me
I have an 08 coupe and for sure it does not seem as complicated as I thought it would be !

I am thinking about a nano mobo with an atom or via c7 for the very low power consumption; i am also thinking if there is a way to have the touch screen without removing the head unit...

The 10 min power timeout is true. Now, when you open the door (engine turned off), does it simply shut off or it does a normal windows shutdown?

For those asking about the remote start, nothing is powered on (windows, stereo, sunroof) till you turn the key on, even if you remote start it. Remember that when remote started, the fans come on as well as the defogger.

How much did this cost you?
Even with the cold, I am going to install this asap (im in the GTA as well)

Originally Posted by tooltits

Hello and thanks for the post !
I was also going around the idea of a car pc for a while now and this actually convinced me
I have an 08 coupe and for sure it does not seem as complicated as I thought it would be !

I am thinking about a nano mobo with an atom or via c7 for the very low power consumption; i am also thinking if there is a way to have the touch screen without removing the head unit...

The 10 min power timeout is true. Now, when you open the door (engine turned off), does it simply shut off or it does a normal windows shutdown?

For those asking about the remote start, nothing is powered on (windows, stereo, sunroof) till you turn the key on, even if you remote start it. Remember that when remote started, the fans come on as well as the defogger.

How much did this cost you?
Even with the cold, I am going to install this asap (im in the GTA as well)

I'm glad that this thread has helped inspire you to take the plunge.

One of the main things I wanted to do in the beginning was preserve the head unit. This would have made things even simpler, and that was the intent going into it. I could use the existing stereo system, and keep my chimes. I would just have to run a line to the AUX in, and it's done. A common thing is to move the head unit to the glove box. However, the stock wiring is not long enough to move it that far over to the glove box, and my glove box is not large enough to hold it. I would've had to extend the wiring, and find a place for the head unit. Also, the area behind my head unit offers no room to push it further back into the dash so that I could have the LCD sit in front of the head unit.

For the shutdown, the power supply monitors Wndw RAP signal that I fuse tapped into. Once that signal stops (10 mins pass, or door is opened while ignition is in OFF), the power supply responds by sending a signal to the power switch connector on the motherboard. Windows receives this action, and reacts based on how you have your Windows settings. If you have Windows set to shut down on power switch, then it will shut down. You can also set it to hibernate or standby. So, yeah, windows will do a graceful shutdown. Because the power supply is -also- connected directly to the car battery, it is not relying on that 10 minute shut off signal for anything other than as a cue on what to do next. You can configure the power supply (depending on your power supply) to stay on for a longer period of time. When I first hooked up the computer, I had the power supply set to stay on for like an hour after all power was lost on the Windw RAP. So even after the 10 minutes elapsed, my computer would be running for another hour after that since it can run off the battery as long as it wants, regardless of whatever else is happening in the car. I quickly changed the jumper on the power supply to have it send a shutdown to the mainboard right after power is lost on the WindwRAP.

How much did it cost? Well, I'm still trying to mentally repress that, lol. Approximately, 1,000 after taxes and shipping. I had the means to do this -alot- cheaper, but it would have been laptop based and some extra challenges I wasn't interested in taking on the first time out. Plus it would have taken quite a bit longer.

Stay warm, eh!