All-in-one Atom330/ION project

**nivanov** · 12-21-2010, 08:43 AM

I wonder if something like this is a possible solution:
http://www.testpath.com/Categories/M...Clips-2970.htm

It's hard to tell how small those things are. I can probably scrape off a tiny bit of plastic off the back of the button near the center contact and hook around it. Or maybe there's enough space around the contact without any scraping. I don't know if there would be enough gap between the other two contacts to prevent shorting though. Worth a try?

EDIT: I think the answer to all my problems is this: http://www.emulation.com/catalog/off...yourself_clip/
You can see that it's clipped to a microchip, and the gap between contacts there is same, if not smaller. I'll make a trip to Radioshack after work tonight and if they don't have something like that, I guess I'll have to order a couple from Amazon. I'll clip them on and secure them to the pcb to ensure they don't fall off.

**soundman98** · 12-21-2010, 04:12 PM

i've got a couple of those-- they work great for testing circuits, but the springs are too weak to deal with any kind of long term mounting stress..

they might work fine at first, but after a while, they will cause a lot of problems with not being fully connected..

**justchat_1** · 12-21-2010, 04:33 PM

+1 first time you hit a bump its going to come lose and short something out

**nivanov** · 12-21-2010, 06:30 PM

I verified that shorting pins 2 and 3 actually turns on the computer. That doesn't help much, though, since I'm still unable to solder the wires to it.
JustChat's suggestion does work though. I set the option in bios to power on when power is restored. I tested it by unplugging the adapter and plugging it back in and it works great. Justchat, could you elaborate on this:

but in this case you can do it much cheaper with either a simple relay adc, serial to usb adapter or even a relay on the cpu fan sense wire if you want to get creative.

I'm not sure how a cpu fan relay would work - the fan would stop due to shutdown, not the other way around.
Serial-to-usb - I guess I can hook up the wire directly to it, but I don't think it's as easy as that - don't you need handshaking of some sort?
I'm not familiar with ADC relays, so I have no input here

Thanks for the help guys!

**justchat_1** · 12-21-2010, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by nivanov

I verified that shorting pins 2 and 3 actually turns on the computer. That doesn't help much, though, since I'm still unable to solder the wires to it.
JustChat's suggestion does work though. I set the option in bios to power on when power is restored. I tested it by unplugging the adapter and plugging it back in and it works great. Justchat, could you elaborate on this:

Thats half the problem solved

not to mention total cost $0..time to do ~2mins

Originally Posted by nivanov

I'm not sure how a cpu fan relay would work - the fan would stop due to shutdown, not the other way around.
Serial-to-usb - I guess I can hook up the wire directly to it, but I don't think it's as easy as that - don't you need handshaking of some sort?
I'm not familiar with ADC relays, so I have no input here

Thanks for the help guys!

Im gonna bet you wont find this trick anywhere else on the forums... but a CPU fan has 3 wires (sometimes 4 but thats a different story) +, - and sense. The sense wire is used to detect fan speed. So using a relay to cut that wire on many systems simulates a cpu fan failure which triggers a shutdown.

the serial solution uses a relay to trigger the RTS pin (connecting pin 7 and pin 8) which will signal a little app on your pc to initiate shutdown.

ADC relay boards take an analog signal and convert it to digital-pretty much the same thing as the serial solution above just sometimes requires a little less wiring.

**nivanov** · 12-21-2010, 08:42 PM

F it, I'm soldering it

**nivanov** · 12-21-2010, 10:11 PM

Success!!!

They are both holding surprisingly well and there are no shorts. I'm thinking of any strain relief I can add to this. I'm thinking of coating it with gorilla superglue for added strength

**justchat_1** · 12-21-2010, 10:48 PM

Nice!! just a heads up the postive wire is a cold joint so that may not be secure enough... but just securing the wires to the case when installing should take care of keeping them from getting pulled free.

**nivanov** · 12-21-2010, 11:12 PM

I think it's a pretty good joint. I was hesitant to apply a lot of solder since the gaps are so tiny. I've pulled on the wire and it's holding on pretty well. The plan tomorrow is to apply a globule of superglue on top of both of the joints to increase the strength. Do you think it's a good idea?

EDIT: Just looked at the board again. The positive joint is very shiny and even-coated - i don't think it's a cold joint. For some reason it looks a lot messier in the picture

**nivanov** · 12-24-2010, 02:48 PM

Hey guys, quick question. The AMP9-BASIC - should I connect the power to Battery or IGN. Logic tells me it should be battery, but I'm not sure if amps have any standby power. IGN would make sense since the AMP only really needs to be on when the car is on, but then how do you prevent thump? I'm almost certain that it needs to be wired to Battery, but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks!