All-in-one Atom330/ION project

I got my hands on 3 tiny Atom330/ION nettops. Seeing that they are measured at 39 x 130 x 115mm, or 1.54 x 5.12 x 4.53 inches, there should be enough space to fit them into the double din project box. I've bought almost all of the necessary parts:

BlackBox
Mini Touch 7" LCD
Directed HD Radio w/ mitch cables
Bluetooth / GPS / OBD and other USB gadgets
AMP9-BASIC from 41hz

I still have to buy a power supply and a different H bracket for the black box

Here are the specs for the nettop:


MAXDATA QutePC-3020
CPU Intel® Atom™ Processor 330
Chipset NVIDIA MCP7A-ION
Graphic NVIDIA MCP7A-ION
Memory DDR2 533 SO-DIMM up to 2GB (2GB installed)
Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n; Mini PCI-e card
HDD 1 x 2.5” SATA HDD up to 500G (320GB installed)
1x internal CF socket (optional) (not installed)
Rear I/O
1x DVI-I output
1x HDMI output
1x USB2.0
1x RJ-45, GbE port

Front I/O
1x Line-Out
1x MIC-In
3x USB2.0
3-in-1 Card Reader (or optional eSATA)

Power Consumption 65W
Weight 650g

Next: uploading pics of disassembling the unit

Main Unit

Front:
http://imgur.com/2GDUu.jpg

Rear:
http://imgur.com/B2bPL.jpg

2 screws removed, and covers come off:
http://imgur.com/HIRDt.jpg

Both plastic covers are off - careful not to rip the wireless antenna wires
http://imgur.com/PI9Cx.jpg

Case is off, top view. I had to remove the Wifi card, which can be removed from the mini-pci slot:
http://imgur.com/lPYE1.jpg

Bottom view:
http://imgur.com/rQt7F.jpg

But does it fit in the black box? Yes it does!!
http://imgur.com/tQ41e.jpg

Immediate problems and potential solutions:

1.
The nettop requires 19V DC input. Monitor requires 12V DC input. What to do, what to do... Technically, this motherboard should have 12V output - think of all the molex 4pin adapters you have in your desktops. Unfortunately, the fan voltage is variable and the hard drive is only powered on the 5V rail and the 12V pins on the SATA connector are not showing any voltage. If someone has any suggestions as to how I can get a 12V line from the MoBo, please let me know! For now, it looks like I'm going to have to shell out a little extra for Opus dual output. Maybe Mp3Car can be nice enough to send me one? :)

2.
Mounting is all out of whack in the black box. I'm just going to dremel off the Nano-ITX stands and install proper standoffs.

3.
The nettop is HDMI/DVI only. I bought an HDMI->VGA cable thinking that if HDMI is just DVI plus Audio, and DVI->VGA is a pretty popular adapter, then HDMI->VGA should work too. It didn't. It does, however, work with DVI->VGA adapter. I'm going to buy a DVI->VGA wire on monoprice and make myself a custom wire so I can have an easy hook up of custom plug from Mini Touch display to DVI. God help me.

4. Power button. Since this is an all-in-one nettop, it naturally does not have a mobo header for power on/off switch. It does have a power switch though, so I'm hoping to break that thing apart and solder the power-up wire from the power supply to the contacts in the switch. That should work, right?

it would be nice to use one of those for my home pc-- the rest of the family would love the extra storage in the computer area...

1.for power, it might be easier to just use a 19v carnetix, and power the screen from car power..

2&3 are covered

4. i think you have a understanding here, but i would recommend just soldering to the leads of the power button so that the power button still works-- just in case there is a problem, you can still trouble shoot using the onboard power button.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soundman98

it would be nice to use one of those for my home pc-- the rest of the family would love the extra storage in the computer area...

1.for power, it might be easier to just use a 19v carnetix, and power the screen from car power..

2&3 are covered

4. i think you have a understanding here, but i would recommend just soldering to the leads of the power button so that the power button still works-- just in case there is a problem, you can still trouble shoot using the onboard power button.

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1. I looked up the specs for MoCoSo Mini Touch screen - 11V-14V. The car voltage fluctuates a lot more, doesn't it? Or does it fluctuate on the lower end? Do you think it's rated to work directly off the battery? If so, I can use DCDC-USB from mp3car's store - it's only 60 bucks and it was reviewed on a 19V system and ran just fine.

4. I'm very scared at the prospect of soldering wires to button terminals - everything is TINY on that MoBo. Do you have any advice as to how best to solder small wires / terminals? Is there some sort of combination of a syringe-type soldering tip that is needle-thin?

The touch screen will probably be okay on just car power, but soundman is right - get a Carnetix P1900, which will provide dual voltage output - 19V and 12v to the touchscreen.

CNX-p1900 is massive and isn't suitable for my project. I just purchased DCDC-USB and gonna power the screen off the battery. It is supposed to run off car power directly, apparently.

Yes, the dc-dc should be fine

For soldering the power button, maybe you could post some pics?

Usually the buttons aren't too bad-- they are not as sensitive to heat as led's or ic's, so there is less to worry about. I usually just make sure my soldering iron is very hot, and has been tinned enough that I only need to touch the circuit for a second.

Thanks soundman, I'll post some pics of the power button after I get back from work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nivanov

3.
The nettop is HDMI/DVI only. I bought an HDMI->VGA cable thinking that if HDMI is just DVI plus Audio, and DVI->VGA is a pretty popular adapter, then HDMI->VGA should work too. It didn't. It does, however, work with DVI->VGA adapter. I'm going to buy a DVI->VGA wire on monoprice and make myself a custom wire so I can have an easy hook up of custom plug from Mini Touch display to DVI. God help me.

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Just a heads up not all DVI can be converted to VGA. Theres two types of DVI, analog and digital. If its analog you can convert it with a simple adapter. If its digital, you can't-your only option there is an expensive converter box.


btw-where did you find one? Haven't seen one of these on ebay or at any store