2004 Ford Ranger FX4 In Dash PC Project

**gla502** · 12-02-2012, 08:48 PM

This Forum will show the progress of my 2004 Ford Ranger FX4 In Dash PC build.

Member blk02si owner of ShockNET Computers www.shocknet.us has received all parts and is fabricating a chassis and laying out the design. He'll be posting pics of progress on his end and once it gets back I'll continue to post pics on the actual install.

Look forward to communicating and sharing ideas.

Parts list attached.

V/r,
GA

**rray** · 12-02-2012, 09:38 PM

I have a 2007 Ranger to do an in-dash mod to, after I finish the camaro mod in progress. I have similar hardware in the build I am working on now. The graphics chip gets warm on the DN2800MT board, so I put a heatsink on mine. Also, there are no 64 bit graphics drivers, so use a 32bit OS.

**gla502** · 12-03-2012, 11:21 AM

Awesome rray! Thanks for the heads up on the OS. Did you use Tiny Windows 7 or 8?

**rray** · 12-03-2012, 11:55 AM

I originally used Win7-64 but discovered I could not play spider solitaire because of there not being a 64bit graphics driver. Then I tried to install Win7-32 but my license would not work for 32bit.

It was cheaper to buy the win8 pro 32bit upgrade so I downloaded and installed that, and used the win7 32bit drivers.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

**rray** · 12-03-2012, 11:56 AM

By the way, what is Tiny Win7?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

**ClockWorK** · 12-03-2012, 12:25 PM

Tiny Win7 (and TinyXP) are stripped down versions of the OS to install. They let you remove things that you may not need. The goal is a leaner OS that boots quicker and takes up less space.

From my experience, it seems safer to just install the OS the way it was meant to be installed. That way, nothing is missing later on.

**gla502** · 12-03-2012, 05:02 PM

ClockWork you make a very good point. I ran into issues installing the OS in my first build (2006 Mustang). I must say I love the boot speed of TinyXP.

**blk02si** · 12-03-2012, 07:44 PM

As we all know a good chassis is the basis for any successful PC project, this ranger being no exception. This ranger presents a unique challenge as the dash is not din standard, and lacks the standard mounting provisions, but we are working around that. Today I fabricated the chassis parts necessary for mounting the PCB's, and picked up a sheet of abs for the LCD trim. More pics to follow as work progresses.

-Joe

**rray** · 12-03-2012, 09:28 PM

Cool, I have exactly the same dash in my 2007, but I used the Crutchfield free mounting kit when I installed a Pioneer single din radio. Watching with interest!

**rray** · 12-04-2012, 04:02 PM

Just a quick question. I was looking over your hardware list and for the hard drive i noticed that you are using some kind of Flash based SATA device that connects to the SATA port. I was wondering what the advantage of using that type of drive connected to a SATA port as opposed to the mSATA devices that plug into the mini PCIe full size port?

I have the same board and used a drive similar to this style, and found I need more than 64G so wonder if the one you selected is available in 128GB:
Micron 64G mSATA SSD

I figure I could plug that one (they type you have) into the other "gray" SATA port on the motherboard. Also, do you need to supply power or does it come from the SATA port itself?