Thread: Bugbyte's 2001 New Beetle -Mac Mini Install

I do have the P1900 onhand and I agree that it's pretty small. I sat it on top of a CD and it fits within the diameter with just the corners hanging off.

Read your blog and it looks like you're nearly done. I didn't see any pics of the screen install, though!

Good progress today! I managed to move the head unit to the glovebox and actually got the dock itself into the main console.



To begin the day, I finished installing the HU in the glove compartment. Here's the bracket I built for the HU.



Here's the HU in position



And checking for clearance...



Installing the dock

I expected the installation of the dock to be the most difficult part due to the tight quarters in the console. Here's a picture of the dock and the exhaust ductwork (see my earlier posts about the ductwork requirement) prior to installation.

It probably looks confusing but you're looking at the dock from the bottom, as if you were on the floor of the car. Picture the two parts as like an open book that will fold together. I had to do it this way to thread all the cables through the exhaust ductwork.


Below are the two pieces with the ductwork already in it's final resting place. the near side of the ductwork is on the outside of the heater/AC (HVAC) riser. The far side with the white silicon on it is inside the HVAC. The dock, which I'm holding in the pic, will go all the way back and sit on top of the white silicon. The challenge is to pull the cables through and get it to fit into the opening without busting everything and still making it air tight so heat doesn't leak into the Mini.



Here (below), the dock is in its nearly final position. I used both silicon and some of that "Great Stuff" goop to fill all of the gaps, plus I did a little reconstruction on the sides with plexiglass to fill the spaces.



Here is the dock with the console in place. I just realized I forgot to put the screws through the sides while typing this. I hope they line up because everything is in there really tightly. It may not even be necessary to put the screws in place.



Next steps are to install the power supply and run the audio cables to the stereo inputs. At the moment, I'm without a car PC! Or rather, the old PC is still in the car but the audio cables aren't connected anymore so I have no sound output from either the front end or the XM radio.

That ought to motivate me.

Getting close to the final install of the Mini. Tonight I ran the RCA audio cable from the dock to the head unit in the glove compartment.

I also put the screws through the sides of the dock to secure it. They fit nearly perfectly with no adjustment needed. I ran the fan to see if the air leaks into the Mini enclosure. If it does, it's not very much. However, it leaks a lot along the very top of the dock. Some silicone will fix that.

I also had an interesting inspiration. It was killing me that I don't have my carputer working for the moment and have to listen to FM. It actually makes me nauseous to listen to it. All I can think is "This sucks. This sucks. This sucks." I can tell you I'm an XM customer for life.

Anyhow, while running the Mini cables over to the HU, I decided to run the existing Windows PC cables over there too and they reach just fine. Since the Windows PC is completely located in the back, it occurs to me that I can just run an RCA 'Y' cable into the back of my HU and have audio from both systems. The only thing I would lack is a display for both computers.

Then it hit me - this could be the near term solution for ****ty navigation on the Mac! I could install VNC on both machines and fire up the PC when I want to run nav apps. If I connect via VNC using the wireless in my PC and the wireless in my Mac Mini, I ought to be able to display the nav on the Mac.

I've never used VNC before, so somebody correct me if that's not true but I think I can do it. I don't need high update rates for a GPS app.

I had sort of planned on removing the Windows PC from the car so I could switch cold turkey to the Mac, spurring me on to solve the problems that much quicker but that also meant having to buy crappy nav software and perhaps replacing my GPS. This way I don't need to do that. At least I don't think so.

Am I missing anything here?

Hmmm... you clever devil.
As long as pc's and macs get along better than their respective users do.... you should be fine.

I always thought of "adding" a mac mini to my install since I'm really a pc guy, but thought the mini looked awsome to play with.... just couldn't think of what for really.... I think that's a cool idea though

I use both a Mac and PC for design / all the software I need purposes. In conjunction, I've used VNC for oh, 6 years now, both on Mac and PC, and I tell you it is a dream, so convenient, from Mac to pc, to phone, or phone to either of those choices.

However.... on also an inexpensive, quick hardware side for you, I might suggest one simple, inexpensive, and powerless option (in addition to VNC).. a kvm.

With a KVM, you still only need one mouse, one keyboard and only one monitor. Should you go to multiple of any of these items (typically a monitor (in my case my 40 in Flat screen)), you can use a VGA-Y cable for that before each machine (at the kvm side).

This will eliminate any speed issues and screen res issues you might have with VNC.

ON wireless, the least you want to go with a perfect stream is 11mb connection, although doing 24bit color can sludge things enough to make GPS refreshes annoying.

So, it's a thought. You can stick that KVM in the middle of your seats or something like that. If it's a push button kvm, it can be in the dash, whatever suits your fancy. Either way, VNC is nice to have installed anyhow for troubleshooting when a certain monitor is not working or whatever.

Long explanation, but hope that is helpful.

Now that I think about it.... unless you install a router (wireless hub) in your car (which I recommend anyhow for traffic sharing wireless) using something like a Junxion Box Wireless Gateway www.junxionbox.com you will have to connect via ad-hoc, which can be a pain if you want to switch back and forth to standard wi-fi.

Unless you set up one machine to share it's net connection and leave the other in ad-hoc to that machine, (but then you are limited to streaming through another machine and whatever it's capabilities are, (as well as problems, not up, slowness, etc.)

Just an added thought.

I'm not too versed with all this wireless connection stuff so let me ask a clarifying question or two.

1. I can leave the PC in ad-hoc mode and connect to the Mini. Would the Mini need to be in ad-hoc mode too? (I think it might).

2. Could I just put a bluetooth dongle on the PC and make the connection that way? The Mini has bluetooth built in.

I thought about a KVM but USB KVM's are like $70 at the local Microcenter! I'd rather buy a wireless router and set up a mobile hot spot for that kind of cash.

Getting very close now. I installed the P1900 PSU into the dash this evening. A couple of screws and it's solid. I also got some 8 gauge wire from Home Depot to supply it. I may have to solder it with my charcoal lighter. My 35 watt soldering iron ain't gonna cut it.



I also caulked the gaps in the dock with silicone last night. Seemed to work but we'll see, won't we?

After that, the only thing left will be to dig out the VGA cable to the Xenarc from the center console. I'll need to install a powered hub but that can wait, actually. I've got an unpowered one I can use temporarily.

Lots of family activities and my wife has the downstairs hallway all prepared for painting this weekend so I may not make it but I'll try to steal a few minutes here and there.

[Edit] BTW, just a little plug for the P1900. On the way out of my workshop to put it in the car I dropped it from waist high onto a concrete floor. After a few choice words, I hooked it up to the DC power supply and the LED lit up, fan came on, and it appeared to work normally. I say appeared because I can't actually test the Mini right now with the dock in the car. But I think it's okay.