Thread: Project GTO - 2006 Torrid Red Pontiac GTO - MacMini Carputer - Streetdeck

We tested out everything before placing it in the car just to make sure all our wiring and connections were right. It's a good idea, but not necessary of course. In the picture you can see we used a 500W power supply to get the 12V needed and supplied that to the P1900. From there it powers the both the Mac Mini and Screen in this test. However, the final install will not be that way. The screen will get it's power from the factory car harness just as the stereo did before it, and the P1900 will supply power to the Mac Mini.



Here's and idea of what the final setup will look like. This was part of our test fitting procedure. You can see some of the silver from the Mac Mini protruding through the cd slot, but I feel it matches nicely with the silver on the dash molding pieces. Cant wait to have this all done with.





Stay tuned. Coming up we have the the actual screen and Mac Mini installed and ready. Power supply mounting in the dash. GPS receiver placement. Streetdeck front end testing and demo video. Final demo video. More into the future we have a front bumper forward viewing nightvision camera, rear view reverse camera, video capture, OBD-II code reader and performance display, and more. Come back for updates very soon.

Originally Posted by mrclean12

Are you going to go through the steps you took to get Windows XP loaded on the computer? I'm guessing there are how-to's everywhere on the Net.

I'm VERY interested to see how well you are able to get Streetdeck to run on this thing. I'm guessing there are compatible drivers for everything? :-O What kind of power supply are you using? How well does hibernate/resume work? Does it resume pretty fast? :-D

Sorry for all of the questions...I'm just very anxious to see the details of your install! :-)

Hello, most of your questions should be answered now that the thread is updated with the actual start of the worklog.

But yes, I am going to document the installing of Windows XP, but it really isnt that hard. Heck, you can find the instructions for loading XP on the Mac on Apple's website.

Streetdeck runs fine just like it does on most any other Windows based box. The fact that it is a Mini is really irrelevant.

Power supply used is listed in the worklog now, but I used a Carnetix P1900. Very good power supply and lots of features.

Hibernate is not a supported sleep function of Macs so hibernating is not an option. If you try to hibernate you'll get an error mostly. But no worries, the P1900 power supply supports standby very well. From standby the Mac is ready in about 5 seconds flat. And some people have had their Mac sleep for weeks at a time without harming the battery. It is all about configuring the P1900 correctly. Which yes I will document how we set it up in the end. When I am done, most anyone should be able to do their own of course. I really wanted to get a good worklog most anyone could follow to do their own. A lot more to come...

Originally Posted by tj!2k4

Well.. when you've got 400HP stock, what other mods would you need... ?

Nice car, dash bezel is very clean..

A mod applies to much more than car modding. I have modded many computers in my time and I participate in a local club here in Austin called AustinModders (www.AustinModders.com). We are a collection of regular guys and some gals who like making something out of nothing or changing something to be better. We meet about every other month to work on large projects and this past Saturday the 8th, was one of our meet ups. The GTO you see before you was our project. Or at least the beginning of it. Lots of people with fabrication and electrical skills in our group and the work you see before you now is a taste of what we have completed thus far.

The dash bezel took us about 4 hours to complete as detailed above. It was an accomplishment to completely fabricate something from scratch and make it look like it belongs in a brand new car and not look cheesy. We went through several revisions and ideas, but this one above seems to work...

Originally Posted by defender90

Isn't Streetdeck Windows software? Why use a Mac?

Streetdeck is meant to run on Windows yes, that is correct. But this Mac is going to be running both Mac OS/X and Windows XP Pro. You can dual boot them either way you want. Not from the factory out of the box mind you of course, but a little bit of time and a Windows CD and anyone can do it. In some of the next portion of the worklog I will be covering how the Streetdeck ends up on the Mac Mini in more detail and screenshots...

I'll post a pic up in the upcoming worklog, but essentially we are using "super sticky tape". It is a very strong double sided tape made by 3M and others. When I post up that portion I will include stock numbers and such to obtain it. It comes in varying widths and we used a 1/8 inch tape to secure the faceplate to the front bezel.

In addition we made an "L" bracket on the back at the top left and right edges made completely out of scrap pieces of acyrlic and used plastic weld to hold them. Sets up in about 10 seconds so it is quick to work with. Same plastic weld you use to make say a cube out of plexiglass/acrylic. At the bottom edges for extra hold we used a set of plastic mounts and a bolt and nut combination. The plastic mount was welded to the front bezel and the bolt threaded through the dash molding and into the plastic mount. Hard to explain, but the upcoming picture will show it in detail.

Updates coming...

Yes, that is the correct time on there. Still a little sleepy... Working on worklog additions...