My First Car PC Install - Research and Planning Stage

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

Ahh, ok. so the power supply has some kind of battery? (i.e. to power the system for those few seconds that it needs to get into hibernate)....

Originally Posted by spadival

...I guess its a capacitor or something that keeps the power alive for a few seconds till it shuts down. ...

No capacitor or battery there. You are forgetting that, like HU wiring, there is no Power Switch that cuts of primary power to the PSU (DC-DC converter). Quite unlike a desktop PC, where there is this small switch located on the PSU at the rear of the PC - the switch in front is a momentary switch wired to the MoBo.

The MoBo controls the PSU (via the "PSU ON" line - purple wire, pin 9 on the ATX 20-pin connector), and receives a "+5V stand-by" (via the "PSU ON" line - green wire, pin 14 on the ATX 20-pin connector) as long as main power is available (12V in car, 230V in desktop). This scheme enables "wake-up" by devices on LAN, Serial Port, Keyboard, etc., as well as the soft switch on the front panel, AND the car ignition switch.

On most Car PC DC-DC converters, there is a small microcontroller built-in, which prevents the main power from being immediately applied to the MoBo when you crank the engine - which can happen repeatedly in case the engine does not fire immediately.

During the shutdown sequence, the CPU brings everything down one by one, and in the end puts the "PSU ON" to high, signalling the PSU to cut power on the main power rails.

Unless you disconnect battery, or pull-out the power cord, the purple wire will always have +5V!

[spadival]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

Do you mean this Santro? I must say when I saw the "case" of the computer I went .

Yepp.. Thats the one.

Originally Posted by vebmetal

On another note, I imagine a carputer voids the electrical warranty of your car (unless maybe professionally done), and what about fire safety issues?

erm.. Does the electrical warranty get voided when you install an HU, truck loads of speakers and lorry loads of amplifiers?? Same goes for fire safety issues. In case of CarPC, its less of a concern because the power is drawn directly from the car battery and it draws very little power.. Unless, of course, you want a miserly cheap setup and install a CRT monitor instead of an LCD monitor

[shldn]

Unless you disconnect battery, or pull-out the power cord, the purple wire will always have +5V!

Actually on Car PC power supplies +5VSB is also cutoff after a predetermined time usually around a minute after shutdown ( jumper selectable ).

In case +5VSB is set to off/never or in case of suspend state the PSU monitors the battery voltage and shuts down if it drops below 11 volts to prevent deep discharge.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shldn

Actually on Car PC power supplies +5VSB is also cutoff after a predetermined time usually around a minute after shutdown ( jumper selectable)

Are you giving a time delay at the start to bring it back on (in the alternate jumper setting)? I guess if one wants 'wake on LAN', the jumper would be set to normal PC behaviour.

[shldn]

Yes, first the +5VSB is turned on 2-3 seconds after the ign/acc signal is received and after that the power on signal is sent to the mobo.

Wake on Lan would require the standby to be active as in normal pc behaviour.

[vebmetal]

So considering there are only 9 people on this forum with a carputer, any chance that I can get a second hand system up and running?

[spadival]

Second hand system?? I didnt quite get that. You can use/buy an old PC. But you still need to get a new LCD monitor (touchscreen or not) + DC-DC power supply.

[diezel]

This Post will be a step-by-step guide to installing a Low-Cost Upgradable ATX PC with Intelligent Power Management and Complete Customised UI Installation.

Following features will be enabled on the system:

1. Audio (all formats)
2. Video (all formats)
3. GPS
4. Bluetooth Phone Integration
5. Internet Access
6. POP/SMTP Email
7. Car OBD Scanner
8. Weather Reports
9. Front Infra-red Camera
10. Rear reversing Camera

Following is the Hardware Required and the possible vendors from where you can get them:

1. ASUS 945 Chipset Micro ATX Motherboard (Rs. 2200)
2. Celeron 2 GHz Processor (Rs. 1200) *
3. Seagate 160 GB Hard Drive (Rs. 1650) *
4. 1 GB DDR2 RAM (Rs. 1000) *
4. MicroATX Cabinet (Rs. 600) *
5. DC-DC 160W Intelligent Power Supply (Rs. 3300) (Car PC based Vehicle Infotaiment Systems | iRide Technologies. Mumbai, India)
6. 7" VGA Touch Screen (Rs. 11000) (Car PC based Vehicle Infotaiment Systems | iRide Technologies. Mumbai, India)
7. USB GPS Receiver (Rs. 3000) (Car PC based Vehicle Infotaiment Systems | iRide Technologies. Mumbai, India) *
8. Bluetooth Dongle (Rs. 650) *
9. Ford USB OBD Scanner (Rs. 3000)
10. Rear USB reverse Camera (Rs. 1000) *
11. Front USB Infr-red Camera (Rs. 1950) (Best Buy)
12. PCMCIA Adapter Card (Rs. 1000) *
13. MiniKeyboard with TrackBall (Rs. 1200) (Best Buy)
14. Misc (Cables, Mounting Kits, etc) (Rs. 1000) *

All the hardware marked with * was present with me earlier.

Following is the software which will be installed in the PC

1. Windows XP SP2 Edition
2. Centrafuse XLE Edition (Full Edition)
3. Weather Plugin for Centrafuse
4. Satguide PC Maps (Coming Soon, currently using Google Earth with GooPs)
5. BootSkin
6. KLITE Codec Pack Full

* You guys can check online for various prices of the software.

The installation will be done in a 2005 Ford IKON 1.6 in Pune.

Currently the software is completely installed and we are awaiting some hardware to be delivered.

The drawback with existing CarPC systems are that they are based on expensive ITX based systems which are rarely upgradeable. Using a standard motherboard and cabinet, we can easily install additional devices to enhance the PC. The Cabinet is mounted in the boot besides the rear speakers on mini-shock absorber kits used in Car Engine Mounts. This will take care of shocks and securely mount the system. Since the motherboard supports standard PCI-E cards, you can easily mount an additional Video card and split the display on to multiple screens. With 3 additional PCI slots, one can easily install a high-end sound card, like Creative Audigy or Razor Barracuda, but I am happy with my current Pioneer HU/JBL Mono/Focal SW/JBL Comps/JBL Limited Rears).

The installations should be completed by this weekend and I will be posting pictures of the installation.

So guys look out for it.

Phase II will involve customizing the UI and some custom plugins self-built to support newer modules, like BMW Style Heads-Up Display, etc.

[vebmetal]

What I mean is that are those mini-Itx based system available secondhand? Most average people would use the full size motherboards or laptops. And yes, are touchscreens and power supplies also available second hand? I suppose the best bet would be people who have carputers and are upgrading, but I suppose there aren't that many of such people. So let's put it simply:

Does anyone here have (or know anyone who has) either a full carputer, or parts, for sale second-hand?

(This is because most carputer systems seem to be 20 - 30K, and my budget would be more like 10K subject to future upgrades).

[NetfreakBombay]

Even if some one is upgrading a system, that person might be willing to sell touchscreen LCD and Power supply since these parts can be reused.

And these parts alone cost 12 - 15k.

[monty9991]

Originally Posted by diezel

This Post will be a step-by-step guide to installing a Low-Cost Upgradable ATX PC with Intelligent Power Management and Complete Customised UI Installation.

Following features will be enabled on the system:

1. Audio (all formats)
2. Video (all formats)
3. GPS..........
..................................

well its nice to hear that we will be having one more carputer guy in India. all the best with your installation buddy....
but i doubt about ur 160w power supply.. will it be able to supply power to all these hardware or you going to use some external power for your USB hardware.

[monty9991]

BTW why dint you added IR remote control setup in your hardware list. you should have this. i am using my pioneer steering wheel remote control to change songs and many things. you can use any remote lying at your place.. with this you dont need to look down towards the screen, you just press button from you remote to change theor repeat the song again. click here to know more. Nice little infrared hardware hack for Lilliput owners - MP3Car.com
and every one else here who all are using carputer should have this mod. its cheap and probably wont cost you not more than Rs100 (hardware).

[spadival]

I have 150W power supply powering bluetooth + Wifi + GPS without any problem. USB devices generally dont draw too much power.

[diezel]

Hi Monty

Before finalising on the installation I had completely installed the PC and tested the Wattage used. Its surprising to know but the whole system with a movie running was not pulling more that 100W of power. When I went ahead and tested my Gaming PC, which has Intel Quad Core Extreme with 8800GT graphics card, Razor Baracuda, Corsair Thunder 4 GB RAM, it pulled a maximum of 175W with Crysis running on it. That gave me enough confidence that 160W will be more than enough to power up the gear. Anyways, point to note is that, the display is seperately powered.

So all you folks who have old hardware in their closets, feel free to pull em out and start putting them in good use again.

cheers

[diezel]

Hi Monty

Before planning the installation I had gone ahead and tested the PC in a normal environment. The PC with all running with Movie loaded, was not pulling more than 100W. To prove this further, I went ahead and tested my gaming PC, which has Intel Quad Core Extreme Processor, Asus R.O.G. mainboard, Corsair Thunder RAM, 2 500GB HDD, Razor Baracuda Sound Card, 8800 GT Graphics Card, which pulled a max of 175W with Crysis running on it. That gave me enough confidence that the system will run perfectly with 160W power supply.

So all you folks who have old hardware in their closets, its time to bring em out again and power it up.

And BTW, iRIDE delivered my package today, so this weekend would be fun.

Cheers