The CarPC / Carputer Thread

nisarg86 · 13th September 2009, 23:49

Hey Gigy. i did try 7. but back to XP.
coz of sound issue. Sound was much louder in XP than 7. and there are no settings for loudness.
GPS can be fixed by using xPort utility.

gigy · 14th September 2009, 13:24

I came to know about obd ll working in a swift from the western country in mp3car forum. so can it be taken as cars there need to be obd compliant as per law? in that case if i get a ecu of 2000-2002 esteem 1.6 will it work in my 2000 model baleno?( primarily the car should run fine and then the obdll protocol)
is there any use in trying out this route?

netarchie · 14th September 2009, 14:31

Hi gigy,
I am using win 7 in my car pc,even i am not able to paly FM through the PCear USB FM but it is detected and win 7 install drivers also for it!

I am using the full win 7 and not the tiny versions.

gigy · 14th September 2009, 20:00

Even i found window 7 overall volume seems to be lesser than xp but i am ok with it for i get TA option . i play at normal volume only. if only the gps and fm worked then i will move over.
There is a strange problem with my lcd, after it operates for some time the touch screen is not responding properly and the mouse pointer is going to top of the screen and staying there. what could be the issue?

there is a wireless mini keyboard with mouse for 10$ with CarPC, Car PC, touchscreen monitors, power supplies, DC-DC PSUs, vehicle PSU, car power supplies.

idea1979 · 15th September 2009, 01:58

Great thread !!

I am looking for charging point for my laptops and other ordinary AC devices like mobile etc.

1. One option could be using a DC to AC inverter. Actually i already have one of 350W, @ Rs 2100/- but it keeps heating up a lot. something like

eBay India: Belkin AC Anywhre 200 watt car power Inverter Charger (item 200382442980 end time 17-Sep-2009 13:25:07 IST)

2. Do i have any other reliable option which will enable me to use my regular electric equipments (laptop/mobile/2.1 speakers etc. ) in my car ?

spadival · 15th September 2009, 03:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by idea1979

Great thread !!

I am looking for charging point for my laptops and other ordinary AC devices like mobile etc.

See Digital Vampire's post on this thread, specifically this one

But I doubt this one will let you charge your mobile (at least not at the same time). In any case, you need to be careful enough to set the voltage to the correct level while switching between devices. Otherwise, there will a bit of smoke and an expensive brick!!You can always charge your mobile off the USB power from your laptop, the downside being you have to have your laptop turned on and charging. Don't know how that'll affect the laptop's battery life.

Also, make sure you secure the laptop firmly while driving. They can become deadly projectiles in case of an accident.

gigy · 15th September 2009, 07:01

Spadival, how about using ECU from a 200-2002 1.6L MT esteem from california? will it output OBD data? i am getting one for 50$. except for fuel quality is there any other parameter different to it?

gigy · 15th September 2009, 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by idea1979

Great thread !!

I am looking for charging point for my laptops and other ordinary AC devices like mobile etc.

1. One option could be using a DC to AC inverter. Actually i already have one of 350W, @ Rs 2100/- but it keeps heating up a lot. something like

eBay India: Belkin AC Anywhre 200 watt car power Inverter Charger (item 200382442980 end time 17-Sep-2009 13:25:07 IST)

2. Do i have any other reliable option which will enable me to use my regular electric equipments (laptop/mobile/2.1 speakers etc. ) in my car ?

Have a look at the product below from opus which has dual output and the output voltage is adjustable. do check the current rating of laptop and search for suitable power supply.

OPUS SOLUTIONS - Leader in Vehicle Computers and Mobile DC-DC Power Supplies

DC-DC Power Supplies - PW-200-M series, picoPSU series, wide input power supplies, Car Power supplies, M-ATX series, M2-ATX, M3-ATX, M4-ATX

For mobile its better to use the cigarette lighter socket.
You can get additional ones installed in case there are more items which need power simultaneously.
If inverter is getting too hot then another option is to go for one which has higher power rating than the one you are using presently. most of the cars have 10ampere limit on the cigarette lighter output, so chose accordingly or get a new one installed directly from battery with higher fuse rating.

spadival · 15th September 2009, 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

there is a wireless mini keyboard with mouse for 10$ with

Gigy!! Don't buy stuff that you don't need !! $50 here and $10 there, it will pile up to a good amount. The problem with your LCD is most likely a driver issue. Try re-installing the driver (keep ur PC keyboard handy) or updating it. If this does not resolve the issue, there may be dust/foreign matter pressing the top edge of the touchscreen only when it heats up. You can observe similar "arrow moving in random direction" behavior when there is foreign matter on laptop trackpads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

Spadival, how about using ECU from a 200-2002 1.6L MT esteem from california? will it output OBD data? i am getting one for 50$. except for fuel quality is there any other parameter different to it?

What's the model no of the ECU? Its in 3392-XXXXX format. There are a zillion hardware versions of ECUs for the same 1.6L engine (including 2 versions in India alone). So I really doubt it will be a straight plug and play. Why do you want to screw the reliability of the car just to get OBD data out?

Anyway, The best person to speak to on this, is Rhinoman. But even he is not using an OBD2 spec ECU though he is replacing the ECU on his Zuk. Infact, he is developing a separate hardware module to convert the Suzuki protocol to OBD2 format. You can PM him at redlinegti.com forum

gigy · 15th September 2009, 19:11

Thanks spdavil for the ECU info, i better not try to play with it considering the bad lucks i am having these days with my car.

Tragedy has stuck my carputer again today and i have given up now.
the new amplifier also went up in smoke today.
I had just driven 100metere as usual when i noticed no audio coming from the amplifier and audible pop......pop.....pop sound coming, there was this familiar smell of electric wire burning. i stopped the car immediately on road, opened up the rear seat, smoke was well visible, so pulled out the power connection but it was too late. none of the fuse blew as in the earlier case of my kenwood amplifier. i just cant figure what has caused this a second time.
A 40amp built in fuse didnt blow ,a 50amp secondary fuse didnt blow and then there was the master 150amp which will anyway do nothing. how can two amplifiers burn out like this all of a sudden.
Nothing was disturbed except that i had increased all channel level in the amplifier two days back.

Now the red and green keep flashing alternately when powered up with all input and output disconnected.

spadival · 15th September 2009, 21:25

Simple question, does the fuse blow when polarity is reversed and the current flows in the reverse direction? I guess not.. my old phone and BT GPS will attest to that statement. Both went up in smoke.

I wouldn't have minded the phone getting bricked, but then I had a Homer Simpson "mmm, let me try again" moment and burnt the GPS..Arrghhhhh. I stopped pretending to be a DIY electrician after that.

gigy · 15th September 2009, 23:32

If it was a new setup which i was trying to powerup, that could have been a possibility but how can a running system get reverse voltage? Even i had my share of connecting lcd power reverse and blowing it up just be cause i was lazy to get wires of two different color or the multimeter down to car.This is not the case here.
the amplifier has reverse current and over current protection. but those work only when the current flow was through the fuse and control, this dose not look like that case. Now i am sure of the previous amplifier cause of death is same not water going into it. it has something to do with the five channel configuration or motherboard itself.
Can higher input voltage or shorting of the inputs cause such damage? i guess thats the only thing which was disturbed. i found the main channel speaker connection is bit shaky due to use in car environment for long, so have rerouted it to avoid stress and also provide more slack to it now.
Sony222 is back in action after changing the configuration to stereo now. thats going to remain so for a long time.

nisarg86 · 16th September 2009, 01:26

Whats going on with your carputer Gigy ? sad to hear that your new amp gone kaput.
Put kala tika on carputer and ICE.

gigy · 23rd September 2009, 09:28

Found this fit-PC2 good for carputer use but at 400$ will have to wait for a friend to come home.

Amazon.com: fit-PC2 XP HD (1.6 GHz Intel Atom, Fanless, 160 GB Hard Disk, Windows XP Home with CyberLink PowerDVD codecs): Computer & Accessories

fit-PC2 Wiki

spadival · 23rd September 2009, 17:15

Gigy, the review says "The only issue I found so far is when watching [...] the video is choppy. "

So best to avoid this one. Other than the size, it does not have much to offer for the price.

13th September 2009, 23:49	#481
nisarg86 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 392 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	Hey Gigy. i did try 7. but back to XP. coz of sound issue. Sound was much louder in XP than 7. and there are no settings for loudness. GPS can be fixed by using xPort utility.
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 13:24	#482
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	I came to know about obd ll working in a swift from the western country in mp3car forum. so can it be taken as cars there need to be obd compliant as per law? in that case if i get a ecu of 2000-2002 esteem 1.6 will it work in my 2000 model baleno?( primarily the car should run fine and then the obdll protocol) is there any use in trying out this route?
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 14:31	#483
netarchie BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Navi Mumbai Posts: 397 Thanked: 10 Times View My Garage	Hi gigy, I am using win 7 in my car pc,even i am not able to paly FM through the PCear USB FM but it is detected and win 7 install drivers also for it! I am using the full win 7 and not the tiny versions.
	() Thanks

14th September 2009, 20:00	#484
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Even i found window 7 overall volume seems to be lesser than xp but i am ok with it for i get TA option . i play at normal volume only. if only the gps and fm worked then i will move over. There is a strange problem with my lcd, after it operates for some time the touch screen is not responding properly and the mouse pointer is going to top of the screen and staying there. what could be the issue? there is a wireless mini keyboard with mouse for 10$ with CarPC, Car PC, touchscreen monitors, power supplies, DC-DC PSUs, vehicle PSU, car power supplies. Last edited by gigy : 14th September 2009 at 20:18.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 01:58	#485
idea1979 BANNED Join Date: May 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 234 Thanked: 0 Times	Great thread !! I am looking for charging point for my laptops and other ordinary AC devices like mobile etc. 1. One option could be using a DC to AC inverter. Actually i already have one of 350W, @ Rs 2100/- but it keeps heating up a lot. something like eBay India: Belkin AC Anywhre 200 watt car power Inverter Charger (item 200382442980 end time 17-Sep-2009 13:25:07 IST) 2. Do i have any other reliable option which will enable me to use my regular electric equipments (laptop/mobile/2.1 speakers etc. ) in my car ? Last edited by idea1979 : 15th September 2009 at 02:00.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 07:01	#487
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Spadival, how about using ECU from a 200-2002 1.6L MT esteem from california? will it output OBD data? i am getting one for 50$. except for fuel quality is there any other parameter different to it?
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 19:11	#490
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Thanks spdavil for the ECU info, i better not try to play with it considering the bad lucks i am having these days with my car. Tragedy has stuck my carputer again today and i have given up now. the new amplifier also went up in smoke today. I had just driven 100metere as usual when i noticed no audio coming from the amplifier and audible pop......pop.....pop sound coming, there was this familiar smell of electric wire burning. i stopped the car immediately on road, opened up the rear seat, smoke was well visible, so pulled out the power connection but it was too late. none of the fuse blew as in the earlier case of my kenwood amplifier. i just cant figure what has caused this a second time. A 40amp built in fuse didnt blow ,a 50amp secondary fuse didnt blow and then there was the master 150amp which will anyway do nothing. how can two amplifiers burn out like this all of a sudden. Nothing was disturbed except that i had increased all channel level in the amplifier two days back. Now the red and green keep flashing alternately when powered up with all input and output disconnected. Last edited by gigy : 15th September 2009 at 19:29.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 21:25	#491
spadival Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, AU Posts: 1,773 Thanked: 26 Times View My Garage	Simple question, does the fuse blow when polarity is reversed and the current flows in the reverse direction? I guess not.. my old phone and BT GPS will attest to that statement. Both went up in smoke. I wouldn't have minded the phone getting bricked, but then I had a Homer Simpson "mmm, let me try again" moment and burnt the GPS..Arrghhhhh. I stopped pretending to be a DIY electrician after that.
	() Thanks

15th September 2009, 23:32	#492
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	If it was a new setup which i was trying to powerup, that could have been a possibility but how can a running system get reverse voltage? Even i had my share of connecting lcd power reverse and blowing it up just be cause i was lazy to get wires of two different color or the multimeter down to car.This is not the case here. the amplifier has reverse current and over current protection. but those work only when the current flow was through the fuse and control, this dose not look like that case. Now i am sure of the previous amplifier cause of death is same not water going into it. it has something to do with the five channel configuration or motherboard itself. Can higher input voltage or shorting of the inputs cause such damage? i guess thats the only thing which was disturbed. i found the main channel speaker connection is bit shaky due to use in car environment for long, so have rerouted it to avoid stress and also provide more slack to it now. Sony222 is back in action after changing the configuration to stereo now. thats going to remain so for a long time. Last edited by gigy : 15th September 2009 at 23:35.
	() Thanks

16th September 2009, 01:26	#493
nisarg86 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 392 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	Whats going on with your carputer Gigy ? sad to hear that your new amp gone kaput. Put kala tika on carputer and ICE.
	() Thanks

23rd September 2009, 09:28	#494
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Found this fit-PC2 good for carputer use but at 400$ will have to wait for a friend to come home. Amazon.com: fit-PC2 XP HD (1.6 GHz Intel Atom, Fanless, 160 GB Hard Disk, Windows XP Home with CyberLink PowerDVD codecs): Computer & Accessories fit-PC2 Wiki Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

23rd September 2009, 17:15	#495
spadival Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, AU Posts: 1,773 Thanked: 26 Times View My Garage	Gigy, the review says "The only issue I found so far is when watching [...] the video is choppy. " So best to avoid this one. Other than the size, it does not have much to offer for the price.
	() Thanks