[gigy]

try communicating at 7812 baud rate and see if you are getting any response.

[mpz]

Great news for Car PC users, Centrafuse is having a 50% off sales on their infotainment platform!

check it out @

Centrafuse | CarPC Front-end Software

cheers

[nisarg86]

SDH. Any new updates on OBD ?

[sdh]

All research so far leads to the conclussion that Swift does not support OBD II protocol. So for now, stopping the research.
On the radio front, managed to get the miniature RF connector on the radio and connected it to the car antenna plug. Still see no improvement in reception. At home it receives clear signals without the antenna. So what is going wrong in the car. Will work on this now and hope to have a solution soon.

[sdh]

I have now started work on second display for rear seat. Bought a USB to VGA adapter today. Installed the provided drivers, rebooted the system and the second display came to life. It supports mirror as well as extended desktop. Configured for extended desktop, 800x600 32 bit colour. Everything good so far.
Now I configured CF to output video to second display and play video. It still plays the video on primary video. Some how CF is not recognising the display. My understanding was that if windows recogniese the extended desktop, CF will work automatically. Now one more issue at hand to resolve.

[ibm_jennifer]

Do you have any option to enable "Full screen overlay" on secondary monitor?

Will other media players like KmPlayer/Windows media player play fullscreen video on secondary display?

[thedreamcatcher]

I have to admit, this is really innovative. But I am too scared to try it out now atleast. A small suggestion is you can cover the portions using any headunit box and cut out the required portion and paste it there. It is one din sized and will neatly cover up the ugly nylon blocks

[Archish]

WOW!!! i am all of 25 and i feel like a 52 yr old. I am a computer savvy person myself but I really dont get all these numbers and stuf...

Anyways, I just want to know. What are car computers used for? Is it used for monitoring and enhancing the performance of the car or used as a normal computer. If its a normal computer, and u want a computer, wont a laptop work?

I have a siena 1.6. can i get a computer installed in it?

[ibm_jennifer]

I have a siena 1.6. can i get a computer installed in it?

No, Car computer will not work in 1.6 You need at least version 1.7 (???)

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Archish

wont a laptop work?

will work perfectly fine use one hand to control mouse other to type and one leg to control steering and other to press accelerator or break but you need auto transmission and great deal of acrobatic abilities along with big dash to accommodate your lappy.

Jokes apart Car computer is all about providing a man machine interface suitable to use while driving causing minimal distraction,

[Archish]

Originally Posted by amitk26

will work perfectly fine use one hand to control mouse other to type and one leg to control steering and other to press accelerator or break but you need auto transmission and great deal of acrobatic abilities along with big dash to accommodate your lappy.

Jokes apart Car computer is all about providing a man machine interface suitable to use while driving causing minimal distraction,

Yes, Yes, have a laugh at my expense. I dont mind. I m happy as long as u are happy

But no one answered my question. What is the use of the computer. Amits answer was
"Car computer is all about providing a man machine interface suitable to use while driving causing minimal distraction" and what i read is

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah " I dont get it..

Explain to me in laymans language.....

What is a car computer used for?

Is it to monitor and enhance the cars performance?

Is it just a regular computer designed such that it is easy to use when u are driving?

[ibm_jennifer]

Explain to me in laymans language.....

What is a car computer used for?

1. Its simple. You don't need to buy a high end DVD/CD/MP3/FM Player. Your PC with a DVD Player will take care of that. You can even upgrade your car computer as a HD(?) Media Player with Dual Display support
2. It will work as a real time OBD Scanner
3. It will act as a Digital TV Player with a DVB-T/DVB-S Tuner
4. You don't need a separate Navigator unit. A USB GPS unit will work as a navigator in your PC
5. You don't need any separate Equalizers or Dolby/DTS Decoders. A PC will do this with the help of VST/DX Plug ins.
6. You PC is now CODEC free and play any lossless Audio even DTS/AC3/Flac/AAC/OGG and VIDEOs like MP1/2, MP4, AAC, XVID, FLV, VC-1, DIVX
7. It will upmix your stereo sound to realistic 5.1/4.0 surround sound using software/hardware technologies
8. You dont need a car bluetooth unit. Your Car PC will take care of that with a 200rs. dongle
9. You can browse/email/chat with a WIFI/EVDO adapter
10. You can even play games while not driving the car
11. You dont need a separate display unit for your reverse camera
12. You can record the live footage continuously using a USB Camera with a buffer

[amitk26]

13. No need to install aftermarket techometer etc in your Car if it does not have one using OBD scanner you can read values from ECU
and display them on the LCD of Car PC placed on the dash.

14. No need to put hard copies of pictures of your loved one on the dash
you can display the digital images using as a photo frame.

15. While using any dedicated navigator you are bound to use the map and software provided by them but on a Car PC you can use Google , Yahooo Open maps + the software of your navigation service provider.

16 While you are driving , Kids on the back seat can play games if you have LCD display on the head rests for 2nd row or roof hanging LCD.

17. You can post your holiday pics and drive reports directly from your car while on a road trip no need to wait till you get back home.

18. Cut the CDs of the pictures taken and distribute to your friends accompanying you before you disperse from your road trip.

CONS :

1. Mindshare and time as this requires DIY and your own research
2. Money Money $$$$
3. You need spirit to experiment

I have not done it till now because could not find time to do

Originally Posted by ibm_jennifer

1. Its simple. You don't need to buy a high end DVD/CD/MP3/FM Player. Your PC with a DVD Player will take care of that. You can even upgrade your car computer as a HD(?) Media Player with Dual Display support
2. It will work as a real time OBD Scanner
3. It will act as a Digital TV Player with a DVB-T/DVB-S Tuner
4. You don't need a separate Navigator unit. A USB GPS unit will work as a navigator in your PC
5. You don't need any Equalizers or Dolby/DTS Decoders
6. Its CODEC free and play any lossless Audio even DTS/AC3/Flac/OGG
7. It will upmix your stereo sound to 5.1/4.0 surround sound
8. You dont need a car bluetooth unit. Your Car PC will take care of that with a 200rs. dongle
9. You can browse/email/chat with a WIFI adapter
10. You can play games while not driving the car
11. You dont need a separate display unit for your reverse camera
12. You can record the live footage continously using a USB Camera with a buffer

[ibm_jennifer]

Car PC you can use Google , Yahooo Open maps + the software of your navigation service provider.

Even the cracked/stolen oneIndia Maps(!!!) will work in your PC (but not in the dedicated unit!) and you can save some thousands. Forget it, Actually you don't need to spend a single dollar for any of the software you needed on the Car PC. You just need a working brain, thats it!.

Kids on the back seat can play games

If you don't have kids, you can even let your GF to play from the front seat(I mean Games!).

Cut the CDs of the pictures taken and distribute to your friends accompanying

Also you can store the pirated/original DVDs on the road in your PC and you can immediately return the DVDs back to your friend.(!!!)

Or better go to BURMA bazaar, stop the car before a shop, buy 10 movies and they will allow you to check, copy 8 movies, pay for 2 and return the 8 - Look, now you don't even need to pay for pirated movies too!!!Wow, what a technology!

I have not done it till now because could not find time to do

He He, I too.

[Digital Vampire]

Originally Posted by Archish

I have a siena 1.6. can i get a computer installed in it?

You can very well install a Carputer in your ride. But getting a generic OBD scanner to work on FIAT vehicles in India is highly suspect though. I'm not sure about Sienna, but I've confirmed that it will not work on FIAT Palio MJD since FIAT uses some strange non standard protocol. You may need special software to decode the FIAT's proprietary protocol.