Streetaddict's CarPC/Carputer

StreetAddict · 8th July 2010, 21:22

The ICE on the WagonR (Kenwood MP4036U, Kenwood KFC-HQ718EX 6"X9", Kenwood KFC-1056, Kenwood KAC 8103D, Kenwood KFC-W3514DVC, AZ Audiocomp AR 80V, Connection Audison FT2-600, Connection Audison FPK600) was totally biased towards lower frequencies of the sound spectrum. I liked it boom boom

. However, always used to wonder how the bass could be increased. The TruBass of SRS WOW enhancement in Windows Media Player used to drive me nuts when used with a Rs500 intex headphones. How about trying the same in the car? Quickly got wifey's laptop & connected it to the aux port of the HU. The sound was way too ugh! The HU provided much better sound. Hence, I considered it the end of the road.

One fine day, while hunting for something on TBHP, bumped into this thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...er-thread.html. Went through all the pages. Ol' memories sparked & the decision was made that the next car would have a Carputer instead of a plane-jane HU. Talks about getting a new car were already happening in the family. Overclocked the brain & quickly thought was there a need for a CarPC. Took 3 days to convince myself for it. This was it!

Now that I wanted a CarPC, the quest began to find what I wanted out of it.

Do I need it to be a gaming rig? NO! (I really don't wish to drive after playing a hot NFS lap )
Do I need to run processor-intensive applications? No!
Facebook, Orkut, gmail? ummm, maybe!
Official Work? U kidding me ?
Windows media player? Yes Yes!
What about HD videos. Maybe

Finally, penned the following down.

1. Navigation
2. Audio (5.1 surround, Software based Crossovers, Equalizers, Effects, And what not!)
3. Videos (For co-passengers. A strict no-no for me)
4. Ability to play each and every sound & video format
5. Full screen visualizations
6. Bling Factor (Yeah baby!)

Kept the above things in mind & wrote down the following config. Call it a budget setup!

1. A Mini-ITX board (had GCLF2 in mind)
2. 250 GB HDD
3. A 7" touchscreen
4. At least 160W power supply
5. 2 GB RAM
6. GPS receiver
7. A powered USB hub
8. Wireless Keyboard + pointing device combo
9. Win 7
10. Riderunner or Centrafuse as frontend

Drove to Nehru place, visited my preferred shop. Was able to get Intel D945GCLF2, a 160 GB HDD, 2 GB DDR2 from there. None of the wireless keyboards I saw made sense to me. So, thought of researching a bit more before buying one.

I was pretty sure that I would need to source the power supply from ebay but had a feeling that the 7" touchscreen should be available locally. Visited multiple shops asking for it. The shopkeepers gave a funny look when I asked for a 7" screen. Sir, kya karoge itni chhoti screen ka? The look became weird when I told them it would be used in a CarPC. Gave up!

Came back home and a M2-ATX & Globalsat BU-353 was ordered within 15 minutes. Later the night, in a small family meet, was informed that the plan to get the new car has been delayed indefinitely. What the .... ?

Still, the keeda prevailed and I kept on researching on the display. Xenarc was way out of the budget, Lilliputs were well-known to go kaput. 2 weeks later, ordered the IRV-070GL from iRide as it made most sense to me.

Following is what went in

1. Mobo : Intel D945GCLF2
2. HDD : Seagate 7200 RPM 160 GB
3. RAM : 2 GB DDR2
4. Display : IRV-070GL
4. GPS receiver : Globalsat BU-353
5. Power Supply : 160W M2-ATX
6. Input : Lenovo N5901 (Thanks FrankMehta)

Following are some images. All from the internet. You can find the images of Lenovo N5901 on http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ml#post1932751

Installation details coming up next!

nisarg86 · 13th July 2010, 14:58

Good Choice on components Streetaddict. Are you going to use onboard Sound ?
I would suggest go for Centrafuse.

TaureanBull · 13th July 2010, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreetAddict

Still, the keeda prevailed and I kept on researching on the display. Xenarc was way out of the budget, Lilliputs were well-known to go kaput. 2 weeks later, ordered the IRV-070GL from iRide as it made most sense to me.

Hey, I think it covers everything and that too latest. Its more than the budget. Can you share the dent it caused to you?

What are you planning to do with it? Use it in Wagon R? (old car right?)

I am surprised to hear that you did not get a 7" screen in Nehru Place. Its supposed to be IT market of NCR.

Anyways waiting for your DIY job..

StreetAddict · 14th July 2010, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by nisarg86

Good Choice on components Streetaddict. Are you going to use onboard Sound ?
I would suggest go for Centrafuse.

Thanks Nisarg. I would be using the onboard sound for now.

Centrafuse it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Hey, I think it covers everything and that too latest. Its more than the budget. Can you share the dent it caused to you?

The screen? It costed around 14k. Around the same price for all the other components combined.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

What are you planning to do with it? Use it in Wagon R? (old car right?)

Naah. It goes to the new DDiS Swift.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

I am surprised to hear that you did not get a 7" screen in Nehru Place. Its supposed to be IT market of NCR.

Even I was surprised. But then, maybe, the search wasn't that good!

ghpk · 14th July 2010, 03:38

Nice stuff,
so when are your CarPC pre/post Installation pics coming ?

StreetAddict · 14th July 2010, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghpk

Nice stuff,
so when are your CarPC pre/post Installation pics coming ?

Soon. Stuck up in work. Thursday & Friday are the only days I can breathe a bit. Rest to are jam packed

Sprucegoose · 15th July 2010, 07:27

Is that an intel stom based board?
i presume you'll be upgrading to a usb / pci card somwhere in the future.
have you started the install yet? I'm in delhi currently, wouldn't mind dropping bye to see it: )

Sprucegoose · 15th July 2010, 07:28

Is that an intel stom based board?
i presume you'll be upgrading to a usb / pci card somwhere in the future.
have you started the install yet? I'm in delhi currently, wouldn't mind dropping bye to see it: )

MODS: Can you delete this post?
posted twice by mistake

StreetAddict · 17th July 2010, 00:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprucegoose

Is that an intel stom based board?

Yes it is!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprucegoose

i presume you'll be upgrading to a usb / pci card somwhere in the future.

A PCI soundcard is on the list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprucegoose

have you started the install yet? I'm in delhi currently, wouldn't mind dropping bye to see it: )

The install has been completed & is running fine for almost a week. Be my guest!

StreetAddict · 17th July 2010, 01:06

The idea was to install the CarPC in the double-din space itself. It was supposed to be a stealth install. Instead of building/buying a full enclosure, I thought of using acrylic sheets. So, woke up early then my schedule (1:00 pm) on a Friday, took the measurements of the GCLF2 & went to a nearby shop. Got two sheets cut of a size slightly bigger then the GCLF2. Marked & drilled the holes

Went to office, did the Friday shift, came back home at 5:00 am (was saturday till then) but was still feeling fresh. Had the appointment of 11:00 am (Saturday) with Driven to get the ICE, Seat Covers & the tints installed. The idea was to assemble the CarPC before that. So, Ran out to the car with a screwdriver, opened the dash panel, removed the 2-din metal bracket

Marked & drilled holes for the Mobo, HDD & M2-ATX & mounted them on different sheets.

Both the sheets successfully installed in the metal bracket. All wires connected.

The rear view

Ran out to the car, tried a test fit. Voila! it's a perfect fit. Just needed to figure out a way to mount the screen. Thought of leaving it to Mr Rana & the installers at Driven.

But, not everyone is so fortunate.!!

DerAlte · 17th July 2010, 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreetAddict

... But, not everyone is so fortunate.!!

Oye, what happened? Fiqar not, everything will come out well. What was your plan with the display unit (even if Driven is going to do it)?

Your MB assembly looks neat!

StreetAddict · 20th July 2010, 02:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte

What was your plan with the display unit

Had no idea whatsoever. Needed some suggestions from pro guys

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Your MB assembly looks neat!

I know you are pulling my leg!

DerAlte · 20th July 2010, 09:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreetAddict

... I know u're pulling my leg!

Arrey no, I really liked the simple no-fuss mounting in the 2DIN holder - looks neat.

StreetAddict · 21st July 2010, 23:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte

I really liked the simple no-fuss mounting in the 2DIN holder - looks neat.

Even I loved it, but as already stated, I wasn't so fortunate to keep it that way.

So, the story continues....

Reached Driven at 11:30 am that day. AmanGujral reached after 10 minutes. Mr Rana arrived after another 15 minutes. Showed him the CarPC. Ye use karoge aap Head Unit ki Jagah? Ye chalega na?? RCA kahaan lagaayenge?

We decided to give the system a test run while the seat covers were being installed. Got an Amaron, Connected the M2-ATX with it. It didn't boot. My heart skipped a beat. Aman pointed: Ye taar kahaan lagegi? That taar was the connector from M2 to the mobo which gives the boot instruction. Phew! Connected it, the CPU fan starts spinning. Bhai wah! But wait, the display says No Input Signal. FTW?? Aman gives a valuable suggestion : Saari taarein disconnect karke dobara laga. Sounds fun. Let's do it! So, unscrewed the top part, disconnected all the cables, reconnected the RAM, reconnected all the cables back. Let's give it another try. Connected the M2-ATX back to Amaron. The CPU fan starts spinning. Nothing on the screen yet. Wait! Here it comes, the sweet Intel BIOS splash screen. The Windows 7 boot up follows. Hoorray!!

While were in the process of reconnecting the wires back, one of Rana's guy was finding a solution to get the screen mounted. He came back with this.

My mind would not have had this idea in many years to come. I was impressed! Some more pics

The seat cover installation was still in progress. In the meanwhile, we got the Finolex power cables & Stereo to RCA converters. When we came back, the Llumar tints were being installed. Laying of power cables & RCAs followed. Components, Fuse block, D-Block & amps were installed.

Instead of running a wire from M2-ATX to the battery, Ignition & ground, Aman suggested we use an adapter which is used to connect HUs to the car's wire harness. This adapter had 12V constant current, a Wire tapped to ignition & the ground wire. Cool hai.

Here we go! We started connecting the CarPC in the Car. Connected the peripherals, connected the VGA port. Let's mount it now. Inserted it into the 2-din void. It does not want to fit now. Found out that although the CarPC was a perfect fit, the VGA cable was hitting the blower assembly. This connector is over an inch long & that's what was causing the issue.

Anyways, removed the Metal bracket from the dash console & let it rest in the front passenger legroom

. Switched on the ignition & it came to life. Sweet windows startup sound. Started Hotel California. Components sound sweet. No bass from the sub yet. A bit of fiddling around with the connectors & Realtek UI & we had the boom. Hotel California never sounded better.

Tested & switched the machine off so the guys at Driven could do the cleaning. Came back & this is was I got

So, I guess we need to do that exercise again. Decided to do it later as it was late & I was tired. Was not able to sleep for 36 odd hours.

But, is the footwell a good place for the rig? I don't think so!

DerAlte · 22nd July 2010, 14:53

As long as you mount it high up (as much behind the glove box as possible), it should be fine. See if you can get perforated metal sheet that you can wrap around 3 sides of your assembly (4th being the connector side). Actually glove-box is an ideal location.

Which VGA connector was causing the problem, the LCD end or the PC end?

8th July 2010, 21:22	#1
StreetAddict BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Delhi Posts: 202 Thanked: 49 Times	Streetaddict's CarPC/Carputer The ICE on the WagonR (Kenwood MP4036U, Kenwood KFC-HQ718EX 6"X9", Kenwood KFC-1056, Kenwood KAC 8103D, Kenwood KFC-W3514DVC, AZ Audiocomp AR 80V, Connection Audison FT2-600, Connection Audison FPK600) was totally biased towards lower frequencies of the sound spectrum. I liked it boom boom . However, always used to wonder how the bass could be increased. The TruBass of SRS WOW enhancement in Windows Media Player used to drive me nuts when used with a Rs500 intex headphones. How about trying the same in the car? Quickly got wifey's laptop & connected it to the aux port of the HU. The sound was way too ugh! The HU provided much better sound. Hence, I considered it the end of the road. One fine day, while hunting for something on TBHP, bumped into this thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...er-thread.html. Went through all the pages. Ol' memories sparked & the decision was made that the next car would have a Carputer instead of a plane-jane HU. Talks about getting a new car were already happening in the family. Overclocked the brain & quickly thought was there a need for a CarPC. Took 3 days to convince myself for it. This was it! Now that I wanted a CarPC, the quest began to find what I wanted out of it. Do I need it to be a gaming rig? NO! (I really don't wish to drive after playing a hot NFS lap ) Do I need to run processor-intensive applications? No! Facebook, Orkut, gmail? ummm, maybe! Official Work? U kidding me ? Windows media player? Yes Yes! What about HD videos. Maybe Finally, penned the following down. 1. Navigation 2. Audio (5.1 surround, Software based Crossovers, Equalizers, Effects, And what not!) 3. Videos (For co-passengers. A strict no-no for me) 4. Ability to play each and every sound & video format 5. Full screen visualizations 6. Bling Factor (Yeah baby!) Kept the above things in mind & wrote down the following config. Call it a budget setup! 1. A Mini-ITX board (had GCLF2 in mind) 2. 250 GB HDD 3. A 7" touchscreen 4. At least 160W power supply 5. 2 GB RAM 6. GPS receiver 7. A powered USB hub 8. Wireless Keyboard + pointing device combo 9. Win 7 10. Riderunner or Centrafuse as frontend Drove to Nehru place, visited my preferred shop. Was able to get Intel D945GCLF2, a 160 GB HDD, 2 GB DDR2 from there. None of the wireless keyboards I saw made sense to me. So, thought of researching a bit more before buying one. I was pretty sure that I would need to source the power supply from ebay but had a feeling that the 7" touchscreen should be available locally. Visited multiple shops asking for it. The shopkeepers gave a funny look when I asked for a 7" screen. Sir, kya karoge itni chhoti screen ka? The look became weird when I told them it would be used in a CarPC. Gave up! Came back home and a M2-ATX & Globalsat BU-353 was ordered within 15 minutes. Later the night, in a small family meet, was informed that the plan to get the new car has been delayed indefinitely. What the .... ? Still, the keeda prevailed and I kept on researching on the display. Xenarc was way out of the budget, Lilliputs were well-known to go kaput. 2 weeks later, ordered the IRV-070GL from iRide as it made most sense to me. Following is what went in 1. Mobo : Intel D945GCLF2 2. HDD : Seagate 7200 RPM 160 GB 3. RAM : 2 GB DDR2 4. Display : IRV-070GL 4. GPS receiver : Globalsat BU-353 5. Power Supply : 160W M2-ATX 6. Input : Lenovo N5901 (Thanks FrankMehta) Following are some images. All from the internet. You can find the images of Lenovo N5901 on http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ml#post1932751 Installation details coming up next! Attached Thumbnails Attached Images Last edited by StreetAddict : 8th July 2010 at 21:33.
	() Thanks

13th July 2010, 14:58	#2
nisarg86 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 392 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	Good Choice on components Streetaddict. Are you going to use onboard Sound ? I would suggest go for Centrafuse.
	() Thanks

14th July 2010, 03:38	#5
ghpk BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ghaziabad Posts: 872 Thanked: 213 Times	Nice stuff, so when are your CarPC pre/post Installation pics coming ?
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 07:27	#7
Sprucegoose BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 313 Thanked: 45 Times View My Garage	Is that an intel stom based board? i presume you'll be upgrading to a usb / pci card somwhere in the future. have you started the install yet? I'm in delhi currently, wouldn't mind dropping bye to see it: )
	() Thanks

15th July 2010, 07:28	#8
Sprucegoose BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 313 Thanked: 45 Times View My Garage	Is that an intel stom based board? i presume you'll be upgrading to a usb / pci card somwhere in the future. have you started the install yet? I'm in delhi currently, wouldn't mind dropping bye to see it: ) MODS: Can you delete this post? posted twice by mistake Last edited by Sprucegoose : 15th July 2010 at 07:31.
	() Thanks

17th July 2010, 01:06	#10
StreetAddict BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Delhi Posts: 202 Thanked: 49 Times	The good part The idea was to install the CarPC in the double-din space itself. It was supposed to be a stealth install. Instead of building/buying a full enclosure, I thought of using acrylic sheets. So, woke up early then my schedule (1:00 pm) on a Friday, took the measurements of the GCLF2 & went to a nearby shop. Got two sheets cut of a size slightly bigger then the GCLF2. Marked & drilled the holes Went to office, did the Friday shift, came back home at 5:00 am (was saturday till then) but was still feeling fresh. Had the appointment of 11:00 am (Saturday) with Driven to get the ICE, Seat Covers & the tints installed. The idea was to assemble the CarPC before that. So, Ran out to the car with a screwdriver, opened the dash panel, removed the 2-din metal bracket Marked & drilled holes for the Mobo, HDD & M2-ATX & mounted them on different sheets. Both the sheets successfully installed in the metal bracket. All wires connected. The rear view Ran out to the car, tried a test fit. Voila! it's a perfect fit. Just needed to figure out a way to mount the screen. Thought of leaving it to Mr Rana & the installers at Driven. But, not everyone is so fortunate.!! Last edited by StreetAddict : 17th July 2010 at 01:07.
	() Thanks

22nd July 2010, 14:53	#15
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,027 Thanked: 2,920 Times	As long as you mount it high up (as much behind the glove box as possible), it should be fine. See if you can get perforated metal sheet that you can wrap around 3 sides of your assembly (4th being the connector side). Actually glove-box is an ideal location. Which VGA connector was causing the problem, the LCD end or the PC end?
	() Thanks