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pitslayer
18-02-2008, 11:26 PM
my 7" touchscreen arrived this morning, so just spent 2 hours or so getting it work, why cant they make instructions that are short and to the point. plug this into that, that in that, this into your pc, job done.
i now have a working touch screen monitor, running the laptop downstairs, and my 360.
will have to take some pictures of the build, when i eventually get it all sorted

Mark 4
18-02-2008, 11:40 PM
he he

rees
18-02-2008, 11:41 PM
cool , i ve bought a 10" touch screen in prep for mine , itll involve removing the climate control but all thats to come , how are you finding MU's vr4?

AncientOfMu
19-02-2008, 12:02 AM
He isnt yet.

And it isnt Mu's Vr4 its Pitslayers VR4 :D.

n13l pm
19-02-2008, 12:15 AM
looking forward to the icpc projects lads.. :happy:

pitslayer
20-02-2008, 12:49 AM
like said i havnt got it yet, stupid government /grrr, and even though its my car now, it will still always be Mus old VR4 /lol

i will be trial fitting everything in my galant, if i get it back :(


rees i went for the 7" as its a straight fit in, and i dont loose the climate control, be cool though as we can share hints and tips for when we build them

Zaid
20-02-2008, 01:04 AM
i will be trial fitting everything in my galant, if i get it back :(



Who has taken her from you?!

pitslayer
20-02-2008, 10:44 AM
garage in for gearbox repair, which has taken 5 months, and not getting any closer to being done

Zaid
20-02-2008, 01:56 PM
garage in for gearbox repair, which has taken 5 months, and not getting any closer to being done

I found these people in Cardiff when I had problems with my BMW. They are helpful and charge very reasonable prices.
http://www.svscardiff.co.uk/reconditioning_services.htm

Nick Mann
20-02-2008, 02:17 PM
So what do you guys in the know think of these:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mobile-Computing-Solution_Car-pc_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ7065770QQftidZ2QQtZkm

White Lightning
20-02-2008, 02:34 PM
So what do you guys in the know think of these:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mobile-Computing-Solution_Car-pc_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ7065770QQftidZ2QQtZkm

That looks pretty cool ...

How would you go about connecting one of those up to the speakers in the car? I guess you have to connect the audio output on the PC up to an amp?

n13l pm
20-02-2008, 02:40 PM
That looks pretty cool ...

How would you go about connecting one of those up to the speakers in the car? I guess you have to connect the audio output on the PC up to an amp?

Yep. I have a soundcard with outputs for front, rear and sub, I connected these to the amps using a 3 x jack to phono cables (via a line driver in my case).

Mark 4
20-02-2008, 03:55 PM
Nick, I'd be interested if you want to set up a group buy. Good to have the input from people about what to buy as well. Computers are not my strong point /pan

Nutter_John
20-02-2008, 04:39 PM
www.linitx.com are a uk supplier of thattype of kit , maybe easier

rees
20-02-2008, 06:38 PM
like said i havnt got it yet, stupid government /grrr, and even though its my car now, it will still always be Mus old VR4 /lol

i will be trial fitting everything in my galant, if i get it back :(


rees i went for the 7" as its a straight fit in, and i dont loose the climate control, be cool though as we can share hints and tips for when we build them

yeah i know what ya mean about the 7 " as for the climate control ill just have to move it to below , but yeah ave subscribed to this thread so keep us posted :happy:

rees
20-02-2008, 06:41 PM
www.linitx.com are a uk supplier of thattype of kit , maybe easier

cheers john that site will be frequented:afro:

n13l pm
20-02-2008, 07:59 PM
www.linitx.com are a uk supplier of thattype of kit , maybe easier

I used www.Linitx.com to buy a lot of my bits, other sites I used www.kustompcs.co.uk & www.itx-warehouse.co.uk

pitslayer
21-02-2008, 12:50 AM
its just as cheap to make your own car pc, all you really need is a screen, a laptop, and an on off switch really.

there is a couple of ways of doing it, the way im opting to go, is i run a cd player with a line in, so theres no chopping and splicing into the wiring loom. get laptop in, run wires to screen, get screen working, run output to the line in on the cd player, and then its wired for sound. its simple, and effective

as for the lilliput stuff, my mate has been runnning a lilliput screen in his FTO for over a year now, with no issues, and thats what i have bought. he said that everyone is saying, they are cheap and work really well, so he got one, and as he has had no issues, i bought one.


zaid cheers for that i will give them a ring tomorow, the car is worth 1500 quid tops, and its had 4k spent on it now(enough to buy my VR4 /grrr) still battling those god damn bum snackers up in birmingham, about the wrong gearboxes they have sent me, i want my money back having to go through the credit card to get it back, and im still stuck with the bill, for removal and attempted fitting of the wrong gearbox they have supplied me...twice!

pitslayer
27-02-2008, 09:23 PM
had the screen now for about a week, and i think ive got it setup, its a bit of a wierd set up, stupid engrish manual /lol so if anyone wants to know how to get it to work, i can help.
so i have had the touch screen working on the laptop downstairs and so far im pretty impressed, however im slightly unimpressed with the cooling on it, it gets rather warm, and in such a little space(double din) i think i will be putting an extra fan in behind, which will just be a normal pc fan as they are already 12 volts.

next job is getting an intelligent power supply with on and off capabilitys and i will be using the carnetix p1900
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=10728

next all i will be needing is a lump of 7 core and about 12 metres of vga cable

n13l pm
27-02-2008, 11:05 PM
Glad to see some movement on the icpc front.

Just a quick one, I know the power supply will power the laptop every time you switch on the car but how are you going to turn on the laptop?

I guess the location of laptop would answer that also what about a reboot switch? I found a cut off to the power very handy (say your driving long distance and for what ever reason the computer crashes you will need to restart it without switching the car off..).

pitslayer
28-02-2008, 10:03 AM
that thing turns the laptop on.
start the car, which turns that thing on, which then turns on then laptop, :) you can get cheaper startup shutdown controllers but, for 30 odd quid more you might aswell buy one that does everything

n13l pm
28-02-2008, 11:23 AM
oh really, thats that sorted then.

As for the cooling of the screen, I noticed they get fairly warm aswell so what I did was to mould some fans at the bottom of the console which pumps up air to the back of the screen. I guess I only really did this to make it look a bit different, if your not moulding the whole console then putting a pc fan on the back is fine, theres loads of space at the back.

pitslayer
28-02-2008, 05:33 PM
its just being fitted in place and bolted down, so will just have a pc fan stuck on the back..

the carnetix p1900 is very good, expensive at the same time, but it saves having to move the battery into the back, or running a really long inverter

Beastlee
28-02-2008, 06:06 PM
/ttiwwop

Step by step guys ;)

pitslayer
29-02-2008, 12:23 AM
wouldnt do it any other way ;)

pitslayer
03-03-2008, 01:16 AM
right done a bit of work on the carputer side of things today.
first job of the day, turn the car from grey to white, wash polish wax and seal, still not happy could be shinier.
next job remove center of dash. now this is an absoulete arse of a job if you dont know what your doing and havnt really done it before. i found that its pretty resiliant but didnt pull to hard as it probably will break. i would tell you how to do it, but it angered me that much i cant be bothered /Grrr /lol
*few to many pics to upload so you will have to click the links*
you need your screen
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008047.jpg

now you should have your center console infront of you, relativly unbroken
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008045.jpg

now with a quick trial fit of the screen i found these things to get in the way
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008046.jpg

now this thing, here surrounds the air con unit( i removed the air con unit as it is easy to work around with out it there) what it does i dont know, it doesnt hold the air con unit in place, it just sits there for no reason what so ever
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008048.jpg

now its time to dremel it up, remember kids make sure you have an adult with you when using these, especially when you have hotwired it so its constantly on, as the switch packed up /pan
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008049.jpg

now as you can see, using the dremel we cut the things off in the third picture
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008050.jpg

then its trial fit time whilst out of the car. does it clear the air con unit-yes....how does it look etc
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d112/pitslayer/stuff/02032008052.jpg

more coming soon

Gooch
03-03-2008, 01:04 PM
That looks magic.

My name is bob I am from Oz I have recently brought a leggie and really looking forward to putting in a carputer.
I have a question I hope I can get some help. I have three kids all with individual personalities so each would want to watch something different or listen to something different as a result I was thinking the processing power of one pc would not be enough to run what they want and have a GPS running in the front.
So I thought of the following configuration, I can buy a Toughbook pc from the army surplus auctions in Oz for around $150 (all prices in aud) then I need to add the special shock proof hard drive (army dont give out their hard drives). Now these models are tablet so touch screen already, was going to move the aircond to the bottom part of the center console as I dont smoke. I will then put a couple of EEE pc's (Asus) in the rear (cant mount in roof cause of the sunroof and the recaro's dont have much room in the head rests) can pick them up for around 400 second hand in aus. Then I will need to spend around 500 on stuff like cables and additional batteries and a shut down and power up unit if I can.
This will give me a highly useable system with everything and one that wont take long to move to another car or take it out when camping so kids can do stuff on the pc's.
I have only thought of it and want to know if it would be do-able I know that the toughbooks have a 12" screen. which is large but we have a bit of room to play with once the console is out then it is a question of filling in the gaps.
Blow me down I have only started to think about this roughly let me know where you think I could do better. by the way your site rocks :happy:

pitslayer
03-03-2008, 03:30 PM
you dont really have enough room for a 12" screen, as i personally found the center console to be a bit flimsy in the double din area.
you could just buy a car pc itself im doing it the cheap way, however i see no reason why you couldnt run a laptop with an external hard drive on it, for 3 users with GPS, store films etc. then i would put a 7" touch in the double din area, and 2 monitors in the back of the rear seats angled upwards slightly.
?

pitslayer
10-03-2008, 01:30 PM
sorry everything has kind of ground to a halt at the moment, as i need to buy the carnetix p1900, but its 70 odd quid, will see how things look at payday. really need car pc now, cd player that i have litteraly wedged in the whole is doing my nut in...mp3 cd-folder random, means folder random. not a constant loop of korn, pantera, the offspring and daft punk. there is 60 odd folders of music and i can guess what is coming up next half of the time

pitslayer
11-03-2008, 12:49 PM
right, my carnetix controller has turned up today, courtesy of linitx. and kicked down to me by initial city link. im quite suprised actually, for city link the box has only a few dents in on it, and bag was only partially ripped and scuffed up, where its been sliding around there van.....one day initial sh*ty link will deliver me a parcel, which isnt bent, broken,damaged or lost...one day

n13l pm
11-03-2008, 01:05 PM
City link for me have been great, in fact the best delivery service iv had..

peter thomson
11-03-2008, 01:10 PM
City link for me have been great, in fact the best delivery service iv had..

Same for me and I've sent or received over 500 parcels in the last 3 years and only had misdirected parcels on a couple of occasions and they've always managed to sort it out.

pitslayer
11-03-2008, 05:17 PM
ive got 2 bent bonnets, bought of reputable parts dealers, delivered by city link, of course not there fault that my lovely bonnets ended up bent. or the 2 paddle mixers we bought for work, on next day delivery which turned up 2 weeks later after being lost. or the box of mobile phone headsets i ordered from carphone warehouse, which i refused to accept, the guy thought i was having a laugh with him when i said "im not accepting that, in that state, have you been playing football with it?". or my mates tv which they didnt even deliver, took the day of work waited in, heard the letterbox go, with a card saying we called, and the guy just got in his van and drove off.... i had to drive down to cardiff to pick it up, with a smashed up box, and most of the tv casing smashed. and for these reason and more i hate them /lol
i only go through ups or tnt now, picked up from door, delivered to my door never a fuss, never a dent on the box..

but still, the car pc assembly should be starting soon, just waiting for my mate to help me now

n13l pm
11-03-2008, 06:20 PM
Seems like city link in wales keep sheep in the van, for added security!!

Looking forward to the icpc getting built. Keep us updated mate.

Turbo_Steve
11-03-2008, 09:58 PM
Can't work out how Sh!tty link are still in business: None of the banks will touch them, and they've been dreadful whenever I used them in Coventry..never delivered, could never find my parcel.

Round here they seem a mite more reliable, but in Reading they just destroyed everything.

Gooch
17-03-2008, 04:44 AM
Keep up the good work.
Sorry to hear about your delivery issues that really sucks was there any insurance on the items??
I know what you mean about the money side of things. I am stuck with a radio that does not go to any real Ozzie stations worth listening to and Mini Discs didn't really take off here either. I could go buy a modulator that will allow me to go higher up the FM Scale. But rather put that money to the ICPC.
Keep posting keen to hear how you go with your icpc, and what you get connected to it.
Cheers:happy:

Beastlee
17-03-2008, 01:18 PM
This thread has renewed my interest in CarPCs. I have all the gubbins for a new PC here but based around a full size tower. I may look at what can be done to use it but I think I will be forced down the proven carputer type route.
Being as I'm in IT I really should get this done.
I can then patch the Evoscan in and log constantly as I could with the Greddy kit to....:thinking:

Now what screen do I want.......

pitslayer
17-03-2008, 02:39 PM
i used the lilliput screens, readily available they work, and they are cheapish.
an actual pc would work, the only reason im using a laptop is that i got them free, they fit in the boot nicely
what you need is
screen
laptop
powersupply/startup/shutdown controller, ie the carnetix, expensive but it works really well, and stops all voltage drops so it doesnt kill everything, or leave it all running.
VGA cable
length of 7 core trailer wire
powercable with inline fusebox

pitslayer
21-03-2008, 10:31 PM
right, done a bit of work on it today.
so i have run a few more cables, the big length of 12v cable was an arse to get through the dash, but its finally there.
tomorow, i will be mounting the cd player....somewhere, not sure where yet, but somewhere.
finishing off some of the cabling, and a general tidy up, then i will be awaiting my mate, to come and help finish it all off, now i have a working laptop, and a cdplayer with a line in

pitslayer
22-03-2008, 05:25 PM
i forgot to add, you will need a cd player with a line in. kenwood do a cheap one, on offer in halfrauds for 60 quid at the moment. it has a line in.

Turbo_Steve
23-03-2008, 02:03 AM
Which software have you chosen to use?

pitslayer
23-03-2008, 02:46 AM
not sure what im going to use yet havnt really thought about it. Not needed yet. Got the screen mounted in the dash today.

Beastlee
23-03-2008, 09:43 AM
I'll use either Windows Media 2005, Vista Ultimate or a Linux disttibution for this purpose. I imagine, given the size of the drives these days, I'll dual boot it. One version of windows to allow Evoscan, etc to run and a linux media station for the music keg.

pitslayer
23-03-2008, 06:09 PM
there are a few that will allow to run them all i think,

phosty
23-03-2008, 07:35 PM
I have mused about the CarPC route and using Evoscan for gauge outputs etc. But as far as I can figure out whenever you connect to the ECU using the OpenPort cables/Evoscan etc you will always get the flashy dash effect when stationary?

Can diagnostics mode be disabled whilst still getting info from the ECU?

pitslayer
23-03-2008, 08:27 PM
i dont know, i think there is a way.
right so the carnetix is wired in, looked to be a simple job, i didnt do it.
to explain,
1. you need to run a length of wire trailer wire 7 core is probably the best, i used 12, bit excessive. from the boot to the armrest, its fiddly, to get it under the carpets and into the arm rest.

2.now you will need to run a 12v power cable from your battery to your arm rest, easier said than done. if you pop the bonnet, look straight up from your battery to the bulkhead, get to the bulkhead. and you will see, down there is a like an L shaped gromet. i put a little slit in mine, and fed the cable through there.

3. now you have fed a bit of your cable through, go into the car, open the glovebox, and let it go past its stops, so it emptys all your crap on the floor. infront of you, you will see 2 units, a grey one and a black one, with a space inbetween. you should see your wire poking out right down the back, i suggest seriously long nosed pliers to grab the wire and pull it through.

4. now you need to remove your centere console, this is relativly easy but be prepared to break a clip or 2. first remove your cd player out of the din slot, reach your hand in, and unclip the 2 clips, on the back of the fan control unit.
now with a screwdriver or your fingers, you need to pull up the the bottom of the center console where the gear stick is. mine lifted up and then pulled up out over the gearstick. now you should be able to give the stubborn center console a tug, and it should come out. however there are a few more things to disconnect. the ciggerate lighter, the bulb for it, and the ash tray bulb. and make sure your car is in neutral, so you can pull it out past the gearstick

5.now thread your power cable to your armrest, pick a route which wont interfere with any of the linkages under there. i went down the left side.

6. now wire up your carnetix, i will find the instruction manual online, for this, looks simple enough.

7. find an ignition feed, i used my cd player, the redwire on the mitsi harness is an ignition feed, this will turn your carnetix on, with the ignition.

will post up some pics to go with this, soon, i need to go and reassemble my car now

Beastlee
23-03-2008, 09:57 PM
I have mused about the CarPC route and using Evoscan for gauge outputs etc. But as far as I can figure out whenever you connect to the ECU using the OpenPort cables/Evoscan etc you will always get the flashy dash effect when stationary?

Can diagnostics mode be disabled whilst still getting info from the ECU?

I was confused when I saw that happen on my first run. My cable has an extra earthing wire on a second plug, that goes next to the OBD port and earths it, didn;t really make a difference though.

On the second point I was just intending on disconnecting the cable when not logging so not to big a problem.

Turbo_Steve
23-03-2008, 11:43 PM
Guys, with the best will in the world, software is really important..more so than the hardware! If you're just playing back audio & video, and using diagnostics, then yes, okay, use a media player with a big skin. But as you're dealing with something you need to be able to use safely with pudgy fingers when driving, try using it without looking before it goes in the car.

Also, if you thinking of Sat Nav, and possibly bluetooth, you need to have a long look at one of the integrated solutions: Sat Nav needs to work quickly and seamlessly, and the menus for the off the shelf products generally tie you to a specific sat-nav vendor. Likewise, if you're wanting bluetooth functionality, you're going to need a common API that will pause audio / video playback for a call, whilst muting it for SatNav. I've tried XP on it's own with a "quick and dirty" html front end, and it was truly awful, especially as I relied on the PC controlling the output volume, which admittedly compounded how frustrating the whole thing was.

I tried lot's of software 2 years ago on a system I fitted for someone else (against my advice) and at the time there was nothing on the market that I would contemplate having in my dashboard safely.

Manufacturers are still struggling with this: Blaupunkt, Pioneer and Mercedes seem to have the only decent solutions. Audi's multimedia interface is basic and a bit clunky & restrictive. BMW's i-Drive is just totally dsitracting and frustrating in equal measures.

My experience has been that the hardware is the easy bit, and I wouldn't jump into the deep end without trying it extensively at home first, or better still on someone elses! Sorry guys, I don't want to seem like a party pooper, I've just not been impressed to date.

pitslayer
24-03-2008, 01:46 AM
just run windows in the background, with tomtom loaded onto it with a gps reciever in the back.
theres lots of software out there, that will do what i want, i just have to decide which i like and what im going to use :)

Turbo_Steve
25-03-2008, 06:36 PM
Kyle, that's fine, but if you (for example) use Tom Tom, then you can't use (for example) a reversing camera whilst it's running, as Windows won't natively pop-up a video window in front of Tom tom.

In the same way, Tom Tom won't be able to mute your music, and neither will your phone. Also, going to start, programs, tom-tom or whatever when driving is dangerous.

If there is a decent, free / cheap piece of integration software out there, I totally want to try it out, but of the one's I have tried, and that support Tom Tom integration at the time were expensive (>£100).

pitslayer
26-03-2008, 11:29 AM
to be fair its the last thing on my mind at the moment. software is the last thing to think about :)

Gooch
27-03-2008, 01:43 AM
Keep up the good work Pitslayer your doing well.
Post some pics keen to check it out.
Cheers

pitslayer
27-03-2008, 11:13 AM
got a few to load up later for everyone

rees
27-03-2008, 04:37 PM
/woot pics PICS PIIICCCS/woot

pitslayer
27-03-2008, 05:04 PM
21597

Turbo_Steve
27-03-2008, 11:22 PM
Looking good, there :) Very well done.

GalantOnly
03-04-2008, 12:39 AM
http://www.fluxmedia.net/

:inquisiti

pitslayer
03-04-2008, 10:12 AM
good find galantonly, might look into that one, i just dont want to be paying a subscription fee for the package. but then again i hate sat nav anyways, give me a map anyday /lol

dougal
09-04-2008, 05:21 PM
Try here (http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/front-ends/)
Take a look at roadrunner that seemed like a reasonable solution to me when i was looking into this a year ago. but it's fiddly to set up if your not confident with PCs
Mp3car.com is a good site for the information you'll need

Turbo_Steve
09-04-2008, 09:17 PM
RoadRunner seemed the best free solution to me too, but I couldn't find a "shuffle" option.

pitslayer
14-04-2008, 11:40 AM
its done.


running roadrunner at the moment till i can get centrafuse up and going, the shuffle option on roadrunner, is the 2 curved arrows, press it twice.

pitslayer
16-04-2008, 12:44 PM
right well i have finally discovered teh benefits of a car pc. some inconsiderate people decided to have an accident on the way to work yesterday, which closed of the main drag into work and the police ever so orsumly redirected rushhour traffic through a small town,instead of down the opposite carrieageway....so after 15 mins, i started to watch top gear /lol

phosty
16-04-2008, 10:31 PM
How about some photo's of your install?

Turbo_Steve
17-04-2008, 08:53 PM
Can't find that!? Hmm..maybe it's a skin problem.

pitslayer
18-04-2008, 01:07 PM
short lived, went around a corner to quick and ripped a wire out of the laptop, and i dont know where it goes /lol

pitslayer
18-04-2008, 09:30 PM
yes i will load up some pics and a quick howto, but i have no pc at the moment

pitslayer
28-06-2008, 03:41 AM
lol i forgot about updating this, will take some pics this weekend and update you all. all is going well so far with it

pitslayer
22-08-2008, 11:47 AM
Right thought i would update this as its now all happy and working.
what i used or you will need
7" touch screen monitor, or monitor of your choice
CD player with line in
Carnetix controller
PC base unit, wether it be laptop or a specifically made car pc
Large battery cable, i slightly over specced probably using gauge 0 wire
spare fuse box
length of 7 core trailer cable
VGA montior extension cable(quite tricky to find)
3.5mm jack cable which is really long(maplins)
USB extension cable(expensive, also maplins)
soldering iron with solder and heat shrink
Swear jar quite small
alot of patience

n13l pm
22-08-2008, 12:18 PM
Swear jar
alot of patience

should be at the top of this list!

orionn2o
22-08-2008, 12:27 PM
Whats a Carnetix controller?

pitslayer
22-08-2008, 03:43 PM
its a little box with lots of wires which does stuff.

lol.
its an on off controller, basically you wire it up to your ignition live, when you turn your ignition on, the carnetix turns on and fires up the car pc, but it has a voltage regulator on it, so you dont overload it when you start the car.
and when you turn the ignition off, it provides power to the laptop to able it to go into hibernate, and not just switch it straight off.
it also has a voltage reader, so when your battery gets to like 10volts for example, it will shut the pc off, so it doesnt drain the battery

a must have for a car pc

orionn2o
22-08-2008, 09:58 PM
ah ok, sounds quite good. I was gonna do that with a microcontroller... suppose it depends on how much time i wanna devote to this project!