Car PC/Mac
 

Hi all,

Anyone else here contemplating putting a regular computer into his 75/ZT? Or if you have done it already maybe there's room for improvement?

Being ab IT guy myself this is something I have been thinking about doing for some time. I also like Macs, so if there is anything going into the car it should of course be a Mac. :D

However, my Mac affinity is mainly for home use only - in my work I mainly work with windows, Linux and other Unix systems so I just might have some
insights there as well.

/Erik

I've been slowly working on a car pc. There's some interesting sites to look at.

http://linitx.com/
http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/
http://www.minipcuk.com/
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects.asp <-- expensive p&p (even for a connector!) but great examples and ideas.
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?products_id=917 <-- psu made for a car
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=25#p2406 <-- Even displays can be used

So far I have a Commell motherboard (http://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC/LV-670-LVDS.HTM)
2.4GHz pentium
512mb
40gb 2.5" drive
DVD writer.

There's a lot that can be done with car pc's. I'm not sure if linux or windows would be better in a car, what do you think?

Just now I am in the designing and parts collecting phase of the project. This is the design specification so far:

Hardware:

* Apple iBook G4 (1 GHz) with dead display. Reinstalled OS X 10.4 on the system disk using another Mac and installed VNC server. Booted up the iBook on the new system and configured the graphics vi VNC to mirror the internal display to the external VGA port. I decided to retain the original ibook case complete with keyboard and trackpad for ease of manageability but I will have a go at removing the display panel and drilling some ventilation holes in the lid to avoid cooling problems.

The only real worry with the iBook setup is that the nature of its laptop tuned ATI Radeon 9200 will cause it to refuse the custom 800x480 resolution timings for the typical 7" in-car TFT. I'll see if there is some dealer in the vincinity that might have one to try with.

Using a laptop complete with battery gives some bonus features - you can actually just cut the power to it when switching off the ignition and the use the regular power management timers to have it go to sleep and eventually shutting down. No need to worry about the computer draining the car battery!

* FM Radio: The only solutions for the Mac seems to be the Griffin Radio Shark http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/radioshark/. According to an articel on http://www.macvroom.com the Shark can be gutted, placed in a better box and connected to the regular car antenna. No RDS though and the software is far from adapted for in-car use, but there seems to be a good possibility to cook your own control hack for it.

* Audio interface: Here I am not at all sure what to do. I have the Harman Kardon stuff in my car which requires high level input. If I can live without a fader function, I can simply connect a simple power amplifier to the headphone jack of the iBook and wire it to the HK amp.

I hope I am correct in the assumption that I really do not need a high current superduper amplifier if it only is to be connected to another power amp? Do I need the same power rating out of that power amp as that from my current Symphony unit?

* Display. There seems to be a plethora of 7" touch screen displays out there and there seems to be plenty of room in the center console with the Symphony removed. But how do I make/where do I buy a bezel that makes the installation at least look a little bit classy?

* Control interface. There is of course the possibility of using a touch screen but the proposed media center software (Apples Front Row) doesn't seem to support it (or at least I don't think so). However there are some excellent media remote solutions that might be used. Steering wheel control would be nice if one could manage to build an interface for it.

Software:

* Apple iTunes for Music playback, controlled via the front row software.

* iTunes library can be Rsync'd via WLAN

* Various hacks. :)


Quite some project really, but the only real problem as far as I am concerned is the bezel for display mounting.

Opinions anyone?

/Erik

There's some other posts about the bezzel facia.
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...read.php?t=508

I think some people are chipping in to buy bulk as they are really expensive. There's a picture of one I've custom made (mark 1).

What kind of display do you have?
Audio and picture wont be a problem for me as my monitor has serveral inputs for both. I'm sure most displays do.

Audio jack from carputer -> display unit -> amp in boot -> speakers

Video RVA output form motherboard -> display RCA input (phono)

Hope this helps.
I'm away for a few days so look forward to reading peoples thoughts on this when I get back.

I think that Linux probably has more tweakability potential, but as usual some application support might be lacking. I personally feel more comfortable doing hacks with Linux.

For my car project I would like to try a Mac though and that is mainly because I want seamless integration for my iTunes based music library and because it has a pretty nice media center front end built in. Aside from that, the choice of Mac is probably not one that would save work. :)

I was thinking more in the lines of using a pure display rather than a full-fledged double-DIN HU. Something like this:

http://www.cartft.com/catalog/il/44

The advantages of this approach would be:

* VGA input (or DVI if I get a DVI equipped Mac/PC instead of the old iBook), rendering better image quality. Having a higher resolution desktop scaled and processed to composite or S-video PAL usually results in a noticeable degradation in quality.

* Pointing device input. I don't believe a can get mouse/digitizer information passed on from the HU to the computer or can I?

* Complexity. If possible I would like the computer to handle all aspects of the operation of the system. Adding a full HU would add a management layer on top of the computer interface.

The disadvantages are of course obvious as well.

* I do need to come up with an amplifier solution. Something like this might do the trick? http://www.electronickits.com/kit/co.../ampl/k143.htm

* I need to implement the FM receiver.

* If there is a working bezel for double DIN available I don't need to put a lot of effort into a custom one for the display.

Oh, I forgot:

* I am on a budget here. The double DIN HU:s I have seen so far have had rather hefty price tags.

:)

Done it already using CarX over my Hi Line Bordmonitor using a Compaq Laptop

http://carx.dl.am/

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...22b53b5b7a.jpg

This looks kind of interesting for fitting a 7" screen to the 75:

http://store.mp3car.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=72

If one looks at this PDF

http://www.mp3car.com/products/BMW_B...CsTc_bezel.pdf

describing how to fit a 7" Xenarc display to that bezel it seems as part of a PCB protudes downwards a cm or so at the bottom of the bezel and placed in a 75 that would possibly mean that it intrudes into the space of the AC control unit.

Is there room to spare on the top of the AC control unit or could there be a problem getting the stuff to fit? I haven't yet removed my HU to have a peek.

Am I also correct assuming that one has to modify the mounting details to fit the 75?

/Erik

Yep completely useless mouting are in the wrong place, fitted Xenarc will foul the ATC panel and all the switch functions on the xenaarc are lost

$250 for a piece of plastic!! where are these people dreaming these prices up from

I had a PC in my car years ago....(1998) ok, it was only a humble 486 DX66 but it was in there :D biggest problem back then was the monitor, TFT's were scary money so i used a power inverter to run the little NEC 12" monitor (in the back between the seats) The PC ran windows 98SE and we used to play Doom on it, and occasionally solitaire :D A mate has a tablet PC in his Jeep (sort of a "pimp my ride" install) i must take a look and see what way it was put in...

That would depend on wether it is hand built or not I assume. I think wouldn't hesitate to cough up that money if I knew I got a hassle-free ~instant TFT solution for my car.

As it seems now, hassle-free is out of the picture if I want a nice-looking TFT install.

Remaining options:

1. Build a bezel myself. Never done this but how hard could it be? ;)

One way would be to buy one of the ugly £15 single-DIN fascia adapters and get to work with a dremel. Hacks like that do usually fall a bit short in the aesthetics department in my experience.

A better way might be to make a plaster cast mold using the same fascia adapter and then build a completely new fascia for the display out of fibre glass or similar. The problem with that is that I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with that kind of work.

Another way to get a custom fascia would be to have someone build one. Anyone here who knows what kind of shop who might be able to do that kind of work? I don't seem to be able to find a custom-fascias-r-us section of the Yellow Pages.

This is of course a nice way to go about it - a double DIN unit with a 6.5" VGA touchscreen, FM radio and a DVD-ROM drive. Don't care much for the silver design though:

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-6500.htm

/Erik

Now that has exactly the functionality I am after, have you found anymore like it?

I stumbled onto that one while browsing the forums on mp3car.com. Right now, that seems to be the only unit providing that functionality.

This is a link a bit closer to the original supplier of that unit:

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/...1002094864.htm

There might be european resellers as well.

This is the thread om mp3car.com:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=79168

/Erik

Actually is all this messing about with a DD bezel necessary
this would do perfectly well and be more discreet when unattended

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-750FM.htm

Would it clear the eyebrow though?

Just had a look on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Touch-Screen-8...QQcmdZViewItem

Not to sure if 8" will be too big.

[QUOTE=biggles;8335]

* I do need to come up with an amplifier solution. Something like this might do the trick? http://www.electronickits.com/kit/co.../ampl/k143.htm

QUOTE]

I think Maplins sell the kit too. I don't know how many channels it has though, I couldn't read it anywhere.
I would recomend getting a decent amp, eg, Alpine. A good amp does more than just make it louder. It has filters, cut-offs and imroves the quality. You should be able to pick an older model up cheap these days, eg, Alpine v12.

[QUOTE=mantianak;9253]I have the HK amp in the boot. Once my finances have recouperated from the MacRover project the next logical thing would be to get new speakers in the doors and a better amp. Until then I only need something that can feed the HK, assuming that my HK amp is a fair bit easier to drive than a set of speakers.

/Erik

Only if you would like it to look real good. But I'd agree - good point about the eyebrow though. If it does clear I think it would look pretty OK, but if not...

On the other hand - I have my doubts wether I really would be able to craft my own bezel that actually would look better than the single-din fold-out solution.

/Erik

The HK amp is not an ideal solution, remember it is a line out amplifier so it will amplify any distortion coming from the source

I am pretty sure this one would clear the eyebrow and for my needs it's OK (don't need the FM radio):

http://www.digitalww.com/DWW-700H.htm

It's also cheaper. Byt WHY do they need to have a large plate on the front saying "TFT LCD Color Monitor With Touch Panel and VGA". A nice feature if you happen to forget but only then. :mad:

I am painfully aware of that. Has anyone here had an attempt att replacing an HK amp (which I understand includes crossovers) with a decent but budget aftermarket unit and four crossovers?