Carputer 101

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

Just putting a regular desktop in your car and plugging it into an AC voltage adapter is probably the worst possible way to make a CarPC.

If the PC is at all powerful it is very possible that your AC voltage converter simply can not supply enough power, so the overload light comes on. Is it one of the cheap ones that plugs into a cigarette lighter? If so...get rid of it it's useless.

You can make a voltage regulator work, you just need to buy a high current capacity one and wire it directly to your battery like you would an amp. Although again I wouldn't recommend this for anybody. AC adapters create a lot of noise and are unnecessary.

Ideally you want to power your computer with a power supply that runs off of DC rather than AC. Most of them have built in start up and shut down controllers that operate through a remote wire just like your amps or head unit.

 

[bluelceii 10+ year member]

Just putting a regular desktop in your car and plugging it into an AC voltage adapter is probably the worst possible way to make a CarPC.
If the PC is at all powerful it is very possible that your AC voltage converter simply can not supply enough power, so the overload light comes on. Is it one of the cheap ones that plugs into a cigarette lighter? If so...get rid of it it's useless.

You can make a voltage regulator work, you just need to buy a high current capacity one and wire it directly to your battery like you would an amp. Although again I wouldn't recommend this for anybody. AC adapters create a lot of noise and are unnecessary.

Ideally you want to power your computer with a power supply that runs off of DC rather than AC. Most of them have built in start up and shut down controllers that operate through a remote wire just like your amps or head unit.

which PSU would work with that?? I was told the M2-ATX would.........?

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

depends on the computer. I believe the M2-ATX supplies 90W of power. OPUS makes a DC PSU that is 320W

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Opus came out with a 320 watt one. Nice for a beefier carPC

 

[bluelceii 10+ year member]

Opus came out with a 320 watt one. Nice for a beefier carPC

You told me a long time ago that the M2-ATX would be ok with this. (same PC and all...) will it not work anymore?

 

[bluelceii 10+ year member]

Hardware

Base processor

Sempron 3000+ 2.0 GHz:

*

333 MHz Front side bus

*

Socket A

Chipset

Via KM400A

Motherboard

*

Manufacturer: Asus

*

Motherboard Name: A7V8X-LA

*

Compaq motherboard name: Kelut-GL6E

Memory

Component Attributes

Memory Installed 256 MB (1 X 256)

Maximum allowed 1.0 GB (2 X 512 MB) requires the replacement of the installed 256 MB DIMM

Speed supported PC2700 MB/sec

Type 184 pin, DDR SDRAM

DIMM slots Two

Open DIMM slots One

Hard drive

*

40 GB

*

5400 rpm

CD-RW/DVD combo drive

48X/32X/48X/16X

Type Attributes

CD write 48X

CD rewrite 32X

CD read 48X

DVD read 16X

Modem

PCI K56flex data/fax modem

Video graphics

Integrated with up to 64 MB allocated video memory

Sound/audio

* Controller: AC97 audio

* Location: Integrated

Network (LAN)

Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

Are you just throwing an old compaq computer in your car? lol

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

You told me a long time ago that the M2-ATX would be ok with this. (same PC and all...) will it not work anymore?

The m2atx should work fine. However I suggested the new OPUS because opus has a better rep & it is more powerful in case you do decide to upgrade.

 

[bluelceii 10+ year member]

Are you just throwing an old compaq computer in your car? lol

since I have it sittin around catching dust... why not?

The m2atx should work fine. However I suggested the new OPUS because opus has a better rep & it is more powerful in case you do decide to upgrade.

yea as said before, It's an older PC and if I plan to upgrade (if I do at all) I'd probably buy a whole new kit or whatever from mp3car.com. The only thing I bought as of this moment is an 8" monitor just to get a feel of it and to see if I'll like it or not... thats why I had that inverter. I borrowed it from a friend. but I guess it was to weak or whatever... meh... I know the opus is better but i'll look into it later so I guess i'll order that M2-ATX and we'll go from there.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

since I have it sittin around catching dust... why not?

If you're just using it for parts, go for it. But don't just set the compaq case and all in your trunk, that looks so bad.

I just think if you're going to do something like a CarPC you should do it all the way. Don't rush or compromise on functionality/appearance for the sake of making it easy and getting it done quickly. A CarPC can be great if done right, or it can be ugly, useless, and a pain in the ass if not.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

If you're just using it for parts, go for it. But don't just set the compaq case and all in your trunk, that looks so bad.
I just think if you're going to do something like a CarPC you should do it all the way. Don't rush or compromise on functionality/appearance for the sake of making it easy and getting it done quickly. A CarPC can be great if done right, or it can be ugly, useless, and a pain in the ass if not.

aint dat da truf, dont ever do an afro-engineer install //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fro.gif.c695f1f814b01c4ad99fe7f8cccadd29.gif

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

Mine's a pain in the ass right now, but it's not the PC's fault.

My car is having problems starting, I think it's something with a solenoid. Almost every time I go to start the car it will click a few times before actually engaging the starter. Sometimes just once and it's done, sometimes a few times, sometimes it just won't stop clicking and I have to let it sit for a few minutes and try again.

Anyway... every time this happens every electronic device in the car gets reset. The trip odometer resets to 0, all the lights go off, and if my computer was already started (which I do 99% of the time) it will turn off, but regain power so quickly that it doesn't actually reboot the PC. So the fans still spin but I have to actually pop the trunk and pull the ATX plug on the motherboard to get it to shut off manually then start the car again.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Mine's a pain in the ass right now, but it's not the PC's fault.
My car is having problems starting, I think it's something with a solenoid. Almost every time I go to start the car it will click a few times before actually engaging the starter. Sometimes just once and it's done, sometimes a few times, sometimes it just won't stop clicking and I have to let it sit for a few minutes and try again.

Anyway... every time this happens every electronic device in the car gets reset. The trip odometer resets to 0, all the lights go off, and if my computer was already started (which I do 99% of the time) it will turn off, but regain power so quickly that it doesn't actually reboot the PC. So the fans still spin but I have to actually pop the trunk and pull the ATX plug on the motherboard to get it to shut off manually then start the car again.

you really should run a button to the front of your car inside so you have a reset button and a power button, in those "emergency" times

 

[bluelceii 10+ year member]

of course im not going to mount the case in there... I was just asking about powering this thing... if you wanted to know about me building a case I would have said so... lol

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

Man I kinda want to put my carputer back in, but damn they're a pain in the ass, lol. I even got the m2-ATX and I just use it in dumb mode, lol.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Man I kinda want to put my carputer back in, but damn they're a pain in the ass, lol. I even got the m2-ATX and I just use it in dumb mode, lol.

they are a pain in the ass when you get frustrated and forget what you are doing, but once you get get it going it really isnt soo bad. For me knowing all the blood, sweat, tears, & soul that went into seems worth it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

they are a pain in the ass when you get frustrated and forget what you are doing, but once you get get it going it really isnt soo bad. For me knowing all the blood, sweat, tears, & soul that went into seems worth it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Well, I had mine in there for about 3 months, I have an Innovatek 8" touchscreen and a 21" screen in the rear of the jeep showing out the back window. But trying to do SPL burps with it was a pain, and kept having noise issues so I ended up going back to a head unit

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Well, I had mine in there for about 3 months, I have an Innovatek 8" touchscreen and a 21" screen in the rear of the jeep showing out the back window. But trying to do SPL burps with it was a pain, and kept having noise issues so I ended up going back to a head unit

hmm.. maybe it was something on your part? i have no noise issues at all.

 

[spoonraker 10+ year member]

I have a kill switch mounted up front already mega, but for some reason it doesn't work when the car does this.

The switch is on the remote wire, so I can safely turn on/off the computer using the PSU's built in DSSC. If everything is normal it works fine, flipping the switch acts just like turning the key on/off only I can restart the computer while the car is still running.

For some reason when my car does this weird electrical thing, the computer remains "on" in the sense that it stays on (fans spin on motherboard and case), but the windows instantly shuts off, screen goes blank, and the computer stop responding to the remote wire. I have to manually unplug either the motherboard or the power supply with the car off, and then turn them both on at the same time to fix it...it's really weird.

The computer was working flawlessly until the starting problems showed up and absolutely nothing was changed so I know it's not my wiring or the PSU or anything.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

ordered a new dash. putting HU in stock location til i get the xenarc. tis a sad day