# First foray into the carpc realm



## req

So this is my first PC build in like 4 years. I did not want to go the
way of the car pc because of the complications - but in the past few
years the miniITX form factor, along with the other people around and
the capaitance screens have made me think twice.

so here is what i have or is in the mail;

screen;
Double DIN Multi Touch Capacitive Mini Touch 700 7" VGA Touch Screen Monitor with auto switching auto power on 450 nit high brightness LCD panel and 800 x 480 support

case;
Black Box Mobile Mini ITX Carputer-Car PC Case

power supply;
High Voltage M3-ATX Smart Automotive Grade DC to DC Power Supply

optical drive;
Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW Black SATA Model AD-7690H-01 - CD / DVD Burners

hard drive;
Newegg.com - Corsair Nova Series CSSD-V128GB2-BRKT 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Mainboard w\ 2gb of ram;
Intel® Desktop Board D2700DC

and thats about it. i've got the system booted up right now in the bios, it takes about 5 seconds to post. im working on getting windows tiny7 installed to a thumb drive so that i can install the OS before the cd rom gets here lol... but im having trouble finding a good tool to mount an iso to a thumb drive. The windows thumb boot utility requires the iso to be a certain type and its not cooperating with me haha.

so ill be working on that some more tonight. hopefully the screen and case and such comes later this week


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## BowDown

Honestly going with a desktop w/touch screen is so 5years ago. There are a few Windows 7 powered tablets that have solid state drives, touch screens, usb... everything you would need to create a removable carPC. It's nice to just disconnect a couple cables, and pop the computer off the mounting stud to stow away in the glove box.

Mine will boot from Hibernation in less than 10 seconds. This is with a 1.8" HD, WinXP, and a 1GHz CPU. :laugh:

Either way I'm in for the build log.


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## req

well the deal with this is to use a front end to control the user interface and not something like winamp that has super small keys and stuff - but still have the ability to go into the DSP software. 

i have a helix p-dsp on the way that will do all the sound processing, and then possibly going to change that out for something else shortly down the line when the opertunity presents itself.

as of now, this motherboard has a 2.xghz intel atom and boots cold to the os loading screen in 5 seconds. not hybernation - cold boot - i can thank my DIYMA teamates for that haha  

on top of this, i do not want it removeable. i have enough laptops and computers and phones in the house. plus, tablets do not support usb devices like cd roms. one of the main points of this rig is to support optical media. second of all, its a capaitance touch screen too - so its not one of those old resistave based setups.

the other thing, i want it to look like a double din headunit, not a computer that was put on the dash. i do not want to see a single cable, i dont want anything hanging around... and ill put a nice little analog volume pot in the corner to look like its part of the "headunit" - but it controls the volume after the DAC at the DSP.

at this point, its all about integration and usability. fast boot, easy user interface, storage for my music collection, play optical media, possibly a GPS transciever in the future.

and on top of that, ill be able to use the DSP software on the screen too


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## MarkZ

BowDown said:


> Honestly going with a desktop w/touch screen is so 5years ago. There are a few Windows 7 powered tablets that have solid state drives, touch screens, usb... everything you would need to create a removable carPC. It's nice to just disconnect a couple cables, and pop the computer off the mounting stud to stow away in the glove box.
> 
> Mine will boot from Hibernation in less than 10 seconds. This is with a 1.8" HD, WinXP, and a 1GHz CPU. :laugh:
> 
> Either way I'm in for the build log.


What's a "mounting stud", and who the hell wants one voluntarily?


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## BowDown

req said:


> well the deal with this is to use a front end to control the user interface and not something like winamp that has super small keys and stuff - but still have the ability to go into the DSP software.


No difference in a windows powered tablet then.




> i have a helix p-dsp on the way that will do all the sound processing, and then possibly going to change that out for something else shortly down the line when the opertunity presents itself.


Can be interfaced with the DSP just like anything else.




> as of now, this motherboard has a 2.xghz intel atom and boots cold to the os loading screen in 5 seconds. not hybernation - cold boot - i can thank my DIYMA teamates for that haha


Believe me you wont be cold booting the system that often. There is no need to. Hibernation, even if it's not faster, tends to be more convenient on a carPC. If I had to start fresh each time I used the carPC it would be that many more clicks to get some media on the screen to use. When I power up the carPC it continues where it left off. Usually in the last song I was listening to. 




> on top of this, i do not want it removeable. i have enough laptops and computers and phones in the house. plus, tablets do not support usb devices like cd roms. one of the main points of this rig is to support optical media.


Wrong. I have a DVD-RW hooked to mine. The drive lives in the glove box, but could of been relocated anywhere the USB2.0 cable would take it. DVDs/CDs are as seemless as it would be on any other PC.




> second of all, its a capaitance touch screen too - so its not one of those old resistave based setups.


Somehow I doubt when you're driving you're going to be using (2) fingers to enlarge a website/picture... But there are multi-touch windows powered tablets out there. Mine just has the old school resistive screen.



> the other thing, i want it to look like a double din headunit, not a computer that was put on the dash. i do not want to see a single cable, i dont want anything hanging around... and ill put a nice little analog volume pot in the corner to look like its part of the "headunit" - but it controls the volume after the DAC at the DSP.


To each their own. Integration does give it that OEM look. Which is a nice look for sure. I myself enjoy the ability to aim the screen in less than ideal light conditions. There are definitely tradeoffs to each design. 



> at this point, its all about integration and usability. fast boot, easy user interface, storage for my music collection, play optical media, possibly a GPS transciever in the future.
> 
> and on top of that, ill be able to use the DSP software on the screen too


Very cool man. Good luck with the project. USB is your friend, and it doesn't matter what design platform it's running on.


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## BowDown

MarkZ said:


> What's a "mounting stud", and who the hell wants one voluntarily?




A ball/socket mount configuration leaves the 'ball' behind when the arm is disconnected.


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## MarkZ

BowDown said:


> A ball/socket mount configuration leaves the 'ball' behind when the arm is disconnected.


Oh. Those things that cops use in their cars to have their obtrusive equipment.


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## req

the big thing man, is tablets that i would want to use would be a form factor like the transformer prime or ipad do not support usb stuff like cd roms. there are not a whole bunch of windows based tablets in the price range that i have that will support Toslink\spdif for my DSP without some kind of outboard sound card, and i dont want to take it in\out of the car.

so i would be restricted to windows tablets, and who knows if the drivers for the DSP would work on them to begin with. then i would have to custom fab a dash to make the thing fit on, or have a bunch of wires all over the place, im not saying that the carpc that you have does not have a form meets function, im just saying that its not my style. i will have a slot load DVD rom and an indash touch screen with an intuitive UI to control my media via windows7 with all the drivers needed to run it and 128gb of storage for my media otherwise.

i like the embedded setup, and i think that it will be a perfect compliment to an outboard DSP so that i can use the software and not have to muck around with anything else.

next time im upstate you can have a play with it. and the whole reason i wanted a capacitance screen was not really for multitouch, but for accuracy and clarity. resistive touch [to me] are always of a lesser quality than glass capacitance - and they are more responsive - its just my oppinion. i know its not needed, but if im spedning the same amount of money for a resistive, why not upgrade to the one i like more.

i should have some good results by the end of the week i think. thanks for the input justin


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## BowDown

MarkZ said:


> Oh. Those things that cops use in their cars to have their obtrusive equipment.


True. But it sure is practical. :laugh:


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## BowDown

req said:


> i should have some good results by the end of the week i think. thanks for the input justin


No problem-o. I've been down the integrated route before and sometimes I miss the clean look.. but when the sun is out I love the ability to tip the screen a bit and take care of the washout. 

Looking forward to your build and curious what front-end UI you're referring to. I was less than impressed with Riderunner, and Centrafuse seemed to be a bit limited in playlist minipulation. Hence why I run a tweaked version of Foobar2000.

Don't count out going to an external soundcard. Not all optical out soundcards are created equal. I was a huge fan of my 24bit Soundblaster running optical till I heard the difference with the Music Fidelity V-Link. HUGE DIFFERENCE. I can demo both side by side if you want. Hell the USB soundcard is completely PnP (no drivers needed). I can hook it up in your car to demo the difference.


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## req

thats what i mean, i am not interested in outboard cards lol. the motherboard ive got does spdif and optical. I dont realy know how a spdif signal can change depending on the hardware? 

thats real weird, i would like to do A to B comparisons :\


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## BowDown

The difference is in the transport of information. The problem with internal/external soundcards is clock syncing, and resource allocation. If you let windows subsystem delegate resources to the onboard soundcard you will get compression and jitter in your output. It's a tough thing to realize until you hear a soundcard that bypasses the windows sound application layer and uses an asynchronous design.


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## MarkZ

I would be surprised if that's the culprit. IME, spdif can get ****ed up pretty good if there's a driver issue. I had one going into a Zapco DAC once upon a time that sounded like ass until I switched OS's. Half of these companies half-ass their drivers in one OS vs. the next.


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## req

but with an external soundcard you have to worry about clock syncing, wheras internal does not need to be routed through the universial serial bus (or the PCIe bus, or whatever you may be using as a transport) to the card itself.

if you use and internal sound card for the motherboard, you do not have to bother with clock syncing. the internal card only has to deal with the windows sound programs.

i think that mine will be just fine


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## BowDown

req said:


> but with an external soundcard you have to worry about clock syncing, wheras internal does not need to be routed through the universial serial bus (or the PCIe bus, or whatever you may be using as a transport) to the card itself.
> 
> if you use and internal sound card for the motherboard, you do not have to bother with clock syncing. the internal card only has to deal with the windows sound programs.
> 
> i think that mine will be just fine


Lets still do the A/B comparo sometime. I'll put money on an audible difference and future purchase of said USB sound card. :laugh:


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## MarkZ

USB sync is different from the spdif clock.


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## req

does anyone know of a boot utility that builds a USB stick with an ISO file? the windows one on download.com does not like the ISO ive got, and this other one ive got crashes on format.

any suggestions?


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## BowDown

ISO to USB

I have used that utility with success (xp home on a netbook).


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## BowDown

To create my ISO I used nero and burned it to the image recorder using the ISO option in the dropdown list.


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## req

i dont have a sata cdrom at the moment. i might have come today, if it did ill use that, but until it comes im going to try with my thumbdrive


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## req

yay.

trying to load windows on my car pc and the power supply explodes. i nearly **** myself, hopefully the motherboard still works...

[jumps off bridge]


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## ninja6o4

Yikes! That's bad luck for sure.. My M4-ATX has been rock solid.


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## req

i was able to get a good deal on a new [thermaltake] powersupply locally that was only a few bucks more than it was on newegg, so i got that.

the only problem im having now is that the windows tiny7 does not want to format my hard drive. i dont know if its because i need to load the sata drivers at this point or what (that are not on the cd that came with the motherboard, or intel's website, leading me to believe they are already installed on the board - and it can see the drive on the partition screen, it just wont let me do it). ive tried two hard drives and it gives me the same error "windows could not partition this hard drive bla bla bla"

so im going to try another iso of windows and see if that works.

just a fyi - if anyone is trying to use the microsoft usb boot utility, open your iso [if its not downloaded from microsoft.com] in a program, open its properties, and make sure UDF is applied to it. for whatever reason the microsoft tool will not open an ISO unless its got the UDF constraint [whatever that means lol].

and dont let your power supplies explode.


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## ninja6o4

Does it give you the option of deleting whatever is on that drive? It might not let you create it because it's already been created.

In the case that it didn't see the drive at all, I would say check your BIOS settings to see if your SATA ports are configured as regular or AHCI/RAID mode. the latter often requires additional drivers.


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## Orion525iT

Ever consider Win8? I am messing with the consumer preview at this point. I am not really wanting to use a front end at all. Win8 seems to be able to do all things I would want at this point. But I have never used a front end, so maybe I don't know what I am missing. 

BTW, hate the fact that I come to this forum and learn something new that completely makes me rethink everything in my build.


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## req

lol, your welcome 

i did think of windows 8, but i have been told the dev release was kind of crappy. i finally got tiny7 to load, i dont know if it was a crappy iso burned to the usb stick, or it was feeling moody, but i remade the image, clicked the next button and it worked. so im not sure what was wrong before lol.

hopefully the case\powersupply\cdrom\screen comes this week, and my PDSP is on the way too. 

im going to be scrambling to get this installed before the tintworx show!! ive got two weeks basically 0_o

*crosses fingers*


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## Orion525iT

Well the dev preview is one thing, but microsoft also released the more polished consumer preview at the end of Feb.

I am still testing it out though .


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## req

what are your thoughts? this does a cold boot in about 20~30 seconds right now. i would like to get a whole new kernel like lite step, but i am not very sure on how to code my own front end for it. last time i messed around with lite step was like almost ten years ago lol.


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## Orion525iT

I should time it. But I would guess it is in that range with my Samsung 830 drive. I think it could be faster, but for some reason Power On to splash take longer than I think it should. Might be something in the power saving features. But OS load is super fast.


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## req

usually the bios post takes the longest, especially if you have a video card, a sound card, and other drivers to load for the os. there is nothing you can do to shorten the bios post of a motherboard. mine is only about 3~5 seconds. luckily my DIYma team mate todd, that i got the motherboard from did his research to find a motherboard with a super fast bios.

i just got lucky that he had bought a new motherboard for whatever reason so i bought this from him 

UPDATE: the cdrom i ordered from newegg was delivered last thursday, and aparently somone stole it off my porch or it was delivered to the wrong address, and the minitouch screens at mo-co-so are not in stock right now - so now im waiting on all the rest of my crap. hopefully the helix PDSP gets here so i can at least swap that out. its getting frustrating - i might not be able to get this done before the tintworx show due to all the delays!


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## MarkZ

A couple other tips for boot times.

1) there's usually a "fast POST" setting in the BIOS. Usually enabled by default, but it might be worth checking.

2) I've found that in Windows (XP in particular), some wireless cards can take a while during splash. Try disabling your wireless card to see if things boot faster. Most people don't use wireless in the car on a daily basis, so there's really no point in it being enabled during every boot.

3) Standby can be really fast, especially in Windows 7. I think a lot of people are afraid of power consumption when the car is off, but most car PC power supplies have auto shutoffs that deal with that issue over long periods of time. If you designed your car PC with the knowledge that it _lives in the car_ , then you used efficient components and current draw should be minimal! _Right_?


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## Ole Skool

Marking this build ?


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## req

im going to see what i can do about standby with my car pc. i hope i can figure out a way to button push it, or have it trigger standby with a relay from the switched 12v ignition wire. i am not sure if my power supply supports this - but im going to look into it. i figure from hybernation it should be under 5 seconds.


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## req

just some pics, still waiting on parts!


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## highly

Getting there!  Glad to see the MB survived the exploding PSU! Sorry to hear about your drive and display delays but I am sure you will have things online before too long.

Good luck, man!

-T


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## req

thanks todd 

if it wasnt for you i dont think i would have ever gotten this far sir!


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## Orion525iT

req said:


> im going to see what i can do about standby with my car pc. i hope i can figure out a way to button push it, or have it trigger standby with a relay from the switched 12v ignition wire. i am not sure if my power supply supports this - but im going to look into it. i figure from hybernation it should be under 5 seconds.


With my motherboard, the car pc will go to sleep when my cell phone is out of range via bluetooth signal.


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## req

Nifty way to control the carpc, but I would like a more strict way to control the power on function but still have it be automatic. I'm going to try to get a relay inline with the power pins of the motherboard so when ignition happens, it trips the relay like a button push and the power functions in windows will have the button push force hibernation, and the screen will turn on/off with ignition. I think it will function very similar to a stock headunit that way.


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## Ole Skool

Updates!!!


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## req

Ok, 

so I'm waiting on parts still. The supplier for the minitouch monitor missed delivery. I contacted mo-co-so.com and the guy told me what the deal was, and he is sending everything but the monitor now. 

I also ordered parts to build the volume control for the pdsp. 

Some random pics in a min


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## whoever

Req, what had you go with the P-dsp when there are other programs for the computer that will equal what the p-dsp does. Not meant as a make wrong, really am curious.


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## req

pdsp i got for free in a trade 

and i dont feel like dealing with drivers and all kinds of usb crap and sofware that is super complicated that requires plugins and clock syncing.

too much mumbo jumbo for a carpc. dedicated transport with spdif or toslink, and dedicated dsp with all the fancy features.

*K.I.S. (a.p.)S.*
keep it simple (as possible) stupid


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## whoever

ok thanks for elaborating.


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## quickaudi07

What are you plans for volume up and down? I know you could do that on the screen but what about if you want to do it quickly on the fly?

I was really thinking of car pc myself, but I though it will be to much of BS and time which i don't have while being in school and family..

Will optical signal going in to controller make so much of a difference? I mean what about if you get a good head unit with good signal output and hooking that up to your DSP? would you really hear the difference, car pc vs good HU ?

I didn't want to play with car pc even though i work with them everyday and getting sick of them, so i went with the new Kenwood DNX9990HD, and it does everything i want it too. So i took the easy route and got a new HU with Alpine PXA H800 and it sounds amazing!

what are your plans with that carpc? I'm really wondering what your plans are.

Maybe if i have extra time i will get rid of my Kenwood and build pc around H800.


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## quickaudi07

Oh to add to that, you could run your windows a lot faster if you go with windows embedded, you could go with xp, or 7.... 
Boot time will change to so much faster, and you could do everything on embedded as you could on full version of os.

Let me know I might have a hook up to all Microsoft downloads  as I stated I work with computers Daily!

Another thing to take this in to consideration, why not just go with Thin-client pc... ???
It will be around the same price as what you spend for all the parts of PC..

Just a though i'm throwing it out there. I was thinking of car pc for a long long time


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## quickaudi07

http://www.10zig.com/product/system-i-thin-clients/69/

I use them at work, it has expression card that you could add additional card to the unit, I have never though of adding a sound card on it, but XP and 7 run fast as ****!
Our unit has 2gb DDR3 ram, with 4 GB Flash drive. These little guys rock... We have 30 of them at my job.


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## req

the PDSP has an analog volume that is controled by a potientemeter for sub volume and master volume. im going to mount them on the corner of the screen and its going to be awesome 

the carPC will just be a transport. i could use SPDIF or TOSlink, its just keeping the digital signal all the way and using the high quality DA inside the DSP instead of doing it twice, because thats bad.

thats the idea


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## quickaudi07

AHA,,, Now it all makes sense 

I wish you good luck and I would like to see the rest of the build, so get on it ! lol

Mario


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## req

I'm intrigued about Windows embedded? I'm using a hack version called tiny7, basically some guy took all the crap out of windows so that it only uses what it absolutely needs to function. It's a cold boot time of 25~30 seconds. 

I got the motherboard and ram for a steal, and the rest wasn't too expense really. For me, it's about looking like an aftermarket double din touch screen, and acting like one too. That last part is the tricky part. Hopefully I can get it to work


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## req

so some parts came in the mail. the power supply, the case, and some other odds and ends.

i was able to wire it all up using my desktop PC's power supply as the 'car battery\ignition' source - so when i flip the switch it turns everything on just like it will be in the car.

just on the test bench functionality sake - i know its a rats nest, but i needed to see it working. the PDSP and the carPC are all powered together and everything seems to be working fine :laugh:


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## ninja6o4

Looks like my carpc did while in testing.. rats nest  good work so far!


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## req

hey guys! i got some more progress. im waiting on a few more parts in the mail, and the screen is STILL on backorder!!

i may end up getting a different screen, but i really want a specific one 

here is a little video i set up! the I\O plate is not on the back currently, i was debating putting another thing on it, but it looks like im going to mount a SATA port onto the aluminum plate for the CDROM to plug into, and i have to fabricate a mount for the CDROM to install in the dash... quite a bit of work still to be done.


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## quickaudi07

Really nice. Also boot time is stupid crazy fast!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## req

thanks dude 

im still waiting on parts though


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## UMD_Jesse

How the heck did you get it to boot so fast???


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## quickaudi07

UMD_Jesse said:


> How the heck did you get it to boot so fast???


That's a rip version of OS plus SSD drive will do the trick.

What i mean by rip version - very minimal install of windows services that runs in the background.


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## UMD_Jesse

would you happen to know of any resources that list which services you can safely kill?


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## quickaudi07

UMD_Jesse said:


> would you happen to know of any resources that list which services you can safely kill?


That's a great question, I work as IT and don't know the answer to your question 

I will do little research and i will get back to you, or OP could tell us where he got his version of windows from


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## req

the version of windows i was originally using is called tiny7. use the internet search to learn more about it - i would not suggest using it as a main PC operating system with any vital data on it, im sure it is not very secure.

it ends up that i couldnt use it with the centrafuse software for my GUI front end. it worked out for the best because with nothing really installed things boot up quick.

the boot in the video is from hibernate... not off. i can post a video with the pc booing up with zero power applied, and it is around 30 seconds, and that is fairly quick. the best part, is that if i get everything hooked up correctly, i will have RTA software, the DSP software, and the graphical user interface software all in one place! no need for a laptop in the car.

*UPDATE*

news about the capacitance touch screen is bad. it turns out the DSP software from helix (really from audiotec fischer) does not scale and cant really be used at a resolution of 800x600 of the minitouch monitor i wanted to use - and they wont have any more in stock for [insert unknown amount of time here], so i need something with a higher resolution anyway. so i ended up going with a resistive touch screen in the format of a lilliput 669. it will still look identical, and i can use any stylus for input (ill have a mouse or something in there too).

its not exactly what i wanted - but it should be here this week, then i can start the teardown and pull out the H701 and 9861 and start to install the carPC.

i will be in cancun, mexico on thursday until monday for my friend’s wedding (pumped) so i will most likely have an update for everyone around next week!


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## Orion525iT

Not sure what the exact issue is with the monitor or how you intend to use touch, but I have looked into having a high resolution screen for Windows 8 Metro interface. The main issue is that Metro requires a resolution higher than almost all of the touch screens out there. I am not sure if there will be a software work around. But, I have found a screen with high enough resolution. There is an issue of size, but the screen also uses 4 wire resistive. Not the best interface and forget about any multi-touch. So the work around is to not use the touch part of the screen and use it as a monitor only. Then use track pad, Magic Ipad or similar, and mount it in the center console. That way the screen can be tucked back, it doesn't really need to be in easy reach, and therefore it can be shielded from the sun better. There are also rotary knob type mice that are used with cad cam type software that can be used over a traditional mouse or trackball.

Either option would give and interface similar to the iDrive system used by BMW. My feeling is that a multi-touch track pad would be easier to integrate.


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## req

:laugh:i totally agree with those points, and i have thought about the cad\cam control wheels. i have seen some other people use them and it looks real nice... i was even thinking of how to integrate it to my car and came up with some cool ideas - but ill not divulge those until i give them a test run 


as far as metro is concerned - its not really something i need on the pc at this point. win8 will come around to the carpc realm in a few years due to screen tech needing to catch up. when it happens, maybe ill switch my screen and update the carpc - that is the beautiful thing about all this - its all scaleable.


*iUPDATE!*

my screen came in the mail!! wow, it only took from friday to monday to get it too! it seems real good too. the resistive touch is much better than i thought it would be too. just working out a few kinks on the test bench last night before my neighbor invited us over to play some beer dice (they are all pilots in the navy, its a weird game lol)

anyway, it looks like after my trip to mexico ill be ready to take the car apart!

ill take a video of the setup when i get home tonight as i am waiting for my copy of diablo3.

once that comes in the mail - consider me side tracked!!! :laugh:


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## req

this weekend its going in the car 

the wife is going out of town on friday for a bachelorette party, and i need some motivation to get this done!

stay tuned!


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## firebirdta84

That is going to be sick...cant wait to see it installed.


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## req

thanks man! 

i have been running it for like 8 days continious with only the passive cooling of the heatsink\case on the desk NO FANS. perfectly silent, no shutdown\overheating problems. today im going to install the 3G tethering software (easytether for android) and get it online, and i am going to figure out how to mount the CD rom.

im really close to being done


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## Focus

Nice project. I have an older setup than yours, thanks for the new insight.


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## bbfoto

Updates?


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## req

lol sorry, i keep forgetting i have two threads, one specifically about the pc and the other is my whole build thread. heres what im at now - this week i will start the teardown of my interior and hopefully be putting it back in by next week... kinda sucks because my mother-in-law is visiting right now and i have to spend time as a family man too 



req said:


> So there have been many setbacks with tiny parts, particularly the fasteners to hold my slot load CDRom in. it took Sony weeks to get back to me, but if anyone needs to know - they are M2 size with 1.6mm of depth allowable inside the chassis. I ended up sourcing them from a busted CDRom from a desktop PC that was lying around. i got lucky and there were 4 of them inside the CDRom.
> 
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## req

next post i got this far;



req said:


> after i got that to fit, i trimmed a few sections out because there were some circuit boards in the way, and i got a nice flush fit!
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## req

and last week i did this, i will be moulding it in so its super flush and perfect. i need to file the opening a bit more - i only had one file that was super fine and small so i didnt do very well with it - but i will work it a bit more.



req said:


> built the bezel for the cdrom. still need to cut out the switch area and mount the volume knobs on the far left\right, but i think it turned out OK. i think that i should do it over because the slot is a bit wonky. that part was not easy!
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> *ignore the scuff marks from sandpaper and such. i will be filling and painting.*


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## quickaudi07

when are you going to put this in?


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## req

i just got some hardware for mounting this thing and the analog volume knobs and input connector for the PDSP. i cant build the volume cable until the interior is out so that i can run the cable and figure out the lengths to make it. im actually online right now about to order a few more things to fininsh it up. as it sits, i need to get the dremel out and put a cable in to pass out a ESATA output cable so i can plug the cdrom in while the case is open. just a few more things to do...

basically i was waiting for my friends friend and girlfriend to go out of town so i could put all my interior parts inside his place (as my mother in law is in town) because i cant store them in my place (i do not have a garage).

so this week ill be taking the interior out to facilitate my lazy ass to get some work done haha.


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## quickaudi07

So you have your car outside all the time? Whats your address ill take you car for a spin  lol

I hope you have a good alarm!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## quickaudi07

You really making me sell my Kenwood DNX9990HD and build a pc in my trunk! GRR I hate toys!

I also have a processor which will be cool to do changes on the fly, also are you going to use bluetooth? GPS? and AM/FM? I usually dont listen to am/fm but just wondering.


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## req

my phone has an AM\FM tuner, so if i need\want i can use that. the dock im getting (droid 4) has a usb throughput for analog audio that im going to send to the p-dsp as another input, so all my phones audio can go through the speakers if i want.

all the gps will be via the phones google maps\navi service, i dont need to have it on the computer because the phone does a great job of that. and i dont really need bluetooth because ill have a dedicated usb hookup between the pc and the phone, and the pdsp and the pc.

so really i should be all set


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## quickaudi07

Ahhhhh smart move!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2


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## lbp775

quickaudi07 said:


> You really making me sell my Kenwood DNX9990HD and build a pc in my trunk! GRR I hate toys!
> 
> I also have a processor which will be cool to do changes on the fly, also are you going to use bluetooth? GPS? and AM/FM? I usually dont listen to am/fm but just wondering.


Hmmm, I may be able to find a good home for that Kenwood. 

I actually bought all the parts needed for a carpc a few months ago but decided to keep things simple.


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## req

good progress news, i bought a new phone (droid 4) and it should be here this week or early next. i got a new dock that i will be attaching to the facia of the touchscreen\cdrom so its all one piece and i will be using a technique i came up with to fuse the plastic together utilizing plastic welding.

basically i dissolved ABS plastic in 100% acetone and i will be using it like bondo to fill gaps and chemically bond the pieces together! pics when the parts come in ^_^


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## quickaudi07

What kind of phone did you get, Samsung SIII?


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## req

droid 4. 

it has an audio passthrough via USB with the car dock, and if i get a case for my phone, the car dock insert can be removed allowing for the extra size of the phone to fit properly in the dock... that is AWESOME.

so i get an audio out via the USB plug into my P-DSP so i can drop my phone on the dock, it will charge, connect to the car PC via usb and act as an internet source for the car PC, and i can drag\drop music\movies\ect from the phones storage to the PC, and i can use the 4g from the phone as a source for things like pandora and youtube. its going to be clutch!

https://motorola-enterprise.custhel...t-up-and-use-the-droid-4-car-navigation-dock?


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## quickaudi07

Very cool I wonder if i could do that with my Driod Bionic


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## bbfoto

Looking good, req! It'll be nice to start tuning her up.  Would love to see a vid of your CarPC in action once you've finalized everything.


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## req

that will happen! i have one more show to attend before i rip everything out. i am afraid that if i dont get stuff in the mail on time, then i wont finish the build for the show, and i wont be able to attend finals if i dont get to this show.

so i am going to wait unitl after the show, that gives me 4 weeks to install the carPC and get everything tuned until the next show i will attend 

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## BowDown

So will you be sporting this setup @ the 9/16 show?


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## req

i want to say that is affirmative justin. that is my goal at least.


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## req

i proceeded to use my plastic welding technique today.

*USE A GLASS JAR WITH A SEAL-ABLE TOP! USE IN A VENTILATED AREA!*

basically i dissolved a bunch of small pieces of ABS plastic in 100% acetone (nail polish remover without any fragrance or fillers) and let it sit for a few days. now i have a sort of soupy mix at the top, and a jelly at the bottom, when it hardens (the acetone evaporates), it is basically the same substance as the original ABS. the trick here is to use it as a gap filler and to get it nice and thick. the other thing is, when it comes in contact with other solid ABS surfaces, it dissolves itself into the solid piece, creating a chemical bond rather than a mechanical bond (glue\staples\nails\screws\etc).










parts express ABS sheet














































so after this hardens, i will take the display out of there, then i will fuse the two pieces together along the front, and attach my cell phone dock. after that is all together, i will put it in the dash, and use it just like bondo to fill the gaps around the bezel to make a nice perfect fit.


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## chevbowtie22

Quick question here. Now I could be completely wrong on this but how are you planning on using the USB to transport audio to the p-dsp? I wasn't aware of any way to get USB audio out on any of the newwer Android phones running ICS. Jelly Bean is supposed to give us this option in the future. Wouldn't that dock that you have shown just transport analog audio via the 3.5mm jack? It looks to me that Motorola is using the USB cable coming out of the dock as mearly a charging cable and analog signal for the 3.5mm jack is just riding in the jacket to clean up the look. 

Like said in the beginning; I might be COMPLETELY wrong with that but please correct me being as I have been looking for a similar solution for my android phone and tablets.


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## req

yes you are correct - i was just unhappy that there was no audio out on any phone that when its inserted into a dock you would have to use a supplementary 3.5 jack. this dock\phone has that throughput for the 3.5 analog - and im OK with that because i dont have to have any stupid wires hanging out.

its not a digital transport... but ill be able to use it for FM\AM and pandora via an AUX selection on the PDSP. its just a nice clean way to transport the audio from my phone, and im excited that its going to be so clean.


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## bbfoto

I'll be interested to see if someone can hack the new Google Nexus Q to stream/play local files off of your Android phone via WiFi or from a thumb drive or HDD connected to the Q. The Q has a Toslink optical out, but at the moment it only allows you to STREAM your purchased Google Play Store content directly from the CLOUD...your Android phone or tablet just acts as a glorified remote control.  

You would also need to always have a WiFi Hotspot available, but you've got that on your Droid. Also it is powered by household 120VAC only until it is modded for 12VDC.

...Just an OT thought, LOL. Search YouTube for "Google Nexus Q".

...also, have been using that acetone/ABS welding trick since the early 90's! 

BTW, nice YouTube video on your car's setup with the Alpine H701!


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## req

Yes I know about the q, but it's not something I want to try and hack. 

I also know about the welding being used since the yesteryears, but what I'll be using it for is a bit different... Its about using it as a bondo replacement to keep dissimilar materials from being used. I have not gotten to that point yet, but when I do I'll have pics up, basically ill have a very thick Acetone/abs mix and apply it to the gaps, at least that's my plan and I have never seen it applied in this kind of way.


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## chevbowtie22

req said:


> yes you are correct - i was just unhappy that there was no audio out on any phone that when its inserted into a dock you would have to use a supplementary 3.5 jack. this dock\phone has that throughput for the 3.5 analog - and im OK with that because i dont have to have any stupid wires hanging out.
> 
> its not a digital transport... but ill be able to use it for FM\AM and pandora via an AUX selection on the PDSP. its just a nice clean way to transport the audio from my phone, and im excited that its going to be so clean.


I hear you. I was hoping you discovered something that I missed.  Oh well. I've seen that the new Nexus 7 is going to be capable of USB audio out and in turn all Android devices that will run Jelly Bean _should_ have this function as well. I can't wait for this!


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## bbfoto

req said:


> Yes I know about the q, but it's not something I want to try and hack.
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> I also know about the welding being used since the yesteryears, but what I'll be using it for is a bit different... Its about using it as a bondo replacement to keep dissimilar materials from being used. I have not gotten to that point yet, but when I do I'll have pics up, basically ill have a very thick Acetone/abs mix and apply it to the gaps, at least that's my plan and I have never seen it applied in this kind of way.


I generally agree regarding not wanting to mix materials on custom panels, especially if you are just using the standard Bondo brand body filler...the different materials will shrink at different rates and crack over time from hot/cold expansion/contraction cycles and/or panel flex. But do yourself a favor and invest in some high-quality lightweight body filler such as Evercoat's Rage Gold! Working with it is night and day from using Bondo. It spreads and sands MUCH easier, and you can even start shaping it when it gets to a kind of rubbery stage before it completely hardens. IME, both Bondo and ABS are much harder to sand, and Bondo is too ridgid or hard for use on flexible panels.

And I'm not knowledgable or skilled enough to hack the Nexus Q...just hoping someone else will!  Yes, the Nexus 7 tablet does look promising along with Jelly Bean/Android 4.1! I'm hoping my Samsung Galaxy Note will get Jelly Bean as well but it just got the ICS update so it might be a while.  That would eliminate a few of the adapters I'm having to use now to get SPDIF out of it! We'll see what happens later this year with the new 7" iPad as well. Though, from what I've seen of Jelly Bean so far, iOS is really going to have to step it up!

I'm using my Galaxy Note as my source because it's an all-in-one source, including NAV and Bluetooth Phone functionality, and I can take it with me when I leave the car. I'm just working now on a solution to get the phone steering wheel controls integrated to work with the Galaxy Note Phablet. If I can do that it will be perfect for my needs.

Sorry to get so off topic...your install is looking awesome and is just getting the wheels spinning in my head with ideas for my new car and build, lol!

Would love to hear your new setup!


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## req




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## quickaudi07

Bad ass!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2


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## Neil_J

Thanks for all the inspiration and advice to build a CarPC, Req  Yours turned out great, can't wait to see it in person, some time in the future. I've started a build log as well, stop by if you want, I could use any advice/experience you've picked up on the way.


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