Midinstall computer install in Subaru - ampie, m1-atx

[Jerboa113]

I felt like I was going to break it doing that, theres nowhere to grab it to get a good grip on it, my last car was like that, you wated to take anything apart you just had to pull.. chevrolet is held together with clips

 

I'll try it this afternoon, my boss apparently just cancled my lunch so.. yea

[foobark]

After fumbling with my install hardcore one of my vents had popped out of the screw holding it down after I put it in. So my cubby was really stuck in there.

 

I eventually just had to make piece with replacing it if I couldn't get if off nicely and I used those metal bezels from the back of computers... Turned out they were the perfect tool because you could slide them in and not scratch anything that could be seen. Give that a shot if you don't like grabbing between the vents and the cubby space.

 

One casualty of my latest dash disassemble was that one of the fins of the vent popped off - I wasn't any where even close to it, it just gave up after too many times coming out and being pushed back in.

 

Does anyone know the part number for that whole vent/cubby thing?

[Jerboa113]

I pulled mine off yesterday, I had to harness the power of zeus to do it tho.. a grown man going "ARRGH" pulling as hard as he can on a peice of plastic.. how humiliating.. well it did come off, but as I expected.. I broke a tab taht holds the cubby inards to the outer trim, you know the screw it shares with the air vent on the driver side. The good thing is tho the other 2 screws are tight enough that it will not move, and the very thick plastic support behind it wont let it move back, but I was happy to see that the xenarc trim will fit readily in there, it just needs some good fiberglassing to do it.

 

my screen comes today W000000T!

 

btw for all of you who may not know, jazzymt has completed his aux. in mod and is selling them for $35, it uses the "silent CD" and is all plug n play.

 

for ordering info. he said just drop him a private message and he will take it from there. I contacted him within an hour of him saying he was ready to take orders, but no reply yet so he might have been bombarded hehe

[Jerboa113]

he guys, just as a side note while I'm on here, I've been monitoring the shutoff sequence on my carputer and have found that when the computer shuts down, either via manual shutdown or by the timeout from the remote pinging 0, the lights on my usb devices stay on, which tells me the motherboard is still cycling power through it, any reason to be concerned about this?

[foobark]

in the m1-atx manual it tells you that the 5v rail is always on, which means that it'll drain the battery a little bit. Most likely nothing to worry about unless you're parking it extended. All the more reason to put in a switch between it and the power. I have one for the "Accessory" line thats in the ashtray area and then another one right next to the case in the trunk (it's hack right now until I decide on whether to mount it on the ampie or not).

[John M]

Some mobos have a jumper that lets you choose to have the standby power or not.

[Spinjockey]

From http://resources.mini-box.com/online/M1-ATX/M1-ATX-manual.pdf

 

1.2 Power challenges in a Vehicle PC

 

 

 

The 5V Standby Problem: One of most difficult tasks of operating a PC in a vehicle is power consumption while the computer is OFF. Even if your computer is totally OFF, it will still consume about 100mA on the 5V rail. All power supplies have 5VSB (5V standby) mode so that they can issue at least a PSON signal. When the computer is in the suspend mode, it will consume even more power, because the RAM needs to be powered at all times. The power consumption in the suspend mode is few watts.

 

 

No matter how big your battery is, it will eventually drain your battery in a matter of days.

 

 

The M1-ATX is addressing these issues by cutting off the 5VSb rail after a pre-defined amount of time (see jumper chart). When 5Vsb is always active (HARDOFF=Never), M1- ATX watches the battery level. When battery level drops below 11V for more than one minute, M1-ATX will shut down and re-activate only when the input voltage is > 11V.

 

 

So the 5v should be cut by the m1-atx after the second delay.

 

I'm currently working on my installation as well (Xenarc in dash, clock in ashtray, SP13000 & M1-ATX under drivers seat) it'll primary be for GPS.

[Jerboa113]

yea, I recall reading that, but as my understanding it shuts off if the voltage starts to drop below 11v, so.. a worst case scenario it wont kill your car. I will have an in-line switch on hard power and on remote... so long as its nothing to worry about thats all I care.

 

I would love to see pics of any progress spinjockey, especially if you have that screen in I went to a shop today to ask them to do what sebberry did with his, and they said "I dont think it can be done" I'm going to keep looking.

 

carputers working, screen is in (inventory wise not in the car) and working, screen bezel (a replacement cubby) is on the way, usb devices are all setup on the carputer, I just need the aux. in from jazzymt which should be soon enough, and the fiberglassing install and all the cables ran (2 pairs RCAs one for sound one for video to the tsv, 1 VGA cable, 1 usb cable, power wire, remote wire)

 

question for yall tho, when switching hard power (constant to the carputer) should I use a relay? if so where would I get a simple relay system? I thought autozone but.. no such luck.

[jazzymt]

You only need a relay if you're using a lower voltage/amperage control to switch the power. For example, if you have a 5v PLC with 100mA max lines, you'd probably drive a larger transistor with that, and if that's not enough, drive a relay with the transistor. If all you're talking about is a switch, you can just wire it through the switch. Most any 'power switch' is going to have plenty of voltage/current carrying capability for a 12V system.

[Jerboa113]

well as my understanding the m1 atx is about 90 watts, I dont want my switch burning me, or burning itself up.. although this carputer runs on relativley small wire, I think its 12 gauge just from looking at it, nothing larger than your average wiring in a car..

 

I still dont know where to PUT the switches also lol, any ideas? ashtray is out, cos I'm moving my info. center there.

[Spinjockey]

If you want to use a small push button switch then you'll need a relay (most won't handle the juice). However if you're just going to hide it away then you should be able to find one that will.

I just ran 10 gauge straight to the battery (with a 15 A fuse 1' from the bat) to the wiring harness. For the ignition I ran a small (~20 g) wire from the ashtray. The Xenarc is also plugged into the same lead (I may run it off the PSU in the future for more regulation/protection).

 

I'm pretty sure that I won't need to disconnect the battery line that frequently so I didn't bother switching it (heck if I have to I'll pop the hood and pull the fuse). In the future I may use the second push on the remote to power up the system.

Got the system mostly set-up in Phase I. Xenarc placed between vents (nothing's even cut, just no cubby or clock). Wiring is going out the back of the center consol to the left of the rear drink holder. DVD isn't in but I've got the USB2/firewire case so it'll probably go right between the passenger seat/center consol. Right now I'm looking for a NO momentary switch to handle the power-on LED and secondary switch on the M1-ATX.

Software wise it’s XP-home on a 40 GB Samsung 2.5 drive with a bunch of services turned off and some registry patches (didn’t go nlite route yet). Iguidance with font sizes fixed. Delorme 05 LT20 GPS. Airlink 802.11G usb wifi. Bluetooth usb card.

Phase II will be cleaning up the wiring to run it under the carpet by the e-brake down to under the seat. Also fashion a permanent cover since the Ampie didn't fit (it's open face right now using the Ampie base plate).

Phase III will be the fun part of fiberglass/bondo/epox the screen to make it look built in. I don't know if I'll keep the buttons or not, I need a good solution to drop the backlight output at night.

[Jerboa113]

sounds like its coming along nicely, I'm at the stage where its all working on the workbench, goes from powered off to music playing in 1 minute, no services disabled or anything, xp pro sp2. I have 2 20' RCAs leftover from my last car audio install, I'll probablly use one for the audio to the deck and the other for video input on the tsv. 15' VGA cable, and 10' usb extenstion cable , no power wire has been purchased, although I have some 4gauge leftover from ap revious car audio install. hard switching is for emergencies only, or for extended parking periods, I doubt I will use it much, but I would like it to exist, I'd also like to switch the screen and carputer, given the screen is auto sensing, but I'd like to be able to completley power the system down if I'm going to park the car all weekend or something. I think I found a guy to do the fiberglassing work for the screen, but he says he wont be able to match the color, any ideas on what would compliment the limited taupe interior w/o clashing? I told him I wanted the rubberized factory satin finihs, he said he cant do that

[prelude]

I guess it is about time to share my idea and some of my unfinished project on my installation of my carpc especially the monitor part.

 

My goal for the whole setup is to make everything looks like stock or close to stock, conceal from thieves…

Actually, major reason is that I don’t have any presentable skills of using fillers, sanding and spray painting.

 

I took the whole cubby assembly out and leave the vent and clock assembly intact.

I don’t want to (or I don’t know if JDM extension will fit or not) relocate the clock so I decide to leave the clock there, besides, the air bag alarm is bothering me.

I put a piece of wood as the deck for my touch screen monitor to store when it is not in use, two 7” drawer slides serve as a moving mount of screen. A “L” shape piece of hardware (don’t know how to describe it) is used to hang the Xenarc screen in place. It turned out perfectly in my opinion, check attached picture. When I park my car, I can store the screen in cubby, Xenarc 700 TSV is a little bit too long, so if I put the door on, it is not completely closed, but I will work on it.

Let me know what you think.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~carpc/images/closed.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~carpc/images/door.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~carpc/images/inplace.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~carpc/images/inside.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~carpc/images/xenarc.jpg

[mlrtime]

Wow, thats pretty neat. Have you tried going over some rough bumps with that setup, how sturdy are the brackets?

 

thanks

[Jerboa113]

looks good, kind of difficult to apply tho? I mean its not something you can fold in/out looks like something more.. manual, but that works fine.

 

yea the JDM kit I beleive works.. except for the harness extender, and thats only because 2 pins are not on the JDM harness that are on the USDM one. If you knew the size of the pins you could probablly run them yourself. Some of the guys on here say the stock harness will fit, but its TIGHT. I personally was ready to chop wires but I've been thinking about buying 2 of the info center relocation things and hacking up the 2nd harness extender to add those 2 pins, PITA yes.. but that is the best way to not hack factory wiring like a redneck. I've been doing so well with not totally mutilating this car (HIDs aside!! they will sell with the car no one will even know they are not factory unless they are an enthusiast)and I'd hate to change now.

 

I've found a guy to fiberglass my screen in like sebberrys doing with his (quite suprised he hasn't picked up on this thread yet honestly, since hes doing a great job on his project it looks like and could probablly contribute a lot) its just a matter of time I guess with that, I'm in no real rush.

 

Any of yall know anything about the trunk passthrough on the sedan? I want to mount my ampie to the back of it and the size is PERFECT but I pulled some of the upholstry back and its a thin peice of metal thats full of holes and filled with foam, any way to make this work so that I can mount it to it? ampie is like 10 pounds its kinda heavy I dont want it ripping the screws out..

[prelude]

Wow, thats pretty neat. Have you tried going over some rough bumps with that setup, how sturdy are the brackets?

 

thanks

Thank you.

I would say it is pretty stable and secured.

However, I forgot to add some sort of spring to hold the stand/bracket.

With that added, the cubby door will hold the monitor better.

[prelude]

looks good, kind of difficult to apply tho? I mean its not something you can fold in/out looks like something more.. manual, but that works fine.

 

yea the JDM kit I beleive works.. except for the harness extender, and thats only because 2 pins are not on the JDM harness that are on the USDM one. If you knew the size of the pins you could probablly run them yourself. Some of the guys on here say the stock harness will fit, but its TIGHT. I personally was ready to chop wires but I've been thinking about buying 2 of the info center relocation things and hacking up the 2nd harness extender to add those 2 pins, PITA yes.. but that is the best way to not hack factory wiring like a redneck. I've been doing so well with not totally mutilating this car (HIDs aside!! they will sell with the car no one will even know they are not factory unless they are an enthusiast)and I'd hate to change now.

 

I've found a guy to fiberglass my screen in like sebberrys doing with his (quite suprised he hasn't picked up on this thread yet honestly, since hes doing a great job on his project it looks like and could probablly contribute a lot) its just a matter of time I guess with that, I'm in no real rush.

 

..

When I was playing around with the screen setup, I did notice the the screen angle matters.

If you relocate the clock and place the screen inside that space, your screen will face up slightly and it reflects sunlight through wind shield.

Thanks.

[Jerboa113]

yup, I figured that would be the case, that didn't stop subaru from putting it there tho, I just today dropped mine off to have the fiberglassing done. Worst case it will work at night

[Jerboa113]

guys, I'm goin nuts here, I absolutley cannot mount this screen in my dash! its too wide its too tall.. I'm frustrated to death here...

 

I would put pics on here but I left the camera in the garage so I'll post em later.

 

I had a dude fiberglass me a bezel for the screen, the screen itself will fit in there but theres nothing to hold it in the dash, so I tried to fab up some mounts, buit the mounts are too big and theres no way to make them any smaller and it still function, ideas?!?

[AKLGT]

alright, i'm working on getting my make shift car pc up and running. so far, i can get everything powered and running, but i'm using my portable 7" dvd player for the monitor. the resolution SUCKS!!! it's so fuzzy you can sorta read what you type. where can i get an inexpensive monitor that i can mount in the car? i can't spend too much money or the hubby will kill me. he's already pissed i've spent as much as i have now. i've seen those xenarc ones some folks have been getting, but how much?? then how to mount it? i was thinking of just mounting it right onto the dash, i'm not very worried about people stealing or breaking into the car. thanks!

[gt_ltd]

$400 for a 7" xenarc with video in and touch screen.

[Jerboa113]

+1 on the xenarc price, and thanks for nothing for ideas for mounting yall!! we've got it pretty much figured out now, just gonna do it the silicone way, not my first choice, but probablly the best/only way to do it.

[AKLGT]

what's the resolution on those bad boys?? because that's not bad from what i've been seeing.

[gt_ltd]

native resolution is 800x480.

[AKLGT]

i need to be able to read emails. can you actually read text off of that? and what inputs do they have? s-video, rca, or vga?? i suppose i can just google it and see for myself.