Car PC

[NSFW]

Have you tried this for gauges?

http://www.codeplex.com/ssm

 

I'm curious how well it works for you. I had it running stable for a while, then installed some Vista updates and now it's flaky again. Sometimes the system crashes going in or out of hibernation. Drives me nuts.

[rtbrjason]

Have you tried this for gauges?

http://www.codeplex.com/ssm

 

I'm curious how well it works for you. I had it running stable for a while, then installed some Vista updates and now it's flaky again. Sometimes the system crashes going in or out of hibernation. Drives me nuts.

 

I wanted to, but so far there doesn't seem to be support for 2.0 cables yet.

 

So far it's been semi installed for a couple weeks. I've had some issues here and there that I've got resolved at this point. I've got Vista on it, but completely stripped of software and services I'm not using. I'm not using hibernate either. The system is set to go to sleep after 5 mins on battery which is after car shuts off. It wakes up with the power button on the remote. So far it's been pretty solid.

[f1anatic]

It works rather well. I use an older revision from back in the day when i had problems and e-mailed the guy for a small upgrade. I only have 1 screen not the new fancy ones with several extra views. My issues are that sometimes I have to restart the SSM from inside centrafuse, upon restarting from hibernation. It is just sometimes but I could not be bothered. Seriously, if the gauges do not show up, I tap the X in its embedded window then hit "motor" again - all within Centrafuse. 2 finger taps - I can live with it. Hence I did not upgrade to the newest one.

my version required some "programming" to display the gauges I wanted but nothing I could not do in 5 min (you had to write the code - for your own gauges if you wanted other parameters than the default ones). A 5 minute job - all i did was replace in an XML file the name and number of the parameter. I use it with the Tactrix 1.3 cable; it did not work with any other cable, including Cobb AP.

[nemo]

I use SSM within Centrafuse on XP... and it works perfect. Once I configured it, I have had no problems since. Really great program.

[Stang70Fastback]

Software Engineer here: On the temperature questions. If you're wanting to have a reliable system and you live in that sort of environment then a solid state drive is definitely going to be the way to go for (yet again) "reliable" performance in all conditions, as well as the constant vibration of driving. The temperature ranges are because electrical components could begin to condensate in that low of a temperature range (10 degree air, 140-ish degree processor) depending on the amount of moisture in the air, on surfaces, etc.

 

Now, with all that said whatever you put together could run for 10 years and never have an issue. There's no way of knowing for sure without lots of testing.

 

...Just some thoughts...

 

For what it's worth, I've been using a standard laptop drive mounted directly to the case, which is only insulated by sitting on 1/2" strips of weatherstripping under the passenger seat, and I've had no issues so far. And it's gotten down to way below freezing, and up to over 100 degrees. Though when it's really cold out I generally wait a few minutes until my car gets a bit warmer before I start up the computer, but I'm pretty sure all the components in the case are still almost as cold...

 

...so I've been lucky so far - no issues at all yet.

[BAC5.2]

I am thinking about a twin-screen setup in my car.

 

What I want:

 

GPS on a screen where the OE Nav screen would go

 

Audio control on the lower screen.

 

I want both to be touch, the upper really operating solely as GPS (input directions and such there), and the lower solely operating as audio/video.

 

I want radio, CD/DVD, Possibly XM, and control of an iPod. I also want bluetooth pairing with my phone so I can talk hands free. I also want steering wheel integration.

 

I want it to look as OEM as possible. I don't want to constantly be fiddling with it. I want it to behave like it came that way from the factory.

 

My initial idea was to use a Pioneer F90BT in the dash and have a second screen up top for GPS but Pioneer said that they don't have a unit capable of that.

 

The member Reback (I think) did something similar to what I want with a kenwood 8120, but that model is discontinued, and I'd rather not have a screen that doesn't sit flush in the lower dash. See it here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2017500&postcount=185

 

Ideas?

 

I don't know anything about Carputers, is there a setup anyone could recommend that would do what I want?

 

How much would it cost?

[rtbrjason]

I want a dual screen setup also. I want to keep the stock screen in place to set all the cars options, as well as have factory nav and backup cam. I want to add a second vga touchscreen for the carpc/audio/video. No real way to go about the second touchscreen in place of the oem stereo as of now that I can find.. I wish I had thought to make sure an aftermarket double din kit was available prior to purchasing the car.

[BAC5.2]

My outback has manual HVAC, so the Scoshe kit will work no problem.

[f1anatic]

Where do you guys come up with the need of a dual screen ? What are you ? thugs ? gagstas ? wanna show off ?

 

All of us happily run software like Centrafuse or Street Deck or Road Runner and do any combination of buttons. For instance I have the option of having navi with audio controls and display; the option of making the entire screen available for navi ...or for music.

 

Good luck with the price ! When your run-of-the-mill Xenarc is 400 bucks, good luck buying two. Even better luck installing TWO screens in the car. Triple the pleasure by finding room for 2 PCs or rather Navi/Audio units and running dual sets of cables and quadruple it when you end up buying two of everything maybe even 2 licenses for a commercial software.

 

Seriously now, you should look up in the first 20 or so pages to see different setups and the work involved ... then decide if a CARPC is for you or not. It is definitely not something that you say: I am gonna do it. It is NOT an week-end project; you will not be done in a week or two weeks or even a month; you will be responsible for the maintenance and replacement of anything and everything that goes wrong. And if you are not an avid gamer or have major computer expertise; you should probably forget about it and just go with a commercial solution. When your virtual serial port for your GPS will interfere with the virtual port for your touchscreen or touchpad or some other controller as they both use COM5 and when your touchscreen display is slightly off center - you will quickly realize that running a dual screen display at home is not quite the same as running a dual screen display in the car.

 

There was only one car that went ahead with a dual screen; keeping the factory one and adding another one after much hackage of the oem head units and HVAC controls.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924&page=18&highlight=HighlineCA

This project never went anywhere.

Edited May 18, 2009 by f1anatic

[Jerboa113]

I think it'd be quite nice for at-a-glance references. I dont think I'd need 2 7" screens, but 2 smaller ones would be sufficient.

 

tbh my iphone works fine tho. Its not the size of the screen.. its how far away you sit from it.

[rtbrjason]

Where do you guys come up with the need of a dual screen ? What are you ? thugs ? gagstas ? wanna show off ?

 

Simple.. I have the stock Nav unit. The screen itself controls some of the cars options. I don't want to lose that, but I've not found anyway to to get vga input to that screen as it only has the composite aux in. If I could source my carpc in via vga I wouldn't need the second screen. As of now the only option for me to get vga output from my carpc and not lose the oem screen is to add a second screen.

 

Secondly for me at least, I use my carpc mainly for on screen gauge display. It would be nice to be able to see that while also still viewing the nav or watching video on the main display.

[Jerboa113]

you know the oem nav screen has a composite in right? and that some carputer itx mobos have composite out? The problem is you would lose touchscreen functio9n.

 

hey guys.. cool idea for those of us w/o shitty si-drive..

 

get an si-drive console in your interior color, and the si drive control module.. and rig it up like an "eraser head" mouse from a laptop.

 

now that would be cool.

[rtbrjason]

Where do you guys come up with the need of a dual screen ? What are you ? thugs ? gagstas ? wanna show off ?

 

All of us happily run software like Centrafuse or Street Deck or Road Runner and do any combination of buttons. For instance I have the option of having navi with audio controls and display; the option of making the entire screen available for navi ...or for music.

 

Good luck with the price ! When your run-of-the-mill Xenarc is 400 bucks, good luck buying two. Even better luck installing TWO screens in the car. Triple the pleasure by finding room for 2 PCs or rather Navi/Audio units and running dual sets of cables and quadruple it when you end up buying two of everything maybe even 2 licenses for a commercial software.

 

Seriously now, you should look up in the first 20 or so pages to see different setups and the work involved ... then decide if a CARPC is for you or not. It is definitely not something that you say: I am gonna do it. It is NOT an week-end project; you will not be done in a week or two weeks or even a month; you will be responsible for the maintenance and replacement of anything and everything that goes wrong. And if you are not an avid gamer or have major computer expertise; you should probably forget about it and just go with a commercial solution. When your virtual serial port for your GPS will interfere with the virtual port for your touchscreen or touchpad or some other controller as they both use COM5 and when your touchscreen display is slightly off center - you will quickly realize that running a dual screen display at home is not quite the same as running a dual screen display in the car.

 

There was only one car that went ahead with a dual screen; keeping the factory one and adding another one after much hackage of the oem head units and HVAC controls.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924&page=18&highlight=HighlineCA

This project never went anywhere.

 

Your whole post kind of comes across as ass-ish really.. Why are you making this seem so hard? Good luck with having money to buy 2 screens? Um okay. A car pc for each screen? Not sure anyone is talking about that..

 

I installed my laptop car pc into my car in a few hours, and that was with all lines being run under carpet and separated. I spent a couple hours setting the laptop up in the house before install.

 

The only hard part about this imo is if you have to fab in an aftermarket screen into your dash. If there was a double din unit available for my car, it would have a second vga touch screen already, and it wouldn't take weeks of work or any considerable upkeep to maintain.

[f1anatic]

Well why don't you try an external video card that outputs to a composite - which you hook up to your factory screen. The downside is that you will need a (more) powerful PC. And you will need an input device like a mouse touchpad or the 3D space navigator from Logitech.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=external+video+card

 

Well I think ought to try fabbing an aftermarket screen into your dash first. Then we talk.

Show us please how you mounted your laptop, where you ran your wires, what is your input/control method and so on.

Edited May 18, 2009 by f1anatic

[rtbrjason]

Well why don't you try an external video card that outputs to a composite - which you hook up to your factory screen. The downside is that you will need a (more) powerful PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=external+video+card

 

I already output to composite with my internal video card. That isn't vga quality and it doesn't allow for touchscreen control.

[f1anatic]

 

hey guys.. cool idea for those of us w/o shitty si-drive..

 

get an si-drive console in your interior color, and the si drive control module.. and rig it up like an "eraser head" mouse from a laptop.

 

now that would be cool.

 

Nope. One of these.

 

http://www.gadgettastic.com/images/space_navigator_mouse1.jpg

[rtbrjason]

Nope. One of these.

 

http://www.gadgettastic.com/images/space_navigator_mouse1.jpg

 

Unfortunately this is not a mouse controller. It's a 3d modeling controller for use inside engineering apps. Something like this that worked like a mouse would be pretty ideal if you couldn't get a touch screen.

[f1anatic]

I already output to composite with my internal video card. That isn't vga quality and it doesn't allow for touchscreen control.

 

As I said you will need an external input device like a mouse of sorts. What is the resolution of the factory nav ? Probably poor but if it is "good" then you need a different graphics card. Did you compare your laptop's output to a regular TV to your OEM navi screen ?

[f1anatic]

http://images.gamedev.net/features/reviews/spacenavigator/cpanel.png

Unfortunately this is not a mouse controller. It's a 3d modeling controller for use inside engineering apps. Something like this that worked like a mouse would be pretty ideal if you couldn't get a touch screen.

 

 

You can customize the axis on which it works.

And you can try the laptop version for size.

http://www.3dconnexion.com/3dmouse/spacenavigatorfornotebooks.php

Edited May 18, 2009 by f1anatic

[rtbrjason]

As I said you will need an external input device like a mouse of sorts. What is the resolution of the factory nav ? Probably poor but if it is "good" then you need a different graphics card. Did you compare your laptop's output to a regular TV to your OEM navi screen ?

 

I already use an external input device. I use the logitech dinovo mini. Very nice for control. I could live with just this and not having touch screen, but I cannot live with composite video from the laptop.

 

The laptop output isn't the problem. The problem is the oem nav screen only allows for composite input. You can see pictures of what that looks like above. For large text and video and graphics, composite is fine. Windows menus text, file names, options text etc on the other hand will be completely unreadable. A good example is with romraider gauges. I can see the gauge number very well, but am completely unable to see the min/max values.

 

The screen itself has a decent enough resolution to handle it, but not over composite. It would be the same if you output your laptop to a high end hdtv via composite. It would still look like crap. Unfortunalty the stock screen only allows for composite input so there is not much that can be done short of replacing that screen with one that excepts vga, or adding a vga screen. There is some small chance that the nav unit under seat could be replaced with a pc, and the cables hacked into vga/usb for touch screen and vga input, but it seems unlikely.

[rtbrjason]

http://images.gamedev.net/features/reviews/spacenavigator/cpanel.png

 

 

You can customize the axis on which it works.

And you can try the laptop version for size.

http://www.3dconnexion.com/3dmouse/spacenavigatorfornotebooks.php

 

Yes I understand that but this is still not a mouse that will control your cursor. This is for controlling 3d modeling apps. I do some work for this company, and one of their biggest tech support call drivers is that people buy this expecting it to provide cursor control.

[Jerboa113]

I like that, but for "oem look" I'd want to use the si drive knob.

 

what I'd ideally want from a carputer system is a system that is so seamless that even subaru people wonder if its a prototype system.

 

which is why I dont have one at all.

[f1anatic]

Then do not use the RomRaider gauges.

For large text and video and graphics, composite is fine ?

Then you wanna try this - cause according to you - you only use it for gauges.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/attachments/centrafuse/51276d1219405588-subaru-ssm-working-almost-img00468.jpg

 

http://www.codeplex.com/ssm

[rtbrjason]

Then do not use the RomRaider gauges.

For large text and video and graphics, composite is fine ?

Then you wanna try this - cause according to you - you only use it for gauges.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/attachments/centrafuse/51276d1219405588-subaru-ssm-working-almost-img00468.jpg

 

http://www.codeplex.com/ssm

 

Romraider displays the main guages similar to that, but has a lot more features including min/max values and alarms etc. So that would do me as well as what I have now.. Although at least now if I struggle to view the max values I can tell sort of what it is.

 

I have looked into ssm/lumberjack but unfortunately it doesn't support the openport 2.0 protocol and my car only support the 2.0 protocol. SSM will work fine for the 1.2/1.3 Cables from what I understand.

[BAC5.2]

Where do you guys come up with the need of a dual screen ? What are you ? thugs ? gagstas ? wanna show off ?

 

All of us happily run software like Centrafuse or Street Deck or Road Runner and do any combination of buttons. For instance I have the option of having navi with audio controls and display; the option of making the entire screen available for navi ...or for music.

 

Good luck with the price ! When your run-of-the-mill Xenarc is 400 bucks, good luck buying two. Even better luck installing TWO screens in the car. Triple the pleasure by finding room for 2 PCs or rather Navi/Audio units and running dual sets of cables and quadruple it when you end up buying two of everything maybe even 2 licenses for a commercial software.

 

Seriously now, you should look up in the first 20 or so pages to see different setups and the work involved ... then decide if a CARPC is for you or not. It is definitely not something that you say: I am gonna do it. It is NOT an week-end project; you will not be done in a week or two weeks or even a month; you will be responsible for the maintenance and replacement of anything and everything that goes wrong. And if you are not an avid gamer or have major computer expertise; you should probably forget about it and just go with a commercial solution. When your virtual serial port for your GPS will interfere with the virtual port for your touchscreen or touchpad or some other controller as they both use COM5 and when your touchscreen display is slightly off center - you will quickly realize that running a dual screen display at home is not quite the same as running a dual screen display in the car.

 

There was only one car that went ahead with a dual screen; keeping the factory one and adding another one after much hackage of the oem head units and HVAC controls.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924&page=18&highlight=HighlineCA

This project never went anywhere.

 

 

1) You are an ass.

 

2) I run dual monitors with one desktop at home. Since most CarPC's use desktop or laptop components, why is it so ZOMG UNTHINKABLE to run two monitors in the car?

 

I guess anyone running dual monitors at home or work is stupid... and a gangster thug.

 

3) My logic for having two screens is that I want Nav on top. Permanently. The bottom would be for all other A/V integration. I don't care if you think it's dumb, it's what I want and is why I asked.