Carputer

[nimrod.sixty9]

Im thinking about doing a budget setup in the Jeep (ZJ).

I have a beater IBM Laptop that can handle any thing that I plan to do with it. My thinking is this; use an inverter to power the adapter, when the truck turns off it will run on the battery for 30min or so (I will customize the power settings).

Im also going to get a touchscreen (and battery) off of ebay or wherever else.

My concern is, how do I get this thing hooked up to the audio side of things? How do I go from 1/8" jack to the speakers? And finally what frontend?

Reasons for choosing a laptop:
-I already have it and cant use it for anything else
-Has its own battery so no need to buy the DC to DC power supply a desktop will need
-Already have an inverter (may have to get a better one)
-I can control power settings when on battery. With this I can control settings when the ride is off or on.

Input and constructive criticism welcome :D

[cam98aro]

Re: Carputer

i think crutchfield has a forum on their website, i would join there and ask those guys, or just send their tech support an email, they will be able to get you the stuff you need.

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Carputer

Well like I said it more of a budget thing. Wont be able to do that with CF.

I would join the carmp3 forum - but they wouldnt help because they are highly againt a budget build.

I was hoping that it was just a wire up. I suppose its not that easy...

[timthescarred]

Re: Carputer

This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile and being a CS major might be able to help some.

The headphone jack on the lappy isn't gonna have enough power to push the speakers alone so if you don't want to run a headunit, use an amp.

A basic four channel to push the speakers will work. Get one with red/white inputs and run a Y-cable from PC to AMP

[timthescarred]

Re: Carputer

If your going to run a headunit, get one with an aux input, a simple patch cable will input the sound, if you want to hide the PC, try to find a headunit with rear input(not as common)

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Carputer

This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile and being a CS major might be able to help some.

The headphone jack on the lappy isn't gonna have enough power to push the speakers alone so if you don't want to run a headunit, use an amp.

A basic four channel to push the speakers will work. Get one with red/white inputs and run a Y-cable from PC to AMP

Ahha! I like this one! Cant believe I didnt think of it.

I work in IT myself so can handle this. I was just hoping someone had already done it and could give me some tips on unforeseen issues.

Wouldnt the pre-power output from the lappy damage the low input on the amp?

[timthescarred]

Re: Carputer

Buddy of mine does car audio installation, says he's done that before. In fact because the output on laptops is so small, you have to use a bit higher gain on the amp.

[12secondv6]

Re: Carputer

Ugh.... this is another sign I'm getting old..... cause I don't know what a carputer is or why one would want to do it?!?!?!

I'm thinking it is something to do with a lap top in a car..... but that is as far as I got.

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Carputer

Buddy of mine does car audio installation, says he's done that before. In fact because the output on laptops is so small, you have to use a bit higher gain on the amp.

Good to hear! So with the screen and a little bit of an investment this could turn out to be pretty fun. New thing Im worried about is power on. How can I send a signal to the lappy to turn on when it has completely shutdown. Could you possibly do me a favor and ask your friend exactly what he does for this?

Ugh.... this is another sign I'm getting old..... cause I don't know what a carputer is or why one would want to do it?!?!?!

I'm thinking it is something to do with a lap top in a car..... but that is as far as I got.

Dont do that to yourself man. I work in IT so its a bit of a given that I would know about this.

Basically its a computer system in your car. Usually you only interface with a touch screen. The rest of it is a computer system along with other devices hidden out of sight. But Im going with what I like to call Low-Tech. And thats what I usually do. Basically technology on a budget or getting the same job done combining old hardware (that is not necessarily originally used for that specific purpose).

With:
Old lappy
Old amp
A $150 touchscreen
Some wire
Inverter

I can have:
Thousands of MP3s on demand
Hundreds of movies on demand (and I do too)
GPS (with customizable software / so features go way beyond your normal TomTom)
WiFi - Internet access
Live ALDL readings / Instant code scanning (too bad the Jeep is OBD1)
Games


Basically just a computer, or whatever a comp can do. But whats nice is it can look factory but have your own completely customized frontend (imagine Media Center - the way you want it).

[RadRacer]

Re: Carputer

Check out mp3car.com (I'm on there too). I was looking at doing the same thing in the Camaro, and actually have a few parts if you're interested. As for audio out, they make a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, then run that to an amp. RUN AN AMP!! Even a small one, cuz the computer won't be able to power the speakers worth anything, so run one :P. I have a small screen (can be converted to touch for about $40 from eBay), a USB HDTV dongle, a micro BT dongle, and maybe a few other things. PM me if you're interested.

[T-Mill]

Re: Carputer

There are programs out there that can be used with a webcam and a home-made touch screen... unless you already have the touch screen... I don't think that there would be an easy way to make the touch screen show an image as well as recognize your touch, though... I recently fried the RAM in my laptop and since the ram is built in to the logic board, and it's a 6 year old computer, I may not bother trying to fix it and instead just keep the LCD, and see if I could make some sort of touch screen out of it... I'll probably realize soon enough that it's impossible, but either way, it'll be fun... (dammit, I just found another project for my car)

and the touch-recognition software, I believe can be found online for free, although I don't remember what it's called...

[timthescarred]

Re: Carputer

Good to hear! So with the screen and a little bit of an investment this could turn out to be pretty fun. New thing Im worried about is power on. How can I send a signal to the lappy to turn on when it has completely shutdown. Could you possibly do me a favor and ask your friend exactly what he does for this?

Haven't had a chance to talk to my friend but here's a thought, check the bios for a power on after power failure option. Then wire the ignition as the only power to the lappy, when you turn the ignition off, it cuts power and the laptop thinks its a power failure, ignition back on, and the laptop powers itself right back on because of BIOS.

BTW, what OS are you gonna run Linux?

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: Carputer

Check out mp3car.com (I'm on there too). I was looking at doing the same thing in the Camaro, and actually have a few parts if you're interested. As for audio out, they make a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, then run that to an amp. RUN AN AMP!! Even a small one, cuz the computer won't be able to power the speakers worth anything, so run one :P. I have a small screen (can be converted to touch for about $40 from eBay), a USB HDTV dongle, a micro BT dongle, and maybe a few other things. PM me if you're interested.

LOL I already plan to run an AMP (all in previous posts :P)

You have a PM sir

There are programs out there that can be used with a webcam and a home-made touch screen... unless you already have the touch screen... I don't think that there would be an easy way to make the touch screen show an image as well as recognize your touch, though... I recently fried the RAM in my laptop and since the ram is built in to the logic board, and it's a 6 year old computer, I may not bother trying to fix it and instead just keep the LCD, and see if I could make some sort of touch screen out of it... I'll probably realize soon enough that it's impossible, but either way, it'll be fun... (dammit, I just found another project for my car)

and the touch-recognition software, I believe can be found online for free, although I don't remember what it's called...

Oops :D

I say look on Ebay for another mobo. Fix it if its cheap enough. Other than that, sell it on ebay as parts and use it to get another one. LCD is worthless w/o mobo..

Haven't had a chance to talk to my friend but here's a thought, check the bios for a power on after power failure option. Then wire the ignition as the only power to the lappy, when you turn the ignition off, it cuts power and the laptop thinks its a power failure, ignition back on, and the laptop powers itself right back on because of BIOS.

BTW, what OS are you gonna run Linux?

That will only work as a sudden power loss. Doing that would eventually kill the HD. Remember I plan to use the battery anyway. Once power is lost itll run on the battery and I can use those power settings. Ill set it to goto standby after 10 minutes on batt, and turn off after 30minutes. This way itll be ready as soon as I come out of the store (because on average you wont be there that long).

I will be using Windows XP Pro. I know how to set her up nice.

[T-Mill]

Re: Carputer

I looked for one on eBay, but it's an ibook, and apparently this was a common problem bc I couldn't find any, and the only parts computers I could find were in good condition except the mobo was fried... lol

[bigairboarder44]

Re: Carputer

i was really thinking about going the carpc route for a little but then decided to keep the setup i have now. theres tons of front ends out there (well like ten or something) but i installed centrafuse on my computer just to see what it was like and it was pretty sweet (although really hard to use without a mouse pointer lol)