Computer Installed - Pics

[troutspinner]

I received my new bezel the other day and was able to find time last night to install my system. The head unit is not a big deal, just a mid-level Kenwood Excelon the screen however is a 7" Lilliput Touch Screen mounted in an in-dash housing that allows the screen to slide in and out as well as pivot left and right.

The computer is a P4-1.8 using a Shuttle FB51 Mainboard, 512 Ram, yada yada that I have mounted in a custom enclosure under the driver's seat. The genius behind the system is the Opus power supply. The power supply is smart in that when the ignition key is turned on the computer boots/comes out of hibernation. When the ignition key is turned off it sends the signal to the computer to go into hibernation, after the hibernation process is completed it cuts the main power feed to assure never draining a battery. Even if the shutdown sequence does not work, it will give it 45 seconds and cut the power anyway, another fail-safe.

Another great thing about the power supply is that it is DC-DC. When installing computers into sound systems, ground noise is often an issue. With the Opus, it definitely helps to avoid ground issues although you still need to ground things properly.

The computer is running Windows XP. I use Frodoplayer as my front-end for playing MP3's & XM Radio. For navigation I am using iGuidance 2.0, very touchscreen friendly and voice prompts to boot. I also have Delorme Topo for when I am hunting and fishing (great for finding trails) but not real touchscreen friendly so it only is used during those times. I also use the computer for maintaining lists of Class A Trout Streams so I am never without a stream to fish (actually, the reason I started this whole computer thing, I am a wild trout nut!)

Here are some pics, I apologize for the quality but for some reason inside the garage in the dark I can not get this thing to focus (go figure!).

Brief Description of files

(screendown.jpg) Mounting of Radio and Screen with the Screen closed.
(screenup.jpg) Screen open and tilted towards driver side.
(mp3.jpg) Screen Shot of the MP3 player.
(xm.jpg) Screen Shot of the XM Player.
(nav.jpg) Screen Shot of iGuidance 2.0

trout

[WazzuCoug]

That is sooo slick. Do you have any pictures of the computer install? Was it hard to make everything work together? Did you do the install yourself? What a great addition for someone with your addiction!

[troutspinner]

Originally Posted by WazzuCoug

That is sooo slick. Do you have any pictures of the computer install? Was it hard to make everything work together? Did you do the install yourself? What a great addition for someone with your addiction!

Thanks Wazzu.

I did not take any pics of the computer install because it is just a silver aluminum box under the driver's seat. The box is 11" wide x 14" long x 4" High. I made the box a bit larger than needed so that any spare wire lengths could be tucked away into the box and then nicely zip tied to make it seem as if there is only one large cable coming out of the box. No cables can be seen and thanks to the plastic on the bottom of the Titan seat, you can't see the box either. A very clean install.

It is not the typical looking PC with connections on the outside. All connections are within the enclosure. Obviously not much to show but when I can get it into daylight I want to take some good pics so I can post for anyone looking to replicate the idea.

Being that I am a geek it was not too difficult for me to get this going but I have to give a HUGE amount of credit to the mp3car.com forum and it's members. Everything you would want to know is at that site and takes ALOT of guess work out of the build.

I did do the install myself, I am not bragging but I feel pretty good about the install. Rather than just going to install it I took time almost nightly (whenever I got time) for the last week prepping everything and measuring the mounting and routing of wires. The actual install took 3 hours but I would bet I have about 12 hours into the prep and install together.

The hardest part was getting the radio and screen mounted into the hole. It literally just fit due to the large tubular bar behind the radio but carefully routing wires helped big time. I got pretty lucky though, the brackets that mount the stock radio bolted directly up to my Kenwood and Screen, the only thing special I had to do was put a couple of washers behind the bracket to space it out correctly.

All the wires were easily tucked under the middle console, once again, got lucky there, you should have seen this in my Frontier, Seats and middle console had to come out for that install.

The only thing left to do now is to mount a USB port rather than fidgeting under the seat when I need to plug in my USB Flash Keyring. I use this for when transferring mp3's and fishing GPS waypoints . I am thinking in the bezel would be the no-brainer location but I'm not sure yet.

For anyone wanting to know. XM is handled via a XMDirect unit with a serial interface to the computer. The XMPCR will work too but the XMDirect gives alot of flexibility and is cheaper. It uses a small antenna that is ran through the brake light. The GPS receiver is an antenna similar to the XM and not much larger, once again ran through the brake light. Once again, very clean looking.

Thanks for your interest....obviously I like talking about it!

trout

[GETSOMZ28]

Awsome job!!

[travlskech]

wow that is real nice...you dont work in custom audio install industry? i had no idea you could even purchase touch screen lcd screens lol...

[vector6]

can you manage to hook up the PC to the onboard electronics of the truck..?
so as to monitor the running of the engine, transmission etc... on the fly ?

[Stomper4x4]

NIce job.

Do you have a wireless modem? Did you remote mount the DVD drive? I like this utility for useing my laptop at night.


http://www.adpartnership.net/DarkAdapted/index.html

[Titan4x4Aggie]

Originally Posted by vector6

can you manage to hook up the PC to the onboard electronics of the truck..?
so as to monitor the running of the engine, transmission etc... on the fly ?

that would be one of the coolest features. you should be able to buy the OBD-II software and plug, and hook your computer to the OBD-II port and constant monitor vehicle conditions from the ECU. too cool!

might need extra ports if your truck computer is always hooked up to the ECU.

[bestatchess]

Nice job! Is there any special shock mounting for the hard drive? Do you use a laptop hard drive or something special as to handle bumps?

[troutspinner]

Thanks for the great replies.

Trav, I do not work in auto install industry but I am in IT for a living so computers are kind of a second nature to me. I've always been a "geek" and love to tinker. I even have my own side business for computer repairs, networking, etc. which I hope to become my main job soon.

Stomper, for wireless connectivity anywhere I decided to do something a little different than a wireless modem. I am able to connect my blackberry via USB and use it's always on internet connection, which is actually faster than a 56k modem. Of course, having the blackberry, I can browse the web through that or lookup phone numbers/addresses so in reality, there is not much need for connectivity but of course I had to make it do it for the cool factor.

In my house I have a wireless network, I am contemplating installing a wireless network card into the machine so that I can have it sync the MP3 folder with my house machine. The software that I am using for MP3 playing already supports this task which is pretty phenominal to say the least. Imagine programing the power supply to shut down 20 minutes after you shut off the truck and it automatically links with the house machine and does the work for you. Nice.

As for the DVD, believe it or not I do not have one in there. My DVD drive sits on a shelf in the garage. The system does not require a CD-Rom as I use a USB key to tranfer data. At any given time I could attach the drive but I just never see myself wanting to watch movies. Maybe down the road when the kids drive along with me? Although the cool factor, yeah, I'll probably do it.

Titan, I do not have an OBD interface but I know it can be done. Guys over at the mp3car site have done this, they even have a discussion group related to just OBD. Defintely a cool factor I will pursue down the road.

bestatches, the only thing special that I do for the HD is use rubber mounts, basically a rubber washer between the case and hard drive. This has been discussed in much length on other forums and eveyone pretty much agrees that it is a non-factor. It has not been an issue for me at all.

When I built this system I kept in mind expansion. It has 2 com ports (rare on a mini-motherboard) 4 USB 2.0 ports and 2 firewire ports. Plenty of ports for gadgets and obviously USB ports can be expanded.

There are really no limits of what a system like this could do. Thinking about it off the top of my head....I already know that I can interface my steering wheel controls with the computer. There is even a guy out there who wrote a program specifically for the Nissan. Heater controls could be tapped into and controlled as our controls are electrical, not mechanical. Door locks, windows, the list goes on and on......I'm almost afraid of what I might do next!

trout

[Stomper4x4]

I guess the Blackberry wireless conection is pretty much the same thing as a dedicatied wireless modem card. I've used the sprint cards but their only PCMCIA. THe 802.11 card is a must. Share that blackberry wireless cell connetion via the 802.11. Mobile hot spot:-) Then might as well make that a server and be a mobile website. Add a web cam. Yeah the list goes on. Bluetooth? Very cool. Geek high five.

[gero]

what opus did you go with? is there enough power?
is that a miniITX motherboard?
why did you opt for a pull out monitor over a flush 2-din lilliput install, or using the factory nav. pod?

i'd like to use the nav pod in order to use the oem 6-disc changer. are there problems with this idea?

great project. thanks for sharing.

gero

[rcantu]

Nice,

does the lilliput open up automatically or you have to manually pull it out?

[lizardking]

Nice job! Looks real clean.

[SDGator]

Nice work! You will definitely get a lot of people interested (including me) in building a system like yours. Can I ask how much $ did all the parts and software put you back?