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Nerih

By Nerih,
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Nerih

Nerih 0

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Hello everyone, i started working on my next project for my vr6.

Here's the scene, at the moment i have a faily basic setup inside the car.

It consists for a pioneer avh-6400cd bought on holiday in the USA and a generic dvd mp3/vcd player which sits under the rear seats. I have a couple of amps and a sub in the back, I'm planning on trading my generic dvd/mp3/vcd player for a computer....

no ive not gone completely mad, i recently built a media center for my parents, and am amazed at how good it is and how easily the system can be controlled using a remote control.

The main functions i require for driving are MP3's and GPS. Of course media center was designed for video, mp3's, pictures and so on..useless since i can't exactly drive and watch a video at the same time...and i only have 1 screen!

I envisage the machine being hooked up wirelessly so i can park my car near my house and upload new music to the computer.

I would also like a gps based spedo, acelerometer and plotter for track days (useless since i dont visit track days).....

Here is a picture of what will be destroyed to fit in the car :)....

PICT0001.jpg

I would like to hear any ideas you guys have that would make life more interesting with the computer in the car, no matter how wacky and wonderful.

remember, no keyboard or mice, only a remote control :).

its getting serious, the new harddisk is on its way!

PICT0002.jpg

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antera309

antera309 3

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I've been wanting to do this for some time. Will probably do it on my next car.

Apparently, the next version of Windows has a 5-second start-up, which will make it more suitable for in-car setups than Windows XP is. Or maybe you are planning to use Linux? A lot of people have had success with this. There are some nice front-ends out there for both O/Ss

The only other problem in the Mk3 is the lack of a good location for a fixed LCD screen. The centre console is a bit too low down to be accessible. The ideal solution is a pop-out touchscreen monitor, which mounts in the standard DIN stereo aperture. This will give you a nice reachable screen which is viewable by front & back seat passengers. It also gives you nice easy buttons for the most common functions (like volume up/down) so you don't need to fiddle with the touchscreen when on the move. This company sells them:

http://www.karputer.co.uk/karputer.php

This site will tell you everything you need to know about setting up a Car PC. Excellent forum on there, too!

http://www.mp3car.com/

Good luck!!!!

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ingham

ingham 5

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why not leave laptop as it is and mod dash so it fits in place of clocks( pugging into car wiring)and use screen as speedo and temp etc but you could take it out when parked ,gps type unit could give speed, you could also run engine managment from it?

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antera309

antera309 3

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The great thing about car PCs is that you can add to the functionality over time. Start with DVD, MP3, MP4 & AVI playback, then you can add:

- Internet over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/3G mobile phone

- Sat Nav

- In car VAG-COM diagnostics

- Electronic instrumentation

- Rear view cameras

The list is pretty endless. You will never get bored in a traffic jam again!!!!

Major Kudos at shows too. Add a dinky wireless keyboard with the casing sprayed in body colour... You get the idea!!

You'll find that the fun bit about setting up your system is getting the laptop to shut down/hibernate automatically when you turn the ignition off, then start up/resume automatically when you turn the ignition back on. You can get USB shutdown controllers that take care of this for you, though.

Just bookmarked that Linitx site, MarkV. Nice find!!

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Nerih

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i have a rear view camera already, and am thinking about the following :-

after reading what you guys have said.

  • MP3/DVD/GPS/WIFI

  • Loop recording of rear view camera (i have one already but its not recordable atm)

  • Permanent engine diagnostics via VAGCOM - need a way to hide wiring!

  • Fixed MPG for supercharged vehicles using vagcom :)

I have a TFT screen in the car already :-

top - rear view cam (sorry, not very good quality at night!

middle/bottom - courtesy of holly valance :).

allinone.jpg

--- craggsy i need to do something with all the computers laying in the house lol.

  • Power off using suspend/standby at 98% battery power, to ensure fast boot up on ignition

  • Windows Media Center 2005 rollup 2 based

  • Uses a 1.8ghz dell inspiron8200 laptop - got one lying around, might as well use it!

-- new ideas
  • voice recognition for interface

suggestions for enclosure, and location would be appreciated!

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antera309

antera309 3

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Windows XP MCE 2005 is a pretty good front end, everything works off the special remote control (although you can use a touchscreen as well if desired).

As regards mounting, you should be able to pick up a few tips on mp3car.com . A false floor in the boot, with the laptop bolted to the MDF with insulator mounts, would be a good solution. Be sure to use a well shielded VGA/S-Video cable and avoid routing it near any electric motors as these kick out loads of interference. Mounting your amp(s) next to the laptop should be OK.

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Eat this

Eat this 2

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why not leave laptop as it is and mod dash so it fits in place of clocks( pugging into car wiring)and use screen as speedo and temp etc but you could take it out when parked ' date='gps type unit could give speed, you could also run engine managment from it?

[/quote']

what if the pc crashes !grr :P

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ni-golf

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i have a carpc and touchscreen in my last car..yet to transfer it to the VR6.

The case is a casetronic travla C134 with an EPIA M10000 motherboard with 1GHZ cpu. The screen was a manual fold out touchscreen from a DIN slot from http://www.digitalww.com/ all connected to an ignition controller which waited x amount of time before sending a shut down signal to the pc (incase you stall the car) and detected low battery etc.

the frontend software used was Centrafuse which looks really sweet and works well...you can get a phone addon for it used with a bluetooth adapter you TXT messages can appear on screen and you can reply via the touchscreen keyboard.

I loved this is my car..every song I had ever downloaded available at a touch, movies, GPS sat nav, voice control..it can do the lot.

I plan to get this in the golf soon and connect VAG-COM cable permanently for instant fault diagnosis and on screen dials/meters. was thinkin of even sticking in a vodaphone payg gprs/3g data card for internet just for fun/beacuse i can.

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Nerih

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im planning on making a custom case out of mdf with a few fans and mounting it on its side, as the hard disk mounted vertically is less prone to issues with vibration, then some black carpet over it, fans will be 12cm case fans from my old server..

not keen on touch screen as i always dirty the screen! i'm sure i can get windows media center working to a decent standard..only problem is gps..no idea how to integrate it.

took a look at centrafuse, i dont like all the buttons...maybe ill have to design my own interface :(.

i guess i can use a vlc activex control or something

a well setup machine is pretty stable nowadays anyways :), if it crashes.........then i guess its the on/off switch :).

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MarkVRsix

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GBPVR looks like a decent alternative to Media Centre. Its got loads of plugins and is skinnable. Just looking at putting one together

www.gbpvr.com

There's a Car PC front end called A.IM.E.E. I can't remember why it stuck in my head, but there must have been something different about it...

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Nerih

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i would LOVE to have something like that, but its not possible without alot of dash work and carbon fibre and resin....i just dont have the patience to do that on the mk3, considering i already have a DIN screen that is pretty good and it cost quite a bit whne i bought it 2 years ago!

i got my laptop with media center up and running, ive just got to wait for desinator 3 and my gps module to arrive (the latter i havnt even ordered :)).

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Nerih

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alun, brilliant ive been trawling thru that site for a few days now thanks....

antera m8, thats screen position is good, but its too low (as you said). quite a lot of motivationi is to use a tmc gps system for traffic avoidance.

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Nerih

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well my papa has a screen in his rear view mirror of the xkr, its mirrored when its off and displays gps information in a small portion of it when its on, its semi transparent too...

i've run out of cash for use on my car, so im gonna have to wait until i get back from skiing in the new year :(.

need at least 100 quid for the bits and bobs for the gps, software and housing.

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