--Part 1--
I installed my carputer 2 weeks ago and after seeing all the threads about carPC’s on here I decided to post my own install :P

Basically I had an old media pc lying around at home collecting dust so I decided to put it to use. It is probably overkill for a carputer but it hasn’t caused me any grief yet. I must admit, I have an eonon 675 deck, and its interface is very buggy. I am rather cheap and want the features you get in a top of the line 2din deck, but only wanted to spend around $500 to upgrade my system to a carpc. Given that I already had a screen, amps, speakers and most wiring already in place, installing a CarPc was fairly easy.

The specs are:
Case: ASUS Pundit-R Barebone $OLD
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz with HT $OLD
Motherboard: Came with Case, IXP200 chipset based $OLD
RAM: 1GB DDR400 $OLD
Hard Drive: 3.5" 500GB Seagate SATAII $100
Video: ATI 9100IGP 256MB $OLD
Soundcard: Audigy 2 ZS with KX project Drivers $OLD
Wireless: Atheros AR5005G with extreme range + 10dB antenna $15
GPS: Skytraq Venus 520 chipset USB 54Channel $18
Power supply: M2-ATX 160w car power supply $72
CDROM: USB Slot load DVD burner in glove box. $80
Display: EONON 675 7” DVD/TV/MP3/FM 2din Touchscreen Composite IN $210
Input Interfaces: Logitech Wireless mouse, Eonon touchscreen usb $40
Reverse Camera
OS: Nlited XP professional with Centrafuse 1.47 NAV + Phone.
Bluetooth: Some old Bluetooth usb I had lying around.

Audio Setup (Had before CarPC):
Carputer is connected directly via RCA’s to the following amps:
Alpine MRV-F345 4x100wrms Amp $350 <-- Under drivers seat
> 6.5”Alpine type S splits 70w rms + stock tweeters in front $70
> 6x9 JBL GTO 937 2ohm 120w rms in rear $110
Audiobahn A8000T 1x800wrms Monoblock $440 <-- In Boot
>Audiopipe TSPR12 12” Sub 4ohm DVC 375wrms $90

The Car 2003 Verada GTVi:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/verada.jpg

The PC:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/carputeropen.jpg

The Audigy 2 Zs soundcard teamed with the KX project drivers allows 8 separate channels of output, by which you can create and customize many effects/dsp for each separate channel. KX project allows you to do this via their DSP config, screenshot below. – You can pretty much get any plugin do perform any required effect.
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/dspps.jpg

Currently I have a 10Band EQ applied to all channels which then get sent directly to the front speakers, the rear speakers have a Dolby pro logic II surround matrix which positions certain instruments / sounds on the rear speakers – sounds awesome. I then have separate gain control for the sub and numerous crossovers. Overall audio quality is very very good. I get no alternator whine. I have to run all my amps at lowest gain and even then its too loud :D.

The 160w M2-ATX powers the carpc fine – even with a 3ghz Pentium 4. It is wired up to the eonon amp wire, so hitting the on and off switch on the deck has the same effect as turning the pc on and off. Boot up time on my nlited XP is currently 40 seconds from turn of key to playing music. With hibernate it takes less than 20seconds, but I am having a few reliability problems with that at the moment.

--Part2--
The Install:
Messy boot install, luckily most of the wires were already there from rear amplifier. 5M USb cable + TV in had to be ran to the front:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/messybootinstall.jpg


The usb hub in the front hidden under cupholders:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/usb.jpg

Finished Install:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/front1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/boot1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/boot2.jpg

--Part 3---
The Screen / Interface:
I wanted to keep this project as cheap as possible. One of the most expensive parts to a carpc setup is the screen – but over a year ago now I purchased a Eonon 675 headunit off ebay for $210 – and its still going strong :P. Although it only has composite TV input the image is very clear when in centrafuse, and still usable in windows.


Picture quality on screen:
Windows XP boot logo:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/bootup.jpg

Centrafuse:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/osd.jpg

By default the touchscreen built into the Eonon cannot be connected to a computer, but I pulled it apart and realized that it has a simple 4 wire resistive touchscreen. So I bought a EEE pc touchscreen kit off ebay for $20 and I simply unplugged the touchscreen from the eonon and plugged it into the kit converter which allowed it to be plugged in via the computer via usb.

Another problem which plagues CarPc’s is their awful reception / quality when trying to listen to fm radio. I have overcome this by sending the audio out of my Eonon headunit into a line in on the PC. When want to listen to radio, all I have to do is press radio in centrafuse which unmutes the line in, then hit radio on the front of the deck. By doing this I get perfect radio reception anywhere I go. I also still get the very good analogue TV reception that the eonon deck features.

GPS:
Where the USB GPS is mounted:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/gps.jpg

The GPS interface:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/gpsint.jpg

The gps works very well. I was abit sceptical getting a non SIRFIII gps receiver but for $18 I thought i would try it and throw it out if it didn’t work. I was pleasantly surprised. The venus 520 gets a signal faster than our SIRFIII tomtom and constantly has 12 sattelites – even in the garage with the door closed. Navigation is provided through the centrafuse interface. It uses destinator as its engine.

--part 4--
Music Library with Album Art:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/IMG_1555.jpg

All my music from my home server syncs via wireless automatically when the computer is told to shut down. The wireless range is very good with the atheros wireless card. I can lock onto my wireless even when I’m half way down my street. The Bluetooth phone also works well. When I get a sms message the front end has message box come up with the contents of the message, and if I desire I could reply using the touchscreen in car. Audio in calls is also relayed through the car speakers and I have a microphone mounted on top of the steering wheel. Voice control also works, I can say “Verada play Linkin Park” and it will automatically play all songs by linkin park.

Interface with the carpc works well with the touchscreen + mouse combo. In the near future I plan on getting a space navigator ( a BMW idrive clone knob). Currently the mouse is bluetacked to the dash and I have programmed 6 buttons to change vol, change track, scroll etc. This is useful when you want to change track but don’t want to take your eyes off the road to hit the button on the touchscreen.

All in all im happy with my carpc install. The install in the boot looks very basic and in the future I might spice it up a little. It kind of looks like a factory CD stacker if you don’t take any notice.

Planned Upgrades:
Battery Charger - PURCHASED (Std 420CCA battery lasts for ~45min before car cannot start)
Space Navigator control
OBDII engine interface (have to research OBDII compability further...)
Speed up CarPC (may need to reformat now that I know exactly what I want)
Upgrade to Centrafuse 2.0 when it becomes final
Optima Yellowtop D34 Battery

That Is Awesome

Very clean looking professional install. features sound great aswell

*clap clap clap*

you are one tech brain i need to pick to improve my system... i have something similar but not eonon

Nice job, everyones doing it! Hopefully soon my install thread'll be up here :)... After rego that is.

man thats kool, wish i had the money for now my double din is enough for me :)

mike

looking good, all these car pc threads just keep reminding me that mines not done :P

good work!

Very very nice install : )

I am especially impressed that you hacked the EONON unit to work with the computer.
And also the line-in for your radio is a nice choice. And speech control? Sweet! OK - I'll stop now...it's just that the install is so clean and "simple" (yeah I know it isn't simple...but I mean at least you didn't have to fabricate the surrounds etc... and you made a nice unit without selling off your kidney!)

How do you find the Eonon screen in the sunlight? One of the problems I had with the screens in the past is poor readability during the daytime.

Btw - what are those rims? I think I might need to get some for my car!

Cool I want to do one of these one day. Maybe in my next car.

exceptional install mate, very very impressed.

i presume that you do something in IT as a career? while most of us can sort it all out, you have been very detailed about the way you have gone about things which is awesome.

I am interested to know where you sourced some of the parts from, while i presume a wholesaler, if you could point to a recommended online store or something it would be fantastic.

I will be soon to do a similar project and i would be very satisfied with a similar outcome to the way your software is configured.. cept i will be using... a 'slightly' bigger screen :)

This is beautiful.

Wireless: Atheros AR5005G with extreme range + 10dB antenna $15
GPS: Skytraq Venus 520 chipset USB 54Channel $18


just wondering were you got these from at those prices? ive searched abay and cant find them. and most the other GPS receivers that are only 20ch are 2 or 3 times that price.

oh and i have centrafuse (phone and NAV edition) the navigation works fine but i cant get the phone capabilities to work. Just wondering if you had any troubles with this or not.

thanks

exceptional install mate, very very impressed.

I am interested to know where you sourced some of the parts from, while i presume a wholesaler, if you could point to a recommended online store or something it would be fantastic.

For the car audio, everything except my alpine components were purchased on ebay. For the alpine components, I know a guy at JB Hi-Fi Chermside that sells them to me really cheap.

All of my computer parts were sourced from umart (http://www.umart.com.au). The carputer specific accessories ie the power supply, usb cables etc were sourced from the store 321-shortcircuit (http://stores.ebay.com.au/short-circuitdotcom) on ebay US - Great seller very fast postage.

The USB GPS reciever was sourced from this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-54-CHANNEL-USB-GPS-RECEIVER-DONGLE-PC-TOMTOM-LAPTOP_W0QQitemZ160246211304QQihZ006QQcategoryZ342 88QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l12 62) seller on ebay. He no longer seems to sell my gps reciever as a no reserve auction (how i got it for $18) - Must have been making a loss :badgrin: .

The wireless card I also sourced off ebay, here (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320253975257&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:AU:11) is the one i purchased. It seems the seller is not currently selling any others of the same type.

Its just a matter of searching on ebay... and not being afraid to buy items from overseas - it might take slightly longer to get here but normally they are cheaper and there is more variety.



oh and i have centrafuse (phone and NAV edition) the navigation works fine but i cant get the phone capabilities to work. Just wondering if you had any troubles with this or not.

Ahh yes I had great fun getting the phone system to work in centrafuse. It was a matter of getting it to pair with my phone .. after that it worked fine. The system in CF 1.xx uses phonecontrol.net which only fully supports the widcomm bluetooth stack as far as i know. If you try the Centrafuse 2.0 beta it actually installs its own bluetooth stack and uses a much improved phone system.



How do you find the Eonon screen in the sunlight? One of the problems I had with the screens in the past is poor readability during the daytime.

Btw - what are those rims? I think I might need to get some for my car!

I find the eonon screen fine in daylight - I havnt had any issues seeing it while driving so far. Only issue is when you have a passenger with a bright shirt. Due to the Eonon screen being slightly reflective it can make it difficult to see.
PS. The rims are the stock verada GTVi wheels :P

Bloody awesome job mate. Well done.

just wondering were you got these from at those prices? ive searched abay and cant find them. and most the other GPS receivers that are only 20ch are 2 or 3 times that price.

oh and i have centrafuse (phone and NAV edition) the navigation works fine but i cant get the phone capabilities to work. Just wondering if you had any troubles with this or not.

thanks

For GPS receiver, I suggest you choose the one with SirFstarIII chipset. This is one of the best and very sensitive microchip around.
Here is your guide on choosing GPS receiver:
http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=157&page=1

Originally Posted by BlackAWD
....

Btw - what are those rims? I think I might need to get some for my car!



...
PS. The rims are the stock verada GTVi wheels :P

:bowrofl:

how does the PC go in the boot next to the sub? surprised it doesnt shake the HDD apart

God damn I love GTVi's! They're so sexy!
Well done on the CARputer! Nice theme on the screen :P

Just thought i'd post an update...

I've bought another carPC hahaha!!

If you thought the previous one was overkill, wait till u see this one

Basically the old carpc was making me angry cause it had severe screen flicker issues with video output. Due to it being a integrated mini case, the only way to upgrade the graphics was to purchase a PCI graphics card - which i did, but the stupid thing wouldnt turn on while the graphics card was installed. Sick of the flickering screen, i decided to go out and buy a dual core system - as i had just aquired a free core2 motherboard.

Here are its specs:
CPU: Intel Core2 E2180 2.0ghz $74
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-VM900M $46
RAM: 2GB DDRII800 $42
HDD: 500GB SATAII HDD $OLD
CDDVD: Pioneer Dual layer dvd burner in case + USB dvd in glove box
CASE: Evercool DT-01 HTPC Case $45
Power: M2-ATX 160w PSU $OLD
WiFi: Atheros AR5005 ABG 108MBPS PCI Wifi Card
VIDEO: Nvidia GeForce 7300GT PCIe $20
Sound: Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS $0
OS: XP Pro SP3 (Full) Centrafuse 1.47 XLE

Apparently screen flicker is caused by bad grounding. The old case was grounded via the M2ATX only using 18GA speaker wire with a length of about 1.5m. It was very dodgey. So for the new system, i made the entire case grounded with 8GA with a cable length of ~20cm and also upgraded the 12V in to 8GA as well.

Great Success!! No more screen flicker :D:D. I have to say - nvidia graphics cards are far better than ati's / via's from my perspective of connecting to the screen. Their drivers have native support for custom resolutions, overscan, screen position correction etc. The output quality on the screen is amazing compared to my old ATi. Colours seem alot more saturated and black is actually black!! Im surprized how good the output quality is from my crappy eonon.

The new system only draws about 82w max load according to my multimeter. This is far less than my previous P4 system, and this time it is using all standard atx computer components. It goes to show normal desktop systems are viable for use in a car.. (if you dont mind the size)

Heres the pics of the box and it installed:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/carpcbuildd.jpg

The system performs any task effortlessly (as you would expect from a dual core). I have installed standard XP Pro SP3 (no nliting) and it boots up in 26 seconds. I have also tweaked my KX soundcard drivers so i get the epic surround matrix in music, as well as full digital 5.1 during movies - sounds epic.

I have created a system which now also syncs my entire movie library and my tv show library to the carpc hdd. It has every season of topgear + heapps of movies
Pics:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/moviescreenqual.jpg

And this is what I do when im driving ehehe (Na just showing off my computers overkillness)
Pics: (COD4, Assasins Creed, Grid)
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/gamesss.jpg

Zoh My Gawd U Iz Teh Frag Mastah Whilst Obayin Teh Rowd Lors

On another note, Awesome Carpeecee dude

And I've come to a conclusion that my next car is going to be a gtvi.

sweet car pc man, man i wish i had more money to finish mine off :doubt:

What kind of front end? I'm doing a 300ZX carpc soon and looking for a free featured front end :)

When I say soon, I mean next weekend :P

What kind of front end? I'm doing a 300ZX carpc soon and looking for a free featured front end :)

When I say soon, I mean next weekend :P

I run centrafuse, and its not free (although there are ways around that :P). Everyone on mp3car seems to be reccomending FreeICE as a good free frontend.

What res does the screen run at? Thats wicked. I want it just to play PC games in the car lol

wow, ****s all over my PIII car PC :(

I run centrafuse, and its not free (although there are ways around that :P). Everyone on mp3car seems to be reccomending FreeICE as a good free frontend.

Hmm, $275 seems VERY pricey. Seems everything else is s*** though. Looked at FreeICE, locked up on my core2quad/4gb ram :|

If it locked up, try deleting fitemp.ini...

I am running it on my X2 4850e Car computer, runs perfect.

Hey man is that little black case to the left a mini poker set????

I keep one in my boot too!

Oh I just saw the cross......... First aid kit :-(

Fail

hey how would your HDD stand up to the shock of the sub, considering its sitting right next to the sub?

Planned Upgrades:
Battery Charger - PURCHASED (Std 420CCA battery lasts for ~45min before car cannot start)
Space Navigator control
OBDII engine interface (have to research OBDII compability further...)
Speed up CarPC (may need to reformat now that I know exactly what I want)
Upgrade to Centrafuse 2.0 when it becomes final
Optima Yellowtop D34 Battery
3rd Gens don't have an OBDII interface, but rather a MUTII interface. You can use an Evoscan cable and software to display engine diagnostics on your Car PC but you will have flashing lights in your dash and ABS will be disabled whenever the cable is plugged into the diagnostics port under the dash.

3rd Gens don't have an OBDII interface, but rather a MUTII interface. You can use an Evoscan cable and software to display engine diagnostics on your Car PC but you will have flashing lights in your dash and ABS will be disabled whenever the cable is plugged into the diagnostics port under the dash.

Does it really disable the ABS? I know my evoscan cable flashes all the lights, but I didn't know it disabled it!

hey how would your HDD stand up to the shock of the sub, considering its sitting right next to the sub?


this is a valid point, my 10" Z5500 sub in my bedroom wiped one of my hard disks during a loud party :shock:

hey mate, im trying to understand how you are using this screen on your computer

so you are basically running a aux input for the display, and the touchscreen is through your modified usb?

what is the quality like doing this? would a direct vga screen like lilliput etc be any difference in your opinion?

Oh so many questions! Ill try to answer a few.


hey how would your HDD stand up to the shock of the sub, considering its sitting right next to the sub?
I tried to research this matter on MP3Car before making my carpc, and they said the hard drive should not have any issues being close to the subwoofer. I guess vibrations from the sub may cause some issues, but the case is wedged in very tight and the hard drive has silicon padding around it. Apparently the force from the magnet will not affect it.

Im just trying out to see how long a 3.5" desktop hard drive will last. It currently has a samsung hard drive in there (and i dont trust samsung compared to WD / Seagate due to hard drive failings in the past, but if it stands up to the abuse in my car I think samsung should deserve my respect :P). So far the hard drive hasnt missed a beat.


hey mate, im trying to understand how you are using this screen on your computer

so you are basically running a aux input for the display, and the touchscreen is through your modified usb?

what is the quality like doing this? would a direct vga screen like lilliput etc be any difference in your opinion?

Yes i am using a AUX input to my display which is compsite in (one of those RCA type of connections). Quality is not the best obviously. The screens physical res is something hideous like 480x276 but in windows it runs as 900x600. Running the standard windows interface on this screen is near impossible, but front ends like centrafuse are extremely clear. Touchscreen is provided by eonons original touch panel, but the panel itself is connected to a ASUS EEEPC touchscreen controller (off ebay).

Since I am always in centrafuse appart from when I am installing things I have no need to upgrade my screen. MY eonon copes alot better with sunlight than some lilliputs ive seen. When i need to install programs I just use VNC and access the carpc over wireless on another computer.

If you are making a new carpc and want to buy a screen I would definitely buy a VGA screen. I just used my Eonon cause I was cheap, and couldnt be bothered moulding a screen into my dash, since there are no 2Din VGA screens readlily available.

Im just trying out to see how long a 3.5" desktop hard drive will last. It currently has a samsung hard drive in there (and i dont trust samsung compared to WD / Seagate due to hard drive failings in the past, but if it stands up to the abuse in my car I think samsung should deserve my respect :P). So far the hard drive hasnt missed a beat.


Absolutely nothing wrong with Samsung drives. You get the odd report on the net about them failing which then spreads like wildfire. fact of the matter is, they have the same longevity and build quality as the WDs and Seagates, but cheaper. The Spinpoint F1 series are also one of the fastest drives on the market. The 320GB platter series are faster than the WD Raptor drives.

Yeah I've had good experience with Samsungs. Only manufacturer I've had HDD troubles with previously was Maxtor, had two of their external drives die on me. Funny thing is the drive in my Car PC is a Seagate, who bought out Maxtor a few years ago, and I haven't had any trouble, despite it being bolted to a car in a boot that can get very very hot lol

hey how would your HDD stand up to the shock of the sub, considering its sitting right next to the sub?

Vibrations are the worst thing for hard drives bar nothing.

Anybody saying that magnets can lead to hdd failure ... the magnet would need the strength to pull iron from your bloodstream, its just not a factor anymore.

Another update! Part1:

Ive been very busy these holidays fitting a new screen + upgrading audio and revising the carpc.

I was having a few issues with my previous VIA motherboard so I went out and purchased a gigabyte GA-G41M-S2L motherboard for $60. It has everything - integrated gfx, gigabit internet, 4 sata. While I had the computer apart I decided I would also properly install power plugs and a switch system.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/DSC_0126.jpg

In my carpc I have made a 5.25" plate which has switches for ACC, AMPS, and +12V. I have also installed a molex connector. This allows me to plug in a computer powersupply and switch the carpc's main power over to it without unplugging any of the car power. This is useful doing upgrades without running down the car battery.

While in the mood of making switches I decided to install some switches / usb ports into the centre console.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/frontports.jpg

Now I have two 4 port usb hubs at the front. One empty 4 port switch resides in the center console with switches for the carpc and a gigabit ethernet wall plug. I have found running cat6 cable is very useful for switches! I have 1 cat6 cable that I connect my usb hub to and also my reset and power button for carpc.

Part 2:

One of my friends had an old 8" VGA touchscreen he was gonna throw out so I snatched it off him. Ive been lazy and have attached it so it sits outside the dash - see pic. Its still screwed in from inside the din slots but just sits outside. Its very bright and clear. Even tho it looks tacky its so much bigger than the 7" it replaced. You can now easily hit buttons while concentrating on the road.
I think i'm the only one with a 8" screen hehe.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/carpc081.jpg

I have also purchased a Silabs USB RDS FM radio and have connected it to the car antenna. It's reception is just as good as any head unit I've had in the past and I think its sound quality is better. I love how centrafuse shows the name of the song playing on the radio now!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/carpc082.jpg

Also above is iGO GPS which I have integrated to centrafuse. It is much better than the standard centrafuse nav engine. It runs on PC natively and does everything the latest top end gps units do. This includes reading out street names, lane navigation and even 3D buildings. iGO is a must for any carpc user!

Just recently I have also upgraded my mono block and subwoofer. I purchased a Alpine 12" Type R Sub and Alpine MRD-1005 1000wrms amp off a friend for $400. I also purchased a $40 alpine type R box from JB hifi as the previous audiopipe sealed box just wasn't doing the type R justice. Bass is now insane! Plus I have two alpine amps that look the same!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa230/bryce00723/carpc/carpc083.jpg

BTW, My 3.5" 500GB hard drive is still running perfectly in my carpc after getting thrashed about every day!

Lookin good mate, well done.

Which JB store did you purchase the sub box from? I've been after one for a while but most places wanted over 100 bucks. $40 is awesome!

Lookin good mate, well done.

Which JB store did you purchase the sub box from? I've been after one for a while but most places wanted over 100 bucks. $40 is awesome!

You need to go see Bryce P at JB Hifi @ westfield chermside. Tell him Bryce sent you (we both have same name). He may not do as good as $40 for you but i'm sure he will do it well under $100!

Cheers mate.