I decided to replace the stock NAV with a car-pc. Thanks Guino for all the help. I was able to get the unit to go up and down like the stock Nav used to.

Hardware installed in glove box:
VIA MII 12000
512 RAM
40 GB HDD
M1-ATX power supply
7" VGA touch-screen
IEEE 802.11g Wireless Adapter
PIE + Mbus car2pc for audio

Don't have much so far.
Software:
RoadRunner (mp3s and videos)
iGuidance (GPS)
NaviVoice (Voice Command)

Next i'll be adding a rearview camera and some games.

I like this GPS a lot better. The stock was too slow.

 

looks good. how much did it run you?

 

i hate you.

 

I also hate you.

do you still have tilt and close? if so, I hate you. and if not.. the hate is less but still there.

 

same question

 

thanks guys, I had many of the parts laying around. I've spent around $500. The Good thing is that you don't have to buy it all at once. Just build it up as you can.

My open and tilt buttons work just like stock. so you can hate me
I turn the key on, the screen opens up and the PC starts right on. I turn the key off the screen goes down and the pc goes into hybernate then shuts-off safely.

 

make a DIY. Make a DIY!

Looks awesome. I'm a big fan.

 

Great you got it all figured out man .. Looks great.

 

DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeee

 

I like to know where you got that skin for your Winamp or whatever your media player is.

 

how long is your boot time?

why does it fully shut off? I thought hibernation ate no power?

 

irfan:
hybernation still takes power...nothing to majorly screw with household electricity...but enough you really don't want to be running when your cars off as your battery will die.

You will soon find me a member of the CarPC list as i'm slowly aquiring the pieces to build mine. I plan on also replacing the stock screen in the OEM housing with the xenarc...and getting at least a 1.5 pentium with 1GB ram. Since I am a programmer I will be making my own front end (But I will be using a familiar skin that most of you CarPC guys already use.)

 

Very nice indeed!! Just a bit tough to change the cabin air filter.

 

thanks guys!
I'm running road runner, it works with winamp. I got the skin from here:
http://mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=76233

The computer takes about 6-8 seconds to boot-up from hybernation.

Correct but The m1-atx psu will cut-off power to the pc if it detects the battery is going low. So i don't have to worry about that. It hybernates all day with no problems.

 

Exactly.
It's just bad to be drawing power constantly from a car battery if it's unmonitored.

 

here a quick DIY since must of the info is already in here:

ALWAYS UNPLUG YOUR BATTERY!

Building the PC:
Please check out mp3car.com

Intalling the Screen:
1. Remove shifter surround, ash tray, radio, ac vents and then remove the stock nav
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-whole-navigation-system-59957/

2. Unscrew stock nav ( i took pics to remember how to put it back) you pretty much have to remove it all. The motor and everything. The ribbons come off too by pulling the two little tabs outwards. It's scary but just take your time.
3. unplug and remove stock lcd but leave the board in.
4. you have to dremel a hole on the back of the stock nav housing to run the new wires, make sure it's all the way at the bottom where the stock ribbon goes trough.
5. remove touchscreen from stock housing
6. place the touchscreen in the NAV housing. It needs to be raised a bit so the screen doesn’t touch the frame. I used thin plastic pieces.
7. to mount the new touchscreen I used a rubber piece over it and screwed it in. Probably not the best way to do it but it worked fine.
8. Put everything back together.

I put the stock LCD's board in between the touchscreen and the touchscreen's board. It's a tight fit but it does fit! I used thin foam in between them to prevent them from shorting out.
You have keep the baord from the stock LCD or the open/close/tilt function won't work.

i followed this but didnt use the stock metal frame. on my screen the IR reciver was on seperate board. I moved the board to where the stock IR used to be.

http://www.geocities.com/mavros_pira...naviscreen.htm

9. Only problem I had was getting the screen to open. It would just close. If it does this and the tilt doesn’t work. It means it needs calibration. Removed the gear on the motor and move it forward/backwards one teeth until it works. Takes sometime but it will work.

Power:
I ran a 8 gauge wire from the battery to the PSU for constant power
I ran positive and negative from the cig lighter.

Sound:
I used the PIE + Mbus car2pc.
Connect to aux-in on head unit and plug usb side to pc as well as 1/8” jack. Install drivers. Works great. I’m using the built-in sound car on the pc and it sounds really good.

 

That's not true at all. I have let my computer hibernate for weeks without draining the battery down. Hibernation loads everything from ram onto the hard disk. Stand-by on the other hand does not, and will kill your battery after a while. How long you ask? A good while. I've let the computer stay in stand-by for about a day without any issues. I have also run the computer without the car on for 3 hours and still had enough juice to start the car. All this also depends on the computer, the via boards require very little power. (less then 5 watts in most cases)

 

I don't really understand why, but computers generally do draw current when in hibernate. In fact, they draw power even when they're turned off. It was in some EPA report I saw awhile ago. Maybe it has to do with power supply inefficiencies -- I forget.

Anywho, the proof is in the pudding so if you let your car sit for 2 weeks with the unit in hibernate and the car stars fine, you're probably pretty much in the clear. I would at least look into it if you're planning on leaving your car for a long time.

 

The only power the computer draws while in hibernate is the EXACT power it draws when it's POWERED OFF. Hibernation is nothing hardware based, you simply save the memory to disk and TURN THE COMPUTER OFF. Now yes, there's a small but existent power draw from the plug while the computer is entirely OFF (in most normal PC power supplies). If you use an automotive DC-DC power supply, you won't have that issue though, as it is smart enough to shut itself completely off with the turn of the key, and will turn on in the same manner.

Similar to Hibernate, the stand-by process, DOES INDEED leave the memory of the computer ON and draws a very small amount of power while in that state.

 

I have my unit - very similar to this - for sale currently on the for sale board. Good deal if you are looking for a car-PC. Comes with the nav/hood/dash piece too.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=94251

Sorry - if you are not allowed to post your for sale items here....

 

http://www.denguru.com/2006/06/22/ro...ur_own_car_pc/

 

Looks kick *** man. I hope to join the list as well. I have an EPIA SP 13000 with the same amount of Ram, but an 80g HD and a slot loading Dvd player. It just needs to be installed with the dash kit (see the corksport thread).

Again, looks excellent.

 

FYI- Desktop hard drives work great in cars. And they cost a fraction of the price. I've had a 120 gig desktop drive in my car for about 18 months without any problems. Desktop drives are a lot faster too.

 

I stand corrected...for some reason I was mixing hibernation with stand by in my mind.