Kibble's Kar Komputer Konstruction

[kibble]

I'm posting this just to show something else I've been working on for a while now. It's my car-pc. I had to make another one because I fried the mobo from the one I was originally working on. :-(

I'll have to split this up into two posts to fit everything.

Here's most of the stuff I'm using in my system: The mobo is a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, M4 ATX power suppy, a Polstar GPS receiver I removed from a Parallax GPS module and soldered to a board I made with a power injector for an external antenna, a 80GB 7200RPM SATA II hd, and a nVidia geforce 7300GS card that I may or may not use, depending on how the system behaves with the built in ATI 780g chipset.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373893.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369431)

A couple of pics of the case I made. It's not complete yet, I still need to file down some of the corners where I welded the angle aluminum that I made the frame from and make some panels to cover the sides. the tray that the mobo sits in is also made out of aluminum that I bent to size on a brake. I drilled and tapped the holes for the mobo standoffs.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373999.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369440)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373966.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369441)

A couple of pics of the rear and front of the case.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373836.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369433)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373822.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369434)

A couple of pics of what it looks like mounted in the trunk. No, that sub above the PC doesn't affect it at all. I keep getting comments from people about that.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211574741.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369506)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373947.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369438)

The heatsink for my processor, an AM2 Athlon 64 X2 5600, is a Dynatron A48G 1U Server Heatsink that measures a little less than 3cm tall, including the fan!

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373918.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369435)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373938.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369436)

For a monitor, I'm using a 15" NEC monitor that I modified to make a touchscreen. I removed the touch panel and touch controller from another 15" monitor that didn't power on and was a bit bulkier. I had to drill and tap a couple of holes to be able to mount the touch controller to the new monitor.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373959.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369439)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211374057.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369444)

The controller uses 5V and an RS232 serial port for data communications. I poked around with my multimeter to try to find a point on the LCD controller board that would output a switched 5V that would only be available when the monitor was powered on. I found one.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373988.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369437)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373824.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369430)

The old monitor that the touch controller came out of had a 9 pin D-sub port for the serial connection to the touch controller. Conveniently enough, the monitor I mounted the controller on has a 9 pin mini DIN connector on it. I wasn't planning on using serial data, though, to connect it to the computer. I wanted to adapt it to USB. What I did was buy a serial to USB adapter and take it apart so I could just use the board. I soldered some wires with an IDC connector on one end to plug into the touch controller and soldered 4 wires to the USB side. Then I covered the whole assembly in heatshrink to protect it.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373899.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369432)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211374081.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369447)

[kibble]

I removed some resistors and capacitors going to the 9 pin mini DIN connector that were used to interface the connector to the onboard microcontroller for the LCD, I wasn't gonna use that connector for it's original purpose anyway, it used to go to some external box that was useless to me. I soldered the USB data lines from the adapter to the pads leading to the connector where I removed the resistors and capacitors from.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211373921.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369442)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18211374048.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8369443)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/18313435969.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8374766)

I had to modify and cut the monitor enclosure a bit so that the whole assembly with the touch panel would fit in nicely, but it looks pretty good! Still working on a mount for the monitor which I'm almost done with. When I have that done, I'll have more pics.

[2or3wheels]

holy ****, you know what your doing eh?

[kibble]

I try. :biggrinjester:

[oscaryu1]

Talk about complicated!

How much was the overall cost?

[kibble]

Mobo: $95
Processor: $125
Ram: part free, part $40
Heatsink: $25
Power supply: $115, I finally gave in and bought one because I had way too much left to do with the one's I was originally building.
7300GS: Bought from a friend for like $20.
Angle aluminum: about $6.
Hard Drive: Free
15" Monitor I'm using: Free
Bad 15" touch Monitor: Free
Serial to USB adapter: $18
GPS module $80 :censored: expensive for something no bigger than a quarter!

So about almost $600 invested in it with things I haven't taken into consideration. Hope I don't kill this one.

[Magice]

I actually plan on doing a carputer too. Real slick setup you got going there. What kinda car are you putting this in? How did you go about setting up your speakers to it (if you did)

[kibble]

This is going in my '01 Infiniti I30.

I haven't done anything speaker wise, but I will later on. Right now I'm using the stock deck with stock speakers and amps, which sound good as they are. The audio input is.... wait for it.... A TAPE ADAPTER!!!! I'm running a 25' headphone extension from the output of the mobo to the front by where the deck is. Ghetto, yes, I know.

:roflol:

I'll eventually replace it with an aftermarket deck and I plan on getting a Memphis 16-MCH1300 (Memphis Belle) amp to power all the speakers and subs, which I have yet to buy. I had my memphis subs, a couple of M3 12's stolen several weeks ago :( along with an MTX 2300X Amp and a cheap crossover. Right now I had to resort to using the stock 8" stock Bose sub that came with the car to get decent bass from music.

What I'll be doing is running a set of RCA's from the mobo out to the deck input for audio, eventually.

[Magice]

get an xfi in there :)

optical out.

[kibble]

The mobo has optical out, as well as HDMI.

[Kenny_McCormic]

Very Nice!!!

[ed1380]

very nice. you could have gotten an onstar module and taken the gps module out of it. would have saved about $30 bucks.
lucky me found one for free :bannana:

does it work yet?

what processor?

$115 for a psu? what were you smoking when you bought it?

[Kenny_McCormic]

$115 for a psu? what were you smoking when you bought it?

IDK, but I want a big bag of it.

[Magice]

Wow, motherboards have come a long way!

Anyways $115 for a psu is pretty average, even for a lower wattage one. Fanless / silent+cool quality psus will run high in price..

but when your 30 dollar walmart special starts acting up you'll wish you bought quality :P

[Kenny_McCormic]

Wow, motherboards have come a long way!

Anyways $115 for a psu is pretty average, even for a lower wattage one. Fanless / silent+cool quality psus will run high in price..

but when your 30 dollar walmart special starts acting up you'll wish you bought quality :P

If you know what your doing you can get any semiconductor you want for FREE, build a PSU.

[kibble]

does it work yet?

what processor?

$115 for a psu? what were you smoking when you bought it?

Yes, it works, It's in my car right now. I'm using it to listen to music, I hate CD's, I always mess them up.

I'm going on vacation next week and we're gonna go to San Francisco with my gf so I plan on using it for GPS and music. I want to get the monitor mounted by next Wednesday.

It's an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600 2.9Ghz Dual Core.

It's not a regular PSU, it's made for car use. It's really small for the amount of power it puts out, plus it's programmable and has different operating modes. It'll turn on and shutdown the pc automatically so I don't have to.

If you know what your doing you can get any semiconductor you want for FREE, build a PSU.

I was originally making my own power supply for it, but I don't have the stuff to make it an "intelligent" power supply like the one I actually bought for it. The power supply has an "ignition" contact and it sends an "on" pulse to the motherboard when the ignition line goes high. I have the pc set to hibernate when power button is pressed, so when I turn off the car, the power supply pulses the power again and it makes the computer go into hibernate.

Wow, motherboards have come a long way!

Anyways $115 for a psu is pretty average, even for a lower wattage one. Fanless / silent+cool quality psus will run high in price..

but when your 30 dollar walmart special starts acting up you'll wish you bought quality :P

It's a 250W PSU, but it's specifically made for mobile use. I don't need an inverter as it takes an input from 6-30VDC and converts it directly to the required voltages for the motherboard.

[oscaryu1]

picoPSU right?

And as most geeks say...

"You're better off with an Intel build" :D

[kibble]

No, not a picoPSU, it's an "M4-ATX" from Mini-box.

Ugh, no intel! I had too many power timing issues with the first one and not only that, but it used more power for inferior performance, even though it was a dual-core. This one screams with a little less clock speed and I have no issues with power timings.

[2or3wheels]

GUYS MAY BE ABLE TO HELP, i had a guy put in a new PSU, he has it running and up. It then sat for 6 months and now doesnt work. Any thoughts?

[kibble]

The PSU doesn't work, or the pc just won't turn on?

[2or3wheels]

I plug it in and the fans spin a few revolutions and then it does nothing. the "work light", is on, constantly. On this comp its yellow/orange. I dont know much but am pissed, waste of 100$.

[kibble]

Not necessarily. Do you know how to clear the CMOS? If so, try that and see what happens. I've solved many a problem by doing this first. If you don't know, open up the PC and look on the motherboard for a jumper labeled ClrCmos or something similar. Is this a particular brand of pc, like a dell or an hp or something? If so, what's the model number?

[2or3wheels]

Its an Emachines T2682

[2or3wheels]

no wtf is that and how do i do it?

[2or3wheels]

mr.kibble i am goin to bed, just remember i know nothing about working on comps, all i know is how to use and abuse them.

[kibble]

eMachines tend to be pretty bad. :ack2:

Every time I've dealt with one it's been nothing but problems. I did find this, which may help you out some:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/146976-30-motherboard-problem

It's pretty much everything I could tell you to check on it without being present to help you. Keep in mind that all these require you to open up your computer and get down and dirty with it.

[2or3wheels]

oh its apart now, i had a few different psu's but none were the 24 or 20 pin = the 4 pin seperate. i will try those and see if it works. if it does i will be estatic, that comp has windows XP :) :sifone: :bannana: :wai:

[kibble]

Ummm which makes me question; If THAT one has xp, what does the one you reply from have? :arf:

[oscaryu1]

no wtf is that and how do i do it?

You remove the side cover, and take out the little silver battery.

Easy :)

If you have a reset jumper by the battery, you could also use that.

[ed1380]

take out teh battery and short the contacts in the battery holder for a few secs

thats what i do. much easier that messing w/ the jumpers

[2or3wheels]

This POS im using has Vista :( i want my old comp back. Btw no battery its a desktop

[Kenny_McCormic]

This POS im using has Vista :( i want my old comp back. Btw no battery its a desktop

All of them have a small coin battery for holding bios settings. Vista sucks, go pirate some XP.

[oscaryu1]

This go kart forum needs a new rule: Don't talk about pirating software (:D)

[oscaryu1]

This POS im using has Vista :( i want my old comp back. Btw no battery its a desktop

It won't be a AA battery you see in your camera. Silver, coin size, around a quarter size. Should be close to your CMOS chip somewhere.

[kibble]

Yeah, what kenny said. Battery should look like this pic. Notice where the blue jumper that says: CLRTC. What you would do in this case, is move the jumper to the other two pins temporarily and then move them back. That would clear all system setting stored information and possibly allow your computer to turn on. Then, just select default settings when it asks you.

[kibble]

This POS im using has Vista :( i want my old comp back. Btw no battery its a desktop

BTW, did you ever get your pc to work? :confused:

[kibble]

Finally got around to putting up some more pics of progress. These are basically just pics of what the mount looks like and how it's put into the car. I tried to make the mount so that it wouldn't require cutting of any part of the trim in the car. It bolts down to 4 places where screws and nuts were already present.

The mount holds the monitor really stable and despite the monitor being really heavy, it doesn't bounce around much. I have two hinges on the monitor; one so that it allows the monitor to swing over to the passenger side and another that lets you adjust it so it faces up more.

In one of the monitor pics, you can see my ghetto DVI cable going into the monitor. That's still in progress.

The only thing not shown here is how the top part of the mount goes together with the lower part. I forgot to take pics of that.


http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460295.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482432)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460225.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482433)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460262.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482434)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423491033.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482440)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460261.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482436)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460241.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482437)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460326.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482438)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460369.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482439)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460119.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482429)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460216.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482430)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/7/20423460290.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/8482431)

[ed1380]

holy ****. thats not a distraction or anything. lol

i was thinking. where do you mount a 15" monitor?

[kibble]

Honestly, I didn't want a 15" monitor! I wanted more like a 10" or so, but the resources were there and I was able to make this one a touchscreen which makes everything a HECK of a lot easier to navigate!

[oscaryu1]

You drive an Infiniti? SHAME! SHAME!!1!1! :D Jkjk :roflol:

[ed1380]

we know whos jealous

[oscaryu1]

It can't be me, it's not like I hate driving a 18 year old van that's underpowered and only has 4 cylinders... I love it... :rolleyes: :D

[jr dragster Tyler]

Lol my dad drives a over powered V8 diesel.