i've got the pc rebuilt (i had stripped it down for part, etc. before) and windows xp reinstalled on it. now one my main concerns is easy control over it. i'm thinking of trying to use just the basic windows media player (versus something like winamp, etc.) because i know it does pretty much i want it to do - plays cds, mp3s, vcds, etc. now what i want it to do while playing songs is automatically go into full screen visualizations. i can get it to automatically play song by simpy putting a playlist in the startup folder, but i can't figure out how to get it to start in full-screen. any ideas? (anyone think i should use something different?) *Edit* maybe i could build a small interface or something to connect to the serial port to do things like full-screen, volume up/down, next/previous track, etc.?
I'm thinking of doing this myself with a old 500mhz laptop I have around, the battery does not work any more so its not being used. A IR remote would be awsome for control of the computer and still let you drive ok, most decks now come with some of their own. I was wonder if I disconnect the LCD on the laptop how far can I extend the cables and still get a good pic? I was thinking of putting laptop under the seat, and the LCD screen in the middle of dashboard or something like that. Oh ya my Lap top runs of 18v DC any Ideas on a cheap way to convert that 12v Car output to 18v?
Casshan, good to hear someone else is gonna do something similar. first off, you'd probably want an rf remote so you don't have to have a direct "sight" of the ir receiver. not sure about the other two things. but for the power, i think a dc to dc converter is what you'd need to look for..... *EDIT* what would be the best way to connect the computer to the speakers in my car? one site i read said connect it through the AUX-IN on the back of the tape deck in the car, but, of course, mine doesn't have one. i was thinking i could probably just find a way to hook them up directly to the sound card, right? something like a 4.1 speaker system or something? (since my car has 4 speakers, i think, and i've got a sub that i've been meaning to put in my car too.....)
One of the reasons I want to make a car-pc later when I have a car, is because I can then use WiFi in very interesting ways: imagine storing your car in your garage, going upstairs to your bedroom, making connection to the PC in your car through WiFi and uploading all your new MP3's and data and stuff many more possibilities, just think about it! It'd be soooo nice! that, and the fact that an lcd in your is just way too cool made me already decide that I really want one
Ive had a plan on paper for a linux based car pc for ages, some features of which are mentioned here: 1) For uploading mp3s, i planned to have a 3-4m cat5 cable on a spool (like a hoover) under the bumper, I would simply plug it into the hub in my garage and the PC would automatically rsync the mp3s with the ones on my fileserver in the house... 2) For shutting down the system would be entirely tmpfs based and mount FS's read only - can be shutdown instantly without worries 3) For a UI I would use a custom written application along with 8 backlit push switches (Like a cash machine)... the app would be a QT GUI program... 4) PC itself would prolly be SFF and put under one of the seats 5) Display would be like a 5" TFT
loply, i'm gonna have some stuff like yours (screen, etc.). but personally, i think having a wireless NIC in the car and in my rig in my room would be easier for transferring (well, maybe cooler at least ). i wish i could use linux for this since it's better, but my knowledge of linux is limited (just started working with it a few weeks ago and haven't gotten very far ================================= i've found my solution to the controls! com-port controls for winamp it'll let me make a 15 button controller (which should be plenty) and then assign them for whatever winamp features i want. i THINK you can also do things like "click button 1 once: fast-forward", "click button 1 twice: skip track", which means there's even more features available! it supports more than one com port (i believe) so the possibilites are almost endless! i'm almost POSITIVE i'll be starting this project soon! (i might get to do my first project log!! )
If I can ever get the datasheets for this IBM TFT screen I have, I want to look into using it to make a HUD. That's my big idea for a project like this. Relix, about the wifi thing, imagine the pier to pier highway networking Imagine I have all mus stuff shared, and you have your's set up to look for live connections. At a light, or by going the same way as I am for a bit, you could DL stuff from my collection, and vice versa Da_BaCoN for the most part, a Car's motion due to the springs, and the mass of the car shouldn't cause enough instantaneous changes to affect things much, but if it is a concern, you could always mount the stuff in some sort of a shock absorbing housing.
or what about live voice chat, gaming on a lan (not sure if that's possible with WiFi), and other fun poop! the hard drive is my main concern (especailly since i won't have a laptop hard drive, at least at first.) 2 more (old )Qs: 1) what would be the best way to connect the speakers to the pc? wire an 1/8" connector to them and set them up like a 4 speaker set-up? what about the sub? 2) the controller for winamp. i've looked everywhere, but i can't find a complete schematic/pinout for building the serial interface. anyone got a link?
sorry guys, I go away from my comp all the time what with work and my GF and taking care of a house and the like. I have one CD drive that's wired in with a USB cable, but I don't really like it all that much, and I don't really know why. my other two cars are wired using 8 foot IDE cables, they work fine for me, it takes a little while for stuff to load from a cd, but I don't know if that's the cable's fault. I used a standard PSU, I just cut and spliced extra leangth into the cables, I checked the resistance on the lines and it didn't look like there was a whole lot, so it didn't but me to add six or seven feet. the only thing that was a little tricky is using the inverter, I forget the guage of wire, maybe 40 awg? but at any rate, the stuff that it said to use on the inverter was only good for up to 3 feet or something, so I had to jump up to a bigger thickness. I use full size USB keyboards, and the Logitech Marble Mouse, the keyboard is that, indestructible one that you can roll up, it's mounted above my head on that little thing that has the mirror mounted on it, I forget how it's called right now though. I can't really think of anything else, but if you have a question I'm happy to try my best to answer it, as long as you're willing to possibly wait a little while....soz bout that.
thanks for the info, SugarBear. i've been thinking it over some and here's what i've got so far: -i'll be using that old pc i mentioned earlier just at first until i can upgrade to a m-itx or other sff, and i'll also build a custom case for it then. -getting the sound from the computer to the speakers has been giving me trouble. see, the best way (or so i've read) is to have rca inputs on your tape/cd deck to get the best sound. but i don't have that. i looked into getting a decent tape player with this, and it was almost $100. so to save myself some trouble with other things, i'm going to just buy myself a nice cd player (around $140 or so), which would eliminate the problem of me trying to get my pc's cd-rom up to the front of my car. -controls, i'm going to try to build my own interface for that winamp plugin i posted earlier. -video-i was wanting to use an lcd screen (like the gamecube screens,etc.) but i decided against it. instead i'll be getting either a serial lcd or vfd. -power-i was thinking about getting an inverter, but there's supposedly a lot of feedback problems with them (SugarBear, do you have this problem) so i might pick me up one of the dc-dc psu. i'll probably start a project log clap: ) once i start getting parts and begin work. *and SugarBear, i think you're talking about the visor in your car? the thing with the mirror on it.....*
yeah I mean the visor, couldn't think of the word before. cheap inverters will cause interferance, mine doesn't, it used to give off a little hum throught the amp, but I got that solved. that's the other thing I wanted to say, go to best buy, or wal mart, or whatever you got and pick yourself up and inexpensive amp, you pretty much can't build the PC without one, with an amp you just plug your sound card out, directly into the amp in, then the amp goes to all your car speakers, it works great and you really need the amp to get decent sound from your comp. and don't forget, if you get a cd player for your car, you can't load data off of it onto your computer, or play songs through your comp with it. the best advice I can give for that is to use a slot loading DVD drive, mount it on one of those CD Player holders for a car and it won't skip at all, two of mine are actually mounted under my seat, only one of them is in the dash, that way I can load Data to my comp, watch movies, or put in a CD if that's what I want to do. also, it's best to sort out the volume issue, they have some new knobs out now that are USB that contol things like volume and cycle to the next song and stuff like that, I just use a New Q and re-route the volume control so you don't have to look at the rather cheesy animations on the screen.
well, that's ok though. i don't think there's any need to play cds through the computer, so long as i have SOME way of playing cds when i want to (though i'll probably use the pc the most). wait - so if i get an amp, i don't have to get a cd player with the rca input thingies? and what inverter are you using? thnx!
unfortunately you can't buy the inverters I'm using, they're custom made for a car tuning place in my area, my friend owns the store so he sells them to me. and yeah if you get the amp you don't need a CD player with RCA things, in fact, you can keep your existing radio or whatever you have right now, most amps have jacks in them for antenna, rca, and those wide molex looking things that go into your radio, so it should be all good, just explain to whoever you buy it from what you want and they can hook you up. you don't even really need a good amp, the 35 dollar ones they have at wal mart work great, but they pick up some disturbance from your inverter if they are close, and believe me you don't need one that has a ton of wattage, unless you want distortion, or you have like 30 speakers you won't need more than say 85 watts, but most of the amps you find will be 100-135 watts.
*seconds the amp solution* It's what I was thinking as well. I don't have any advice on the inverters, I haven't played with them. I was looking at dc-dc supplies myself. As for control, as I said before, I have usally used a plugin for winamp that lets me control it with a joystick. I can move forward, and backwords through a playlist, and change the volume. I used a gravis gamepad. When I set up the system as my 'jukebox', I tuked the PC away, and ran the controller out from the PC's hiding place. I dressed it up, and mounted it for winamp control. I still use classic winamp, so I'm not sure about a similar plugin for winamp 3. I also couldn't load, modify, ect the playlists with this method, but it worked fime for me. The best part was that Winamp did not have to be the active application to pick up te commands from the joystick (unlike issuing KB commands).
I wouldn't suggest skimping on the amp, especially if you're driving one or more subs. Also, if you're removing your head unit entirely, you should consider mounting a 5" tft there if you can afford it. It's definitely worthwile
from the sound of things, he doesn't even have one sub, it seems like he's going to be using his standard issue 4-6 speaker factory speakers, in which case he can skimp all he likes on the amp. but even still, I have a 35 dollar amp in my car, it's loud enough that other cars can hear me on the other side of the freeway at 70 mph, if you get any louder than that, you're either trying to look good cuz you can make the ground shake or you're tone def because all those subs and uber loud systems just ruins the sound of the music.
I just like the feeling of bass, find it quite exhilirating (esp while driving). Each to his/her own though.
actually, i do have a sub, but it's not installed (it's sitting in my closet ) and i still kinda like the idea of just getting a nice(r) cd player and using that instead of using my current radio. though, if i can get anyway with not getting that at first, i'll wait on that. *thread title changed also* *edit/update* what about this amp? it's 200 watts max (a bit extreme, maybe?) but it's cheap and it's got the rca plugs and all. oh, and what's it referring to when it says 2-channel (if ya can't tell, i know squat about audio equipment ) *edit edit!* found another one --> linkage! along with a posbbile inverter
Just a comment: this thread really exemplifies what makes this place great, you know? People asking a questions, researching stuff, sharing experiences. I want to give a special moderator recognition to Da_BaCoN, SugarBear, Green Soda, and everyone else in this thread for making it, constructive, informative, on-topic, and useful. You guys ROCK!
