cars with your pc ;)

hi anybody know how to mod a pc into a car im thinking i would have to use a itx motherboard etc but when it comes to wiring it into a car and coverting and connecting im a little confused.

anybody help?

:klain:

There are actualy computer PSU's that take 12v "cigarette lighter" input so you can easely build computer hardware into your car. For the rest, its very easy, I have a full size D-ATX mobo built into mine for the engine management software and audio system(and whatever else I want to run on it really :p I got plenty of room for video's and stuff too).

The only problematic area with computers in cars are the harddrives.
I solved this by building a floating gyro like rack for harddrives and used 4x20GB laptop drives in a RAID5 setup for maximum redundancy and data safety, these lil boogers withstand movement rather well.

To be sure the system still operates, even with harddrive failures, I'm using a bootable DVD with Linux to boot the system, config files get read and writen from a 4GB CF card and data is stored on the harddrives.

is there any other way of connecting the psu up to the battery othr than sticing it into the lighter or maybe i misunderstood

Originally posted by klain
is there any other way of connecting the psu up to the battery othr than sticing it into the lighter or maybe i misunderstood

What I ment is that the PSU's run with 12V DC car input, it doesn't matter if you use a cigplug to plug it in or hook it up directly to your battery.

I myself have connected it to the carstereo plugs behind the dashboard present in my car.

Originally posted by thematrix

Originally posted by klain
is there any other way of connecting the psu up to the battery othr than sticing it into the lighter or maybe i misunderstood

What I ment is that the PSU's run with 12V DC car input, it doesn't matter if you use a cigplug to plug it in or hook it up directly to your battery.

I myself have connected it to the carstereo plugs behind the dashboard present in my car.

whats the legal implications of doing so?

i really wouldn't know where to start which is why im considering doing a mechanics course cause i know nothing really in depth about cars

Legal implications?

Its as illegal as installing a car stereo ... in other words, its perfectly legal.

Originally posted by thematrix
Legal implications?

Its as illegal as installing a car stereo ... in other words, its perfectly legal.

yeh buts its a fully functional pc though

and im hoping to mod it as well

Sorry if this fits in the "reviving old threads list" But I know a bunch about carputers. Mainly, You want to get a mini-itx motherboard in a mini-itx case for "under the seat" wiring. So what you need is

Mini-itx mobo
Mini-itx case
Laptop HD
at least 256 MB of Ram for mobo.

Now, for a power supply, I've seen some nice car versions from www.mini-itx.com (the source).

You want to get either a medium sized lct with wireless keyboard/mouse. Or a larger, Touchpad Lcd. For price concerns, just go wireless.

In the end its like this: Computer underneath front seat, power running to cigarrette power outlet (12V DC) Cables running to LCD monitor, and I keep the wireless keyboard and mouse, on the back seat. For even greater fun, I'd wire the carputer sound output, to the input's on the back of your head unit.

Any questions on more details, let me know.

Why would having a pc in a car be illegal? It's like the dvd players they put in them now. Years ago when I first upgraded my stereo, I had the option of putting a stereo that had a screen pop out of it, and would play any visual disc (dvd, vcd, etc) and display it on the screen. As long as you aren't driving down the road typing, or playing Doom3 why would it be illegal?

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Why would having a pc in a car be illegal? It's like the dvd players they put in them now. Years ago when I first upgraded my stereo, I had the option of putting a stereo that had a screen pop out of it, and would play any visual disc (dvd, vcd, etc) and display it on the screen. As long as you aren't driving down the road typing, or playing Doom3 why would it be illegal?

i was thinking of it being more like a distraction to the driver

Originally posted by Kalapadea
Sorry if this fits in the "reviving old threads list" But I know a bunch about carputers. Mainly, You want to get a mini-itx motherboard in a mini-itx case for "under the seat" wiring. So what you need is

Mini-itx mobo
Mini-itx case
Laptop HD
at least 256 MB of Ram for mobo.

Now, for a power supply, I've seen some nice car versions from www.mini-itx.com (the source).

You want to get either a medium sized lct with wireless keyboard/mouse. Or a larger, Touchpad Lcd. For price concerns, just go wireless.

In the end its like this: Computer underneath front seat, power running to cigarrette power outlet (12V DC) Cables running to LCD monitor, and I keep the wireless keyboard and mouse, on the back seat. For even greater fun, I'd wire the carputer sound output, to the input's on the back of your head unit.

Any questions on more details, let me know.

thanks for the advice i have not dealt with a mini Itx before i already had that site bookmarked as well cause of all the mods they do

um what type of RAM is compatible DDR?

As long as you aren't using it while driving, I don't see why it would be. You just have to be sure to either turn it off, or ignore it while you're driving.

yeh cool im looking into this now i love the idea of it being inte grated anywhere into my home with a wireless connexion

As far as legality is concerned, in the US, you cannot have a moving picture facing the driver. Gov't regulations say the picture has to stop moving unless the ebrake is on. (Go around that one of course )

One of my good friends, got LCD's in his visors. I can't do that because I'm running a windows desktop, he could, because he'd loaded up playlist software where all it showed was the song list. (Touchpad)

DDR: Depends on the motherboard. I have an EPIA-M Nehemiah @ 1GHz and it runs DDR266 (PC2100) I have one 512MB stick.

Originally posted by thematrixI have a full size D-ATX mobo built into mine for the engine management software and audio system(and whatever else I want to run on it really :p I got plenty of room for video's and stuff too).

Ermn, ok I realise you probably aren't using windows and are some Linux techie (I really ought to look into Linux), however, even then wouldn't it take a wihle for the system to start up (HDD to wind up and load stuff etc) in the mean time you car will have no engine management and no audio, or am I really not seeing the point?

I went with a Dual CPU ATX board because I needed the power, room for upgrades and well, thats what I had in stock. I have full internet capabilities in my car, wireless in the cities that have a city wide wireless network and GPRS where this isn't available.

Originally posted by thematrix
I went with a Dual CPU ATX board because I needed the power, room for upgrades and well, thats what I had in stock. I have full internet capabilities in my car, wireless in the cities that have a city wide wireless network and GPRS where this isn't available.

yeh thats cool i was thinking of getting a wireless adapter and pluging it into the onboard computer how cool would that be to surf the net in your car


ive now got a bluetooth adapter for my home pc is it possible to sync my pc with a bluetooth headset?

kind of unrelated but there you go

Originally posted by Infidellic

Originally posted by thematrixI have a full size D-ATX mobo built into mine for the engine management software and audio system(and whatever else I want to run on it really :p I got plenty of room for video's and stuff too).

Ermn, ok I realise you probably aren't using windows and are some Linux techie (I really ought to look into Linux), however, even then wouldn't it take a wihle for the system to start up (HDD to wind up and load stuff etc) in the mean time you car will have no engine management and no audio, or am I really not seeing the point?

Because you can. Isn't that enough of a reason?

My nehemiah has 2 80 GB HD's stuffed with music, plus windows 2000. I'm running a linksys wireless card with antenna to a yagiuda on my roofrack. (simple yet effective if I need internet). Bootup is less than 10 seconds. It's fine and dandy for long trips and music/video playing.