# Car PC Install



## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

For some reason when the original owner specced up my car, they decided to add (I think) every option, but didn't bother with a CD changer. Having to keep changing discs was starting to annoy me so I was looking around for a stereo that would let me play all my MP3s and had a decent satnav (and bluetooth if possible). Most of you will be thinking, "get a Kenwood flip-out screen" right now. Well, that's just too obvious. So, instead I installed an Intel Atom based computer in the boot and a 7" VGA touchscreen up front.

So, onto the interesting bit. The screen is mounted where the ashtray was. I took the ashtray out and milled away most of it, leaving the flat base that screws into the underside of the center console. Then I built that up into a shape that I could attach the screen mount to. This means the screen is permanently fixed in position, with just enough room to get to the boot and petrol flap release buttons. It also means it's on display for every little thieving scumbag to see. Nice:










The computer is mounted in the boot. I couldn't be arsed to try hiding it under the boot floor so I just tried to make it look vaguely pretty in there. It's a special automotive PC case and the PSU takes 12v in and a switched ignition feed to power it up and down. It's running XP from a 32GB SSD so it boots pretty fast.










The frontend is a piece of software called Centrafuse. Look it up if you want to have a look at the features, or D/L a demo copy. It's pretty slick and lets you do everything, including satnav, music, photos, videos, dvds, web, email, OBDII diagnostics, weather, bluetooth.










It understands gestures, so you can draw letters on the screen as shortcuts to pretty much everything in the interface. It has text to speech so it can read your emails to you. It has voice recognition if you want to talk to your car...










Lastly, the interface into the cars audio... I have no real issues with the factory HU, so I was happy to keep that if I could get the audio from the PC into it. I bought a thing called a 'Car2PC Interface' that pretends to be an OEM CD changer and adds aux in. It also has a USB connection that takes the changer control messages from the HU and sends them to the computer. This means I can skip tracks from the HU as well as the touch screen










I've run out of things to say about it. Basically, if anyone want's to know more about it just ask.


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## qooqiiu (Oct 12, 2007)

Spandex said:


> . Having to keep changing discs was starting to annoy me .


Well get your butler to do it, derr :-|

Looks a little cluttered for my taste. That spot is reserved for small change in my car.


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## andy225tt (Jul 2, 2008)

that looks amazing!how much did it all set you back?


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

qooqiiu said:


> That spot is reserved for small change in my car.


I think my butler carries the money.


andy225tt said:


> that looks amazing!how much did it all set you back?


I reckon it was about £700 all in. I think the equivalent Kenwood setup would be at least £800, so it's not too bad. The good thing is it's cheap to upgrade. For example, I could add Freeview to it for the cost of a USB tuner.


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## Rubix (Apr 15, 2008)

It's times like this when you realise why we all enjoy spending so much time on these forums...not only do you get help with things that go wrong, social banter etc...you also get to witness folk pushing the boundaries and really testing what can be done with our cars....well done mate!
ps...shame you can't fit a sofa in a TT...it would make a great replacement for a front room! haha


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## ap123ap (Aug 20, 2008)

I Like it mate! Well done, looks like a lot of time and effort went into this!

Makes it seem as though i took the easy route!


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

ap123ap said:


> I Like it mate! Well done, looks like a lot of time and effort went into this!
> 
> Makes it seem as though i took the easy route!


It took a fair bit of planning, assembly and testing but almost all of the hard work can be done outside the car. I've got a 12v bench PSU that I can hook it up to so I built and tested the whole thing in the comfort of my home... Installing it into the TT probably only took an hour or so to route cables and that's about it.

I like your iPhone on the flip out screen... It might be quick and simple, but you get one of the best UIs out there and I reckon the user interface makes or breaks this sort of thing.


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## taylormade-tt (May 14, 2007)

Excellent stuff 

Great install and Not to expensive. 

Can you not purchase some sort of cover/blanking plate to cover the display ?(when you park up /shopping leaving it in a car park etc)thats the only concern i would have with the screen set up, on show. 

Tom.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Actually, a friend gave me one of these the other day, as he had a spare:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0192891688

I've not really looked at it properly, but I'm pretty sure it will need a bit of tweaking to make it fit. Once I've sorted it, I'll probably keep it in the glovebox in case I park it in a dicey area.


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## KammyTT (Jun 28, 2006)

mate that looks awesome!!! great work and well done!!!


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## dizzle (Mar 22, 2009)

very impressive! i like!! nice work mate


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## KammyTT (Jun 28, 2006)

qooqiiu said:


> Spandex said:
> 
> 
> > . Having to keep changing discs was starting to annoy me .
> ...


i have no idea how you can even come to that idea of cluttered? a very good use of space and a good an awesome idea!


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

KammyTT said:


> i have no idea how you can even come to that idea of cluttered? a very good use of space and a good an awesome idea!


Cheers... I did make every effort to have as much hidden away as possible, but there's no way to avoid having a screen somewhere (that really is the only thing on display in the cabin). A flip out screen instead of the HU would be the best solution, but there are no decent VGA screens with USB touchscreen support. The only ones out there are famous for poor reliability. On top of that, if I swapped the HU for a screen, I'd have no standalone stereo anymore. I like knowing I can switch off the PC at any time and I still have the original, untouched CD/radio/satnav system.

In fact, the only thing I've modified permanently is the ashtray (If anyone has a spare black one for sale, I'll take it. When I sell the car I want to be able to return it to standard spec).


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## freegeek (Aug 26, 2005)

What you need now is a copy of monoscan running on you carputer.


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

I want one!! Can you run amps off that car pc?


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## gram (May 4, 2009)

Nice job 

I had a PC running Centrafuse in my last car (MG TF), it's a brilliant bit of software and there's always new stuff being added and tweaked for it which is another + for using a PC system compared to an off-the-shelf ICE. Since you're still running Windows in the background too, you can add any other apps you fancy (VAGCOM is a perfect example).

Add a 3G USB adapter or bluetooth with tethering to your phone and you can go online too. I love the features in Centrafuse that it will speak out text messages or emails to you.

Re the question above - yes, you can run amps off these. There's 3.5mm audio output jacks on the back of PC motherboards, just use a cable to change that to Phonos and then pass-thru however many amps as required.

I'm still swithering over re-fitting my CarPC into the TT. My fold-out screen had seen better days, so would need replaced. Fitting a 7" screen in front of the gear lever is definitely logical... might be a job I get into during the summer. I'm still just unsure whether I want to modify the car or not.. it's a slippery slope


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

freegeek said:


> What you need now is a copy of monoscan running on you carputer.


Not sure what Monoscan is. If it's a fault code scanner, Centrafuse actually has a basic OBD-II scanner built into the UI:










It will pull fault codes too, but probably only the generic ones, not VAG specific. The OBD-II cable I have would stick out too far by my knee to leave there permanently, but once I've made up a low-profile (right angled) cable, I'll hook that up too.


Bikerz said:


> I want one!! Can you run amps off that car pc?


As Gram said, you can easily run that into an amp. The PC case I chose actually has proper RCA line outs on the front panel (you can see some beefy interconnects plugged into them in the photo of the case) so I didn't have to use the 3.5mm jack on the back.


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## SteveS TT (Apr 23, 2008)

That looks wicked... maybe a bit complicated for me in a car... i like things to be on/off simplicity whilst driving!!!

It looks amazing but would be better if you could get some centre console made up so it looks more oem.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Looks excellent. I've been pondering putting a PC into my car for a while.

How are you handling the switching of power? Does it just kill the PC? I was thinking of using a modified laptop to use the battery as a UPS essentially, allowing a graceful shutdown after power off. The other advantage of basing on a laptop is the small form factor.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

SteveS TT said:


> It looks amazing but would be better if you could get some centre console made up so it looks more oem.


I considered that and I was close to ordering that double DIN conversion thing from Germany, but I was worried the fit wouldn't be spot on and it would drive me nuts if I had to look at a slightly botched dash every day.



Dash said:


> How are you handling the switching of power? Does it just kill the PC? I was thinking of using a modified laptop to use the battery as a UPS essentially, allowing a graceful shutdown after power off. The other advantage of basing on a laptop is the small form factor.


The M2-ATX PSU is also connected to the power switch header on the motherboard. When it detects the switched ignition has gone low, it sends a 'power button press' signal to the MB. In Windows, you can set what happens when you press the power switch (shut down, standby or hibernate).

After sending this signal, the PSU waits a few minutes before cutting power to the 12v line completely. This leaves it in a 'deep sleep' mode where only the 5v line is powered (just like a standard desktop PSU, for stuff like Wake on Lan). If the battery voltage drops below 11.2v in this deep sleep mode, the PSU cuts power completely to keep the battery alive.

I discovered the hard way that this battery protection only works in deep sleep mode, not when the PC is running normally (I over-rode the switched ignition and left the PC on all night by accident [smiley=bigcry.gif] )

http://www.mini-box.com/M2-ATX-160w-Intelligent-Automotive-DC-DC-Power-Supply


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## T7 BNW (Jul 20, 2008)

Awesome mate! Just Awesome!

This was the next mod going in my car (in a slightly different way to you) but ive now sold!

Great work!


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

If you wanted to do a simple install, especially if you only planned on using it occasionally for longer journeys, you could go with a netbook in the glove box. Then you just need to choose where to mount the screen and run some cables up to the back of the glove box. Then you don't need to worry about smart power management as you'll switch it on and off as required.

You can also save money on the screen. I went with the trans-reflective sunlight readable screen which was almost half the total build cost, but you can save at least £150 by choosing a lower spec screen if it's not going to be used all the time. I went with a pretty high spec (SSD drive, fanless Atom MB, VoomPC2 case, etc) as I figured it still came to less than the Kenwood system I was considering so that helped me justify the better components.

Linitx.com is a good place to start looking at components:

http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=52


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## schumi78 (Jul 18, 2008)

i do not have a clue what 90% of the terminology is here.... looks awesome though, and original - nice one!


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## mark_hogan (Jan 8, 2009)

Ive always thought about installing a pc into a car but never really got around to doing it myself...Looks awesome, well done!!


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## freegeek (Aug 26, 2005)

Spandex said:


> freegeek said:
> 
> 
> > What you need now is a copy of monoscan running on you carputer.


Not sure what Monoscan is. If it's a fault code scanner, Centrafuse actually has a basic OBD-II scanner built into the UI:

It will pull fault codes too, but probably only the generic ones, not VAG specific. The OBD-II cable I have would stick out too far by my knee to leave there permanently, but once I've made up a low-profile (right angled) cable, I'll hook that up too.


> Monoscan is more like a graphical version of vag-com, the problem with the obove one is it uses the obd2 protocol rather than the vag protocol so you wont see boost on it or many other things. Monoscan is free so its worth a try, search for it in google/groups. You will need a cheap vag-com cable with it but you can pick them up for a tenner on ebay.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

T7 BNW said:


> Awesome mate! Just Awesome!
> 
> This was the next mod going in my car (in a slightly different way to you) but ive now sold!
> 
> Great work!


Ben you can sort one for me. If it's something that'll run Mac OS X and connect to my home network, even better!

That is a seriously impressive bit of kit!

Cheers

Rich


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## elrao (Apr 19, 2005)

Lots of guys were doing this when I had my 350Z as the space where the OEM nav screen goes is ideal for a 7" carputer screen, lots of websites about for info on this stuff, just can't remember them off the top of my head, but google carputer and you'll get a load of hits!

Can't see the pics of your install, but if you ever want to mount it higher then I have a custom made double DIN console which could be ideal for cutting out a little more and fitting a nice big touch screen into ... hmm, maybe I should keep it!


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> Dash said:
> 
> 
> > How are you handling the switching of power? Does it just kill the PC? I was thinking of using a modified laptop to use the battery as a UPS essentially, allowing a graceful shutdown after power off. The other advantage of basing on a laptop is the small form factor.
> ...


That's a genius PSU. This was the main thing preventing me from taking the idea seriously. I never got as far as researching to see if anybody had done it before!

A very tempting mod. Being that way inclined, I'd like to have a PC in my car. Better GPS, mapping tools, and linked up to a 3G modem.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

freegeek said:


> Monoscan is more like a graphical version of vag-com, the problem with the obove one is it uses the obd2 protocol rather than the vag protocol so you wont see boost on it or many other things. Monoscan is free so its worth a try, search for it in google/groups. You will need a cheap vag-com cable with it but you can pick them up for a tenner on ebay.


I'm not really that interested in live data (and I have the V6 so boost isn't an issue), but if Monoscan does the VAG specific fault codes I'd be interested. I have an eBay OBD-II cable but don't feel I can justify the $99 for the full VAG-COM.


elrao said:


> Can't see the pics of your install, but if you ever want to mount it higher then I have a custom made double DIN console which could be ideal for cutting out a little more and fitting a nice big touch screen into ... hmm, maybe I should keep it!


I considered that sort of thing for a while before I decided on mounting the screen lower down. My main worry was getting a good fit with the double-DIN console (I read a few of your old posts about it not being perfect). I didn't want a large part of my dash to look 'home made', and I wasn't confident I would be good enough at covering/modifying the trim to make it look and fit like OEM.


Dash said:


> That's a genius PSU. This was the main thing preventing me from taking the idea seriously. I never got as far as researching to see if anybody had done it before!


There are now a few different automotive PC PSUs that all do the same thing. The good thing (for me) about the M2 was that the VoomPC2 case I chose is designed with mounts for the PSU without needing any modification.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

rustyintegrale said:


> Ben you can sort one for me. If it's something that'll run Mac OS X and connect to my home network, even better!


I really wouldn't bother with OS X for this. The good thing about OS X is the UI, but you wouldn't want to use that UI for driving. Even Front Row isn't ideal as it's not designed for touchscreens (and has no means of adding additional components like GPS). So, if you're going to run a specialist Car PC UI, then all you need from the OS underneath is for it to be reliable. XP is totally bomb-proof now (SP3 really tidied up what was already a great OS) so it's perfect for this application.

By the way, I'm no Windows fanboy... I use Macs in work and at home and wouldn't buy anything else for normal use. But for a car PC where you (hopefully) never have to see the OS UI underneath, XP is ideal.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

Spandex said:


> rustyintegrale said:
> 
> 
> > Ben you can sort one for me. If it's something that'll run Mac OS X and connect to my home network, even better!
> ...


That's fair enough. I already use Windows in Boot Camp for certain things anyway... :wink:


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## gadgetboy38 (Mar 9, 2005)

I have seen this done using a mac mini running OSX.

http://tunertricks.com/blog/index.php?p=40
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/ ... 054134962/

Some good info here

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/faq-emp ... r-car.html
http://xterrafirma.com/BoarderPhreak/pi ... index.html

A very usefull link here

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/maccar/ ... links.html


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

gadgetboy38 said:


> I have seen this done using a mac mini running OSX.
> 
> http://tunertricks.com/blog/index.php?p=40
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/ ... 054134962/
> ...


That all looks pretty impressive too. Gonna have to do a bit of research I reckon... :wink:


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

gadgetboy38 said:


> I have seen this done using a mac mini running OSX.


I looked into a few OS X car PC installs before I started to build mine (I have an old Mac Mini sitting unused so it was the first thing I thought of) but I really struggled with a few major issues...

1. There is no decent front end that works with touchscreens (there is software out there, but nothing professional looking. The installs in the links all use a controller or remote of some sort).
2. There is no decent GPS software (and certainly nothing integrated well with a front end)
3. A degree of hardware bodging is required to get any decent kind of smart PSU working with a Mac Mini

The biggest advantage is the hibernation. OS X is rock solid and fast going into and out of hibernation. XP has serious issues (I'm not even using hibernation at the moment as it's so unreliable at restarting USB devices afterwards, particularly USB to Serial devices like the GPS).


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> The biggest advantage is the hibernation. OS X is rock solid and fast going into and out of hibernation. XP has serious issues (I'm not even using hibernation at the moment as it's so unreliable at restarting USB devices afterwards, particularly USB to Serial devices like the GPS).


Try Windows 7 RC. It's got better suspend/hibernate support. Often it's down to your mobo though.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Try Windows 7 RC. It's got better suspend/hibernate support. Often it's down to your mobo though.


I can work round the hibernate issue - I'm buying a standard RS232 GPS to replace the USB one and my cold boot times are so low that hibernation isn't much quicker... I'm sure Windows 7 is a vast improvement on Vista, but XP is still the most rugged, compact and well supported Windows operating systems out there, so I'm not keen on changing it.

Anyway, there are pros and cons to all of them. My recommendation is XP SP3, but you'll see people on the net using just about every OS out there. One of the benefits of a car PC is that you have all these options.


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## Aviron (Oct 13, 2016)

Hi Spandex
I'm trying to install a lcd on ashtray just like you. Can you please tell me which display and frame have you used? And how have you made the instalation, screws?
Thanks


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## Kryton (Apr 20, 2019)

I reckon you should go all out and do something like this lol
https://translate.googleusercontent.com ... gHuX_Cp7xQ


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## Aviron (Oct 13, 2016)

I really prefer the ashtray option


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## Ben180 (Oct 26, 2019)

Oh yuk, what a hideous idea, even the materials don't match.


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## silkman (Jul 29, 2004)

I saw the thread and thought oh my that is so 2009.

Noobs resurrecting 10-year old threads :roll:


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