23 June 2006
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on June 23rd, 2006 @ 06:35:34 pm, using 431 words, 7934 views
The dashboard installation of the Acura ITX mobile system is now complete. I've reinstalled the rear seats, as well as the entire dashboard and center console, reversing the procedure outlined in the original dashboard removal thread. The reinstallation went pretty smoothly, and once it was complete I removed the protective plastic sheeting over the burlwood woodgrain trim and the touchscreen. (Some of the photos show some remnants of the adhesive layer of the protective plastic sheet which covered the burlwood woodgrain. I've been trying to remove it all but it's pretty tenacious, so any little surface distortions or smudges you may see in the woodgrain panel can be attributed to that. Rest assured they'll be dealt with).
With the mini-itx system installed in the trunk, and the wires run from the battery to the trunk, the system is ready to run (at last!).
Here's an overview shot of the finished installation, showing the screen in a closed position.
If you'd like to see actual captures of the Acura ITX skin, you can see them in the Acura ITX Front-End Design for Roadrunner post, or read the full text of this post to see additional photos of the installed system.
UPDATE: Additional photos have now been added.
This photo shows the main menu screen of the Acura ITX skin I designed for RoadRunner:
Read the full text of this post...
04 April 2006
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on April 4th, 2006 @ 09:59:43 pm, using 603 words, 3412 views
Testing the wiring and ignition activation.
Now that all the parts for the Acura-ITX computer have arrived, I set up the complete system in an open testbed environment, and ran full-lengths of wiring to simulate the situation in the car, testing for voltage dropoff, audio signal dropoff, etc. Admittedly, the system will probably face slightly different signal degradation, dropoffs, and transients once in a vehicle environment, but until I've had a chance to fabricate a dashboard chassis and faceplate, I wanted to get the system running and the software installed.
The Opus 120 connected to the vehicle battery.
Using a spare automotive battery, I rigged a set of connectors and ran power to the Opus 120 DC-DC power supply which will run the system, watch for ignition ON and OFF states, and also monitor battery voltage to prevent battery drain. I ran a length of 10AWG wire from the battery's positive terminal, and connected it to the two yellow 12V input wires on the Opus 120. I also connected the two black ground wires from the Opus 120 to the battery's negative terminal. By connecting the red wire from the Opus 120 to the battery's positive terminal, I was then able to simulate the vehicle's ignition being turned on. (Marked by the red asterisk in the wiring diagram above.)
Similarly, the MTSVO-SC motorized in-dash 7" touchscreen is connected to 12V power by way of the Opus 120. I did this by cutting the head from a spare molex connector, and using the yellow and black wires to extend 12' of 16AWG wire, which will be the length of wire to be run from the trunk to the dashboard. Since the screen only uses a max of 1.2A, 16AWG wire is sufficient for the job. Once the screen was wired for power, connecting the red ACC-ON wire from the screen to the battery's positive terminal causes the screen to recognize the "vehicle's" ignition being turned on, and the screen opens. Likewise, removing the screen's red wire from the battery positive terminal causes the screen to automatically close. The image below shows the screen connected and running on a bare windows 2000 installation, showing a fullscreen spectrum and voice-print analyzer mp3 visualization. Since the machine will be designed to run without a keyboard, no ESC key is necessary to exit from full-screen visualizations. Simply touching the screen accomplishes the task.
The MTSVO-SC 7in touchscreen connected to the system.
I'm now using my spare time to tweak the OS so that it runs at a bare minimum. I'm experimenting with the NLite installer software for system loading. It allows the user to strip off all the unnecessary garbage so thoughtfully provided by Microsoft, but which causes a computer to boot and run more slowly than it should. The best part is that it allows these "extras" to be removed prior to OS installation, not afterwards. Once I have the system completely tweaked, I'll create a Ghost image of the system partition and load it onto an isolinux bootloader cd, which will allow me to quickly restore an entire system (in approx 15 minutes) instead of several hours, in the event that the system needs to be reinstalled at some point.
The next step in the project will be to fabricate a mounting bracket and chassis faceplate which will house the stereo headunit and the MTSVO-SC touchscreen in the dashboard.
External: FAQ How to wire an OPUS PSU to your carputer
Contemporaneous Auditory Narcotics:
or, What my speakers are currently pumping...
DJ Spooky - Necropolis (The Dialogic Project)
This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
11 January 2006
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on January 11th, 2006 @ 07:47:02 pm, using 535 words, 2962 views
Testing the EPIA MII-12000 in an open testbed
I had some spare time this evening and got around to setting up the system in an open testbed environment. I figured this would save some time, rather than having to install the board into a micro-ATX case and then removing it again once the final choice of mini-ITX case is made.
I'm currently trying Windows 2000 SP3 in the testbed stage, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the EPIA MII-12000's performance under Windows 2000. Currently the system is pretty bare. I have installed the chipset drivers, along with the drivers for onboard audio, lan, usb, firewire, and video.
I've installed TweakUI from the Windows 2000 PowerToys kit. This allows me to get to the desktop without being prompted for a username and password, adding to the hands-free usability of the overall system environment. Once RoadRunner is installed, I'll configure it to enter directly into the RoadRunner environment on bootup, bypassing the desktop entirely.
Testing a fullscreen vis voiceprint/spectrum analyzer
I've installed WinAmp 2.7 (I can't stand newer versions of WinAmp) and have done some preliminary tests for sound quality and fullscreen visualization responsiveness. The EPIA board handles the Geiss plugin almost flawlessly, which was another nice surprise. I don't plan to run the Geiss Vis on the actual system, but it's nice to know this little board can handle it. The plugin in the attached photo is a fullscreen voiceprint analyzer and spectrum analyzer, which is probably one of the visualizations I'll include in the final install.
I've also installed Alcohol 120% v1.9.5 (Build 2802). I plan to use Alcohol 120% only for its ability to create virtual cd-rom drives. I've set it up with five virtual drives so far. This way I can create images of my GPS Map discs, and mount them virtually on the system. This will allow me to run multiple different GPS Mapping applications, while only having to switch from one mounted disc to another. Additionally, the fact that they'll be running from virtual cd-rom drives means they'll be a lot faster than reading maps from a cd-rom.
The machine has, admittedly, very little software installed on it to this point (I still have to install the actual GPS apps, RoadRunner, and possibly a DVD player), but the system currently goes from a cold boot to the desktop in approx 15 seconds, which isn't too bad. It shuts down from desktop to off in about 4 seconds.
I might try Windows 98Micro (http://www.litepc.com/98micro.html) on this board to see how well it fares, though I worry about compatibility issues primarily with modern GPS apps running under a stripped down version of Windows 98. The nice thing about 98Micro, however, is that people have reported going from cold boot to desktop in under 8 seconds, which would be very nice indeed.
Note: Be sure to read the follow-up article in which the mini-itx system is fully wired and running from a car battery, simulating the vehicle environment and ignition states.
Contemporaneous Auditory Narcotics:
or, What my speakers are currently pumping...
Talamasca - Illusion World
This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
18 November 2005
Written by
Yours Truly (
)
Published on November 18th, 2005 @ 10:36:49 am, using 3282 words, 10721 views
Project Day 1
The Leatherman Tool: We'll be using this a lot.
Well, here we are again, returning to the project which was supposed to begin in the spring of 2005, but because of other projects and random new distractions which got in the way, it looks like it's going to be a winter 2005/06 project. In case anyone is just joining us, this project involves the installation of a mini-ITX computer, retractable in-dashboard LCD touchscreen, gps receiver, wireless internet, mp3 audio (the equivalent of a 250-disc CD changer), and an aftermarket headunit into a 2001 Acura 3.2CL (non-navi). The system will be hardwired into the ignition switch: turn the key to start the car and the computer boots up at the same time. Almost hands-free.
This isn't to say that the last year was time lost, however. The last several months have seen many new developments in the world of mini-ITX computing, and in the realm of mobile LCD displays. In many ways, waiting the amount of time I have may prove to be a blessing in disguise, as the hardware which is available today wasn't around a year ago, and I would have been left wanting to tear apart my car again to upgrade the installed parts.
Anyway, on with the show... Yesterday afternoon I gathered together my Leatherman Wave Tool, a long-shaft screwdriver, some duct tape, and a digital camera, and began the surgery... The steps shown here, from photo #1 to photo #41, took about 75 minutes to complete. (The time it took to complete this write-up? A little longer).
This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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