Post by CodingParadox on Aug 12, 2004 13:15:41 GMT -5
Someone requested it, so I'll toss it together real fast here. The URLs are all the cheapest places to find these parts as of about a month ago. I haven't checked them since then.
Required Parts needed:
Something to keep in mind here is that I used a VIA EPIA-M10000 instead of the 10000V, because my friend had it lying around and sold it to me cheap. I'd suggest going that route if you have the extra 80$ or so, the stuff fits better around it. If you do this, get the EPIA-M10000, www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=810325/search=epia-m%2010000
, 152$, and the PW-80 power supply. The PW-80 also regulates power far better than the PW-60. I had a PW-70 blow out on me early on in the process. It doesn't like the wide voltages that a car battery provides. PW-80, www.carplayer.com/category.php?sid=05FC003010A076D5B56FF039ED28CC38&id=78637312, 58$. You'll also need to switch to DDR RAM, so I'd suggest this stuff, www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php?products_id=37, 60$.
If you want GPS, you should pick up a GPS like the Holux GM-210, cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5701477290&category=4668, 82$.
If you want a cheap slimline CD drive, get something like the Panasonic CR-1750, www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=58149, 16$, but don't forget to pick up a slimline IDE adapter, they're about 10$ anywhere you get it.
For a keyboard, I like the Zippy WK-610, it's tiny and fits nicely into the 4th gen glovebox, store.yahoo.com/buyxg/wk610u.html, 17$.
For a battery to allow the PC to still run while cranking, you're gonna need a small 12V lead-acid project battery, and a diode capable of withstanding ~80A counter-pressure. I found the diodes at radio shack, and the battery at fry's electronics. All told, about 20$, after buying wire and a switch and soldering it all together.
The last thing you're gonna need is gonna be a chassis of some sort to put this all in. I found an old Hyundai radio we had lying around and cannibalized it, but you're gonna have to find something to screw this all down to. The hyundai radio thing didn't have any of the mounting holes for either the mobo or the 4th gen radio unit, but hey, that's what they invented dremels for, last I checked. ;D
When you get all the parts, put em together and make sure they work.
Now, first step, take the motherboard, and mount it to the chassis. I lined the chassis with duct tape first to keep it from being conductive, because I was having problems with the mobo shorting out on the chassis and rebooting.
I recommend getting small rounded IDE cables. Fry's electronics sells some nice ones for like 10$ each. It's gonna make it way easier to route cables around the tiny little case you're trying to fit this all into.
Then, snap on the power supply, plug in the hard drive and cd-rom, duct tape the whole thing nicely in so it's all gonna fit in the stereo bay, and you're almost golden. I soldered a foot long extension so the power cord for the hard drive so that I could mount it down below near where the change tray is, because it wasn't gonna fit in the stereo bay. If you get a laptop HD (2.5"), it should fit in the stereo bay, but they're also more expensive, so I didn't do that.
You're gonna wanna buy things like momentary switches and lights and wires so that you can add power/hd lights and, more importantly, a power switch. Read the motherboard manual for which pins are the power switch and LEDs and things. It's all pretty straight forward, so I'm not gonna go over it here. If you can't figure this part out on your own, you probably didn't get this far anyway.
For getting power to it, splice the yellow and black wires in your stereo harness (the always-on +12V and ground,) and solder them to a N-type plug so that it'll go right into the power supply and be removable. If you decided to do the battery thing I described above, you should know how to do the circuit if you're even contemplating attempting that part. I'll consider doing a writeup on it if enough people request it.
Finally, open up your baby, get the stereo mounting thing out, and shove your pc into it.
Make sure everything works again! Boot it up and verify here. The worst thing is when you assume it works now, that nothing's shorting, and you reinstall it all in the car, and press the power button and nothing happens.
Installing stereos in 4th gens is such a delight, let me tell you.
In the end, you should be rewarded with sweetness.
You can see here how I mounted the GPS on the left side of the dash. I ran its wire through the dash so it's pretty un-gankable, given that it's a convertible. You could snip it and take it, sure, but that's not very likely, I think. It's kinda useless if you snip it.
Now, there's a few other mods you might wanna think about. For one, how to get new music to it after the install. Personally, I got a USB 802.11g wireless thingy that's sitting in my car. That's also pretty sweet, because I can get wireless internet on the go if I can find free hotspots. Alternately, you can stick a CAT5 cord into the LAN port and have it hiding in the back for you to pull out as you need it, and then just plug your car into a switch in the garage or something and copy stuff over that way. Or, worst case, burn shit to CD and put it in that way.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll modify it as I remember things. I did this like 2 months ago, so a bit of it's a bit hazy, and also I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, especially of the latter parts. Meh.
Required Parts needed:
| Monitor | Lilliput 619GL-70NP | 7" Touchscreen LCD w/VGA input | 205.147.44.194/store/commerce.cgi?product=a1&cart_id=2572901.16590 | 250$ |
| Motherboard | VIA EPIA-V10000A | 1GHz C3, All Integrated | www.essencompu.com/nupplysingar.asp?ID=5233 | 98$ |
| RAM | Generic Crap | 256MB, Random | www.pricegrabber.com/search_gen.php?form_keyword=256mb+pc133&topcat_id=1&manuf_sort=&form_page_id=c5 | 39$ |
| HD | 80GB WD Caviar | 7200RPM, 2MB Cache | www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=&sumit=Go&description=22%2D144%2D102&searchdepa=0 | 65$ |
| Power Supply | PW-60A | Mini-ITX Snap-In Power Supply | www.mini-box.com/pw-60a.htm | 46$ |
Something to keep in mind here is that I used a VIA EPIA-M10000 instead of the 10000V, because my friend had it lying around and sold it to me cheap. I'd suggest going that route if you have the extra 80$ or so, the stuff fits better around it. If you do this, get the EPIA-M10000, www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=810325/search=epia-m%2010000
, 152$, and the PW-80 power supply. The PW-80 also regulates power far better than the PW-60. I had a PW-70 blow out on me early on in the process. It doesn't like the wide voltages that a car battery provides. PW-80, www.carplayer.com/category.php?sid=05FC003010A076D5B56FF039ED28CC38&id=78637312, 58$. You'll also need to switch to DDR RAM, so I'd suggest this stuff, www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php?products_id=37, 60$.
If you want GPS, you should pick up a GPS like the Holux GM-210, cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5701477290&category=4668, 82$.
If you want a cheap slimline CD drive, get something like the Panasonic CR-1750, www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=58149, 16$, but don't forget to pick up a slimline IDE adapter, they're about 10$ anywhere you get it.
For a keyboard, I like the Zippy WK-610, it's tiny and fits nicely into the 4th gen glovebox, store.yahoo.com/buyxg/wk610u.html, 17$.
For a battery to allow the PC to still run while cranking, you're gonna need a small 12V lead-acid project battery, and a diode capable of withstanding ~80A counter-pressure. I found the diodes at radio shack, and the battery at fry's electronics. All told, about 20$, after buying wire and a switch and soldering it all together.
The last thing you're gonna need is gonna be a chassis of some sort to put this all in. I found an old Hyundai radio we had lying around and cannibalized it, but you're gonna have to find something to screw this all down to. The hyundai radio thing didn't have any of the mounting holes for either the mobo or the 4th gen radio unit, but hey, that's what they invented dremels for, last I checked. ;D
When you get all the parts, put em together and make sure they work.
Now, first step, take the motherboard, and mount it to the chassis. I lined the chassis with duct tape first to keep it from being conductive, because I was having problems with the mobo shorting out on the chassis and rebooting.
I recommend getting small rounded IDE cables. Fry's electronics sells some nice ones for like 10$ each. It's gonna make it way easier to route cables around the tiny little case you're trying to fit this all into.
Then, snap on the power supply, plug in the hard drive and cd-rom, duct tape the whole thing nicely in so it's all gonna fit in the stereo bay, and you're almost golden. I soldered a foot long extension so the power cord for the hard drive so that I could mount it down below near where the change tray is, because it wasn't gonna fit in the stereo bay. If you get a laptop HD (2.5"), it should fit in the stereo bay, but they're also more expensive, so I didn't do that.
You're gonna wanna buy things like momentary switches and lights and wires so that you can add power/hd lights and, more importantly, a power switch. Read the motherboard manual for which pins are the power switch and LEDs and things. It's all pretty straight forward, so I'm not gonna go over it here. If you can't figure this part out on your own, you probably didn't get this far anyway.
For getting power to it, splice the yellow and black wires in your stereo harness (the always-on +12V and ground,) and solder them to a N-type plug so that it'll go right into the power supply and be removable. If you decided to do the battery thing I described above, you should know how to do the circuit if you're even contemplating attempting that part.
I'll consider doing a writeup on it if enough people request it.Finally, open up your baby, get the stereo mounting thing out, and shove your pc into it.
Make sure everything works again! Boot it up and verify here. The worst thing is when you assume it works now, that nothing's shorting, and you reinstall it all in the car, and press the power button and nothing happens.
Installing stereos in 4th gens is such a delight, let me tell you.
In the end, you should be rewarded with sweetness.
You can see here how I mounted the GPS on the left side of the dash. I ran its wire through the dash so it's pretty un-gankable, given that it's a convertible. You could snip it and take it, sure, but that's not very likely, I think. It's kinda useless if you snip it.
Now, there's a few other mods you might wanna think about. For one, how to get new music to it after the install. Personally, I got a USB 802.11g wireless thingy that's sitting in my car. That's also pretty sweet, because I can get wireless internet on the go if I can find free hotspots.
Alternately, you can stick a CAT5 cord into the LAN port and have it hiding in the back for you to pull out as you need it, and then just plug your car into a switch in the garage or something and copy stuff over that way. Or, worst case, burn shit to CD and put it in that way. Okay, that's it for now. I'll modify it as I remember things. I did this like 2 months ago, so a bit of it's a bit hazy, and also I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, especially of the latter parts. Meh.
