Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

synthead · 2008-12-15 22:08:45

That's what I'm talkin about! I love the setup! Do you like that Lilliput screen? I'm thinking about getting the same one.

sand_man · 2008-12-15 22:17:10

This is really making me want to try it now

dinux · 2008-12-16 13:30:17

synthead wrote:

Do you like that Lilliput screen?

Yes. Good picture in direct sun light, but in dark is to bright (with lower brightnes), so i thinking about, if this is posible, software brightnes control.
Me using black GTK theme. Resolution 1024x768
Very good page about car computers http://www.mp3car.com

Bralkein · 2008-12-17 18:44:00

Regarding software brightness control, for some LCD devices there is a /proc file which can be used to easily control brightness. On my laptop:

[jack@Jackington ~]$ cat /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCDD/brightness
levels:  15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
current: 13

And changing the brightness is as simple as writing a number to the file, eg

[jack@Jackington ~]# echo 7 > /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCDD/brightness

And then the brightness changes instantly. I think the exact filename in /proc is different for different devices, but have a look and see what you can find. I'm not sure how common this option is, or if it's only available on laptops or whatever, but it's worth giving it a try.

Obviously this would be very easy to tie into a button action or whatever.

Last edited by Bralkein (2008-12-17 18:47:40)

thisllub · 2008-12-18 03:43:08

I would consider mpd and a web client.
If you have wifi on the mobo you can use the browser on your phone to control things.
As they are open source it wouldn't take much to customise an interface specifically for the task.
That would be very nice.

connexion2000 · 2008-12-20 22:17:32

Men, I have to say that. THIS IS MAD!!!
I always wanted something like that. I will definitely do it, but firstly, I have to buy a car

Themaister · 2008-12-25 03:07:49

Hahah, awesome Me an a friend are going to put together a media PC in a party van being controlled by a Wiimote *I convinced him to run Arch on it :3* This is interesting indeed.

rson451 · 2008-12-25 14:43:21

Hahah, awesome smile Me an a friend are going to put together a media PC in a party van being controlled by a Wiimote big_smile *I convinced him to run Arch on it :3* This is interesting indeed.

What are you going to use to interface with the wiimote? A guy I know from college wrote a C api to interface with it called wiiuse if you are thinking of writing your own app.

dinux · 2009-01-12 15:01:25

Bralkein wrote:

Regarding software brightness control, for some LCD devices there is a /proc file which can be used to easily control brightness. On my laptop:
[jack@Jackington ~]$ cat /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCDD/brightness
levels:  15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
current: 13

Thanks for idea, but there is no /proc/acpi/vido or something like this.
I thing, me need create software layer with alpha chanel on screen

[mazda@mazda acpi]$ pwd      
/proc/acpi
[mazda@mazda acpi]$ ls
ac_adapter  dsdt                 fadt  power_resource  thermal_zone
battery     embedded_controller  fan   processor       wakeup
button      event                info  sleep

FaN_OnLy1 · 2009-01-20 18:26:22

Me and a friend are probably going to do the same thing, but i was thinking about using the HILDON desktop instead of matchbox, but hildon is only partially/working on debian and i don't know if i could port the thing to arch , i just don't want to use something else than archlinux D: on such a comp, Our setup will probably be the same MB as yours , an OCZ Core series v2 30gb SSD drive , some cheap bluetooth dongle, and either a DIY GPS or a manufactured one.

i will chop down the kernel alot and tweak arch to boot in less than 10 sec if i can

Last edited by FaN_OnLy1 (2009-01-20 18:27:25)

Themaister · 2009-01-25 17:25:09

rson451 wrote:

Hahah, awesome smile Me an a friend are going to put together a media PC in a party van being controlled by a Wiimote big_smile *I convinced him to run Arch on it :3* This is interesting indeed.
What are you going to use to interface with the wiimote? A guy I know from college wrote a C api to interface with it called wiiuse if you are thinking of writing your own app.

The simplest solution is for us without programming stuff, openbox (for keybindings to commands. we're going to have a screen in the car for some video etc, so X is needed anyways ) + cwiid + mpd + scripts. Works pretty well.

thisperishedmin · 2009-01-26 19:20:32

I'm curious on your plans for mounting and powering...as well as a total cost breakdown lol. What is the smallest power supply and case you can match with that motherboard?

I'd almost be tempted to do the same thing if i had a car worth doing this to lol. I'm imagining it could potentially fit under a passenger seat with a small enough case, if not a custom case...

How do you plan to move music on to it? Wifi? pull out serial SSD with easy access? USB stick?

Looking forward to seeing your progress, but espeically interested in how you integrate it with the cars electronic system to keep from draining your battery or stressing the alternator...

so many awesome things going on in a project like this, from hardware to software to the vehicle aspect...I'm intrigued! haha

good luck!

thisllub · 2009-01-28 20:16:30

I assume you have seen this
http://www.geekmyride.org

FaN_OnLy1 · 2009-01-29 15:34:31

So, i guess its useless to create another thread so i'm going to post our progress here (if thats ok with the author of the thread);

So far what i bought is :

The motherboard :

Intel® Desktop Board D945GCLF2 With Integrated Intel® Atom™ Processor

Got it for around $100 w/o shipping

The SSD drive:
OCZ Solid Series SATA II 2.5" SSD

75€ including shipping, 30gb

And some Kingston DDR2 ram

We're going to buy a gps listed here :
http://www.linux-gps.org/index.php5?title=Main_Page

The next thing we are going to buy is the case, mini-itx, from here :
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=3#p1182

We will also put a bluetooth dongle in the case, connected directly to an internal usb hub or something like that;like what this guy did on his eeepc

So, that is for the hardware part, the software interface will possibly be openbox with a "tabbed" setup and a bar on the left, something like the maemo platform, handmade, and matchbox's visual keyboard or preferably an AZERTY virtual keyboard.

Cheers.

jelly · 2009-01-29 16:57:06

wauw, that motherboard is tiny:) Are you going to buy a touch screen too?

FaN_OnLy1 · 2009-01-29 21:28:54

Yes, maybe a liliput one, but i doubt about the compatibility with linux. ;/

andi0414 · 2009-01-30 20:11:50

I have a little question to dinux (or anyone else who can answer this): How did you get your touchscreen working?

I have a lilliput touchscreen myself and for two days I'm trying to get the touch functionality working but until now without any success. Everything I found in the internet is about a touchkitusb driver but since kernel 2.6.2* this driver is replaced by usbtouchscreen.

Anyway, at the moment I have the following in my xorg.conf:

Section "Files"
  ...
  InputDevices "/dev/input/event7"
  ...
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "touchscreen"
    Driver "evtouch"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/event7"
    Option "DeviceName" "touchscreen"
    Option "MinX" "0"
    Option "MinY" "0"
    Option "MaxX" "2000"
    Option "MaxY" "2000"
    Option "ReportingMode" "Raw"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
    Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
    Option "SendCoreEvents" "On"
    Option "Calibrate" "1"    # used for calibration
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
  ...
  InputDevice "touchscreen" "CorePointer"
  ...
EndSection

I followed this german guide: http://www.cartft.com/support/drivers/TFT/Linux_HowTo
The guy there used touchkitusb but I hoped it would also work with usbtouchscreen

As wanted in the guide, the evdev module is working as well as the usbtouchscreen module

My Problem now is that I'm trying to execute the calibrate.sh from the evtouch package (version 0.8.8 from http://www.conan.de/touchscreen/evtouch.html -> I tried the guide here es well) and what I get is:

/usr/bin/Xdialog: Error initializing the GUI...
Do you run under X11 with GTK+ v1.2.0+ installed ?

And yes my pc runs under X11 and yes the newest gtk is installed.

Maybe something about the system: The touchscreen is for testing purposes connected to a desktop system with Archlinux and LXDE. It's planned to be built into a car later. (After I know how get everything working, hopefully).

So thanks in advice for helping

Last edited by andi0414 (2009-01-30 21:55:34)

andi0414 · 2009-01-30 21:01:26

accidently I just now found out, that the touchscreen is working

But there is still the calibration problem as touch events are only detected on a small area near the middle of the screen.

So, if someone knows a solution please post it

Once this thing is running, I will post the complete process of configuring this touchscreen if there is some interest.

Edit:
I also found out that this 'touchable' area seems to be connected to the location of my real mouse. I can only access the area which is in the same line with my mouse pointer. And if I do so, the action is directed to the exact position of the mouse pointer.

Edit 2:
I successfully disconnected the touchscreen from my mouse by changing mouse driver from standard to evdev and from /dev/input/mice to /dev/input/event6. Now I there is no touch event from the touchscreen again.

Edit 3:
Forget my posts. I just found the this tiny driver-cd hidden between the board that fixes the screen in the box. Well, so much about looking and seeing.
I test the rest tomorrow.

But may be a good message for FaN_OnLy1. There is a cd with linux drivers.

Last edited by andi0414 (2009-01-31 16:44:56)

dinux · 2009-02-02 08:56:28

My config (just for info)

[mazda@mazda ~]$ X -version
X.Org X Server 1.4.2
Release Date: 11 June 2008

No hotplugin

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice "dummy0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "EETI" "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

<..>

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "dummy0"
    Driver "void"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "EETI"
    Driver    "egalax"    
    Option    "Parameters"    "/var/lib/egalax.cal"
    Option    "ScreenNo"    "0"
EndSection

I think me using this driver http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=18766
For touchscreen calibration me using TouchKit command (comes with driver package).

thisperishedmin · 2009-02-06 15:11:43

Very interesting stuff...how much did the touchscreen cost you? (Sorry if that was mentioned and I managed to miss it despite reading through two times...)

Any progress / decision making as far as implementing it in your car?

dinux · 2009-02-06 18:07:12

Touchscreen Lilliput 7" about 88 UK pounds. In this moment about 128 USA dollars + shipping to Lithuania
Motherboard + 1Gb Ram, 80 Lithuanian Litas. In this moment about 30 USA dollars. (the motherboard and Ram i've bought was second-hand)
Power supplay don't remember. In this moment it cost 89,95 USA dollars
Hdd from old laptop.
Other things is home made.

LCD is doubledin size, so i plan it mount where now is my cd/mp3 player.
In this moment on this pc i run Viking GPS (old version, because in new versions google support whas removed) and dowloading google maps titles. Now i have ~95% of titles in all levels. Lithuania is not so big contry It's about 2Gb in millions png files
One more thing, need to write script/tool for audio/video/map titles import from usbstick.
Other software/hardware things are done.

Now in Lithuania is -14C outside, so i waiting for better weather conditions, then i mount all stuff in my car. I post all pictures when i done.

PS: sorry for my very bad english knowledge.

thisperishedmin · 2009-02-06 19:52:56

dinux, no problem... your English was not perfect but I understood everything just fine! In fact, I've read things typed by native English speakers that was MUCH harder to understand haha. Thank you for the info.

I look forward to seeing some pictures and hearing how you integrated it with the car to avoid draining your battery. My worry with doing the same project would be the heat. While it can be as cold as about 10 degrees F (probably about -5C), it also gets to be over 90f and 80% humidity during the summer. The heat worries me with taking on a project like this.

My new car has what appears to be a double din or 1.5 din mount, so I may consider this down the road. Really looking forward to seeing your results though!

good luck!

sinister99 · 2009-02-07 16:25:03

I had a carpc for 2 years, and here are a couple words of wisdom:

If you are using a regular (non-ssd) hard drive, mount it upside down. Right-side-up + big bumps = head hits platter.

Look at Auzentech for soundcards. IMHO, they make the best quality stuff, it was worlds beyond my previous head unit and onboard sound.

I used windows, so I don't know about frontends on linux, but get a frontend of some sort. Make sure you can adjust the volume from any screen without looking at it. Same for mute, next track, etc.

windtalker · 2009-02-07 17:41:13

I've been following the post and recall the asking of what to use.
I use Alsa and XMMS on my desktop.
I just proved to myself it does rather well.
I have neighbors who like to play their "music" at high decibals from their vehicle.
The thumping literally rattles my windows in my house.
I got a bit peeved today and cranked my pc up.
Song of the South by Alabama was more than loud enough the neighbors with the loud music were looking at my house and finally turned their own music down a tad.
Had to turn mine down though, my ears were starting to bleed.

andi0414 · 2009-02-08 14:41:41

Thanx dinux, it really helped me.

Well, some things to mention:
I couldn't use the package, as something was broken (checksum failure)
I used the driver from this website: http://www.touchkit.com/LinuxDriver.htm
The driver for xorg 1.4 is the right one. Has a little install script, but you have to check your xorg.conf afterwards. If it contains a lot of explanations, the script puts in more then one InputDevice line in the ServerLayout section.

btw, I've got mine for about 200 US dollars (plus shipping (US import to Germany) + taxes). All together 240 euros (about 290 to 300 US dollars?). But totally worth it

Arch Linux

#26 2008-12-15 22:08:45

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#27 2008-12-15 22:17:10

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#28 2008-12-16 13:30:17

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#29 2008-12-17 18:44:00

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#30 2008-12-18 03:43:08

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#31 2008-12-20 22:17:32

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#32 2008-12-25 03:07:49

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#33 2008-12-25 14:43:21

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#34 2009-01-12 15:01:25

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#35 2009-01-20 18:26:22

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#36 2009-01-25 17:25:09

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#37 2009-01-26 19:20:32

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#38 2009-01-28 20:16:30

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#39 2009-01-29 15:34:31

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#40 2009-01-29 16:57:06

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#41 2009-01-29 21:28:54

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#42 2009-01-30 20:11:50

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#43 2009-01-30 21:01:26

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#44 2009-02-02 08:56:28

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#45 2009-02-06 15:11:43

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#46 2009-02-06 18:07:12

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#47 2009-02-06 19:52:56

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#48 2009-02-07 16:25:03

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#49 2009-02-07 17:41:13

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

#50 2009-02-08 14:41:41

Re: Going to install a PC with Arch in my car!

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