The CarPC / Carputer Thread

ghpk · 12th June 2010, 04:37

StreetAddict, Congrats Man....

how much did it cost ?
did you paid express shipping charge ?

StreetAddict · 12th June 2010, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghpk

StreetAddict, Congrats Man....

how much did it cost ?
did you paid express shipping charge ?

Thanks Bro,

Paid AU $52.99 for this. Shipping was free

eBay India: lenovo Mini 2.4GHZ PC TV Wireless Mouse Keyboard N5901 (item 270578417483 end time 12-Jul-2010 15:14:29 IST)

gigy · 4th July 2010, 08:01

Bought a new intel based board smaller standard microATX for 2k from asrock. the main point interested me is instant boot of 4 seconds. hope this works as promised.
fits into the existing case I have and pairing it with a E5400, 2.7ghz
ASRock - Instant Boot

link to motherboard
ASRock > Products > G31M-VS

Digital Vampire · 4th July 2010, 09:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

Bought a new intel based board smaller standard microATX for 2k from asrock. the main point interested me is instant boot of 4 seconds. hope this works as promised.
fits into the existing case I have and pairing it with a E5400, 2.7ghz

2K is a very good price for that Mobo though it is an older platform and should not matter at all from a CarPC use standpoint.

Did you buy it online or from a retail store?

On closer inspection, instant boot seems to have a continuous power drain of 1-3W which need to be looked into. This should not be a a major problem for cars used daily but storage for more duration may cause battery draining issues.

gigy · 4th July 2010, 18:57

Bought the motherboard from lamington road, mumbai. many of the shops have it.
Regarding power drain i think on long vacation for car, will put the master switch off. for normal days the psu should take care of not letting drain battery below 11v.

The hard disk is not able to cope with shock in skoda, didnt have a issue in baleno, may be i have to buy a ssd faster than intended.
least i found is 5.8 for 32gb locally or wait for friends from usa...

DerAlte · 4th July 2010, 19:16

Yes, SSDs are better bought in US or Far East. I got a 64GB for $110 at Fry's, may be cheaper online.

What symptoms is the HDD showing when you say not able to cope up with shock?

gigy · 4th July 2010, 19:38

PC freezes at the last playing song paused but the last tone keeps playing continuously.
Once it was all coloured dots on screen with no response to keyboard, mouse,touch screen in either cases
this is very disturbing since i have to shut down the car and wait for two minutes for psu to shut off. don't have a master switch, since i didn't get a switch matching the dashboard ones for octavia.

called for a rear window heater switch, will put it in the dummy slots when i get it.

nisarg86 · 5th July 2010, 02:02

That is one nice VFM board with awesome features. Post some Pics of your Skoda.

ghpk · 5th July 2010, 02:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

PC freezes at the last playing song paused but the last tone keeps playing continuously.
Once it was all coloured dots on screen with no response to keyboard, mouse,touch screen in either cases

Not necessarily a HDD performance issue.
it can be
a loose power cord
a loose connector on motherboard
a loose RAM too.

try cleaning and replacing the cables.
with dots on screen it doesn't appear to be a HDD issue alone.

Also if possible re-align or re-fit the HDD in a different position if above suggestions fails.

Digital Vampire · 5th July 2010, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghpk

Not necessarily a HDD performance issue.

I agree.

A few years back, my team has done some intense vibration testing on 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD's (Seagate enterprise versions) and surprisingly the weakest link was not the HDD internals but the SATA Data/Power connector on the HDD. Even though our final application had a tuned floating HDD suspension mechanism, a 2.5" HDD mounted to the carPC chassis with rubber grommets should survive the Indian road conditions just fine for at least 2 years unless you plan to put it into some rally courses.

DerAlte · 5th July 2010, 10:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

PC freezes at the last playing song ...
Once it was all coloured dots on screen with no response to keyboard ... i have to shut down the car and wait for two minutes ...

Nah, it doesn't sound like HDD malfunction, more like a loose contact on/to the MB or even faulty RAM. HDD malfunction, all other things remaining healthy, will cause intermittence (chhik-chhik sound while playing a song) due to buffer underflow. Try removing and putting back anything that has a connector or is mounted on a connector.

On a malfunction, try rolling down and then closing the windows

Just joking - I remembered the famous joke about what will happen to cars if Windows was the OS in ECUs.

gigy · 5th July 2010, 12:53

Will post pictures soon. its still the old board in operation. will change setup.
colour dots are due display source problem on motherboard i think. ram is tight fit. power supply is proper. sata cable could be getting loose at either ends. power cable to hard disk could be problem
hard disk is not shock mounted as of now. will have to change the cabinet to a fatter one to keep its spin plane horizontal.
will apply rtv on connections.

the lcd mounting in dashboard is not completely done. i didnt get a suitable dash trim.

DerAlte · 5th July 2010, 19:59

The RAM, though fitting tightly, must be at fault. See if you can replace the RAM board to check.

If you really suspect the HDD, you could try an alternate arrangement with a quick-fix shock mount. Take the HDD out of the cabinet. Double pack some polyester granules (that are used for house plant for water retention; come in various colors) soaked in water, in 2 zip-lock sandwich bags one inside the other (to prevent water leakage). Wrap this below the HDD and tape it to the cabinet outside. Try this with some rough road driving to rule out shocks affecting HDD.

gigy · 5th July 2010, 22:16

the new board is setup now. instant boot actually works. it takes three second to boot fully. as of now have loaded the drivers only.
the pc restarts and then shuts down when instant boot is active.
have used different ram chips and hard disk.

gigy · 6th July 2010, 13:37

All expect one problem is solved. no more shutdowns with new motherboard/cpu/ram/harddisk.
touch screen is not working due faulty extension cable. its all laid down and have to open up the whole routing.

12th June 2010, 04:37	#661
ghpk BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ghaziabad Posts: 872 Thanked: 212 Times	StreetAddict, Congrats Man.... how much did it cost ? did you paid express shipping charge ? Last edited by ghpk : 12th June 2010 at 04:39.
	() Thanks

4th July 2010, 08:01	#663
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Bought a new intel based board smaller standard microATX for 2k from asrock. the main point interested me is instant boot of 4 seconds. hope this works as promised. fits into the existing case I have and pairing it with a E5400, 2.7ghz ASRock - Instant Boot link to motherboard ASRock > Products > G31M-VS Attached Thumbnails Last edited by gigy : 4th July 2010 at 08:02.
	() Thanks

4th July 2010, 18:57	#665
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Bought the motherboard from lamington road, mumbai. many of the shops have it. Regarding power drain i think on long vacation for car, will put the master switch off. for normal days the psu should take care of not letting drain battery below 11v. The hard disk is not able to cope with shock in skoda, didnt have a issue in baleno, may be i have to buy a ssd faster than intended. least i found is 5.8 for 32gb locally or wait for friends from usa...
	() Thanks

4th July 2010, 19:16	#666
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,035 Thanked: 2,920 Times	Yes, SSDs are better bought in US or Far East. I got a 64GB for $110 at Fry's, may be cheaper online. What symptoms is the HDD showing when you say not able to cope up with shock?
	() Thanks

4th July 2010, 19:38	#667
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	PC freezes at the last playing song paused but the last tone keeps playing continuously. Once it was all coloured dots on screen with no response to keyboard, mouse,touch screen in either cases this is very disturbing since i have to shut down the car and wait for two minutes for psu to shut off. don't have a master switch, since i didn't get a switch matching the dashboard ones for octavia. called for a rear window heater switch, will put it in the dummy slots when i get it.
	() Thanks

5th July 2010, 02:02	#668
nisarg86 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 392 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	That is one nice VFM board with awesome features. Post some Pics of your Skoda.
	() Thanks

5th July 2010, 12:53	#672
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Will post pictures soon. its still the old board in operation. will change setup. colour dots are due display source problem on motherboard i think. ram is tight fit. power supply is proper. sata cable could be getting loose at either ends. power cable to hard disk could be problem hard disk is not shock mounted as of now. will have to change the cabinet to a fatter one to keep its spin plane horizontal. will apply rtv on connections. the lcd mounting in dashboard is not completely done. i didnt get a suitable dash trim.
	() Thanks

5th July 2010, 19:59	#673
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,035 Thanked: 2,920 Times	The RAM, though fitting tightly, must be at fault. See if you can replace the RAM board to check. If you really suspect the HDD, you could try an alternate arrangement with a quick-fix shock mount. Take the HDD out of the cabinet. Double pack some polyester granules (that are used for house plant for water retention; come in various colors) soaked in water, in 2 zip-lock sandwich bags one inside the other (to prevent water leakage). Wrap this below the HDD and tape it to the cabinet outside. Try this with some rough road driving to rule out shocks affecting HDD.
	() Thanks

5th July 2010, 22:16	#674
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	the new board is setup now. instant boot actually works. it takes three second to boot fully. as of now have loaded the drivers only. the pc restarts and then shuts down when instant boot is active. have used different ram chips and hard disk. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by gigy : 5th July 2010 at 22:18.
	() Thanks

6th July 2010, 13:37	#675
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	All expect one problem is solved. no more shutdowns with new motherboard/cpu/ram/harddisk. touch screen is not working due faulty extension cable. its all laid down and have to open up the whole routing.
	() Thanks