I'm thinking about building a carPC

[Z-licious]

Anyone ever done something like this before and can offer some insight?

I can get a screen setup in my map pocket for $200+. I'll use my laptop with bluetooth and wifi. Now I have a few questions. How do I get the audio fed to the stereo? Would it be possible to still control my music from the steering wheel controls? I need to find some way to input the signals coming from the steering wheel into the computer. After that it's just a matter of mapping the signals to functions in media player which I should be able to figure out.

And here's a list of things I want to accomplish with my carPC:

Media player
Backup camera screen
GPS
Automatic bluetooth connection to my phone and input/output via car speakers and external mic
Mobile wifi
Realtime monitoring of car attributes (I.E. boost gauge, oil temperature, etc.)

And lastly something I think would be really cool is to put a camera in the front of my car and record everything that's happening in front of me. That way if I ever get into an accident I might have proof that "Yes, you were wrong, not me"

[mndsm]

You have aux port yes? Easiest way to get sound is to cheat and use that.

[Z-licious]

where is aux port? Behind the head unit?

[dmention7]

Easiest way to get audio to the stereo is to ditch the stock HU, use the PC as your signal processor and run the audio outs from your PC to an amp.

Keeping the integrated steering wheel controls would be a pain, but possible if you have the capability to capture, analyze, and process digital signals. I'm imagining a programmable chip that captures the signal from the steering wheel controls and converts it to a keyboard-esque output being your best bet in that regard.

[Z-licious]

Eh, I'm not ripping out the HU.

[dmention7]

So, basically, then you just want a laptop that outputs audio to the stock HU? lol... just run the headphone jack on the laptop to your aux-in then

[mazdamn02]

i have a sort of fail carpc by garmin, it does my satellite radio, navtraffic, nav, weather and all that crap, and i run the audio in to the back of my stock HU

[mndsm]

Aux-in if you have it would likely be in the center console bin. That's where it is on my car at least.

[Z-licious]

Car2PC adapter is better.

It emulates the radio buttons to be a keyboard, so you can have shortcut keys programmed. It also has the 1/8" Aux-In jack you're looking for.


Oooh!

[cosmicspd3]

i have a powerbook g4 that im going to use for a carpc. then a garmin for gps, 5inch lcd for the monitor although the touch screen ones seem nicer, but theres a airclick remote for wireless ff/rw etc. the video camera is a good idea. The "hardest" part is a good pc power supply and getting the pc to sleep or hibernate so it doesnt do a full boot/shutdown when you turn on/off your car.

[cosmicspd3]

http://www.mp3car.com/

they have awesome info on carpc stuff

[dmention7]

If you're using a laptop for your carPC, then the windows/BIOS power management options are probably going to be suitable for your needs. I.E. you have it plugged in via a power inverter that is wired to your accessory circuit, and then you have the full options to power down and hibernate based on the cutoff of external power.

[Z-licious]

If you're using a laptop for your carPC, then the windows/BIOS power management options are probably going to be suitable for your needs. I.E. you have it plugged in via a power inverter that is wired to your accessory circuit, and then you have the full options to power down and hibernate based on the cutoff of external power.

Yes, I was planning on using windows power management to sleep or hibernate 30 sec, or 1 min after power loss, but the tricky part how to get it to power back up as soon as power kicks in.

[micahlarson]

there are actual car pc's that you can use guys..... go look up mp3car

[micahlarson]

I've helped build one at work here is one of the sites that we used

http://www.mp3car.com/index.php/Getting-Started/Car-Computing-101.html