EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

it looks nice man... real nice

warrenb213

emp, when u gonna join us? :-P

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

never man... all i wanted a carpc or carputer as i'm more used to calling them was to play videos. i have no use for the rest of it. with my kenwood i have everything i need, dvd-audio, 5.1, video playback via ipod (i have a 160g) and possible garmin navi if i ever decide i want it

jsscooby

looks nice

Maetrix

Emp, you don't get tired of staring at the same UI on the Kenwood, day in, day out?

I'm just giving you a hard time. The unit you have, along with the Avic, are nice
HU's. I can't fault someone for going that route.

Of course, soon enough I might be posting from my car via a tethered cell phone, having my email read back to me as I keep my eyes on the road, lol.

I just tried Centrafuse in my car, and it picked up my cell phone first shot and displays the signal level on the screen, pops up caller ID info, etc. I know that most of the touchscreen headunits can do this, but the fact that I finally found a software package that does it on the first try is awesome.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

nope its a nice ass ui. plus has a few different animated skins. if anything id simplify it because it has more features then i really "need/want"

Maetrix

Did not know that it had different skins. You learn something new every day.

Like I said, It looks like a nice unit. A good substitute for a CarPC if you don't need/want some features.

I can't get over how impressed I am with Centrafuse, though.

It even (crosses fingers, knowcks on wood) seems to have straightened out my
power supply issues by tweaking how windows handles shutdown requests.

The carPC had been restarted at every key cycle (startup or shutdown) but now it seems to be working as it should, even though I haven't set it as my shell yet. (still running demo)

Maetrix

Found a pic of the screen that I am using.

The only thing that I don't like about it is the native resolution (640x480)

But it's not a big deal with Centrafuse, I just can't install the video chipset drivers from Intel because they force at least a 800x600 resolution.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

that add makes it look worse then it probably is. i hate how marketing normally ***** a bunch of **** up for me personally

glad to hear u got the ps thing figured out. hopefully its for good even out of demo

warrenb213

haha glad centrafuse could help.

bahhhhh what sucks is that i still have my 2.4 mani in the closet, and if i decide to go up to washington for my dyno tune, i'll be runnin low on dough. may just have to wait unless i wanna put it on credit.

i feel ya emp, but i have a feeling he'll be just fine in this case.

glad centrafuse could help mae.

i put myself in a bad spot lol. i got all my carpc stuff, AWESOME right? but now i remember my 2.4 mani is sitting in my closet needing install and retune(i got trifecta already, so kinda a must lol). i only do dyno retunes and trifecta is deep washington, bleehhhhh lol. guess i'll just hold off on the mani for a bit longer. lol

Maetrix

This power supply thing is beginning to **** me off. It will work fine for a day, then
start back up again. I wiggle the wires, it works fine for 3 key cycles, then starts up again.

I'm going to gut the thing this weekend and find out what is causing the issue.

Hopefully I don't have to buy another PS.

SS33

Hope you can get the power supply issue resolved man, that thing is beautiful.

Any chance it's a ground issue? I know I've had some odd ground related problems with my humble ICE set-up (Innovate LC-1/XD-16 WB, Pioneer AVIC-D2/Backup cam/Sirius tuner/PAC SWC, Aeroforce Interceptor) The Cobalts electrical system seems to be really picky about grounding

Maetrix

It's possible. If it is a grounding issue I think it would be at the plug on the back of the
PC or internally on the PS.

I ran a 14ga wire from the plug on the back of the PC to a ring that
I mounted to the chassis grounding point (where the negative battery cable hooks to body.

The problem is that I have to remove the PC and haul out the multimeter, etc to really pin down what could be causing it. I have a couple of possibilities.

1. BIOS issue (power on resume issue)
2. Remote turn on issue (are the wipers tied into the RKO circuit?)
3. Power supply loose connection somewhere.
4. power supply improperly jumpered (or jumper fell off)
5. Power supply is shorted internally.

I'll get it figured out, even if I have to buy a new power supply or rig it to
run off from a push button switch on dash.

This thing has begun to **** me off, but I WILL get it fixed. I don't care what it takes.

There are other people who have had similar problems that have either replaced their PS or found the solution without posting said solution in forums. I'll post it here when I get it figured out. I emailed mini-box support last week and haven't heard back from them yet. Hopefully they can help narrow down the possibilities.

Maetrix

On a whim (okay, I researched the **** out of this the last few days)

I left the car running, reached over and ripped off the fuse panel cover in one motion(can you tell this has been annoying me?), and unplugged the windsheild wiper fuse (AKA my remote turn on lead for the carputer) and waited.

The computer waited five seconds, THEN SHUTDOWN LIKE IT IS FRIGGIN SUPPOSED TO!!

So, in my post above(I checked the BIOS and windows for settings, changed what I thought might help (resume on power, etc.) and went to step two, which was.

2. Remote turn on issue (are the wipers tied into the RKO circuit?)

The wipers are not wired to the RKO circuit, and I knew that when I posted it, (WTF=ME)but I think that if I tie it into it now, it will give me the shofter shutoff that I need to make it work properly.

I think that the Ignition ciruit on this channel is flickering power along this channel when the key comes back to off. This wouldn't affect the wipers (they're wipers, not very sophisticated), or the radio/PW (they are on the RKO or GMLAN circuit, and stay lit until the door is opened), but it must be enough to give the shutdown controller the impression that the key has come back on.

SO....

Where is the best place to tap into the RKO circuit?

That Power window Fuse looks like it would be a beeyatch to tap.

(UPDATE)

So I braved the torrential downpour to test out my theory.

I removed the tap from the windsheild wiper fuse, and inserted it into the
sunroof fuse, which runs on the RKO (again, Run with Key Off) circuit and tried it.

PERFECT!!

It starts up fine, boots to windows, and when I shut the key off, it stays on until I open the DS door (or would time out in 60 secs like the radio/PW/SR), at which time it counts to 5 and then initiates a shutdown.

warrenb213-I am assuming that you are buying a M4-ATX power supply. Just a heads up that this might effect you too, I have to assume that the M4 has the same or similar shutdown controller to the M2.

warrenb213

I'm just thinking about why exactly the wiper fuse wouldn't work.

It's just odd is all, which leads me to this question. Did you have your amp equipment etc using that same remote wire from the wiper? I'm wondering if it had something to do with the load you were putting on the circuit.

So you tapped into the sunroof fuse...hmmm, i wonder if my sunroof portion of the fuse box works even though I don't have a sunroof lol.

Maetrix

Yeah, the sunroof fuse socket still has power even if you don't have a sunroof.

And electrically, except for my carpc, my car is stock (Pioneer stock system), I have nothing else spliced in, just the ground for the CarPC(hooked to negative body mount)the power lead(hooked to the positive battery terminal) and the remote turn on lead.

The only thing that I can think of is that the ignition switch doesn't shut off "cleanly", meaning that it flickers a little when the key is turned back to the off position. The Shutdown controller thinks that it is trying to start again, and starts the booting again.
Other than that, I don't know why it would restart every time I cycle the key, shutting car off or turning car on.

Who knows with logic controllers.

It could just be that my ignition is worn, but I've seen a ton of similar complaints on the internet, so it could be the root cause of alot of mischief.

warrenb213

any way u could provide me a pic where u spliced in for your current RKO fix?

Maetrix

Sure, but there's a diagram on the backside of the fuse door on the PS
of the console.

I think it's fuse #20.

I can shoot a picture of it and get it uploaded.

SS33

Glad you got it figured out,,, we need moar picz

My AVIC is not worthy, lol

Consider me jealous

Maetrix

It's just to the left of the pink square fuse (30A) just above the large red plug in the fuse panel, underneath the white tag (not my pic).

Let me know how many times you flip the fuse panel cover around until you can make out which side is up.

The Avic is a nice HU, you have nothing to be ashamed of, LOL


I just found the damn AC adapter to my wifes Digicam, so I'll get some more pics up soon.

SS33

I want moar picz of your rig installed and runnin some cool shish, lol

Maetrix

lol
k, I'll get some soon.

I might throw up a youtube clip.

warrenb213

jesus i totally should have known what you were talkin about mae, now i just feel.....noobish. lol

SS33

YEASSSSSS

Waits patiently for vids

I <3 CarPC

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

the only thing i can think of is possibly the rap feature is cweck on the whiper fuse. Iv had the darndest times with cobalts and the wiper fuse. some times its acc some times its ign and sometimes its acc with rap.

but ive had much better luck with the sunroof always being acc/rap, but again its like 3/4 have power and the rest dont. model and year dont seem to effect anything either. its like they couldn't make up their mind so just said **** it we will make both randomly and see who it ***** up