Auto Technology

Did a search here and on google, and couldn't find what I was looking for, Putting a new setup in my present vehicle, the computer is going to be used basically for navigation, traffic, weather etc, and my present headunit, a pioneer unit for music, would like to use FB to mute the headunit thru the phone wire which just completes a ground, when the nav. speaks directions. Garmin Mobile PC. I thing I can use a input from the speaker to the FB and have it trigger a relay to ground the phone wire on the headunit. but not very good with programing, so kinda of lost on that, or am am lost all the way around with my idea. Any help or ideas would be great.

I've been using a TNetpc-Ion form NEC for an HTPC for a few months. I have since upgraded and want to use the NEC for a car PC. It's a Zotac 1.6 GHz dual core Atom with 2 gig of ram and a 200gb hard drive. My problem is it has an external 110 volt power supply that outputs 19 volts to a barrel connector that plugs into the PC case. The female barrel connecter goes straight to the mobo. I do see where I think I could solder in the power header. I want to use this because, firstly, I already have it, it is capable, it's fan-less, it has all the USB, HDMI, eSATA, and every other port I will need, the case is small and has predrilled and tapped holes for mounting brackets. It's seemingly perfect except for the power supply. I haven't removed the mobo from the case to see what's on the bottom yet. I might do that after I finish this post. I don't see any numbers from the manufacturer or anything on this top side. If I can't solder on the power header, I was hoping I could use the power switch header for signal from the key switch, or some other header that may work. There is one next to the power switch header labeled RST SW, anyone know what that is for?

1/ I have this supplementary amp: http://store.mp3car.com/TDA7850_Inte..._p/com-140.htm What would happen if I sent it 5v? Would it operate at a reduced wattage or not at all? 2/ How much does a soundcard or external USB sound device really affect the quality of music in the car? Or is it the particular audio drivers that affect the sound? I'm getting that light static/garbled/electric sound(hope that makes sense). It kind of goes away after its been playing for a while, but I'm wondering if an external small USB soundcard/device would correct that.

A group of Kansas City high school students and their mentors have electrified a Karmann Ghia, modifying it so that it will only run when it gets mentioned in social media. If that sounds like a publicity stunt, that's because ...

Yesterday I converted all of my development to Visual Studio Express 2012 and changed to .Net 4.5 (from 3.5), all in preparation for some new work. I changed the .Net target on all of my RR code (8 plugins and 15 applications) to .Net 4.5 and recompiled. Everything worked from first time I ran Riderunner except for 2 plugins. Both of them simply don't start but the other plugins do. There are no debug.txt messages except as follows (which I expected) and neither of their log file contain anything. Code: 10:32:53.203: Plugin Manager: Plugin Found: RRMyPI(.NET) 10:32:53.203: Plugin Manager: Plugin loaded (Global): RRMyPI I have re-registered both, checked structure of the code, and insured they build with no error. The plugins have basically the same structure as another one that works and I can see no obvious difference. Anyone have any thoughts? Regards, Jim

I've got a problem. I have a mac mini with carnetix p1900 and xenarc 700tsv. Running Windows 98. During wide open throttle pulls, I will get the memory dump (blue screen). It will show that screen then take 10 minutes to complete restart. It is only during hard WOT pulls at 8-9k rpm. I am not sure how to diagnose the cause. The mac mini is behind the dash so maybe it is getting too hot? Not sure, but if that were the case I would guess it wouldn't start right back up. Some have said the power supply may be bad too. Could it be getting too much voltage/not enough voltage? Any advice on where to start? Thanks!

Birthdays call for celebrations. And when you hit 100 years, you deserves something special. That's exactly what Aston Martin created to commemorate its centenary with the CC100 Speedster.

I was adding a couple picviewer skins to my system and discovered RR hangs when starting. When it gets to the "Starting Speech" message on the loader screen RR hangs. Looking at task manager shows it as not responding. I didn't change anything other than adding a couple .skin files. I reran the RR setup and nothing changed. Anyone have any ideas? Are there any logs written as RR starts showing what it's doing? The system has been working for the last year or so without any major issues (that weren't somewhat easy to fix) My setup is: Intel d510mo TinyXP RR 4/1/2013 Tried it in Carwings Thanks, davidk

Chaps. Firstly, please forgive my COMPLETE lack of knowledge about car PC's and bear with me. I have a 2005 Saab 9-3. The audio system is a real P.I.T.A as its fibre optic and so integrated that replacing anything is a nightmare. My CD player (separate unit to head unit) has gone the way so many of Saabs CD players have gone and is not playing or ejecting. I wanted to try and rip the guts out and fit in something like a rasberry Pi with HDD/flash drive full of tracks (I dont mind if they are CDA format if need be). My questions really is can i do this? Can i replace the CD mechanism with a PC or HDD with music on so that the head unit will still think its a CD? Bear in mind its fibre optic fed? Am i being too optimistic? I have found saablin.net but this only works with the older style 9-3 (T7) whereas mine is T8.

The Asus Vivotab, like many new tablets, has a built-in GNSS chip for precise location information. The Windows location API uses this for detailed position data. Unfortunately, most desktop navigation and mapping programs (Streets and Trips for example) can't use the windows location platform. They need a "real" GPS with a comport. Centrafuse Localizer solves this problem. It creates a virtual comport and translate the location platform data provided by the GNSS chip into standard NMEA 0183 protocol strings and sends them out the port to any program that needs it. You can check it out for yourself with a free, fully functional 30-day trial. http://www.centrafuse.com Needless to say, I'm running Centrafuse on my VivoTab with integrated Sygic Fleet navigation and it works great. Check it out! VegasGUy