| Kustom Car PC Setup / Installation
by Graeme Clark
Hello, and welcome to the Kustom CarPC guide. Although some time ago we hinted
at ‘ready to go’ CarPC systems, for the moment we are favouring a DIY approach –
Kustom are now offering a range of hardware and this following software
installation guide to allow keen early-adopters to take advantage of a CarPC
system right away.
Essentially, a PC in the car can allow the following :
- GPS Satellite Navigation
- Video and DVD Playback
- Large amounts of audio storage / playback /
playlist support
- 3G or Wifi Internet access (for weather
information, email, web)
- OBDII Link for Engine information
- Reverse Cameras
A PC based system allows for greater flexibility
than any off-the-shelf product, for instance with all map information being
stored on the hard disk, support for building audio playlists and having video
content already stored on the system. This allows for a fast and slick way of
browsing media, and internet use also opens up a lot of useful possibilities.
The following items are required to complete a CarPC system, and can be sourced
through our CarPC
shop section :
The Kustom CarPC chassis are designed to be
compact, quiet and easily installed into a vehicle. By using an Intel Pentium M
based processor, power consumption is kept low but performance is significantly
faster than Via Epia motherboards more commonly used for car installations. The
unit supports the inclusion of a laptop form factor CD drive and hard disk, so
storage capacity of up to 160Gb is possible. All of our chassis include cabling
for installing in the car, and an additional mains adapter to allow the system
to be configured ‘indoors’ before installing in the car.
We currently offer a selection of screens suited for various installation types,
and these are covered in more detail in the installation section of the article.
A suitable screen should have a VGA input and touchscreen support, and you may
want to consider if the screen includes an amplifier.
GPS adapters can either be used in a wired USB format or via a Bluetooth USB
dongle and Bluetooth GPS device for the sake of saving on an extra cable to
locate, and also freeing up a USB port since one port will provide both
Bluetooth access for phone and GPS rather than an additional port being
required.
3G Adapters are typically provided as a bundle
with specific mobile phone contracts, and although intended for laptop use, can
be adapted for use with a PC by using a USB to CardBus adapter.
We trialled numerous CarPC front-ends and settled on
Centrafuse as being our preferred
choice. Shortly, the full release of this product will be available for sale
from Kustom PCs, but for now a free download is available of the release
candidate software (eg nearly completed). Three versions will be available - SE
(standard), XE (includes phone integration) and XLE (Includes phone and GPS
Support, supplied with European maps).
---------------
System Preparation
We won’t go through every fine detail of assembling the PC unit here – we’re
aware that the bulk of our customer base have worked inside PCs on multiple
occasions, so demonstrating how to install a RAM module would likely be
considered patronising… There are only 4 components to install in the chassis –
memory, processor, hard disk and CD drive, so assembly work is minimal. The CPU
is located underneath the included heatsink (either with or without a fan
depending on chassis model), the hard disk is fitted in a tray at the front of
the case and the CD drive mounted above. Connectors for laptop-style
hard drives
and
CD drives are already pre-fitted in the case. Lastly, the memory module is
installed at the side of the board, and note that an
ultra low profile
module must be used if a CD drive is being installed in the system.
Once you have assembled your system, the next step is to install Windows XP. Set
you screen resolution to 800x600 for 7” monitor use or 1024x768 for 8” monitor
use. The touchscreen facility requires software to be installed and this will be
included with the monitor – after connecting the USB cable Windows fill find the
device, so inserting the driver CD should get this running. If testing this
gives inaccurate results, locate the calibration software (shown for a Lilliput
screen) to configure the display in a process that requests you to touch each
extreme corner of the screen.
Centrafuse requires Microsoft .NET Framework and this can be located through
Windows Update in the ‘Optional Components’ section.
Next step is to install your GPS adapter. For the Holux GR-212 USB Adapter, this
is a very simple process – just plug it in, insert the driver CD and let Windows
find the driver automatically. All being well, the orange light on the adapter
should light and start to flash.
Next, install DVD playback software such as PowerDVD or WinDVD to allow
Centrafuse to play DVD discs. You may also want to install any additional media
codecs such as DivX (http://www.divx.com).
Now Centrafuse can be downloaded and installed from here http://www.fluxmedia.net/downloads.aspx
. Centrafuse is currently at late ‘release candidate’ stages so is not yet
available for retail purchase, but the licenses are free at this stage for
anyone wanting to test the product for a limited time. To receive a license key,
register on this page https://www.fluxmedia.net/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fusers%2faccount.aspx
and this can be entered after installation to remove the 30 day trial notice.
Note that these keys will still have a time limit, as it is intended that
Centrafuse will soon be a commercial product. We hope to offer this product for
resale shortly.
Once you have Centrafuse running, you will note that Centrafuse has a great
looking interface and the buttons are large enough to comfortably use in
touch-screen operation. On first running the application you should be taken
into the two priority settings pages. Make sure to set Full Screen to ‘On’ in
the General section, and specify your media paths in the Audio / Video section.
Following this, Centrafuse will locate media tag information into its library.
The interface is grouped so that options are spread across 3 ‘panes’ with the
most popular choices on the first pane. The positions can be reconfigured, but
first we’ll need to get a few other details set. Press the right arrow at the
centre of the screen twice and you’ll reach the settings button, press this to
view the available configuration choices.
GPS Navigation
The general and audio/video sections should look
familiar from the setup process a few minutes ago, but for now enter the GPS
section and make sure that a GPS port is selected, it should normally be COM3.
If you launch the GPS section of the application, you’ll note that the map
information is showing a sample of New York, and this is just included with
Centrafuse for demonstrating the interface. Purchase a separate copy of
Destinator 6 (for Windows Mobile PDAs) since this includes the mapping
information we require to use Centrafuse. Bear in mind that the full commercial
release of Centrafuse is sold with the maps included and it appears that the
destinator 6 maps will not integrate for this, but for now if you want to use
navigation in the Release Candidate edition of Centrafuse, Destinator must be
purchased separately. The map files are held in .zip files on the Destinator
installation discs. For copying over the UK maps, make a folder in C:\Program
Files\Flux Media\Centrafuse called UK_Ireland, and extract the files from the
UK_Ireland file on the destinator disc into the new folder. Repeat this process
if you wish to add any additional countries.
Restart Centrafuse, and in the GPS section press the ‘Route Sign’ icon (looks
like a shield but is traditionally an American road sign) and then ‘Change Map’.
UK_Ireland should be listed, choose this to switch to our local map.
This will zoom in on Central London, and chances
are that when used indoors you will not get a GPS signal for the software to
locate your current address. If you’re in luck though you should see ‘Locked
Sattelites : *number*’ at the top left of the screen and plotting a new route
will adjust the screen to your current location. Either pick a new address by
postcode / street / city or browse the points of interest. The points of
interest include everything from hotels, bowling alleys and car dealerships –
and the list was comprehensive. Here I’ve plotted a route to our local ten-pin
bowling, and driving to this will give instructions as you progress as well as
updating the on-screen map. Note that here we still have the track information
at the top of the display - pressing the fullscreen button (furthermost right on
the top icons) expands the map, and also the instructions on the right side can
also be switched on or off if you prefer a larger map area.
Phone Integration
First make sure your Bluetooth adapter is installed and configured and that
you’re using Windows. Move to the Centrafuse’s third pane and press the settings
button. Scroll to the phone section and press setup and set ‘Enable Phone’ to
ON. Click the ‘Phone Setup Wizard’ to establish a Bluetooth connection with your
phone and choose a manufacturer profile.
When this is completed save settings and you will
be able to view your messages, contact list and use the PC to control sending
SMS messages and starting calls. During the setup you will be asked if you wish
to use the PC as a Bluetooth headset for the phone – this will mean that the car
audio system will mute any media playing to put a voice call through the
speakers, and a microphone can be installed for pickup. Alternatively, leave
this disabled to retain the use of an existing headset that is paired with your
phone already.
Internet Access
One way of downloading future updates or information to your CarPC would be to
add a wireless 802.11 adapter, although it does mean that access would be
limited to your own home / workplace or any other area with a WiFi hotspot. It
can be especially useful as a means of updating files on the system – consider
creating a share on your media folders and setting the Shutdown timer to wait
for 10 minutes after turning off the car. This would give enough time in most
instances to copy music files over the wireless network to the car. (see
Microsoft’s SyncToy
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx)
Depending on how nearby the car is parked, you may want to consider adding a
directional antenna in a nearby window for better signal strength.
With many mobile phones offering 3G internet access, this can be an ideal way to
download light amounts of data. A mobile phone supporting 3G and Bluetooth is
ideal, and instructions for setting up PC internet access via the phone can
typically be found on the manufacturer’s website. In this example, we installed
Sony Ericsson’s PC suite and modem inf files to create a dial-up connection on
the PC, and set this to dial by default whenever a network connection is not
present (Choose Tools > Internet Options from within IE).
The internet connection should also be specified
in Centrafuse’s internet settings pane. Configuring this will allow the web
browser and weather plug-ins to function. Note the light just below the clock is
red when no connection is present and turns green when a connection is made.
Shown below is the inbuilt browser facility
(based around Internet Explorer) which allows URLs or text boxes to be filled
out with an on-screen keyboard option. You can also browse through or creative
favourites through Centrafuse's menus.
Additional Software Settings :
• The startup delay from the ignition being turned on and shutdown timer from
the ignition being turned off can be adjusted in the BIOS. Press 'Del' when
starting up the system to access these.
• Also consider copying a shortcut for Centrafuse into the ‘startup items’
folder so that it loads after Windows has started up. To reduce bootup times,
you can set Centrafuse to load in place of Windows Explorer by enabling ‘Run as
Shell’ in the settings menu. We found this reduced startup on 1.4Ghz Pentium M
system from 50 seconds to 40 seconds for a ‘ready to go’ state from initial
power-on.
• Hibernation mode – setting the computer as a Portable Computer in the power
settings will allow the use of hibernation. This means that the PC transfers
everything from memory to the hard disk so that on next startup it restores
everything from ‘where it left off’. We found that this would bring startup time
to 30 seconds from power-on. Go to Control Panel > Displays and in the Screen
Saver tab press 'Power'. Set all power schemes to 'Never', Enable Hibernation in
the Hibernation tab and in the Advanced tab set the Power Button option to
'Hibernate'. This means that when the power supply sends a shutdown command to
the PC it will hibernate instead of Shutting Down. A regular shut down can still
be achieved through Centrafuse from the Tools Menu if required.
We’re now ready to go in terms of software ! You may well want to add your own
applications and possibly wireless networking support, but the above covers the
essentials for CarPC use. Certainly, it would be a good time to copy media files
to the system as well before we move on to installing the PC into the car.
---------------------- | 
