Hardware Questions!
 

Hi

I have been away for a while. This forum looks TERRIBLE :mad: what's with all the spam everywhere!

Anyway I have legit question and I would appreciate some insight. What hardware exist's out there that can support Debian and most other linux distro's that would be practical enough to mount in a vehicle? I am only interested in functionality not multimedia. I need it to be able to either integrate with the dash or the car (build in). It has to have plenty of IO ports, it needs to be able to competently handle a GNOME desktop environment and have ample storage and a decent amount of RAM. It's sole use will be a front end to my cars ECU for DATA logging and Tuning, if I can stream MP3's to my head unit that would be a bonus (but really not necessary) also it's gotta be cheap :)

Thanks,

You might have to explain your project just a bit more. Knowing the make/model of car might help.

How do you want to integrate the SBC into the dash?
What type of I/O ports to you need?
By front end to the ECU, do you want to connect to the OBD port?

Typically embedded, single board computers do not have the same capabilities as a regular desktop i.e. have limited RAM, storage, no standard video capability and no keyboard / mouse.

I was thinking up to a 10 inch display cabled from the pc which would be placed anywhere really just not near air bags. I have a nice glasses slot about the depth, hight and width of a standard glasses case which I was thinking of blocking off for the pc and running cable to the touch screen through that which would be mounted on a swivel mount for convenience. I need USB type A and it would be awesome if I can get type B, also a serial port if possible. No OBD port here my car is not that new :). I have installed a after market Megasquirt ECU which uses the awesome Tuner Studio MS software from EFIanalytics which they provide in Linux OS or windows. As for it being an SBC I would like to steer clear of that for this project I will need a functioning desktop environment it doesn't have to be super fancy though just competent and handle peripheral devices well. Big challenge is stable power and switching power as cars just turn on and off.

thanks

Maybe something like this?

but getting it Linux is the question.

http://www.ecrater.com.au/p/8280120/...pc-intel?gps=1

I don't really know where to start with this, so i'll just plunge in:

Don't know anything about the EFIAnalytics software, but surely, if you have a Megasquirt, you need to know what interface is available on your megasquirt and have something that will work with that.

Technically (and slightly pedantically), anything that is a computer on a single board is an SBC. Some are much more capable than others, but if you aren't going to use a computer on a single board, it probably won't fit anywhere you want it to go. So, are you sure this is wise...

(Maybe, a mobile phone with a 'some interface to usb adapter' might be what you want.)


In requiring a DE, you have made the project a whole load harder; I'd put Gnome (and KDE) as potentially among the worst choices, because they are at the high resource usage end of things. Of course, if you end up buying lots of computer power, then maybe it would be survivable...

Probably not the biggest challenge, if you want it to keep working in the full range of automotive conditions, but a significant challenge. You could battery back up the module and perform an orderly shut down when the vehicle power disappears, or keep it running until the module power is in danger of going down.

There will be bigger challenges than that.

I actually installed lildebi on my tablet/phone got x working with fvwm but alas mobile phones are for calling people :) and I really want to expand on what I have already done I have put heaps of time into this and I am seeing good results. Even if I build a computer from scratch it can sit in the boot, what mother boards should I be looking at considering my 12v limitation.

thanks,

12 VDC is really not a limitation. There are 12 VDC DC-DC ATX style PSUs for the standard motherboard as well for the mini-ATXs. There are still some mini-ATX motherboards with built in serial ports.

We've been dealing with a recent spam wave recently. That said, the spam is very short lived at LQ and we're constantly adding countermeasures.

--jeremy

Hi

I have seen this done before, in the mid 90's there was a Guy who built a computer in his car and was a full atx running ide drives mounted on springs lol I don't know the exact configuration but Surely now there must be something better.

Thanks,

Here is one example

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.101/.f

Yeah thats the trick :) I can make this work and they have asrock motherboards! Psu sorted no BS just configuration cabling and add power. Cheap as well

Thank you very much