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OG Xbox Forums => Hardware Forums => General Hardware/Technical Chat => Topic started by: dirkoneill on February 27, 2004, 05:44:00 AM

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: dirkoneill on February 27, 2004, 05:44:00 AM

Ok I just got my 99 pathfinder and my Kenwood KVT-M700 screen and I am ready to bring them together with my second Xbox. I am currently trying to plan out where everything will go and how it will connect. My main purpose for putting the Xbox in the car is so I can have all of my music with me. I am tired of CDs scratching or not having the right song when I want it. First of all, if anyone else has any experience with putting an Xbox in their car could they please share their experience?

My first dilemma is where to put the Xbox. I wanted to possibly put it up front so I could mount the DVD drive in the dash because IDE has to be so short, but it doesn't look like there is enough room under either front seat to slip the box into. That means that the Xbox must go in the hatch. Kind of a pain in the butt to play DVDs then but not the biggest deal. The only problem with putting it in the hatch is how I am going to turn on the box when I am driving. The most logical way is to patch the power button cable and mount a remote button in the dash of the car. I'm not exactly what cables need to be cut though.

Second, how do I power the box? I already have a power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter but that looks bad plus I would have to plug and unplug the inverter every time then hit the power button. I want something more permanent. I read that someone suggested putting a computer power supply in the Xbox that was made to hook up to a car. The only ones I have seen were instructions to build your own. I'm not to comfortable doing that. I guess the other option would be to splice a second cigarette lighter off of the wires to the original lighter and hide it under something. The power inverter would then be plugged into the hidden lighter all the time and the power button on the dash would also control power to the second lighter so the inverter wouldn't wear down the battery. Does anyone else have an idea as how to power the box?

As far as the DVD drive is concerned I would like to mount one in the dash but I have a feeling this is physically impossible because IDE cant run more then a foot or two if I am correct. I also would like to take apart a controller and mount the buttons in the dash. I havent taken one apart yet and looked at the circuit board so Im not sure if this is possible.

I must say this project is turning out to be trickier then I originally thought it would be. After all this is done, a good music interface has to be built into XBMC, kind of like iTunes so albums could be accessed quickly. This is something I hope to contribute with if it is already not being developed. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: Casper1786 on February 27, 2004, 06:33:00 AM

well First off i read most of your Post, but I'm really tired so I jus figured I'd Reply 2 some stuff I have an Answer 2. about Powering the XBOX, u could get a Power inverter thing that just connects Directly 2 the Car Battery, also looks more Pro. an about Wearing down the Battery, well look around you vehicle an see if you have room somewhere 2 stash away a new Battery, an maybe run off that, but then I guess it's not charging from the alternator then eh? maybe look into a new Alternator 2 put out the lil more juice that the XBOX will use up, that could solve the problem, u would need 2 talk 2 a dealership about doing that an getting the right 1 for you vehicle. also I read that the HDD won't take Kindly 2 the Bumpy Ride, but I don't know why or how, or even how 2 protect it, I'm new 2 the XBOX mod Scene so I can't help u out with all ur problems yet.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: Exobex on February 27, 2004, 07:14:00 AM

The Xbox's power button is connected to the motherboard by a bunch of yellow wires. When the button is pressed, the wire connects to ground. It can be found by using a multimeter (set to continuity mode, put one probe on the metal shielding, use the other one to test whilst repeatedly pressing the power button, leave the Xbox unplugged from the mains for this).
Run a wire from this to the centre pin of a 3.5mm jack socket. Mount the socket in the metal shielding at the back of the Xbox (the outer of the jack will connect to ground this way). Now connect a momentary (not latching) pushbutton via a length of 2-core cable to a 3.5mm jack plug. Plug it into the Xbox and you've got yourself a remote on/off button!
The Xbox needs to be protected from jolting and bumping, so try and give it a comfortable (but well ventilated) home.
The Xbox power supply is rated at just under 100 watts. A 150 watt mains inverter ought to power it nicely.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: DeAdGuY on February 27, 2004, 08:41:00 AM

you could run any invertor off your ACC switch on your ignition instead of hooking it up to your battery...so then the inverter would turn on and off just like any car stereo when you turn the key to ACC...just make sure you get the polarities right or u'll fry something

that 3.5mm headphone jack is a damn good idea for a remote power switch

dvd drive in the dash...not gonna happen unless u could mount the rest of the xbox close like in the glove compartement?

instead of manipulating a controller into the dash i would suggest mounting a dvd dongle in your dash using (or makeing) a normal usb extension cable...then just using a remote to control everything (and your power button (thx to Exobex for suggesting) or just simply turn the key off to turn the xbox off) this dongle would be less intrusive than a controller and you could even run 2 usb extentions and possibly have a remote and a controller to manipulate the xbox

hard drives while running take a substantially less G-force to break than drives that are not running...i would look carefully when selecting a drive and pay special attention to get the highest rated (quality still in mind) drive that you can get...and still do any and everything you can do to protect it from hard bumps and rough rides but remember to ventilate well and check your temps often...maybe mount a fan or two back there blowing on the xbox?

hope these ideas helped man...good look...post some pics when ya do it hehe

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: oberon on February 28, 2004, 01:09:00 PM

I have installed xboxs in 4 cars the first was a mercury mountianeer i had the xbox installed basicly the same way you want to do yours. It was just sitting under the back seat and i had a remote power switch for it. Why dont you jsut slice off the cigeritte adapter and hard wire it into your acc. One bad thing about that if you have a high quality inverter l(ike i did) it will store power and when you turn your car off it will feed the power back through your acc. line to your radio, lights, etc. which can kinda get anoying.

The second car was a f150 this time i took all the computer boards, HD etc. out and mounted them in the center console. I also have the DVD eject out of the console. For this one i wanted to use the stock Power and Eject buttons so i cut out 2 circles in a peice of the dash for them and just extended the wires about six feet to reach the MOBO.

one more thing to think about would be wireless controlers thats what i use and they are great because you dont have wires running eveywhere

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: dirkoneill on March 01, 2004, 07:57:00 AM

Wow these are some great ideas. I think hooking the inverter up to the ignition switch is a good idea so it is always on when I need it.

Exobex I dont fully understand your suggestion for the remote switch using the 3.5mm jack. If I understand correctly I would be installing a headphone jack in the back of my Xbox. I then take it that the momentary push button is then hooked up to the male side of the 3.5mm jack. If that is how it works, awesome idea.

oberon I had thought about disassembling the Xbox also. The HDD and the DVD drive could be mounted in the dash easily. What did type of case did you put the remaining motherboard and power supply in? I would worry about cooling in a smaller enclosure but that might not be an issue since the HDD and DVD drive added heat anyway. That could then easily go in the glove box I think or some other space in the dash. Do you have any pictures you could show of the F150? I like the idea of using the DVD remote. Does that work in evolution X also? There is the perfect spot for the dongle in the dash. What wireless controllers are the best? I was looking at the Logitech cordless.

Thanks for everyones help. As soon as I get some funds and plan this all out I will post pictures. As far as decent mp3 playback I think I will need to talk to the XBMC development team to work on a plug-in. I imagine that a setup similar to the iPod OS would be best in a car situation. It is simple and easy to navigate quickly. Then there is the problem of updating the songs on the box. Does anyone know if from either in Evolution X or XBMC you can ftp or telnet from the box to outside computers? Perhaps a homebrew xbe will be necessary. If this is possible it wont be too difficult to set up a script that compares song databases or XML files on the Xbox and a music server. This way my Xbox would remain updated with my song library as soon as I turned on the box and I was parked outside of my house (using wireless). If there are anymore suggestions please post them.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: MotoX3style on March 02, 2004, 09:09:00 PM

Hey Dirk, I work at custom mobile electronics shop. Now I know that the Xbox can do so much more than what I'm going to tell you, and prolly cost more, but its just something to think about.

It's called Omnifi. Specifically, the Omnifi DMP1. Basically, its a mobile 20gb hard drive & DIN mountable controller for taking all of your MP3's on the road. Retails for $599. Now, the best part about it is how you get the music to the hard drive.

Option 1: Easily remove the rugged hard drive from the vehicle and plug it into your computer via USB 2.0 & download your music.

Option 2: Send your music to your vehicle via 802.11b WiFi network.

You can even schedule it to automatically download your newest music to the hard drive while you're sleeping.

Here, see for yourself.

Omnifi Media

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: offsprey on March 03, 2004, 02:08:00 PM

Make sure to be careful with HDD, i had my xbox hooked up in a car for about 3 days and it died.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: dirkoneill on March 05, 2004, 05:33:00 AM

MotoX3style Thanks for pointing out that product. If I hadnt already bought the screen and second Xbox I might give it a serious look. However I always thought it would be nice to have movies with me when I am in traffic. For those of you who are familiar with the Washington beltway you know that it is a parking lot. Not to mention how fast it can make a road trip go by.

offsprey Did you do anything to protect the HDD such as put cushioning under it? I think I am going to build a custom case that is slimmer with the HDD and DVD drive removed. That should also allow me to build a custom case for the HDD that might provide ample shock resistance.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: Whatup1049 on March 05, 2004, 05:57:00 AM

If your good with ducting you could incorporate your A/C blower into cooling the xbox off. Just get some 1.5 inch flexy tubing, and cut a hole into the A/C ducting and you have COOL flowing air. Only bad thing is DONT TURN THE HEAT ON LOL!

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: celinedrules on April 03, 2004, 12:45:00 PM

I have my xbox in my trunk and have the controller port ran to the front of the car. I installed a power switch in my memory card so I can turn my xbox on and off from the controller. No need to open my trunk this way. Also, I have an 80 gig hard drive in my xbox sitting next to my Eclipse 1000w sub. I never had any problems with shocks or vibrations to the hard drive. I aslo have all my games and music copied to my hard drive so I don't have to ever get in my trunk to play anything.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: lenballs on April 03, 2004, 03:06:00 PM

Hey guys, I have a thought about vehicle XBox installations, would it be possible to tap into the XBox power supply, and supply 12VDC direct from the car battery?

Thus disabling all the AC-DC rectification, and then no bulky inverter would be needed.

I'm not sure if the switch mode power supply in the XBox would handle this, but I am hoping the 220VAC (or 115VAC) would be inverted to 12VDC, then tap off to 5VDC, 3.3VDC etc., then it would be easy to cut out half the power supply, and supply nice stable 12VDC from the car battery.

Am I dreaming?

Cheers guys.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: oberon on April 04, 2004, 03:21:00 PM

only problem is a car battery doesnt put out a nice steady 12v it rangers from like 10v up to 18 ish.

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: tranus69 on April 14, 2004, 09:00:00 PM

QUOTE (Exobex @ Feb 27 2004, 10:38 AM)

i like this idea.

But is there anyway to have the xbox boot up when power is supplied to it? I am attaching an inverter to accessory power and so when the car turns on the inverter does as well and supplies power to the xbox.

Is there any way to automatically ground the power button for a second ?

TIA

Title: Xbox Car Installation
Post by: bleugh on April 14, 2004, 11:39:00 PM

...............trouble is,
a cheap 150 watt mains inverter will likley draw in excess of 14 AMPS from the battery

personally i WOULD NOT pass this much current thru the ignition switch.

instead, wire a relay into the ignition switch and get the relay to handle the extra current

OR

if you have a tidy car stereo, this will have an output to enable electric ariels, amplifiers, etc

use a small transistor / relay circuit (or just a solid state relay) on that output.
the output is low current, the transistor provides a bit more switching capability to drive the relay, and the relay provides the muscle to switch the high current needed by the inverter.

that way, the xbox can only ever switch on when the stereo is on!

xboxscene.org forums

OG Xbox Forums => Hardware Forums => General Hardware/Technical Chat => Topic started by: dirkoneill on February 27, 2004, 05:44:00 AM