Car PC Hacks

Preface

The time for in-car computing has arrived. There are strong signs in every direction that personal computing technology will soon take over the car. It started with satellite radio, bringing streaming digital audio to the car. Then the iPod captured the digital audio player market and suddenly became a defacto standard car audio component. MP3 players, in-car navigation systems, and touchscreens are now standard in many vehicles—and it won’t stop there.

So why do people go through all the trouble of installing computers in their cars?

Choice is one reason. Today, you are locked into the navigation system that came with your car, if it even came with one—and the costs of upgrading to a new one are immense. Why shouldn’t you be able to say, “I like the navigation system in the Infiniti, I think I’ll get that for my Civic”? With an in-car computer, you can choose the implementation that you like the best.

Features are another reason. Once we get used to features (e.g., digital media such as digital video recorders and iPods) in one part of our lives, we want to be able to use them everywhere—including in our cars. Cutting-edge features that would otherwise require expensive hardware upgrades can often be acquired via a simple software download if you have a car PC.

Integration is vitally important as well. When you’ve got half a dozen different kinds of digital media sitting in the passenger seat of your car (mobile phone, camera, PDA, iPod, portable USB memory stick, CDs), you’d like them to be able to talk to each other. For example, many people stare wistfully at their digital audio devices, wishing that the MP3 audio would somehow leap out of them and into their car radios. Putting a computer in your car will allow all your gadgets to work with your vehicle.

Finally, forward compatibility is a huge problem for which a general-purpose computer is the only solution. A definitive standard for device communication in the car is unlikely to emerge anytime soon, but a PC can serve as a digital hub for all your devices. Consumer electronics and computing are inextricably linked; there are few devices a computer can’t talk to in one way or another. An in-car computer can serve as digital glue for features, peripherals, and networks that haven’t even been invented yet. With an in-car computer, you won’t get left behind—and you won’t have to buy a new car to get ahead.

Why Car PC Hacks?

The term hacking has a bad reputation in the press. They use it to refer to someone who breaks into systems or wreaks havoc with computers as their weapon. Among people who write code, though, the term hack refers to a “quick-and-dirty” solution to a problem, or a clever way to get something done. And the term hacker is taken very much as a compliment, referring to someone as being creative, having the technical chops to get things done. The Hacks series is an attempt to reclaim the word, document the good ways people are hacking, and pass the hacker ethic of creative participation on to the uninitiated. Seeing how others approach systems and problems is often the quickest way to learn about a new technology.

Traditionally, car guys don’t know computers, and computer guys don’t know cars. Car PC Hacks was written to bridge that gap. For computer hackers skilled in all things software and hardware, this book will fill you in on the wiring, power, and connector basics you need to get around a car. For mechanics and auto enthusiasts who can install speakers, amps, and stereos in their sleep but depend on their friends to fix their ailing computers, this book can show you the essential aspects of the computer/car interface in a language you understand. Once you’ve gotten the basics and realize how simple wiring computers into cars can be, Car PC Hacks shows you how to add sci-fi features to your car that will blow people away.

How to Use This Book

You can read this book from cover to cover if you like, but each hack stands on its own, so feel free to browse and jump to the different sections that interest you most. If there’s a prerequisite you need to know about, a cross-reference will guide you to the right hack.

The first few chapters cover the basics of car wiring, showing how easy it is to hack your car and wire up speakers, radios, screens, and external devices and computers. They also show you how to make sure you have enough power in your car to power all your new devices.

The middle chapters get to the heart of the matter: wiring up a car PC. They cover the full range of options for installing, displaying, and controlling your car PC, and they provide several hacks on start-to-finish car PC installations.

The final chapters in the book introduce you to the many applications and features that become possible with a car PC. They provide full coverage of ways to access the Internet in your car, as well as introducing you to the most popular car PC programs used by thousands of people today.

How This Book Is Organized

Since this book is aimed at both “car guys” and “computer guys,” it includes a lot of material for both audiences. Whether you are an end user just trying to figure out what program to run, or a software developer trying to figure out how to get your new creation into the dashboard, you’ll find the information you need in these chapters.

Chapter 1, Car Power Basics: This chapter goes over the basics of 12-volt power in the car. Its goal is to help you get rid of any myths you have about hacking into your car’s electrical system and show you what you should look out for. It also shows you the similarities between computer and car power systems. When you’re done with this chapter, you’ll fear no outlet or wire.
Chapter 2, Automotive Audio Entertainment: Your car PC isn’t very entertaining if it isn’t connected to your car’s stereo system. This chapter’s hacks show you how to get any device connected to a car’s audio system, be it an iPod or a car PC. It also covers how to get the best sound over this connection and how to eliminate buzzes, hisses, and hums. Finally, it covers a few of the audio applications that only a car PC can deliver.
Chapter 3, Automotive Video Entertainment: This chapter covers almost every option for getting video into your car. From touchscreens to rearview cameras to HDTV, every popular installation of in-car video is covered in detail. It also helps you understand the various video formats (car, home, and computer), how they differ, and how to get them into your car despite these differences. You’re sure to come up with new ideas for your car after reading this chapter.
Chapter 4, In-Car Computers: This chapter gets to the heart of the matter: installing a PC in your car. It covers choosing the hardware components that work best for car PCs, power supplies, and the other gadgets necessary to make your car PC work like it came with your car. It also covers operating system options and the trade-offs between them, including hints on how to speed up boot time. The chapter ends with three detailed car PC installation case studies.
Chapter 5, Car PC Interface Options: The biggest challenge in car computing is safe operation for the driver. Keyboards and mice are useless in a vehicle, yet they are the primary forms of communication between humans and computers. This chapter covers the popular man/machine interfaces that do work in a car, such as touchscreens, remote controls, and even voice recognition. It also contains some hacks to force unruly desktop applications to behave in a vehicle.
Chapter 6, Wireless Connectivity and in-Car Internet: Wireless Internet and network connectivity are key ingredients in many of the cleverest hacks for car PCs. WiFi and 3G mobile phones make absurdly cool features possible. This chapter will help you figure out how to get your car online and how to transfer all of your audio and video media to your car seamlessly.
Chapter 7, In-Car Applications: To take advantage of the wide range of entertainment and productivity options available on your car PC, you need the right applications. This chapter highlights the leading car PC frontends and navigation programs for driver use. It also covers rear-seat entertainment options, such as video games and in-car theater. It even shows you how to link your car PC and the internal computers that make your car run.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following is a list of the typographical conventions used in this book:

Italics: Used for emphasis and new terms where they are defined, and to indicate URLs, filenames, filename extensions, and directory/folder names. For example, a path in the filesystem will appear as /Developer/Applications.
Constant width: Used to show code examples, the contents of files, and console output, as well as the names of variables, commands, and other code excerpts.
Constant width bold: Used for commands to be typed by the user and to highlight portions of code.
Constant width italic: Used in code examples to show sample text to be replaced with your own values.
Color: Used to indicate a cross-reference within the text.

You should pay special attention to notes set apart from the text with the following icons:

Tip

This is a tip, suggestion, or general note. It contains useful supplementary information about the topic at hand.

Warning

This is a warning or note of caution, often indicating that things might not work out.

The thermometer icons, found next to each hack, indicate the relative complexity of the hack:

beginner

moderate

expert

Using Code Examples

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We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: "Car PC Hacks by Damien Stolarz. Copyright 2005 O’Reilly Media, Inc., 0-596-00871-6.”

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