car pc update

[Anonymous]

Re: re

nount ur hard drive vertically this is most probably the problem the niddle is skipping and its crashing

Smee

 

[Anonymous]

Re: re

@ Smee - If he has a tower laid on the side, the HDD if in the standard position it will be mounted vertically...

@ Alex - You must have a loose connection somewhere, i would double check they are all sound.

Also something to check is that you graphics card isn't slipping out of the slot (a problem i had). I drilled small holes in each top corner and stretched an elastic band around the motherboard to hold it in.

Daz

 

[Alex]

Re: re

ok ta mate, il give it a go and get back to you

 

[Anonymous]

You can install a 2.5" HD and convert the interface to standard IDE to connect up to the motherboard.

You'll lose out on capacity but you will have a hard disk that has been designed to tolerate movement.

 

[Tom]

Re: re

Daz, I agree, sounds like something is loose. If it was the hard disc you'd get corrupted data which would cause crashes at any time.

 

[Anonymous]

cut outs are most likely to be power based, as mentioned a loose wire is one possibility, also likely is earthing (as we talked about on msn) when you drive then alternator creates more power, if this isn't being bleed back to earth it'll crash the pc. Mine used to do this randomly and i could never sort it until I earthed the pc case.
still need some piccy's

I'm Boo, are you?

 

[Alex]

So it could actually be the earth then?

Ill take some pics when i get the car back, its in the bodyshop again

 

[Tom]

Alex, are you running from an inverter?

Jayfish, thats what the computer PSU does for you

 

[Alex]

Oh btw, about a year ago, i had a problem with my dads pc, i rang up tech support and he told me to hold down the power button for 30 seconds when the pc is off, i asked him why and he said its due to static on the board. Holding my power button down for about 20-30 second lets me reboot my pc in my car once its crashed, does this mean anything?

 

[Alex]

300 watt inverter wired to the battery via 10awg cable

Inverter earthed to the the strap loops in the boot via 10 awg cable

300 watt psu.

 

[Tom]

Holding down the power button like that on some computers turns them off fully, normally power button tells the operating system to start shutdown but if its crashed it won't. Its got **** all to do with static

 

[Tom]

Inverter outputs usually float, best to earth the chassis of the comp but its not for the reasons jayfish gave

 

[Anonymous]

not sure, the bios default setting would be a reboot after 4 seconds on the power switch.
Tom the pc psu would normally earth it fine but on an inverter you get so much 'noise' the only way to get it stable was a second earth, this is common on car pc's and recommended practise.

I'm Boo, are you?

 

[Alex]

Well with my dads pc, he said holding the power button drains the board of static, whatever holding down the power button did, did the trick.

 

[Alex]

well what ill try, ill earth the inverter right back to the battery.

Where abouts do u suggest i earth off the pc case?

 

[Tom]

Tech guys will say anything

Holding down the button overrides the normal shutdown sequence. If the OS has crashed it can't shutdown in the normal way, hence why you have to hold the button down, or just yank the power cord.

 

[Anonymous]

I used one of the thumb screws for the case, if yours uses normal screws that may be harder, you could earth from the holes in the fan grille easy enough though. Earthing to battery isn't recommended, you should use as short an earthing route as possible; bear in mind the battery is not the power source in the car, your circuit should start and end opposite sides of your power source (the alternator).

I'm Boo, are you?

 

[Tom]

Earthing the inverter back to the batt won't help, with 10 guage wire it will probably be very bad.

Earth the computer case to the car chassis.

 

[Alex]

Ah ok, well ill earth it from a self tapping screw where my tow bar used to be, ill sand it down etc etc

 

[Alex]

why is that wire bad?

10gauge is 300 watt wire, same as my inverter and psu