car pc project

MadBassist · Apprentice Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 200

I'm contemplating building a small mini-ITX based PC for my dad's car so he can have GPS and everything like that. i was wondering what is the best way to speed up boot times? is it possible to but the kernel on a compact flash card or somethign similar and keep all the data on a hard drive? is that a particularly good way to speed up booting? any input will be great, thanks in advance, robin

also will bluetooth GPS receivers work in linux?
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System
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AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton
512 Corsair XMS LLPT DDRRAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5900
Audigy2
gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.8-r3

BiOCHiP · n00b Joined: 07 Jul 2002 Posts: 57 Location: Amsterdam

If you really want fast boot times and you're not afraid of experimenting a lot, LinuxBIOS is the way to go.

When building a car system, make sure you pay attention to the power supply:
http://www.mini-box.com/itps.htm
http://linitx.com/product_info.php?products_id=397
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Music is the Answer

MadBassist · Apprentice Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 200

those look helpful

thanks, as i asked b4, would putting the boot partition on a cf card improve boot times (as an alternative to linuxBIOS) thanks
_________________
System
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AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton
512 Corsair XMS LLPT DDRRAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5900
Audigy2
gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.8-r3

BiOCHiP · n00b Joined: 07 Jul 2002 Posts: 57 Location: Amsterdam

Not really. A CF card does about 10MB/s. A harddrive will do more. And, if you're using a normal BIOS, the harddrive will have enough time to spin up.
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Music is the Answer

MadBassist · Apprentice Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 200

thanks! i shall experiment with Linux BIOs then

do you know if bluetooth or usb GPS reciever would be a better idea? (I kinda like the idea of having the reciever tucked into the boot of the car)
_________________
System
---------
AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton
512 Corsair XMS LLPT DDRRAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5900
Audigy2
gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.8-r3

BiOCHiP · n00b Joined: 07 Jul 2002 Posts: 57 Location: Amsterdam

I haven't got any experience with either of them, so I can't really help you there. I'm guessing USB is easier to secure, and if you really want the thing tucked away, it isn't that big a problem to fit the car with an usb cable

. Also, I don't know how well a GPS receiver works inside a big metal cage. Maybe you should consider using an external antenna for that purpose.

Also, WLAN for transferring you mp3s to your car would be quite cool

.
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Music is the Answer

MadBassist · Apprentice Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 200

hmmm well ill see about drilling holes into the car to fit and enternal attena, I guess ill try a reciever in the boot placed well away from the pc just in case, lets hope it works, if not ill have to get the drill out :d and I'm planning on getting a wireless card, not sure whihc one, would u have a recomendation (the motherboard takes CardBus Type 1 or 2)
_________________
System
---------
AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton
512 Corsair XMS LLPT DDRRAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5900
Audigy2
gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.8-r3

MadBassist · Apprentice Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 200

oh yeh and what If I dont want to experiment alot hehe, whats the best way of speeding up booting in that situation?
_________________
System
---------
AMD Athlon XP 2800 Barton
512 Corsair XMS LLPT DDRRAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5900
Audigy2
gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.8-r3

Razzle · Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:19 pm Post subject:

Most GPS receivers work fine in cars, there are a lot of in-car solutions using PDA's where the antenna lies on the front panel.