Car Computer

I've been working on a car computer for about 15 years now so it surprised me that I never started a dedicated page for it. I think 8Track was the first and only one to make it into a car.

Basically I buy and test parts and never deploy because Garmin GPS receivers work so well.

Based on my track record this will be like all my wiki pages, a random collection of notes about an incomplete project.

I won't even go into history of this project because it would be a long list of false starts.

History

2021-11-28 Took it out of the box today and it won't boot.

Hardware

Basic components

• Raspberry Pi Model 4
• 7" Pi screen
• Logitech keyboard and mouse with dedicated USB adapter (not bluetooth)

In development mode (always) I use

• SATA adapter and Corsair Neutron SSD
• USB hub with separate 5V power for the SSD
• Case to attach screen and Pi, this case suck basically.
• 110-5V supply for Pi

Accessories

• I will need to dig out a GPS soon.
• SDR - I want to be able to listen to FM and other.

I might go for a bluetooth keyboard in deployment. The Logitech is easier to use in development, since there is no bluetooth pairing step to blunder through.

Projects

DIN case and mounting in car

I will need a better case,

1. It has to fit in the slot in the Yaris, so dual DIN, but pull out easily for changes
2. It has to give me access to the SD card

I have an industrial USB hub (USB2 only) that I can mount in the car permanently.

APRS

Xastir

War driving

I would use an external WiFi (Alfa) and antenna for this mode.

UPS

I'd really like a battery backed power supply so that I can leave the Pi running when the car is stopped. One that would allow me to pull the Pi out of the dash and carry it to the lab.

I actually bought one from Amazon and then immediately returned it when I realized what a piece of junk it was. Be very careful to read up on them before you buy one.

Software

Operating system

I'd like to try a 64-bit Debian 11 (Bullseye) There is an official image now!! See

https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_arm64/images/ -- I downloaded 10-30 from raspios_arm64-2021-11-08/

They have their own imaging tool now too, https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

Guides: https://qengineering.eu/install-raspberry-64-os.html

Boot from USB

I tried to get Tenrec set to boot from an SSD on USB but failed, repeatedly. I gave up.

The process would be to use the imaging tool to make a settings SD card, then boot from that card to update the EEPROM on the Pi board. This can be used to set the Pi to boot first from USB then SD (if you choose that setting).

Having no SD card in would be an improvement since with this 7" screen case, I have to take everything apart to get at the card.

Navigation

I will be running gpsd to interface with a GPS on a USB port.

Navit or FoxtrotGPS are the main choice.