After our little scare with the Mac Mini last week, the little boxen that could is quickly becoming my favorite computer (still can't wait to get one with Leopard on it). So seeing cool applications of it like this one thrills me to no end: Andrew sent us his writeup of putting a Mac Mini into a Corvette (complete with touchscreen monitor) as a music player.The whole process looks pretty complicated to me-- the most I've done with my car stereo is install an old CD player, and by install I mean "watched my friend do it." But Andrew's writeup is really thorough, and he goes through everything from choosing components to creating a layout, to potential problems during installation, and what he plans to do next. Apparently the Mini is almost tailormade for car systems like this-- not only is there a special cable built to power it in the car, but there is even a special version of Front Row designed to be controlled from a touchscreen. Not everything worked well, however-- the Mini had a grounding problem, apparently, and Andrew had an issue with the Mini's volume setting reverting after a restart, but he was able to punch out an Applescript to fix it.
The end product looks great-- Andrew says he's still working on the mounts, but considering he's got a working touchscreen controlling a Mac Mini in his Corvette, that's good enough for me. Very nice.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-14-2007 @ 4:28PM
shane said...
the volume reset issue could be avoided by using the optical audio out, which is not subject to internal volume controls - I don't know anything about car stereos but it seems like modern head units probably have the ability to handle a digital signal...?
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8-14-2007 @ 6:37PM
MacMasterSkully said...
Robert has the right link. mp3car.com has all the goods to get you going! I've done a scion xB install with GPS, built in usb, firewire, & audio-out ports in the dash. check my flickr pics for the deets: http://flickr.com/photos/32707007@N00/
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8-14-2007 @ 9:07PM
Robert said...
There is an entire website dedicated to car pc's. www.mp3car.com. They sell all the components adn host a forum for support. In the forums there is a section titled MacCar that will give you everything you need to know about using a mac mini or any mac pc in a car.
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8-14-2007 @ 9:28PM
Joe said...
Now this guy not only knows cars, he know computer a/v equipment.
I wonder why he doesnt just have it shutdown automatically or enable hibernation ?
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8-15-2007 @ 11:37AM
buzweaver said...
Very interesting. I'm not sure how practical it is, but for a gadget freak it no doubt has cool factorage.
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8-16-2007 @ 5:50AM
Tristan said...
I had a really nice setup in my car.. took ages and cost a small fortune(around AU$2k) But I ended up replacing it all with a Pioneer head deck and a touchscreen GPS - Phone / iPod / GPS / DVD - Everything I needed, without the fiddling... (But to be honest, fiddling is 99% of the fun!) It just takes up HEAPS of time... But if you got the time... Go For It!
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