almost done!

i've got carbot in its case. everything functioning properly as well. i'm getting excited cuz i might get it in this weekend! woohoo. i still need to copy some music to it though.

So, the only REAL thing left right now is to figure out why my HORM (hibernate once, resume many) isn't functioning properly. and if it continues to be annoying, i'll just say eff it. enable ewf on its own and boot up. oh well.

New paint + SSD mount + GPS + newsetup

So first off, the SEM classic coat didnt match. so scratch that. waste of 15 dollars. i bought some black plasti-dip aerosol ($6 @ home depot) today and will try that out when i get a chance. its supposed to be a decent match. otherwise im gonna go to SEM color coat satin black and give that a shot.

I was able to get some scrap aluminum sheet about 0.08" thick from the scrap at work. i work for a local government agency and our sign guy had a bunch of 12"x3.5" pieces of scrap so he let me have one. I'm gonna bend up the sides and mount it to the same platform taht the pc will be on. and mount the hdd inside of the U shape.

I got a new skin for iGo8 that Spawn from Digital car put together and what a world of difference. the only problem im having is that only california maps seem to work. which luckily for me i live in california, but i go to reno and tahoe sometimes and always seem to get lost. so hopefully ill find some better maps.

I've also connected the m2-atx power supply to the system with my 300watt PSU supplying the 12v line with a toggle switch emulating the ignition. This allowed me to get all of the cable tied and squared away as well as organized and ready for the top of the case to be put on.

i'm very tempted to reinstall windows on the hdd because its running a bit sluggish. but im not sure. its kind of hit or miss. i'm gonna see what happens once i get a codec pack on there and videos working better.

Oh, and I'm still waiting on Lilliput factory to get back to me regarding the flipping of my screen. I may have to get a newer 629GL to do so. I have the right model, but hte firmware is from 2007 instead of 2009 like the new one. when i tell it to flip, it just stays normal. its strange.

Pics of RideRunner

Here are some pictures of my front-end software RideRunner actually running with iGO8 embedded into it...

Bezel at 95% completion

Bezel: It's painted. Some dust got on it after i wet sanded down the first coat and ill have to sand it back down and throw another coat on it. I need to wear gloves next time because im apparently allergic to something in the SEM Classic Coat paint that makes my skin break into hives. SWEET!!! Here's a pic after the first coat:



GPS: I switched from DeLorme Street Atlas to iGo8 and WOW. What a difference. iGO outperforms delorme by a mile (no pun intended)

Bezel nearly done; GPS update

Here's the bezel after a lot of primer/filler and spot putty, and even more sanding! this was after 600grit wet sanded. I'm experimenting with colors and spray techniques to match the dashboard in the car right now on some other pieces of plastic i have. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have it all done and ready.

GPS: I got my GPS antenna to work finally! Took some random commands in sirfdemo and now it works, so no complaints here, other than that I've got DeLorme Street Atlas and its terrible. I'm switching over to iGo right now and then possibly purchasing iGuidance if i'm not happy with iGo.

GREAT PROGRESS!!!

I decided it was time to buckle down and I got A LOT done... (my camera is broken and didnt have access to one so I couldn't take pictures of my fabrication)

I've got windows XP nLited, installed, drivers up, software installed (sans navigation software as I'm having install issues) but other than that software is good. I found an awesome saab 9-3 bootskin so it looks super slick when booting up.

My external DVD had an epic failure and doesn't seem to want to work, which is strange because it was just working a month of so ago. I'm not sure what happened with it. But its ok, i suppose I dont NEED dvd quite yet anyhow.

Once my navigation software is installed, I can finish configuring Ride Runner and get it all up and going, set my hibernation state, and go from there.

I'm 90% done with the screen bezel. The 2nd coat of primer-filler is drying right now and I'm gonna spot putty it after and sand some more, one more coat of primer (hopefully) and then paint! i pray it looks good when finished. even though its upside down. haha. it'll work.

I'll post pics when i can find a camera!