About the book

The best selling book about hacking cars and computers is perfect for both computer hackers and car hackers alike.

Description

A car PC or carputer is a car tricked-out with electronics for playing radio, music and DVD movies, connecting to the Internet, navigating and tracking with satellite, taking photos, and any electronic gadget a person wants in a car. All these devices are managed and controlled through a single screen or interface. The only place car PC enthusiasts can go for advice, tips and tools is a handful of hard-to-find Web sites–until now. Car PC Hacks is your guide into the car PC revolution. Packing MP3 players, handheld devices, computers and video-on-demand systems gives you a pile too heavy to carry. But add a car and put them together, you’ve got a powerful and mobile multimedia center requiring no lifting. The next time you give kids a lift, you won’t hear, “Are we there yet?” Instead, expect “We’re there already?” as they won’t want to leave the car while playing video games from multiple consoles. Car PC Hacks is the first book available to introduce and entrench you into this hot new market. You can count on the book because it hails from O’Reilly, a trusted resource for technical books. Expect innovation, useful tools, and fun experiments that you’ve come to expect from O’Reilly’s Hacks Series. Maybe you’ve hacked computers and gadgets, and now you’re ready to take it to your car. If hacking is new and you would like to mix cars and computers, this book gets you started with its introduction to the basics of car electrical systems. Even when you’re unclear on the difference between amps and watts, expect a clear explanation along with real-life examples to get on track. Whether you’re venturing into car PC for the first time or an experienced hobbyist, hop in the book for a joy ride.

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazine, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

Publisher of the iconic “animal books” for software developers, creator of the first commercial website (GNN), organizer of the summit meeting that gave the open source software movement its name, and prime instigator of the DIY revolution through its Make magazine, O’Reilly continues to concoct new ways to connect people with the information they need. O’Reilly conferences and summits bring alpha geeks and forward-thinking business leaders together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. Long the information source of choice for technologists, the company now also delivers the knowledge of expert early adopters to everyday computer users. Whether it’s delivered in print, online, or in person, everything O’Reilly produces reflects the company’s unshakeable belief in the power of information to spur innovation.

For ways to contact O’Reilly and more information about the services we provide, see our Contacts page.

Detailed information and history about O’Reilly can be found by visiting the website at: http://www.oreilly.com

The Dashwerks Demo Vehicle (the DashPC LinuxCar) appears in a great new carputer book by Wiley Publishers: “Geek My Ride: Build the Ultimate Tech Rod” by Auri Rahimzadeh; (paperback – 500 pages; ISBN: 0-7645-7876-6) in April 2005.

About the Book

The first book of its kind, Extreme Tech’s Geek My Ride is perfect for hardware hackers and fans of shows like “Monster Garage” who are ready to take the plunge and build their own techno-mobile!

Description

* Car hacker Auri Rahimzadeh revs up readers while guiding them through 21 cool projects complete with step-by-step instructions for adding electrical outlets, installing satellite radio and mobile Wi-Fi, and building in-car DVD systems.
* Takes the automotive geek far beyond the factory options. Readers will learn the “fine art” of fearlessly pulling out a dashboard, ripping up some carpet, and creating a crazy ride!
* Foreword by Apple Co-Founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak, who shares tips from his own hacked Hummer.

About Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The company was founded in 1807, during the Jefferson presidency. In the early years, Wiley was best known for the works of Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and other 19th century American literary giants. By the turn of the century, Wiley was established as a leading publisher of scientific and technical information. Wiley currently trades on the New York Stock Exchange as ticker symbol “JWa” and “JWb”.

Detailed history about John Wiley & Sons, Inc – (Wiley Publishing) can be found by visiting the website at: http://www.wiley.com

Carputer shutdown controller

The Dashwerks Startup and Shutdown Controller (DSSC™) helps you coordinate the startup and shutdown of your Carputer with your vehicle’s normal start and stop activity. A long asked question in the hobbyist carputer/telematics industry has been one of how to control startup and shutdown of the PC. Fortunately, the DSSC™ is now available to make car computer integration much easier.

Features

• 5 user adjustable timing controls – designed for vehicle controlled activation of computers, LCD display(s), peripherals, and amplifiers.
• A “master power” relay (included) – using a powerful external 40A relay provides power to your carputer board, and all of the underlying peripherals (assuming their respective power requirements are met). This primary relay prevents dead car batteries by helping you intelligently manage your power distribution and device initialisation.


• ACPI switch header – The ACPI header is a 2 pin connector that is designed to connect to the power connector on a computer [motherboard]. We designed this device to be flexible, and as such this header can easily be connected to other motherboard connectors – such as Wake-On-Lan (WOL) and Ring Indicator (RI). The vast majority of motherboards manufactured after 2001 support ACPI. As your vehicle is started this connector will toggle startup and shutdown on your car computer / DashPC™.


• 5 Indicator LEDs – Designed for status and power indication (and timing adjustment), these leds help you tune the activation and de-activation of on-board devices. In addition, each of the 5 leds features a remote location header. These headers allow you to place the LED’s in locations that are suitable for your installation. Simply install (or have your installer) place a few led’s in your Dash, and connect them to the DSSC™ controller. From your dashboard you’ll instantly know what state your computer / amps / peripherals / etc. are in.
• “Shutdown” Function – The shutdown function provides 2 methods of properly halting a car computer: the text “SHUTDOWN” will be sent to a serial port when the key is removed from the vehicle (ACCessory line goes low). In addition, an ACPI 1.0 and up compliant signal can be used to power down a computer. Virtually all computers manufactured in the past 5 years are compatible with ACPI. If your computer can “hibernate” or “suspend”, the DSSC™ can be used to safely shutdown your Car PC.


• Serial port connector – this serial port connector provides an alternate method of shutting down a car computer / DashPC™ unit. By connecting this port of the DSSC™ to an industry standard computer serial port your computer can be halted safely (driver software may be required). Halting your carputer / DashPC™ properly prevents data loss, drive corruption and hardware failure.
• Reverse Polarity Protection – The DSSC has reverse polarity protection built-in. If someone accidentally reverses the wiring of the DSSC, it won’t destroy the board.


• Tuning mode – By enabling a jumper on the board, you can put the board into a ‘tuning’ mode. Using the tuning mode you can adjust the timing of the devices without actually toggling them on and off. The tuning mode is a great way to make sure that your devices are turning on in the fastest possible time without actually toggling them on and off.

Compatibility

The DSSC™ is compatible with Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98 and Linux and MacOS X. Any operating system that supports hibernate, suspend and/or sleep can be used with the DSSC. Software drivers for the Serial Port shutdown function are provided for Linux, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. A computer does not need to be ACPI compliant to work with the DSSC. If the computer can be configured to boot on powerup (typically this is set in the BIOS), it will work with the DSSC.

Product Comparison

The DSSC is the only Startup/Shutdown Controller that was developed by Carputer enthusiasts for Carputer enthusiasts. Over 2,400 users helped us design the DSSC with the features that are most important to them. How does the DSSC™ compare to other Startup/Shutdown Controllers? Click here to see how suitable the DSSC is in our product comparison chart.

Installation Diagrams

Application Note #1: Installation with Inverter and ACPI Compatible computer (ATX, ITX, Via Epia, etc)
Application Note #2: Installation with Inverter and computer using Serial Port for shutdown (notebooks, etc)
Application Note #3: Installation with DC/DC Power Supply and ACPI Compatible computer (Carnetix, Opus, etc)
Application Note #4: Installation with DC/DC Power Supply, recent motherboard and Multiple Car Batteries (ATX Motherboard, Via Epias, etc)

Purchasing Information

$49 USD 

Customer Support

To view the online user’s manual (156k PDF) – ( Click Here ).

Software Drivers

Click here to download the DSSC Service for Windows 98, 2000, XP (Thanks to Kevin Lincecum (aka Frodo) for this).
Click here to download the DSSC daemon for Linux (written in Perl by Chris Bergeron).

Shipping

Shipping to the continental United States is $5.95. We also ship internationally! ( additional shipping fees apply ).

Sales / Customer Support

For questions or customer support, please call 404-647-4966. We can also be reached via
e-mail.