Raspberry Pi Carputer

Ok, time to back up and punt. I did not research this enough. The housing I bought will NOT fit into the dash of my car. It is too deep for a NB Miata. So I am going to sell my current setup and go with a different bit of hardware. Stay tuned, I will have something in a few days, after I research this a bit more.

Stupid shallow dashed Miata....

My setup may change from Linux and. Raspberry Pi, to Windows and an ITX computer. Why? Because even though my screen and buttons were ADVERTISED as Pi compatible, they are not. The screen works, but the touch interface is not exactly compatible. The buttons, are not at all compatible. I would take a loss to return it, I doubt if I could sell it. So I may just order an ITX board and CPU and be done. Load Windows 7 and call it a day. But first I have to take some measurements. As with the ITX setup, all the cables have to run out of the case and plug into the back. I am not sure if I have enough room for that.

I finally have the touchscreen powered up. Still have to install the driver and run the calibration routine, to get it working properly. Now that I know it's power requirements, 8-20V and a minimum of 2 amps, maximum of 6.. I will need to work on finding a power converter that can supply this and the 5V and 2.5A that the Pi needs.

I also have a fair amount of work to do still on the software side. I have to rework a theme for KODI, to be more car friendly. I will also need to write a launcher script to launch TunerStudio from inside Kodi. I will probably also install some emulators and ROMs, so I can play some games while sitting at car meets and events.

My touchscreen and Double Din ITX case came in today!! Unfortunately, it came with ZERO documentation. So I have some research to do, to find out what power requirements it has and a few other items. I hope to be testing it by this weekend though! Pictures will be coming soon.

I have ordered this 2 Din 7" touchscreen and case, and am expecting it to be delivered today.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2DIN-IN-DASH-7-Samsung-HDMI-Touch-Screen-Monitor-Mini-ITX-USB-SD-Raspberry-Pi-/121715033228?hash=item1c56c8048c:m:m-aaWnN8mKyRSkOCvWR3chA

I have also ordered the optional side button kit for it, but it will not be here until the end of the month. Also, I have to come up with a workable UPS solution for my setup, so that when the car it powered off, the Pi will safely shut down.. and when the car is turned on, the Pi will boot up.

I will be running the Raspbian OS with Kodi loaded on startup.