Carputer Linux distro - interest?

[Amoeba]

I've been bugging a few of the people running carputers on various PM's and threads on various carputer topics and had a thought.

Currently there are some various apps out there available for carputers but most seem targetted for Windows boxes: FrodoPlayer, fluxmedia, RoadRunner, etc (thanks for pointing me in the right direction Dexter). Now, maybe I'm a cheap bastard with a serious control-freak complex but I think it would be nice to have a dedicated linux distro specificallyy for carputer boxes with all the bells and whistles and none of the fluff. There are a few linux apps out there for the same thing but I'm not satisfied with just an app

I could put it together (probably debian-based) but wondered if there was much interest out there? Free is better than paying for windows OS... plus it would run on older hardware or low-powered CPUs like VIA which would reduce heat/hardware costs/power consumption without grinding things to a halt like a similar setup on Windows would. Was talking to Dexter in PM and he mentioned that even running an AMD 2400+ cpu things can get slow at times.. which is nuts.

Thoughts?

 

[KzA]

do it.

 

[Amoeba]

do it.

I need to see how many more times I can fit the word "various" into a post first.

WTF is wrong with me?

 

[chuyler1]

My only concern with Linux would be touch screens...Do you need specific drivers for them or is it like plugging in a mouse?

If they aren't plug-and-play then getting them to work on Linux won't be easy (unless writing device drivers is a hobby of yours) and therefore your distro would be limited to people w/o touch screens. Also, 'older-hardware' and 'Linux' don't always mix. When it comes to x-windows and on-board video it can be tough to get things working.

 

[t3ase]

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

edit: fixed URL.

 

[Katya4me]

I might be interested too. Once I can get my power issues sorted out w/ the carputer.

 

[Amoeba]

My only concern with Linux would be touch screens...Do you need specific drivers for them or is it like plugging in a mouse?

If they aren't plug-and-play then getting them to work on Linux won't be easy (unless writing device drivers is a hobby of yours) and therefore your distro would be limited to people w/o touch screens. Also, 'older-hardware' and 'Linux' don't always mix. When it comes to x-windows and on-board video it can be tough to get things working.

Actually it wouldn't be difficult at all I believe. There are already solid drivers for wacom tablets and lcd touchscreen hardware (think kiosks). Modifying the edge parameters shouldn't be too much code work. The real pain in the ass will be the wireless drivers. Unless you have certain a chipset (orinoco etc) it can be a real b****.

x-windows is only difficult for people who haven't had to custom-write x-drivers for funky-assed austrian monitors from hell (long story). LCD is actually easy to implement. Getting the specs for the various Xenarc and Lilliput LCD options out there and creating pre-set x drivers wouldn't be all that hard.

 

[chuyler1]

For you, maybe not. For the average car audio enthusiast however, what you just said would sound like greek.

Anyway, asuming drivers are not an issue, having a Linux distro would be a great idea. You could even take it a step further and make a list of recommended hardware components to go with the distro. Perhaps start with a MiniATX motherboard and case and provide a list of supported wireless devices and touch screens.

 

[Amoeba]

For you, maybe not. For the average car audio enthusiast however, what you just said would sound like greek.

Anyway, asuming drivers are not an issue, having a Linux distro would be a great idea. You could even take it a step further and make a list of recommended hardware components to go with the distro. Perhaps start with a MiniATX motherboard and case and provide a list of supported wireless devices and touch screens.

That was my preferred way of tackling it. I'll soon be ordering parts for my own install and will base the initial release on that hardware. Common carpc stuff.

For many people Linux is not a choice because of the steep learning curve. Yet, at the same time, a linux OS can be run with lesser hardware requirements (cheaper investment in parts), a smaller OS footprint (more room for data), and is rock-solid (embedded devices running a linux flavor are common). I've checked out several of the linux carputer applications which focus primarily on the front-end but haven't yet seen one for the OS in general, stripping out all the uncessary crap so you have a lean, mean, carputing machine. I'll most likely create a LiveCD (ala Knoppix) based on my install so people with existing carputers can pop in the CD and test it out.

It's still in the planning stages at this point but I've already compiled a base OS image that will be tweaked with specific strings and settings for carpc purposes. LCD touchscreens, GPS, MP3's, ODB-II etc.

I have a lot of spare time on my hands

 

[ELEmental59437]

http://www.mp3car.com You may have been there before but being that they are computer people they may serve as better help than the handful of computer people on here.

 

[toucci]

I don't see the point of a new distro just for carputers. why not just add packages to a current one? unless you're going for a newbie friendly approach in which case I wouldn't be interested in running it

 

[Amoeba]

For you, maybe not. For the average car audio enthusiast however, what you just said would sound like greek.

That's okay. To the average computer geek a lot of that car audio enthusiast stuff is greek too. Thank god for 1sty, got wake, and others or I'd still be trying to figure out how to hook up an amp/sub.

 

[LinuxRacr]

I just looked up the screen I have, and it seems that it has touchscreen drivers for Linux too! Check it out: http://www.xenarc.com/product/700IDT.html

 

[Dexter]

Yeah the Xenarcs have drivers for just about every OS.

I wouldnt mind seeing a carputer specific distro.

as a side note, My XP SP1 returns from hibernation fast enough, im up in under 30 seconds (the BIOS is the part that really eats my time...)

If youve got the time and patience to include all the stuff needed, it'd be pretty cool i think. Also, check out PyCar on the mp3car forums. If you can integrate and streamline all that stuff on a liveCD, i think it'd be very good.

Oh and re: the slowing down on the 2400+. Its only with that centrafuse front end. Mainly i think its because of the .net framework requirement, but like i said, hes supposed to be working on optimising it for speed in the newer versions. Otherwise, fast enough for anything.

 

[Amoeba]

I don't see the point of a new distro just for carputers. why not just add packages to a current one? unless you're going for a newbie friendly approach in which case I wouldn't be interested in running it

Because those packages are just that, application packages. There is no requirement for which distro to use and even a base-install of a linux distro has cruft that is unecessary for a carputer (raid array drivers? apache? that's some beast of a carputer!)

And yeah, the goal is for a minimal, newbie-friendly base OS. As much plug & play as possible.

 

[Amoeba]

http://www.mp3car.com You may have been there before but being that they are computer people they may serve as better help than the handful of computer people on here.

But I like it here better. <insert whine>

Actually I have (and will) be talking with the geeks over at mp3car on this but I brought it up here first because the people on the msprotege forum have been extremely helpful to me on a host of other things and I wanna try to repay the favor.