Western Digital 320 gig Media player IN CAR!

[kiwi240s]

Hi. I have a JDM toyota IPSUM (Avensis verso) that came with a useless navugation box but a very handy double din headunit with an auxillary video/audio input.

My plan was to fit a carputor but then i found the western digital media player (WDTV) and learned how to hack the firmware for a custom user interface...

So the plan was hatched to fit the WDTV and 320 gig USB hard drive into the nav box under the passengers seat and have loads of media played into the factory system for the ultimate stealth media system...The WDTV runs off 12 volts DC so no problems with power supplies etc and outputs Composite and HDMI so you can feed it into just about anything with the correct adaptor (eg component rgb for nav screens etc)

fitting it all in:

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4923/dsc08642y.jpg

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4527/dsc08659l.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9483/dsc08655s.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8462/dsc08667.jpg

Standard WDTV interface:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2557/dsc08685s.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8258/dsc08687e.jpg

MY modified interface using WDLXTV firmware hack and XML modification of the OSD files. Bigger text bigger icons, and no awful blue screen to look at!

Main menu:

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4939/dsc08762v.jpg

Music now playing screen:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8166/dsc08766.jpg

music videos on screen:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9391/dsc08693r.jpg

the plan is to add some headrest screens so the back seats can watch movies on long trips etc...

Edited August 22, 2010 by kiwi240s

[DJKOR]

Nice idea. But the question is... how are you controlling it?

[kiwi240s]

Nice idea. But the question is... how are you controlling it?

the wdtv comes with a TINY remote control unit.

The cool thing is that when i fitted the WDTV to the nav box, the IR reciever lined up with the DVD slot in the nav box under the passengers seat, so the IR signal just bounces off the windscreen/dash back to the unit. so all you do is point the remote at the stereo and it all works.

I am also thinking about hacking a small universal remote and mounting it on the steering wheel or something but i'll see how it goes for now.

http://www.hypergearmag.com/assets/images/unboxing/2010/05/wdtv_mini/wdtv_mini_12.jpg

Edited August 22, 2010 by kiwi240s

[Steven]

Having a WD-TV in the loungeroom, I often considered wiring one up in the car.

Nice work. Now the trick is getting some controls hardwired in.

[kiwi240s]

there is a guy who has worked out the factory touch screen system via the "AVC LAN" system the car uses. basically it listens to the stereo bus system and can translate the touch screen pushes into whatever you like.

so i could have the touch screen touches output say a TTL level output to the WDTV remote reciever to control it... very tricky.

here's a link...

http://www.softservice.com.pl/corolla/avc/avclan.php

to be honest i don't mind the remote control. running the system is still WAAAAY easier than finding and changing CD's etc so doing a quick change at a set of lights isnt a problem because of the ease of use of the system.

Edited August 23, 2010 by kiwi240s