M3-ATX 6-24V Intelligent ATX Power Supply Installation Guide Version 1.0c P/N M3-ATX-01 Before you start… Please take a moment and read this manual before you install the M3-ATX in your vehicle. Often times, rushing into installing the unit can result in serious damage to your M3-ATX board, computer and probably your car’s electrical system. Always double check the polarity of your wires with a voltmeter. Avoid using the cigarette plug as a power source, often times the contacts are not capable of delivering high current to your PC. Introduction Thank you for purchasing the M3-ATX power sequencer / vehicle ATX power supply. The M3-ATX was designed to work with a wide variety of main boards such as the VIA mini-ITX motherboards as well as Pentium-M / Celeron or full power Pentium systems. M3-ATX Logic Diagram PC Reverse and + Switch Logic 6-24V DC-DC ATX power + forward protection ATX PSU Battery - Mother Board GND ON/OFF switch Ignition SW 8bit MCU Status LED Amplifier M3-ATX Enable Serial ctlr http://mini-box.com, Embedded PC Solutions 1.2 M3-ATX Connection diagram Power Input Connectors (right side) Red Battery + (positeive, un-switched battery) Black Battery - (negative) White Ignition (To start connect to Battery +).Do not use in the standard PSU mode (mode P0) Power Output Connectors (left side) Hard drive wire harness (HDD, SATA-HDD, Floppy) ON/OFF and THUMP wire harness (connects to M3-ATX pin header) -ON/OFF wire harness (red/back) to connect to motherboard’s ON/OFF pin headers. -THUMP (white) to connect to amplifier remote ON/OFF connector. P Off-delay Hard-off P0 Standard PSU mode Wire harness for motherboard P1 5sec 1 min ON/OFF switch and Thump control (optional P2 1 min 5 min P3 30 min 2 hour Wire harness for serial P4 custom custom connection. IMPORTANT: Always use the “Hibernate” feature on your PC, never use “Standby”. M3-ATX User Guide Page 2 http://mini-box.com, Embedded PC Solutions P0: In this mode, the M3-ATX behaves like a regular ATX power supply. P1: Sends ON pulse to motherboard when ignition is ON for more than 2 seconds, sends OFF pulse to motherboard 5 seconds after ignition is turned off. Waits another 1 minute and then shuts down 5VSB to conserve battery. In this mode, the M3-ATX consumes less than 0.5mA. This is our recommended setting. P2: Sends ON pulse to motherboard when ignition is ON for more than 2 seconds, sends OFF pulse to motherboard 60 seconds after ignition is turned off. Waits another 5 minutes and then shuts down 5VSB to conserve battery. P3: Sends ON pulse to motherboard when ignition is ON for more than 2 seconds, sends OFF pulse to motherboard 30 minutes after ignition is turned off. Waits another 2 hours and then shuts down 5VSB to conserve battery. P4: Can be set to any value. Setting can be done via an optional serial cable. (Default values for P4 are Off-delay=30sec, Hard-off=30sec) NOTE: To reset to the M3-ATX settings to the factory defaults (in case changes were made via the serial uplink), simply power off the unit, connect a jumper as shown and then power back up. The LED light will start to flash rapidly indicating that the factory defaults were loaded. Don’t forget to Remove jumper when done!. Power challenges in a Vehicle PC: One of most difficult tasks of operating a PC in a vehicle is power consumption while the computer is OFF. Even when your computer is OFF, it will still consume about 100mA on the 5V rail. When the computer is in the suspend mode, it will consume even more power, because the RAM needs to be powered at all times. No matter how big your battery is, you will eventually drain it if proper actions are not taken. The M3-ATX is addressing these issues by cutting off the 5VSB rail after a pre- defined amount of time (see jumper chart, HARDOFF). During the HARDOFF if the battery level drops below 11.2V for more than one minute, M3-ATX will shut down and re-activate only when the input voltage is > 12V. Engine Cranks, under-voltage and over-voltage situations. Another difficult task is maintaining stable power to your PC. While car batteries are rated at 12V, they actually provide voltages in between 7-11V (engine cranks) or as high as 80 volts (load dump). Most of the times, your battery will stay at 13.5V (while car is running) but extra precautions need to take place in order to prevent such situations. M3-ATX can operate as low as 6V and as high as 24V while providing strict regulation on all rails along with input voltage clamping and reverse protection. Loud amplifier pops when PC starts. If your PC is connected to your car amplifier, you will hear a loud pop when the computer is first started. The M3- ATX has an ‘anti-thump’ control that will keep your amp OFF while the PC starts. Simply connect the white wire from your M3-ATX cable harness to your amplifier remote control pin. M3-ATX User Guide Page 3 http://mini-box.com, Embedded PC Solutions Mode of operation 1) Ignition=OFF. Nothing happens. M3-ATX is waiting for ignition signals. 2) Ignition=ON. M3-ATX waits for 2-3 seconds then turns on the 5Vsb rail. After another second M3-ATX sends an “ON” signal to the motherboard via the 2 wires connected to the motherboard’s ON/OFF pins. The motherboard will turn ON and your system should start booting. 3) Ignition=ON. Your computer will remain ON. 4) Ignition=OFF. M3-ATX waits for “OFFDELAY” in seconds (see jumper chart) and then it turns the motherboard OFF by sending a signal to the motherboard’s ON/OFF switch. Your computer should turn off gracefully (shutdown procedure). After shutdown, 5VSB will still be provided for another “HARDOFF” seconds. In the event where the shutdown process is longer than “HARDOFF” (Operating System gets frozen, etc), power will be shut down hard, turning off all power rails. During the HARDOFF procedure, the battery levels will be constantly monitored to prevent deep discharge situations. 5) M3-ATX will go to step 1, if ignition is tuned ON again. NOTE. When all config. jumpers are removed, M3-ATX acts as a regular power supply, no ignition timing, no HARDOFF. M3-ATX will send a gratuitous “ON” pulse to the M/B when power is applied for the first time. Do not connect the on/off switch if you don’t want your PC to be started automatically. Troubleshooting a) Motherboard is not turning ON: Check input cables.Make sure you have a a well tighten wire harness. Measure the un-switched pin (red). You should see 12V (car on) or 0V (car off). NOTE: In P1, P2, P3 modes if V(In) is < 12V, the M3-ATX will not start. b) Motherboard is not turning ON (cont): Ensure total system power consumption does not exceed the M3-ATX specifications. c) Motherboard is not turning ON (cont). Make sure that the ON/OFF wire harness from the M3-ATX is connected to the ON/OFF switch of your M/B. M3-ATX Characteristics Minimum Input Operating. voltage 6V Maximum input Operating voltage 24V (clamping will occur at 25-27V) Deep-Discharge shutdown threshold 11.2V Input current limit (fuse protected) 15A Max Output Power 125 Watts (8-16V, see chart below) Deep Sleep Current Consumption. < 0.5mA Storage and operating temperature -55 to +125 degrees Celsius (storage), -40 – 65C (operating) MTBF 150,000 hrs @ 50C, 96,000 hrs @65C Efficiency (Input 9-16V) >94%, all rails combined, 50% load. Input connectors Faston 0.25” terminal Output Connector ATX Power 20 pin (Molex P/N 39-01-2200) *Units starts failing at >125 Celsius. Operating at temperatures above 85C / 185F will drastically reduce the MTBF. M3-ATX User Guide Page 4 http://mini-box.com, Embedded PC Solutions Maximum Power Characteristics Output Rail Current (Max) Current Peak Regulation (<30 seconds) 5V 6A 8A 1.5% 3.3V 6A 8A 1.5% 5VSB 1.5A 2A 1.5% -12V 0.15A 0.2A 10% 12V 4-6A (see below) 8A (see below) 2% When operating at <8V or >16V or extreme temperatures, de-rate by 25-50%, ventilation will be required. 12V Rail Output Current (buck/boost converter) Input (V) 12V out current Input (V) 12V out current 6-8V 4A (6A peak) 11-16V 6A (8A peak) 8-11V 5A (7A peak) 16-24V 4A (7A peak) Support and warranty: Standard Hardware Warranty 1Year / US, 2 Year EU Installation support: 30days via email, support@mini-box.com M3-ATX User Guide Page 5