Scheduled Power-Up of PC for TV recording

[keep_smilyn]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this question is in the right category, but it is TV related. If we wish to record a program that is on when we are not at home and the PC is turned off will the box power up? Do you need to configure anything in particular in MCE when setting up a recording to make sure it powers-up the PC? Or is this something not included in MCE.

Anyone who has had this problem or has figured out how to auto-power-up their PC for Live TV recording I'd love to hear from. Thanks.

Regards,
Nadia

[logifuse]

You need to either use stand by (there are 2 types - S1 & S3 - it depends on what your motherboard supports), or you can search in here for Arksoft's Hibernator (which uses hibernation - S4).

Logifuse

[keep_smilyn]

Originally Posted by logifuse

You need to either use stand by (there are 2 types - S1 & S3 - it depends on what your motherboard supports), or you can search in here for Arksoft's Hibernator (which uses hibernation - S4).
Logifuse

Is there anywhere i can find more information about S1 & S3? I have no idea what these are. This stand-by stuff is all new to me as I have not messed with it on previous computer systems.

I'll also try searching for Arksoft's Hibernator to find more info as you suggested.

Regards,
Nadia

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by keep_smilyn

Is there anywhere i can find more information about S1 & S3? I have no idea what these are. This stand-by stuff is all new to me as I have not messed with it on previous computer systems.

I'll also try searching for Arksoft's Hibernator to find more info as you suggested.

Regards,
Nadia

Use the search tool in the bar up the page (just under the "Good afternoon, keep_smilyn"). S1 is where the PC goes in to stand by, but fans & things keep spinning, while S3 is where only the slightest trickle of power is left on. You'll find plenty of threads about trying to get this right. S3 might involve changing some jumpers on the motherboard & settings in the BIOS.

Also, Google will give you heaps of info about S1, S3 & standby just do a search for all 3 at once.

Logifuse

[keep_smilyn]

Thanks for the explaination.

The Hibernator isn't really what i am looking for. But i will look into the S1 & S3 later.

Regards,
Nadia

[Tak]

Hi Nadia,

I'm not sure what your set up is - what computer you're running MCE on and what remote you're using etc. but you might not need to change anything. Waking up to record is something MCE is supposed to be able to do.

However, as with everything to do with MCE, nothing is ever that simple and you may hit problems. Maybe you could do some experimenting - why not set a recording for 10 minutes time and then 'switch off' the computer.

There are a number of ways to 'switch off' and the one you want to use is to either press the PC ON/OFF button on your MCE remote or select STANDBY from the shut down options.

You might be having issues if you are turning off your computer using the SHUT DOWN option, as your computer will not wake up - it needs to be in STANDBY.

If when you press the ON/OFF button on the remote then your computer goes quiet and then it wakes up and records and then if, perhaps by some miracle, it goes back to standby afterwards then I think you win some sort of award from Bill Gates himself!

However, once you've experimented you'll find it easier to work out where the problem is and get help if things aren't working for you - you may well find that The Hibernator was what you needed after all!

Cheers,

Tak

[keep_smilyn]

Thanks for all the feedback. 'Tak' I most enjoyed your sense of humour in that post. ;-)
If only I could get the computer to power-up from a complete OFF mode, I'd be rich! LOL

I messed around with the Standby mode which at first was a problem because the login screen kept coming up after Standby was turned off, but I found where to turn that off (in the screensaver - power/energy saver area).

I also have the option to use Hiberation on my pc, but I am unsure if this may work better on my PC to achieve what I want. I guess I'll investigate what this feature can and can't do, but Standby mode seems to work Ok.

Nadia

[bella]

Hi K,

Hibernation is the best way to go. That's why most of us use The Hibernator. It is written by Arkay, one of out outstanding forum mod's also responsible for "crunchie".
The Hibernator automatically switches off your pc after the recording and it let's the pc starts up automatically to record a show with Mediacentre. It is very easy to set up and works a treat.

Make sure:

Your Bios is set to S1 or S3 in the Bios Power option. If you do not know where to find it ,mail me.

Than:

Go to control panel>Power options>make sure you enable "hibernation" in the advanced setting.

Then install "The Hibernator" and do some trial recordings and see if the pc switches off.

[gibbo9000]

Nadia,

Sounds like you are getting the hang of it! You get a prize for wake-up from complete power down!

Until you crack that, your 'wake-up' problem starts with putting it to sleep in a recoverable mode: so S1 with config stored in RAM, fans running etc, S3 for config in RAM but fans and everything else dead, and S4 with config on hard disc and machine as asleep as it goes without being turned completely off. S4 is gets referred to as Hibernation.

So the first trick is to get it into one of these manually. This is the realm of mobo jumpers (typically power on from USB so remote etc. can wake it up), BIOS settings (s1 or s3 sleep typically), dumppo.exe (as a utility to make sure it is forced to S3 rather than S1). I first worked out to force it into sleep through remote. Search on 'standby' to find these as S1 and S3 are too short for the search function.

Then get it to wake up manually without asking for a password etc. Sounds like you have worked this out. There are many posts on it.

Second trick is to get it to go to sleep automatically when it is inactive. This is harder as all sorts of small things (network activity, MCE bugs around live TV, latent MCE activity) prevent it doing this as the CPU is rarely active. There are a bunch of threads on insomniac boxes and you can persevere (as many have) on getting it to do it on its own by eliminating activity etc. Arkay's Hibernator software is a neat way around this -- based on the insight that no matter what else is going on, Screensaver works -- so it intercepts that and manages things from there. You can choose whether you want Standby or Hibernate. Worth reading his thread on what it does elsewhere in this forum. This is important as, if you don't fix this, once you have woekn it up it will stay wide-awake until you force it back into Standby.

Once you have these done and working, scheduled recordings, EPG updates, virus scanners etc. will all wake it up, do there job, and it will then go back to sleep. I think there is a switch somewhere in power manager to enable this (can't remember exactly)

But Wake Up and Go To Sleep are separate tasks -- but you need to master Go To Sleep before Wake Up works, but when you have it is easy.

Gibbo

[keep_smilyn]

Ok, I have it all sorted out now. (YAY)

If I wish to record something and put the PC in Standby (S3) mode it easily wakes itself to record as expected. It also returns to Standby mode after a set time period too.

I also messed around with the Hibernation (S4) settings on my PC and got it to resume windows to record something, but as described by others it would not easily go back into hibernation after the recording took place. I then downloaded the Hibernator and that worked wonderfully, resolving the problem of not returning back to hibernation state after recording. :-)

From now on when I wish to record something and am not at home or away from my PC it will go into Hibernation automatically after a set time period (after the screensaver time period) and then resume windows to record; then after it finishes recording it goes to screensaver mode then back to hibernation again.

Note: For those unsure of the difference between Standby (S3) & Hibernation (S4) which I previously didn't know either; S3 is when most of the compentents in the PC are still running; S4 is when most of the components in the PC turn off to save power (therefore it sounds like the PC is actually turned off when it really isn't).

Thanks everyone for your help. Thanks to the Hibernator creater too.
Nadia
:-)

[bella]

Nadia,

I think the most simple explanation I have found is this one:

Sleep mode or Standby, powers down the monitor to use minimal current, while stopping the disk drives completely, though only after copying the current state of your PC to system RAM. The latter is maintained by a small current flow. If you get a power outage during Standby mode, bang goes any unsaved work because your complement of RAM will lose its charge. However, it is probably the most-used power saving mode.

Hibernation, if your system supports it, copies your present working condition to hard disk before going into the deepest of power saving sleeps, ie no power consumption at all because everything is switched off under software control. That is, of necessity, slower to restart than Sleep as you have to wait for the relatively slow disk drive to restore everything.
Restoration from RAM is much faster and is often the option of choice on a desktop computer, but Hibernate is particularly useful on a notebook because it gives maximum power saving to prolong the use of your precious battery.

Also Nadia, if you have an MCE remote you can switch your pc off with your remote.

Set your bios to S3, go into control panel>power options>"when i press my power button">set to hibernate, "when I press my sleep button> set to Standby.

[keep_smilyn]

Thanks for the info and support Bella.

Originally Posted by bella

Set your bios to S3, go into control panel>power options>"when i press my power button">set to hibernate, "when I press my sleep button> set to Standby.

If only my remote had a sleep button all would be resolved.
The remote we use came with the Silverstone Box (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc14m.htm)
For those curious, the remote looks like this: http://www.soundgraph.com/pr/e_pr_12.asp?m1d=1&m2d=12

The remote works great, just no sleep button. Oh Well!

Nadia

[pantonious]

if u don't mind not being able to turn off the computer with the remote you can do what bella suggested

go into control panel>power options>"when i press my power button">set to hibernate

or to watever you want...by using that option, you can still turn the computer on, and then can either

1. Make it go into standby
2. make it hibernate
3. make it turn off

but, only one of them...