Programmable PC Power-On Timer Switch...

[FRD]

Hello All,

I just wonder, if there is any device which could turn my pc on in the given times (not by turning on the 230V from the wall, but by giving the "Power Good" sign, or using the ATX switch somehow) Could be programmed externally with buttons or internally form software through USB or serial port...

Without such thing I can not really use any scheduled record feature, as I don't really like to let my PC turned on 24/7...

Anyone, any ide?
Thanks...

[SWK]

Hi

Your BIOS may have an auto-power on option which can be set for a specifc time, such as 18:00 everyday.

To switch off your PC, its possible to use the SHUTDOWN.EXE command with the task scheduler set to run when you have completed the night's recordings.

Sean

[FRD]

Yes, I know several ways how to switch the PC down...
Also know about this BIOS feature, but if I would like to record CSI on thursday 21:00 then Formula1 Race on Sunday 13:30, then it is not perfect again...
But such a device would be so easy to build: One microcontroller, one RTC (Real Time Clock) IC with date counting capability, and some software for windows and for the microcontroller. The controller would store 8-16 or more events, the earliest always would be pushed to the RTC chip, then it would raised the Alarm at the specific time by switching a relay that could be connected to the ATX Power-On pins on the mainboard. The whole thing could be programmed through USB or serial port with some nice GUI on windows...

I just forgot how to write assembly code for Intel or Atmel 8051 microcontrollers... 5 years ago I would have done it myself... (But maybe I will get back into it, if I don't find anything...)

I just thought that if it is not that difficult gadget (same easy as an IR receiver for example), then it can be found in electrical stores or something...

[stefan]

You could set your computer to hibernate after X minutes of inactivity. GBPVR will wake it up for you when it's time to record.

[capone]

If it's on a network, and your nic supports it, you could suspend your system and set it to wake up on lan. You just need another machine to send/do soemthing to it on the network at that time.

[ChristianS_]

look at this :

http://www.boraxsoft.de/CMOSTimer_eng.shtml

it manage RTC on bios to power on the PC, works fine.

[Atomike]

First things first - be sure to check your motherboard manual first. I wanted to do the same thing - and I realized that my ABIT NF7-Sv2 board will power-on for me every day at a specified time (of my choice) - even from full shutdown. However, this would require me to schedule a system power-off as well if I don't want it running all night. I've decided against this route simply because I dont' want to be watching a show late-night on the weekends, etc and have my PVR power-off on me. I think hibrenate, as mentioned above, is probably the best solution as it will wake-on-request, unlike the full power-off idea.