Scheduled Power Control

[widman]

I frequently finish watching a recorded show and would like to put the computer into stand-by, except GBPVR is in the process of recording another show or Comskip is running. Since I can't shut down the computer without messing up the recording, the computer ends up staying on all night.

I'd like to be able to set a time window (say 12:00am - 6:00am) within which GBPVR would put the computer into stand-by automatically, assuming there were no shows being recorded or watched.

thanks,
pete

[Sykor]

Have you tried Windows' power saving settings? I have my htpc set to hibernate after 20mins of idling. Usually works pretty good... unless something's up, like my other computer doing some downloads, while maintaning an open network share with the HTPC, that isn't doing anything except keeping the htpc from hibernating...

[martint123]

I have a Windows scheduled event set to run at 2200 that runs
C:\WINDOWS\system32\powercfg.exe /s gbpvr
where "gbpvr" is a powerscheme that hibernates after 5 minutes of inactivity.

I manually set it to "allwayson" when I want it to stay on.

I have found that my machine will still hibernate while "in use" with VNC remote sessions - but gbpvr does keep it awake fine when recording or playing back.

[widman]

I've tried using Windows' power settings without much luck. I think Powercfg looks for keyboard or mouse interaction and doesn't worry about processes running in the background, so having Comskip running won't keep the machine awake.

Thanks,
pete

[Sykor]

I've tried using Windows' power settings without much luck. I think Powercfg looks for keyboard or mouse interaction and doesn't worry about processes running in the background, so having Comskip running won't keep the machine awake.

Thanks,
pete

Theoretically comskip will continue as if it had never stopped, on the next wake up. But anyway I find that (hibernating with comskip running) somewhat strange. My HTPC stayed on for the duration of comskip (when I used it), only hibernating 20 minutes (my hibernate timer) after comskip ended.
You could try to extend the hibernation setting to give comskip enough time for it to finish.

[widman]

Can GBPVR wake up a computer from hibernation? I'll give this a try in the next couple of days
Thanks,
pete

[martint123]

Can GBPVR wake up a computer from hibernation? I'll give this a try in the next couple of days
Thanks,
pete

Well gbpvr asks Windows to wake the machine, which in turns asks the machine/bios to wake up.

You see things like this in the logs:-


2009-11-04 08:01:27.281 VERBOSE Asking Windows to be awake for EPG update at 2009-11-5 7:58:30 (UTC 2009-11-4 18:58:30)
2009-11-04 08:01:28.031 VERBOSE Asking Windows to be awake for recording (oid: 8509) at 2009-11-4 9:52:30 (UTC 2009-11-3 20:52:30)
2009-11-04 08:01:28.031 VERBOSE Asking Windows to be awake for recording (oid: 8510) at 2009-11-4 10:22:30 (UTC 2009-11-3 21:22:30)

I've been using it for years and it works a treat - except - that every three or four weeks I have to do a real reboot or my nova-t-500 tuner goes to sleep.

[widman]

I use stand-by, as opposed to hibernate, because my computer wakes up faster. Since I hadn't tried hibernate I wasn't sure it worked with GBPVR.

Thanks,
pete

[CureForSanity]

In my experience, whether you use standby or hibernate depends on your combination of hardware, my current setup works fine using hibernate, previously only standby would work.

I've also found the MCEStandByTool to be really useful. It tweaks the idle detection and is optimised for PVR type use so helps to prevent unwanted sleeping. Also lets you do a daily/weekly/monthly reboot and makes configuring which devices will wake the pc simple.