Power savings : .bat files needed to switch on/off setupbox_HDPVR_etc

[Abbadon]

I have the following hardware:
- setup box for cable tv
- HDCP stripper
- HD PVR 2
- windows PC that functions as NextPVR backend for XBMC

What I would like to do:
Make this setup as energy friendly as possible.

It is possible to let the windows pc go to sleep between recordings, see:
http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?n=FAQ.FAQ#toc4
and
http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...from-sleep

But it would also be nice if the setupbox (14W in sleep mode), the HDCP stripper (lets say 3W) and the HD PVR (12W) would switch off when not used. They use together 250 kWh/year.

I need an USB relay to power the tuners on/off, eg: http://sigma-shop.com/product/75/usb-4-r...d-pcb.html

With this USB relay you can power on/off a 230V device using the commandline. So I would make an "Power_Tuners_On.bat" file and an "Power_Tuners_Off.bat" file.

The problem I have is: when/where would I call these .bat files?
http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...BatchFiles

Wakeup.bat seems like a good place for "Power_Tuners_On.bat"

"Power_Tuners_Off.bat" is something else, there is apparently no "Gotosleep.bat". So PostProcessing.bat seems to be the best place.

But this is not the only place "Power_Tuners_Off.bat" is needed. If NextPVR wakes at 02:24 to get the EPG data, then the tuner would also get powered on, so I would also need a "Power_Tuners_Off.bat" in UpdateEPG.bat.


This should work fairly well with 1 tuner, however, it would get a real mess with 2 or more tuners.

PostProcessing.bat is called after a recording stop, even if the other tuner is still recording/is used for live tv (I think). How do I know which tuner to power off? Is there a way to know which tuner has stopped recording? If I power both off, then the other recording is aborted.


So I would like (my wish) :
- "Power_Tuner_On[x].bat" and "Power_Tuner_Off[x].bat" files that would power tuner[x] on/off.
- some way to link these scripts with the correct tuner (determine the "x").
___2 suggestions:
______* use device priority in the Configuration/Devices settings page (can/will give problems when the priority is changed)
______* give a device a fixed "power number" (extra column where you can set the "x")) (I think best solution)
- a timer setting for how much seconds before recording starts the "Power_Tuner_On[x].bat" should be called (global, not needed on per device) (give the setupbox enough time to boot-up, would be different with each make/model)(can not be bigger than WakeupPreRecordingSeconds!)
- prevent possible problems when the first recording stops, and the second recording comes directly after the first (need time to boot the setupbox/etc..., so if possible don't call the "Power_Tuner_Off[x].bat" if you know that the tuner is needed in x seconds)(maybe a non-issue with the pre- and post-padding minutes)


I don't know how easy/difficult this is to implement, but I, and maybe many others (powersaving is getting more and more important as energy prices rise), would be very happy.

Thanks

PS:
according to http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post454488 there are also ScreenSaverStart.bat & ScreenSaverStop.bat scripts. They are not included in the wiki (http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...BatchFiles), are there other scripts not included in the wiki?

[Lao Pan]

I would try something like MCE Standby Tool beta http://www.degroeneknop.nl/forum/index.p...,96.0.html
It will run programs and scripts on shutdown, sleep, wake etc. from registry keys (see the second sticky thread)

It does seem to be slow on development now probably because w7 and 8/8.1 are much better at sleeping which was what its main function was.

There may be other alternatives.

[pBS]

also, a much easier way is to get a 'smart' power strip that has a master and slave outlets, when the master outlet stops using power, it turns off the other outlets...
so i plug my pc into the master outlet, and my hdpvr into the slave outlets, and the hdpvr powers down when machine goes to sleep..
they are cheap and softwareless...
most major power strip brands have one of these, like cyberpower, apc, tripplite, etc...look for 'green' or 'power saving' strips..
like: http://www.directron.com/csp706tg.html

the 'set-top-box' should normally stay powered because they often push firmware upgrades and guide info in background, even when appearing off..
but the rest should be able to be switched on/off without issue...

personally i use IRSS for my remote software, and it lets me run batch files on suspend and resume, so i use it to turn off tv automatically with pc.