LED status monitor

[kaiger]

It sounds like you may have done what I did. I looked at the wiring diagram a few pages back and used it like I was looking at the cable-plug, not the computer-plug. If so, you just need to mirror it and it'll work. I used 220s on the reds and 100+47s on the green and yellow and it works great.

[A_Brass]

you just need to mirror it and it'll work. I used 220s on the reds and 100+47s on the green and yellow and it works great.

Thanks for the suggestion. That doesn't seem to be the issue. I just tried it both ways. They way I have it the LED is still on all the time. If I mirror the connections I get nothing. The PVRPower tray "test" button does nothing.

I'm going to try this on one of my Desktops tongiht. I'm hopeing for different results.

Any other ideas?

[A_Brass]

I'm not sure if I found the solution to my problem or not. I plugged my PPMonitor into my desktop PC and it worked. The only change I made that is different from my laptop is the port type. I set the PP to "Bi-Directional". Not ECP or EPP.

Did anyone else make this change?

[kaiger]

For anybody looking to build their own LED monitor my local Wal-Mart had parallel cables on clearance for $1.50 each. They're getting hard to find in general and usually run at least $10-15.
YMMV

[betlit]

I looked at the wiring diagram a few pages back and used it like I was looking at the cable-plug, not the computer-plug.

uhm... sorry, my fault. for me it was clear that the diagram shows the compy-plug... i will add it to the image-file. *g*

[betlit]

Now when I plug in my PPMonitor, the LEDs stay lit. What did I do wrong?

I plugged my PPMonitor into my desktop PC and it worked. The only change I made that is different from my laptop is the port type. I set the PP to "Bi-Directional". Not ECP or EPP.

hmm... i read somwhere on the web, that newer versions of windows xp has a kind of 'autodetect'-feature where windows pulses some data through it every 5 seconds (or so...).
this can be disabled in the registry under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Parport\Parameters
create a dword-value called 'DisableWarmPoll' and set it to 1.

just a guess.. maybe this was allready disabled on your desktop-compy, but not on your laptop...

[AcidSun]

well once you guys figure this out i will be the 1st person to *buy* the led setup from whoever will make me one!

[alex060670]

As the initiator of this thread I may inform you:

I use the recordingstatus.bat-file and the prog betlit wrote and my LED status monitor works great - it consumes no CPU power and does not prevent my machine from hibernating. Thank you!

As I configured gbpvr to update the EPG data at every start (and because of my Xcard it is necessary to re-start gbpvr every time the machine wakes up) I get the "information" pop up that EPG data is updated. During this update, gbpvr is already running but the frontend is not displayed yet.

So it works as follows:

t=0... Power-on: no led
t+50 seconds... gbpvr starts updating: green led
t+80 seconds... updating process finished, frontend on tv-set: green led
t+?? seconds... recoding on one or both devices: one or two red leds.

When preparing to hibernate, first the frontend disappeares, but the green led still stays lit until the power supply powers off.

So *I am satisfied* with that but two improvements could be done:

* The green led should not appear before the gbpvr frontend. Originally I wanted the led to indicate that my "Mr. Data" can be used. At the moment, the green led appears too early (30 seconds)

* The green led should disappear when the gbpvr frontend disappeares on preparation to hibernate to indicate that gbpvr cannot be used any more.

Thanks to all who worked on this!

Alex

[A_Brass]

hmm... i read somwhere on the web, that newer versions of windows xp has a kind of 'autodetect'-feature where windows pulses some data through it every 5 seconds (or so...).
this can be disabled in the registry under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Parport\Parameters
create a dword-value called 'DisableWarmPoll' and set it to 1.

just a guess.. maybe this was allready disabled on your desktop-compy, but not on your laptop...

That's a thought. I have WinXP Pro on my laptop and WinXP Home They might be set differently. I'll check my Desktop Reg and see how its set.

Thanks for the input.

[A_Brass]

well once you guys figure this out i will be the 1st person to *buy* the led setup from whoever will make me one!

Its really not hard to make one. Almost all the parts I used can be found for next to nothing. Old printer cables, leds from an un-used PC case, $.99 for the reistors. The only signficant cost would be a soldering iron if you dont already have one. And that can be picked up for under $10.