Ok, the picky things, power-on not discrete

[vbray]

I'm spoiled by my pronto and all-discrete power codes. Now, to my amazement, my brand-new MB has no WOL or WOM connectors. That means that even while girder/windows runs, the UIRT2 faithfully pulses the power connection and shuts down the pc. Not the end of the world, but it would be nice to work it out. I realize there is no girder solution to this, as the UIRT does this all by itself even when not connected to the com port.

Is there a tricky way to wire the UIRT2 so that it won't fire the pin if girder is running? Could this be updated into the firmware?

Is there a way to get windows 2000 to ignore the power button? I can choose any option as long as I choose something (shutdown, suspend, etc) - how about a 'do nothing' option, Bill?

How 'bout wake on usb? My MB supports this but the basic pulse I am sending it doesn't seem to do the trick, and I don't want to fry anything today ;)

Many thanks for all the help! I feel remote nirvana approaching!

Vince

[Robin]

I'm not sure I understand why you're sending a power command when you don't want to use one ... after all, if you did this to your TV or VCR it would turn off too ...

WinXP has an option to "Do Nothing" if this is any help ... perhaps it's worth checking for Win2K updates ? Either that or stop pushing the power button !

[vbray]

WinXP has an option to "Do Nothing" if this is any help ... perhaps it's worth checking for Win2K updates ?

You are right, I vaguely remember xp having this. Ok, good point, I'll look.

if you did this to your TV or VCR it would turn off too ...

Not exactly. Many devices have power codes that they never told you about. Frequently there exists a set of 'discrete' power codes, a unique code for power on, and a different code for power off. This sounds picky, but with a complex a/v system, it's a beautiful thing. It allows macros that you can use to quickly get all the components on if only some are onm or macros that 'fix' a particular mode. For instance, on my pronto, every page has a key labeled 'Fix' that corrects certain settings. On a vcr page, it will power on the vcr, power on the tv. The assumption is that if you were listening to music, you might only have the receiver on and if the user gets no picture/sound in vcr mode, they push 'Fix' and suddenly all is good. If you think I'm loony, go to remotecentral.com and witness the all-consuming search for discrete codes that goes on there. They deserve alot of credit for figuring this stuff out, it makes remotes so much better!

Thanks again,
Vince

[/quote]

[Robin]

Aah ... now I understand ! As I have no idea whether any of my own A/V equipment can do any of this it wasn't something I'd considered ... but may well look into now you mention it.

It does seem odd that Win2K doesn't have a "Do Nothing" mode ... WinXP definitely does, but Win98SE does not ... there are other ways of working around this problem, but it could get complicated / messy.

If you were to create a command within Girder that clears command down, this could be run at Girder startup, therefore preventing the UIRT from switching the PC off via the power switch.

I presume you then have another code that would really switch the PC off, which could also call another command to set the UIRT power code again, before shutting the PC down.

All of this is dependent on actually being able to navigate through the UIRT plugin, either by mouse or keyboard, and is far from a clean solution.

I presume your new MB has a built-in NIC ? (hence no WOL) and probably a built in modem, or AMR socket (although WOR isn't so popular). If you have an AMR then it may be possible to use this connector to wake the PC ... otherwise you could piggyback the onboard NIC (extremely precise soldering required) for the WOL ! (not recommended)

A more reasonable approach would be to put an AND gate across the UIRT's power switch connection and a spare UIRT I/O pin. You may want to invert the spare I/O pin (so that a reset UIRT can wake a PC), but Girder would then have to set or clear the UIRT I/O to ensure that you can't inadvertently switch the PC off ... still complex, but not as tough as either of the previous suggestions !

Just a few thoughts ! Hope they help ... Good luck :wink:

[vbray]

Ok, now you're making my head hurt :-?

The weird thing is that the board (asus a7s333) does not have a built in nic, nor does it have WOL. The AMR is a great suggestion, but I don't see bios settings to control it, which likely means it's not supported. I may end up canning this MB in the long term. Personally I think the best solution will come from the OS, and it may mean going to XP. I may load up a spare HD and see how that goes.

Vince

[gofti]

You modify its setting in the Power Management control panel applet.