Power up wiring for tv and computer

[TalkingOctopus]

Hey everyone,

I am doing the final touches on my arcade cab this weekend and need some guidance.

I would like everything to power up by one button.  I bought one of those crazy smart strips, and it works well except that my tv does not power up  .

My solution was to hack a tv remote and connect it to a spare pushbutton and place this on the back of my cab.

I am also plan on rigging the computer power switch to a pushbutton.

My Question:

Can I connect the tv remote and the computer to the same button with no ill effects or will there be trouble?

I am worried that the motherboard of the computer will explode from the batteries in the tv remote but that may just be tomfoolery.

So Should I use 2 buttons or 1?

[personacom]

Octopus,

Hmmm.  I did the same thing just last night.  I plugged everthing into the smart strip, changed my computer BIOS to power up on keystroke.  Now, I hit a button, the PC starts up, the powerstrip turns on the TV and tada! I shut everything down through Mamewah.

Maybe you could try this...does your TV have power modes?  My TV has two modes (it is one of those cheap Apex deals), one is power off, and one is standby.  Power off is when you press the button on the front of the TV and standby is when you press the power button on the remote.  As long as I leave the power button in the "on" position, my TV comes back on via the strip.    If I don't, then I have the same problem you do.  

Other than that, I am sorry that I can't be much help because I am clueless on electrical and whatnot!

PC

[TalkingOctopus]

No luck...my tv does not have that switch or those options  

[tmasman]

Not trying to hijack your thread, butI have a similar problem...
I need a way to get the TV to come on when I power on my cabinet... it's an older 19" with a power button type similar to a PCs power button... It's just a momentary button...

Is there a way to safely triger both the TV & the PC power switches with 1 button, or mabey a relay that can triger the TV after the power switch is turned on???

HELP!!!

Oh yeah... thanks!!!

[Justin]

OK guys, I had the same problem and here are a few solutions:

1) Try and see what happens if you keep the Power button on the TV pressed down.  Some people jam a clip in there to keep it constantly pressed.  Depending on your TV brand/model, it my switch on (and stay on) when it receives power -- even if it is a momentary switch.   On some TV's however, this will switch on/off in an endless cycle.  (This is what happens to mine, so I could not go down this route)

2) Instead of having the PC turn everything on in your powerstrip, make the TV itself the trigger.  So, when you switch your TV on, everything else powers up - including the PC.  You will need to set your computer BIOS to restore power on power failure.  (Some BIOS' have an option to restore to 'previous state', you don't want this)
The drawback of this solution is that to power down, you will switch off the TV, and the PC will power down without a proper shutdown sequence.  --  I have not had any problems with this, but I can see how it could become an issue.   (not an issue if you're running DOS though)