Product Interest? PC/Monitor Startup Controller

[mnapuran]

Hey all.... I haven't found something that does what I want, so I'm working on having them designed and made.

What I want:  I want ONE switch I can use to turn on my entire MAME cabinet.  This includes, all the lights, booting the computer, turning on my monitor/TV, etc.

The problem:  We have everything plugged into a power strip inside the MAME cab, and we can turn it on with one switch.  However, we still need to hit the PC switch (or a remote one), and also hit the power button on the TV (if you use one).

Solution:  Provide a controller that will plug into the power strip and detect when power is turned on.  The controller will provide at least 2 (up to 4) device connections, basically replacing the "switch" on those devices.  One could be wired to the power switch jumper on your PC motherboard, and another wired into the monitor/TV power switch.  There will be a programmable delay on startup, and a delay on the "switch" time to the devices.

Hope this makes sense... it's a GREAT solution, and I'm quite excited about it.  

-Mike N

[JustMichael]

I am very happy with the BitsLtd LGC2 powerstrip.  I ran a button from the motherboard on my computer to the outside of my cab so I can turn everything on.

[mnapuran]

Glad that works well for you!  I know I didn't have the same luck, nor did many others.  

This will be a more definitive fix with more features... and hope to be able to offer it for not much more then their product.

-Mike N

[Jakobud]

Did you try their newer model that fixed a bunch of problems?

[RandyT]

Hmm...I have a normal power strip mounted just inside of the coin door.  Open the door and flick the switch.

Am I missing something?

RandyT

[JustMichael]

Some motherboards don't have the "turn on with ac" option in their bios (like the new cheap one I got at Fry's) and people are lazy (like me) about having to push more than 1 button to turn their cabinet on.  My last pc in the cabinet (K6 450Mhz) could be set to turn on when it had power so I had installed a switchable outlet inside my cab.  My current pc (AMD XP 2000+) doesn't have an option to turn on when ac is applied.  So I got the powerstrip to fix this problem. Since then I have added an external button to turn on the pc. I also added a external volume control knob while I was adding the pc button.  

[RandyT]

Some motherboards don't have the "turn on with ac" option in their bios (like the new cheap one I got at Fry's) and people are lazy (like me) about having to push more than 1 button to turn their cabinet on.  My last pc in the cabinet (K6 450Mhz) could be set to turn on when it had power so I had installed a switchable outlet inside my cab.  My current pc (AMD XP 2000+) doesn't have an option to turn on when ac is applied.  So I got the powerstrip to fix this problem. Since then I have added an external button to turn on the pc. I also added a external volume control knob while I was adding the pc button.  

Ahh, ok.  But there is a fairly simple power supply hack that works on good portion of the systems without the "restore power" options.  

It entails grounding one of the (usually) green lines on the ATX power connector.  It's been a while since I had to do one of these, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but there should be a post with details on the board here somewhere.  

RandyT

[ashardin]

I guess I never saw this as that big of a deal.  I've got an external powerstrip on the outside (mounted under the cab where the footprint gets smaller on the base).  Flip that switch for main power, and then open the coin door and flip the PC switch (I have enough room to put the tower case in there).

I guess one button power up would be nice, but not enough to take the time to do it.  Too many games to play.

[eightbit]

I haven't heard of anyone yet that didn't get the bit smart strips to work eventually with bit smarts help.

I've bought 4 of the sears current sensing ($20) power strips and have never had a single issue with making them work.

It sounds to me like what your proposing would require hacking the tv switch. I haven't heard of anyone with a tv that didn't power up after being unplugged that couldn't resolve that by jamming something like a paper clip into the side of the power button to hold the button down so that it would come on when you plugged it in. Most people are going to be hesitant to opening up there tv, especially if all you have to do is jam the button and effectively get the same thing.

It makes the most sense to use the PC to control everything else because it needs to be shut down properly. I don't know about 98 but with Win2k and XP pressing the power button initiates a orderly shutdown and closes your applications then shuts down windows then turns off the power to the pc. This makes it front end independant and requires nothing additional. If you can reach your pc through the coin door you don't even need to hack your pc to get a remote button for it.

The current sensing power strips can be used by almost everybody. The bit smart one is even a surge suppressor and is safe for sensitive electronic equipment.

I'm not trying to rain on your idea because it may fill a niche I just think you might be surprised by how small that niche is. For a while there where relay hacks for sale on ebay but I haven't even seen one of those for a while. I don't think there was enough interest in it and it still required opening your PC to get power to trigger it. I think Bit Smarts strip is competively priced for what it does and its tough to build your own for less than the Sears strip.

The reason one button power up and down is important to me is I'm not the only one playing my cabs. I have one in my in-laws basement that gets played constantly and having the one button solution is a requirement to get them to be able to turn it on and have them properly shut it down.

Don't let my negativity slow you down. I'm still interested in what your proposing especially how you would implement and control the time delay. A few months ago who would have thought we would have switchable 4/8 joysticks from above the panel that were as good as dedicated 4 and 8 ways? http://groovygamegear.com/page12.html

[papaschtroumpf]

I htought you were talking about something different: I thought you were trying to address the problem of people who's TV won't turn on when the power is applied unless you press the switch or use the remote, so that your circuit would generate a "pulse" on the switch input.

I don't have that problem since my monitor is always on. My computer has an "always on" on power so I don't have a problem there, although shorting the green wire to ground (black) in your ATX power supply would do the same.

As was pointed out in a different thread, the hard part is the shutdown. What a lot of people want to do is have the computer turn off cleanly by either pressing a button or exiting the front end, and when the computer has shutdown have all the other parts then shutdown (i.e. yank the power). A relay controlled by the power supply of the PC works nicely for that (although [probably not with the power suplpy hack since I would assume the PC would never shut off?).

Maybe I'm missing something and you need to better explain how your product really would work?
There may be a market for the "relay" solution for those people that don't understand it or don't feel comfortable messing with trying to switch line voltage: if those people are smart enough to recognize their limitations, the more power to them, and they may buy a ready-made product that they know is put together by someone that undertands it.
My homemade relay solution (it's actually a solid state relay) fits in a blue electrical box from Home Depot with an outlet on the top and a wire with a molex connector sticking out the side: plug the moles in your power supply, plug the power strip in the outlet and you're in business: power outlet controlled by the computer.