Simple On/Off switch for your Cabinet!

[Moby Ick]

I've been trying to figure out how to create an easy on/off switch for my cabinet without having to do too much in the way of high-voltage wiring, and came up with a pretty good solution so I'd figure I'd share...

My

[thebrownshow]

Nice solution, thanks for sharing.

Just curious though, why do you want to avoid shutting down your PC so badly?  I use the bits smartstrip and it works like a charm.

[Tahnok]

If you wanted to go that route, there are tons of options. Personally, I think this is cool:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102698&cp=2032060.2032330.2032346&parentPage=family

It doesn't require that you hack an on/off switch, just stick it to your wall.

[Moby Ick]

I don't want to shut off the PC because i don't like to look at the boot up process (I want to pretend its a real arcade cabinet of course). My boot up takes about a minute as well. The button option will be much easier for the kids.

I have the smartstrip and it does work great. I thought about wiring a switch to the sleep button on my keyboard as well. Once the pc goes to sleep it shuts off everything else very nicely on the smartstrip. A tap on any button would then take everything out of sleep. I was hoping I could get the computer to go to sleep when the machine was inactive but my frontend (gameex) doesn't allow it.

I didn't have to attach the remote to one of my happ buttons, it could just be glued to the underside of the cabinet controller (or just kept on my keychain in my pocket for that matter). I like the elegance of having it operate from an actual button on my cab (again the arcade simulation thing

[babydickonboard]

i think im going to order one of those and see how it works out.

[djvj]

I have used this in my cab for a year or so now and it works great:

http://www.bitsltd.net/SmartStrip/index.htm

Have your PC power plugged into the control outlet in the strip. Wire the pc's power button to wherever you want it to be in your cab. I used a momentary pushbutton from radio shack.

[mmmPeanutButter]

Holy crap!

That wireless thing from radioshack is $9.97 in the US and $29.99 in Canada!!     ridiculous.

[unclet]

Ok, I just went out and bought two of them .....

These are being discontinued in the Radio Shacks near me ..... that may be the reason for only the $10 cost .....

[Roughy]

I'm just using one of those outdoor xmas lights remote controls--you know, for when you've got a deck that you visit once during the winter (to put up the lights) and you never want to go back out there again.

[Sensei]

I agree with you Moby Ick, the boot process makes your cool cab look like just a Joe Average computer.

But to leave the computer on all the time just to avoid the boot process may not be the best answer.

What I've done (not that what I do is any more correct than what anyone else does) is use BootSkin which changes the WindowsXP logo on the bootup screen.  There's even a cool Mame boot screen available for download.
Then make your frontend the shell for Windows.  (This hides all the usual trimmings of the operating system behind your frontend).
This way when your computer boots up people dont see anything that they might recognize as an ordinary computer and Windows.

MameWah shells very easily as it allows you, when exiting, to either shutdown the computer, reboot or simply exit.

There's a great article about shelling and a program that can help (I've not used the program though so I'm not so sure about what the program can/cannot do).
http://tomspeirs.com/gameex/Shell.htm

I hope this helps.

Just my $0.02 worth.
Good Luck

[JonnyBoy]

Yeah, Tom's shelling program is excellent and easy as heck to use. It even has a reverse button if you don't like what the program has done.