Main > Main Forum
Haunted cabinet still turns on by itself. Whatever.
<< < (2/7) > >>
Fozzy The Bear:

--- Quote from: Dervacumen on October 19, 2006, 05:04:23 pm ---My cabinet has now turned itself on 3 times for no apparent reason.

Anyone run into something like this? 

--- End quote ---

Yes!.......  It's entirely probable that your motherboard has a bios option that includes one of the following:

1) Wake On (various events).... you can turn those off.

or

2) An option that determines what happens after a mains power loss... You may find that this is set to restart the computer after a power loss is restored.  This sometimes results in a computer starting itself up due to noise on the mains frequency or a after a short power spike.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)
Tahnok:
I had a computer for a while that turned on by itself. Like Fozzy said, it was because of both a timed on and a power-on after loss of power. Where I had it plugged in has dirty power and would cause the PC to act weird (either coming on or turning off at random times). The solution was to use a cheap UPS. I good power strip (one with a filter) might also do the trick.
Dervacumen:
Okay.  My cabinet still turns on by itself, but I may be getting closer to a solution.

I have replaced the relay with a new one.  It has turned on 5 times since I replaced it.

I have disabled all kinds of start up / power on settings in the BIOS.  Maybe I missed something?

Power Up Control - Each is set to Disabled:
  AC Power Loss
  Power up on External Modem Activity
  Wake on LAN or PCI Modem
  Power up on PS2 Mouse
  Wake up by Keyboard
  Automatic Power up

I have also set UART2 - Use Infrared to disabled.


The cabinet is in my garage.  The power goes to a power strip which is plugged into the wall.  I have plugged the cabinet directly into the wall outlet and it still comes on by itself.

I have noticed a trend.  The second time the cabinet turned on by itself, I had just opened the door from the garage to the house.  The third time it came on, I was dumping a box of pachinko balls into a plastic container.

Then I changed the relay.

The next two times it turned on whenopening the door to go into the house.

The second to last time it came on it was just on when I got home from work.

The last time it turned on was sometime last night.  It was on when I went out to feed my cat this morning.  I went to take a look at it and noticed that the back panel door had fallen off.  (It's only held in place by velcro as a temporary solution until I figure out why the cabinet keeps going on.)

My guess is that some noise is turning it on.  It seems to consistent that most of the time it goes on when I turn the door knob.  Then once with the pachinko balls.  I'm guessing that my cat's metal collar tag  has also activated it when it clinked up against his glass water dish.  The only other time the cabinet came on that wasn't one of the above was when we had a load of clothes in the dryer - and I suspect the tink / clink noise of the zippers etc. set it off.

Am I crazy?

I remember we used to have a Sony TV that we could turn on by dropping my dad's keyring (no body else's though) about 2 feet in front of it.  Out of every 10 throws it would turn on maybe 2-3 times.

I guess having a cabinet that turns on by itself is better than one that turns off while I'm playing it.


ahofle:
Have you tried with NO relay?
Dervacumen:
Yes.  Sorry I left out that detail.
Before hooking up the new relay I ran one power cord from the computer power supply to a power strip, and one from the monitor to the power strip.  I turned them both on and off separately.
I still had the machine come on one time.

Then I put the new relay in.

That's part of the reason its been a while between postings on the subject.  Once I make a change, I can only know if it didn't work if the machine turns on by itself.  Otherwise I'm just waiting around for a sufficient amount of time that it has NOT turned on.  Then I'll be a little more confident that problem is solved.

Reminds me of the philosophy of science.  Can't prove anything.  Only disprove things until you're reasonable sure of the right answer.


One more thing I was thinking.  Every PC power wire I have seen is a twisted pair, presumably to cut down on induction.  When I extended my power switch wires I did not twist them.  Think this could make a difference?  I guess I can rip out the power button wiring, twist it, and reinstall it.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page

Go to full version