IBM NetVista machine as an arcade PC

[kkingsto]

Just got my hands on an IBM NetVista machine (3ghz, 1gig of RAM and 40Gig HD).   I'm trying to figure out how to power this baby up from an arcade button like a lot of people have done.

Now, most motherboards have a 2 pin plug for a pushbutton switch.   And with this in mind, I was thinking this would be a piece of cake.

But, when I checked the guts of the machine, the button has -4- wires going into it.  Which has stumped me--why 4?

The button is also part of an LED assembly (power and HD activity LED).

Anybody have an experience with this type of setup?  The IBM partnumber for the button assembly is 37L5092.

I do not want to cut into the wires if I can help it.

Thanks

[Teebor]

I think you answered your own question there.

Two of the wires are for the button and the other two are for an LED

Look on the mobo and it is usually marked on there next to where the plug goes in, if not experiment with a screw driver and shorting out those pins that were covered by the plug.  You can't do any damage so long as you only short those ones momentarily and the PC will be off anyway so the only thing that should happen is the machine springs to life

[kkingsto]

I think you answered your own question there.

Two of the wires are for the button and the other two are for an LED

Look on the mobo and it is usually marked on there next to where the plug goes in, if not experiment with a screw driver and shorting out those pins that were covered by the plug.  You can't do any damage so long as you only short those ones momentarily and the PC will be off anyway so the only thing that should happen is the machine springs to life

Not quite..  Button has 4 wires on it.

See the pictures.   There's 2 LED's and a button.  Total of 8 wires.   

In the first picture, the button is on the right of that assembly.

2nd picture is where the plug plugs in to the mobo.

and 3rd is the whole assembly out. 

Now, I've tested the button by using an older pushbotton and the weird thing is 2 sets of wires will power up the PC.  The Black/Yellow Yellow/Black are the 2 sets (from the left on the 3rd pic)

[kkingsto]

OK Did a little playing around with this:

The first set of pins WILL shut the machine off--no delay.

2nd set of pins will shut the machine down--normal Windows shutdown.

Which brings me to the question:  Could the button have some kind of "delay" based on how long it's been pressed to power down???

[bfauska]

The 4 wires should be 1 each for the button and LEDs and one common.  I don't know about the delay.  What pictures are you talking about?

[kkingsto]

The 4 wires should be 1 each for the button and LEDs and one common.  I don't know about the delay.  What pictures are you talking about?

My 2nd post had some pics.  If you look at the 3rd pic, you'll see the while wiring assembly

On the left hand of that picture is the buttion/LED part.  The bottom 1/2 of that is the button.  Top is LED's.  There's a total of 8 wires.  4 go into the button, 2 each for the 2 LEDs.

The harness on the right of that picture shows the 8 wires (it's blurry though)

It is a weird setup as I was expecting 2 wires just for the button.

[bfauska]

Sorry, I totally missed the pics (and apparently all the usefull words in every one of your posts.)   I thought you said 4 wires from the MB not 4 from the switch itself, I was totally confused.  I am beginning to wonder if I blacked out half way through this thread and decided to post anyway . 

If you just momentarily contact the first pair, (no shutdown, just power down) does it function, or do you need to hold them together?

And the other pair that does Windows shutdown, I assume it works with a momentary contact of the two wires.

The reason I ask is that it seems more likely that the time-sensitive aspect of the circuit is on the MB than in the switch.  If that was the case then you could just use a DPST momentary switch (DPST=switches two independent circuits at the same time) with one circuit being the instant off pair and the other being the Windows shut down pair.  If you hold the switch it would power down and if you tap the switch it would shutdown.

[kkingsto]

Sorry, I totally missed the pics (and apparently all the usefull words in every one of your posts.)   I thought you said 4 wires from the MB not 4 from the switch itself, I was totally confused.  I am beginning to wonder if I blacked out half way through this thread and decided to post anyway . 

If you just momentarily contact the first pair, (no shutdown, just power down) does it function, or do you need to hold them together?

And the other pair that does Windows shutdown, I assume it works with a momentary contact of the two wires.

The reason I ask is that it seems more likely that the time-sensitive aspect of the circuit is on the MB than in the switch.  If that was the case then you could just use a DPST momentary switch (DPST=switches two independent circuits at the same time) with one circuit being the instant off pair and the other being the Windows shut down pair.  If you hold the switch it would power down and if you tap the switch it would shutdown.

OK here's what I did.   Had a wire with a momentary switch on it.

Placed that on the 1st 2 pins.   Fired up Windows XP.

Pressed button.    PC Powers off--no shutdown no nothing just clean power off.

Moved wire to 2nd set:

Pressed button:   Windows performs shutdown/standby/whatever it's set up to do on button press--but I have it at shutdown. 

Pressing button on both sets while powered off will power up.

Now, when I had this PC at my office, I've had some instances where XP would HANG UP.  Just pressing the power button (on the front) for several seconds would power off the PC.

It is weird.  But right now, I have something on the 2nd set of pins and this will do what I want!

Now if I can figure out how to get one of the molex connectors from the power supply OUTSIDE the box, I'll be a happy camper!

[kelroy]

if you want the computer to power on when the main power for the machine is on you need the following parts:
 12VDC/1A SPDT Micro Relay    
Model: 275-241  |  Catalog #: 275-241

Compact 5VDC/1A SPST Reed Relay
Model: 275-232  |  Catalog #: 275-232

standard molex hd power connector

5v dc walwart

connect one reed to the main power connect one to the computer power supply have the output of the one connected to the computer power supply breaking the output to the one connected to the main power. have the ouput from the main power going to the computer powerswitch. i will find some way to make a schematic it is pretty simple.