How do you turn off your PC-based arcade?

[AE35]

Hey all!

I was thinking....do you guys turn off your PC(mame, etc) arcade 'correctly' or do you
just turn the power off?

Would there be any reason not to just turn the power off?? is it bad for the OS?

thanks,

Nicholas

[Jdurg]

Just turning the power off can be pretty bad for the computer since it could corrupt various files if not shutdown properly.  On nearly every BIOS in existance, however, it can be set up so that if the power button is pressed while the computer is on, the system will immediately go into shutdown mode so you don't have to worry about OS corruption.  I'm pretty sure this is what most, if not all, of the people on this board do.

[Sir Auros]

Yeah, do don't want to just turn it off by cutting the power. I only recently realized that's what caused my computer to have a desktop background problem. The background would disappear and the Active Desktop Recovery screen would come up after every reboot.

[TOK]

Mine turns off with a single arcade button mounted up top... Cut into power switch line for the motherboard and extended leads to reach the top. One button powers it up and powers it down, though I do exit the front end first.
The key to doing this without messing the OS up is to go into Control Panel->Power Options->Advanced and select Shut Down as the choice in the When I Press The Power Button: dialog.

Its on a Smart Strip so it shuts the marquee light and monitor off too. Been using this method for 2 years on my original cab with no OS issues.

[Spaz Monkey]

I think it really depends on the OS.  If you're using a command line DOS or some other equivalent, you should be OK.  Anything GUI-like I would use the shutdown procedure.  Not sure about any flavor of Linux (command line or GUI).

[Zeppo]

I usually use Mamewah to power down by using the player 2 start button and using that menu.
Sometimes I push the power button and let it do it's shutdown that way.
Only time I power it off without shutdown is when it locks up on me.

[Jack Burton]

On a similar note, how bad is it to turn off my monitor simply by unplugging it?

[Mr Wilson]

i'm using mala fe so i use the shut down option on that and then after its shut down i'll turn the switch off  for the speakers,marquee light and monitor (on a 4 way extension lead) and i've changed the bios to " turn on when powers restored" so i just flip the socket on and it all turns back on

[DaOld Man]

I use this to shut down my machine:

http://skennys_outpost.tripod.com/thelauncher/index.html

And no, it shouldnt hurt your monitor to unplug it.
I use a relay controlled power strip to turn off my monitor, sound, and lights when the computer shuts down.
Its the same as unplugging the monitor.

Here is how I did that:

http://skennys-arcade.blogspot.com/2007/05/switching-power.html

Good luck with your project.

[lanman31337]

I put part of the outlet on a switch so I can turn everything on and off at the switch.

[shock_]

Me = same as Mr Wilson above.  That way there is one "power" switch for the whole cab, and a quick reboot just involves confirming exit from the FE, then flipping the switch off then on again - but rebooting should be rare unless I'm maintaining the cab.

I also wired in a switch along the monitor power lead so I can cycle that on its own, which is needed for forcing a degauss during monitor rotation.

[pmc]

I use a SmartStrip and Mala. Shutdown by hitting the ESC button and the whole cabinet goes down right from the front-end. I love that.

-pmc

[BORIStheBLADE]

I have a power strip that half of it is powered by usb. So if I turn on my arcades pc the usb signals the powerstrip and turns on the switched side of it. So my monitor and speakers turn on. What I'm doing for turning off my arcade is putting my pc into hibernate mode instead of shutting it completely down or putting it into standby mode. With hibernation you can unplug your pc and it will still open to the last thing it was doing.

[zaphod]

Turn off?!?!?!?  Why would you ever want to do that?

[kelemvor]

Anyone use a monitor that doesn't have a power button that actually clicks in for on and back out for off?  I want to use an LCD but if it's off and I just give it power back, it won't turn itself on.  Not sure how to get around that yet...

[Jouster]

I built my own smart strip...and use shutdown from Mala.  I always have the option of hitting the power switch on the back as well.

Jouster

[tommyinajar]

I use whammoed's Powermite -

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61055.msg662808#msg662808

&

http://www.nicemite.com/PowermiteDD/PowermiteDD.htm

[leapinlew]

I have my system set to power up when it receives power and I shut it down with the front end.

It's not an elegant solution, but it's not terrible.

[Namco]

I've hacked a relay into a powerstrip and connected the 12v to the computer's 12 line, so when I power it up.... you know the drill. The power button of the cab activates the PC's power button, it turns on and Mala starts as the Windows shell. When I want to shut it down, I press the power button again, and the computer goes into its shutdown routine and after about 5 seconds, turns off. Works fine in Mala as well as outside of Mala. It all has to do with how you set the BIOS and if Windows is able to control the power. ACPI kind of stuff. I think on that machine I have the power button set to shutdown. You can also set it to standby or sleep, but since I have the powerstrip hacked, I'd prefer that the one button shuts everything down.

For the OS I'm running TinyXP with the latest Catalyst driver installed for my Nvidia card.

[bigh4th]

I have my cabinet set up with one momentary switch (button) that starts and shuts down the computer.  There is also a automotive relay (ford) that switches the monitor and amplifier.   I simply ran 12v from the computers power supply to the relay and soldered two of the wires from the monitor and amplifier to the relay, and the other two wires to the 120v input.

When the computer starts, 12v is sent to the relay bridging the contacts, which turns the monitor and amp on.  once the computer shuts down, the 12v is cut to the relay, and the monitor and amp shut off as well.

I'm using a 30 amp relay, which is well above the requirements for the monitor and amp.  If I had more room, I would've done a powerstrip setup, but since I've got a cocktail, there isn't enough space for one.

-Harry