PC power-on and standby with a rocker switch?

[Diewrecked]

Hi guys

I know similar questions have been asked before but I can't seem to find a definitive answer.

I have an Electrocoin Goliath cab which now houses a MAME PC. There is a rocker switch on the top of it which switches on the monitor and the speaker. I have configured Windows to go into standby rather than shutdown so that when it comes back up it takes seconds rather than minutes and hides the Windows shell and stays in my FE. What I want to know is, can I wire the rocker switch to the power switch pins on my mobo so that switching on the cab brings the box out of standby, and switching it off puts it back into standby? I know the rocker is always on/always off whereas the PC power button is an NO switch like a normal button but not what the implications are here. If it's not possible directly is there another solution that would do the same thing?

Many TIA guys.
Cheers

[saint]

I think you'll put your computer into a loop of powering up/down. Rocker switch will be like keeping the power button pressed on, which after 4 seconds or so normally tells a computer to power off or go to sleep. Turning on the rocker switch would then turn on the computer, and 4 seconds later turn it back off.

[gryhnd]

I use a momentary rocker on my upright cab. You'll need to do the same I think. It's pretty easy to use this as a replacement for the PC power switch, yes.

[Malenko]

yeah, it pretty much has to be a momentary switch; as gryhnd stated they do make rocker style momentary switches.

[Zebidee]

Pretty much all rocker-switches are momentary, so your plan sounds fine.

You can hold it down for 4 seconds if necessary to switch off.

If using M$Windows, You can set your PC to "stand by" when you shut down.

[Diewrecked]

yeah, it pretty much has to be a momentary switch; as gryhnd stated they do make rocker style momentary switches.

Thanks for the responses guys.

The thing is here that the rocker switch already in the cab is a standard always on/always off type switch rather than a NO/NC type like a power button. It's not that I want to replace the power button with a rocker-type NO/NC switch but that I want to use the always on/always off type that's currently controlling the monitor on/off to put the PC in or out of standby state. Is this doable? If not I'll just mount another button on the cab and hide it - I would just prefer not to.

Cheers all

[SavannahLion]

Is the rocker switch a SPST or DPST switch? How comfortable are you with soldering?

If it's DPST, you can build a small circuit to modify the always on/off behavior to a rocker style switch.

If it's SPST, it's a little more complicated.

[gryhnd]

The thing is here that the rocker switch already in the cab is a standard always on/always off type switch rather than a NO/NC type like a power button. It's not that I want to replace the power button with a rocker-type NO/NC switch but that I want to use the always on/always off type that's currently controlling the monitor on/off to put the PC in or out of standby state. Is this doable?

Perhaps I'm not fully caffeinated yet, so forgive me if I'm not understanding 100% what you want to do.

But...

If you use a momentary switch to power down your PC, your monitor (I am assuming this is a normal PC monitor) will also shut itself down when the signal is gone.  OK, technically it's not a full power off, but it goes into a very low power state, usually on the order of only a few watts.

If you want a total power off, or you are using an aracade CRT. then get yourself a Smartstrip. The PC is plugged into the smartstrip trigger outlet. When the PC powers off, it completely shuts off everything else plugged into the the switched portions of the strip.

[Diewrecked]

[sniiiip]
 you are using an aracade CRT.

Yep - it's a Hantarex MTC9000 that came in the cab.

SavannahLion - my soldering is perhaps the worst in the civilised world. No seriously, I suck.

So looks like I'll be using a hidden button to replace the power button on the case. Kind of suspected as much. Thanks you guys for confirming