The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Spock on May 17, 2011, 01:27:30 pm
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I know that this topic has been covered before, but I wanted to get some opinions and specific products to be able to accomplish this. The general problem is that the TV has no auto-on function and must be turned on by pressing the power button on front, which will be hard to do when I close it up with a bezel (or have a hole there, which is no good).
As I searched this topic, one of the best methods that could work is using an IR blaster controlled by the computer to turn on the TV. This would be excellent, as then the screen would be off during the windows intro, etc, etc. So I have two questions.
1. Where do you get an IR Blaster that can be controlled by a computer (and hopefully by a start-up menu addition)?
2. If this isn't possible, what are other options that you would suggest?
Thanks guys for your help.
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2 questions:
1) if you unplug and plug it back in and then turn it on, does it remember what channel it was on? If the answer is no, just ditch the TV, you can get an IR blaster, but the time and money you spend on setting it up won't be worth it IMO
2) If it does remember the channel, try this. Power on the button and hold the power button down. unplug the tv while still holding the button in. Plug in the tv while still holding said button. Does the TV power on? IF the answer is no, once again, just ditch it. If the answer is yes, find some way to keep the button pressed. People have used glue, a toothpick, a screw, tape.....
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I'll try that tonight. It will be on the right "channel," as it defaults to the S-Video input that is from the graphics card. Great simple solution to the problem if it works, thanks. I'll let you know.
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I use the TV's remote to turn on my cab. I have a smart strip, the marquee, the TV, the PC, and the speakers are all connected. I made the TV as the control, so when I turn it on, everything else turns on. But, I guess this isnt really relevent because your issue is having the TV stay on the same channel right?
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Do a search here for "dark plexi". If you use this as your window, instead of a bezel, you can just turn on your monitor with your remote. The IR goes right through it.
There are other aesthetic benefits as well, so it's worth looking into.
RandyT
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Try to turn on the TV and keep the powerON button pressed. Unplug and plug the TV (while keep pressing the button).
It worked in my case (samsung TV), so I guess it worth the try.
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It's a bit of effort potentially, but you could use Lirc (or WinLirc) to send the commands to turn on the TV and switch to a specific channel/input.
You will have to build/buy an IR blaster of some kind, but that's not really hard or expensive. The simple one I built is ~5 components which cost less than $10 from Radio Shack. I bet you can buy complete units on ebay for less.
As for the software, if you can use non-discrete commands (power toggle, channel up/down, etc.), you should be set pretty easily. If you need to have discrete commands (power on/off, channel 3, video 1, etc.), you may have to do some searching/testing. I was able to find the commands for my set after a bit of effort and this setup works fairly well. I'd be a lot happier if I could use a different method (hotel mode for instance), but it's not available.
On the up side, since I'm using WinLirc, I can turn on the TV when everything is running and I don't see the BIOS stuff.
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All,
Thank you very much for all your input. I did try holding down the power button. Lo and behold, the simplest solution worked. (although part of me wanted to go down the road of building my own ir blaster and use Lirc. I'm a nerd). That's what I love about this forum, I probably would have had a crappy solution to my problem if the forum wasn't here. But now, one drop of superglue later, it's fixed. Bravo.
Thanks,
Spock
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You really are much better off with your solution. While WinLirc does work for me, it doesn't always work consistently (as is typical with IR blasters). I'm not sure why it doesn't work every time in my setup considering the IRLED is inside a light tight wooden box, but that's the way it is. When they work, it's great, when they don't, it's a PITA. Glad you got it working the easy way!
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I asked the same question regarding an old LCD I had. While I ended up not using that monitor for unrelated reasons, qrz did post a small circuit he thinks would work:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102067.msg1096021#msg1096021 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102067.msg1096021#msg1096021)
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I presume you're talking about this circuit (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=102067.0;attach=148910;image). I'll look it over. Thanks.
haha... responded to the wrong thread. That's what I get for having multiple windows open.
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I use X10 with my setup which has a TV similar to the original poster. I soldered two wires to the TV's power button (right at the solder points on the TV's motherboard) to an Universal Module (UM506 - google the numbers for more info). Along with a Transceiver Module (TM751) and a USB Firecracker (CM19A) I can use a command line app that's downloadable from x10's website to make the computer turn the TV on and off. Granted I use X10 for other things around the house so this solution was very convenient for my case.
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Be careful using X10 on a cabinet as it may be problematic. Computers and TV's are notoriously noisy for X10 devices. Also, those power strips that you are surely using to hook up all your goodies will be a potential problem as well as they both filter the signals and create their own noise. I had to swap power strips on my cabs to keep them from killing the X10 signal in my house. Otherwise, I really like that solution!
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Or just put 12 volts to pin 8 of your scart and a screw holding power button on! DONE!
TV turns on automatically and automatically goes to AV input. no remotes, no codes, no messing. (Using a smartstrip or intelliplug)
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Might work with SCART, but we don't have that in the US.