power on pc by via microswitch?

**katuuuz** · October 16, 2006

hey guys, any way to run wires somewhere in the pc to have the power button activated via pushbutton microswitch? this would be neat enough by itself, along with the mini power minder i purchased on amazon thanks to jtthompson's referral. the power minder connects to the pc via usb and when you turn the system on, it activates power to a power strip plugged into the secondary socket on the power minder. therefore whatever's plugged into the power strip (marquee light, tv, anything with power for the cab) is powered on/off by switch of the computer. brilliant really.

**headkaze** · October 16, 2006

On your PC motherboard are a set of pins that connect your HDD/Power LED's, power button etc. You could get the power connection and attach a button to it.

Something like this

**jthompson** · October 17, 2006

hey guys, any way to run wires somewhere in the pc to have the power button activated via pushbutton microswitch? this would be neat enough by itself, along with the mini power minder i purchased on amazon thanks to jtthompson's referral. the power minder connects to the pc via usb and when you turn the system on, it activates power to a power strip plugged into the secondary socket on the power minder. therefore whatever's plugged into the power strip (marquee light, tv, anything with power for the cab) is powered on/off by switch of the computer. brilliant really.

On your PC motherboard are a set of pins that connect your HDD/Power LED's, power button etc. You could get the power connection and attach a button to it.
Something like this

Yes that an excellant way to do it. Katuuuz, you could also make a short lead out of another molex extender and make another harness like you did with your lights except this time for your power button's wires. On my cab I soldered the wires to the actual power button switch in the PC and made a short lead to hang out the back of my PC with the molex plug on the end of it. The "one" button has long wires attached to it with a molex on the end of them that plugs into the molex hanging out of the PC. This is an easy solution for those of us who may want to take our PC's out once in a while for maintenance or cleaning without opening the PC first to unhook wires and such. All you need is a pushbutton and microswitch just like on your CP or you can get a normally open momentary switch from radio shack. Hope this helps.

Jay T

**Will** · October 18, 2006

Yeah I did the same thing basically. I cut the wires coming from the jumpers to the front panel switch and put insulated spade connectors on each end. So I can disconnect the power button and plug in my cabinet on/off button--which is just a normal control panel button that's mounted on the back of the cabinet. So if I take the box out of my cab I can hook the front button back up. This way you don't have to solder anything permanent.

**katuuuz** · October 18, 2006

sweet guys thanks for the feedback, i'll look into on a day off. been busy with the boss on vacation and all.

**johninc** · October 18, 2006

sweet guys thanks for the feedback, i'll look into on a day off. been busy with the boss on vacation and all.

Here is a much easier way. Set your bios to power on the PC when the spacebar is hit. Since your Player 1 Button 3 is mapped to the space bar, all you have to do is hit that button. No muss, no fuss.

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inc

**stephenp1983** · October 18, 2006

Here is a much easier way. Set your bios to power on the PC when the spacebar is hit. Since your Player 1 Button 3 is mapped to the space bar, all you have to do is hit that button. No muss, no fuss.
--
inc

Is this possible in all bios's? that would be really neat but I've never heard of being able to do that before.

**katuuuz** · October 18, 2006

Is this possible in all bios's? that would be really neat but I've never heard of being able to do that before.

i don't see it either.

**TX_TRINITY** · October 18, 2006

RE: Keyboard power on PC:

It is a feature that most modern boards do support, but even then it then I can't get it to happen on my Living room HTPC and that was a reasonably cheap new board about 4-5months ago. It can sometimes be hidden on a page in the powersettings that may need scrolled down to.

RE: Microswitch on MB pins:

I think if you certainly attached the two pins from the PC's board off the power pins to a microswitch it'd be ok.. I've defo had cases (cheap as they can get sometimes) that have a micro like switch operation going on.

**stephenp1983** · October 19, 2006

RE: Keyboard power on PC:
It is a feature that most modern boards do support, but even then it then I can't get it to happen on my Living room HTPC and that was a reasonably cheap new board about 4-5months ago. It can sometimes be hidden on a page in the powersettings that may need scrolled down to.
RE: Microswitch on MB pins:
I think if you certainly attached the two pins from the PC's board off the power pins to a microswitch it'd be ok.. I've defo had cases (cheap as they can get sometimes) that have a micro like switch operation going on.

I wonder if it requires you to have a certain type of keyboard, like you have to have a ps2 connection instead of a usb.

**TX_TRINITY** · October 19, 2006

I wonder if it requires you to have a certain type of keyboard, like you have to have a ps2 connection instead of a usb.

It is actually a usb keyboard on this one.. one of those little laptop like light up keyboards from maplins. along with a laptop size mouse. Most discreet on top of the sky box.

**stephenp1983** · October 20, 2006

It is actually a usb keyboard on this one.. one of those little laptop like light up keyboards from maplins. along with a laptop size mouse. Most discreet on top of the sky box.

Ill have to look in my cab computers bios when I get home to see if this option is there. I looked in my main computer which is a new dfi infinity sli board and I couldn't find it in there. Makes me wonder since it was so new of a board if I just missed it.

**johninc** · October 20, 2006

Ill have to look in my cab computers bios when I get home to see if this option is there. I looked in my main computer which is a new dfi infinity sli board and I couldn't find it in there. Makes me wonder since it was so new of a board if I just missed it.

I have an ASUS MB in my cab with AWARD BIOS, it's about four years old. Under power options in the BIOS, there's a "power up control" option. One of the choices is PS/2 Keyboard, and under this there are several options for which key you can use. I just assumed most PCs built in the last couple of years had this option.

--

inc

**stephenp1983** · October 20, 2006

I have an ASUS MB in my cab with AWARD BIOS, it's about four years old. Under power options in the BIOS, there's a "power up control" option. One of the choices is PS/2 Keyboard, and under this there are several options for which key you can use. I just assumed most PCs built in the last couple of years had this option.
--
inc

My cab computer has a asus motherboard as well. Its a 754 socket that is a few years old as well so hopefully it will have this option, that would be great.

**fostina1** · October 20, 2006

wouldnt that cut it off too. i mean pressing player 1 button 3

**jthompson** · October 21, 2006

wouldnt that cut it off too. i mean pressing player 1 button 3

Nope, just powers the computer on. To turn it off you would need to shut the system down through Windows, or GameEx. If you go the microswitch power button route you can use that button to turn your system off.

Jay T

**stephenp1983** · October 23, 2006

Well I have the option in my bios for my cab computer, but couldn't get it to work. It says power on with ps2 keyboard or another option is to do so with a ps2 mouse. Now I was using a USB keyboard with a ps2 adapter, and that might have been why it wasn't working. Any thought?

power on pc by via microswitch?

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