Remote poweroff USB/Firewire devices?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Noozer
  • Start date Start date
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Noozer

I'm trying to figure out a method of turning off my USB/Firewire drives
automatically when Windows XP shuts my PC down, and power them back up when
the PC is fired up. It would be nice to be able to do the same thing with my
monitor.

Sounds like a fairly simple device - USB controlled power outlets. Could
even run off of the +5v of the USB or PS2 connectors. Even something that
detects the current load on the AC side of the PC power supply might work.

Any ideas?
 
Noozer said:
I'm trying to figure out a method of turning off my USB/Firewire drives
automatically when Windows XP shuts my PC down, and power them back up when
the PC is fired up. It would be nice to be able to do the same thing with my
monitor.

Sounds like a fairly simple device - USB controlled power outlets. Could
even run off of the +5v of the USB or PS2 connectors. Even something that
detects the current load on the AC side of the PC power supply might work.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...


Don't know about your system but on mine the option to have the system
power up/down the USB devices is a setting under Device Manager >
Universal Serial Bus Controllers > USB Root Hub. Each Hub has its own
setting for whether the associated ports stay hot all the time or
whether they are powered down.
 
John McGaw said:
Don't know about your system but on mine the option to have the system
power up/down the USB devices is a setting under Device Manager >
Universal Serial Bus Controllers > USB Root Hub. Each Hub has its own
setting for whether the associated ports stay hot all the time or whether
they are powered down.
Click to expand...

But that doesn't control the USB device, just the USB port.
 
Noozer said:
But that doesn't control the USB device, just the USB port.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Guess I misread your post. I assumed that shutting off the USB
port's power would fill the bill but I guess if your device isn't
powered by the port it wouldn't matter.

If I was inclined to build a device to control power outlets via USB
signals I'd probably start out with an interface from this company
http://www.phidgets.com/index.php and then add the necessary number of
suitable solid-state AC relays. Using this sort of interface device
would eliminate the fiddly bits of PCB design and manufacture which I
used to enjoy so much but which simply seem like too much bother today.
 
I'm trying to figure out a method of turning off my USB/Firewire drives
automatically when Windows XP shuts my PC down, and power them back up when
the PC is fired up. It would be nice to be able to do the same thing with my
monitor.

Sounds like a fairly simple device - USB controlled power outlets. Could
even run off of the +5v of the USB or PS2 connectors. Even something that
detects the current load on the AC side of the PC power supply might work.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

As John began to describe, the basic idea here is that the
variable would be power or lack thereof as a control.
Determine whether you want to detect this power (on vs off)
state from the USB port (fine if it runs from 5V rather than
5VSB power or it's acceptible to jumper it to 5V instead of
5VSB) or another location such as a molex power plug. This
choice is a logical one but also locational.

Once you have the location picked out, a simple mechanical
or solid-state relay of appropriate voltage and amperage is
chosen to switch the AC off to the external drive power
supplies. It would be rather trivial to design such a thing
but if you're not inclined to that sort of work it becomes
much more costly, enough that it would make more sense to
just take an interal power plug and power the external drive
enclosures directly from it, avoiding the external supplies
completely. That would be a simplier project for a novice
as it doesn't involve dealing with HV AC, simple buying some
power plug adapters, some cabling, the appropriate sizes of
DC barrel connectors to fit the external enclosures and
soldering it all together.
 
I'm trying to figure out a method of turning off my USB/Firewire drives
automatically when Windows XP shuts my PC down, and power them back up when
the PC is fired up. It would be nice to be able to do the same thing with my
monitor.

Sounds like a fairly simple device - USB controlled power outlets. Could
even run off of the +5v of the USB or PS2 connectors. Even something that
detects the current load on the AC side of the PC power supply might work.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

There are devices that are current sensing power strips.
Here is an example. (The trick with these, is getting one
with a sensitivity adjustment, so when the computer is
in sleep mode, the peripherals are switched off. A fixed
threshold device, can mistake the sleeping computer as
still drawing too much current to allow the peripherals
to be switched off.)

http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Hardware-Cable/Item/LCG1/
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Products/LCG1/images/circuit.jpg

In the FAQ page for the above product, they mention two
other versions of the product, that have a sensitivity
adjustment. But they aren't listed on the site as being
for sale.

I would expect these devices to be more popular in countries
that have excessively high elecricity costs.

The way this works, is the computer is plugged into the outlet
that is sensed. When the computer draws more than 20 watts,
the other outlets are switched on. When the computer is put
to sleep, or is shut down, and it draws less than 20 watts,
the peripherals are switched off. Versions of this product
equipped with a knob to adjust the sensitivity, allows
setting the device so it responds properly to your particular
computer's sleeping power level.

Paul
 
Just what I was looking for.

Now to find someplace that ships to Canada without using UPS, etc.
 
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