USB power HELP !!!

**ramez75** · 12-19-2006, 10:37 AM

Hi everyone, I dunno if I am posting this thread in the right place but if not I am sure I will have the feedback.

I have to USB ports on my carPC embedded in my trunk, One USB is being used for my external DVD/CDRW which is fitted in my Dash and the other one is used for my Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter (WUSB300N).

My question I guess is when I turn the car off my PC goes to standby and I wanted the USB to not use any power. When my computer goes to standby and keeping the Wireless-N USB Network Adapter plugged in drained my battery. Is there anything I can do to shut down the juice on the USB's when my PC goes to standby.

I hope I did not create any confusion

Any input is very much appreciated coz since I already wired my wireless adapter in my trunk its annoying each i wanna use it and have to plug it in and when done unplug it.

Hope there is something that I can do in Windows XP standby setting that I can control the USB power. Or if i need to buy some kind a usb switch if something like that exist

Thank you in advance and lets see what i deas and suggestions i get

Ramez

**peijffertje** · 12-19-2006, 10:47 AM

Hi,

Maybe you can use the DEVCON utility from microsoft to disable all your USB ports before standby and activate them again after you start the PC again.

**afterdigital** · 12-19-2006, 11:00 AM

well, if i understand correctly; your machine is on standby mode - right? Doesn't that alone drain the battery?

**ramez75** · 12-19-2006, 01:20 PM

afterdigital; yes it is on standby coz when i turn my car off i get the screen saying PC going into Standby and no i didnt have no battery issues, until a week ago i pluged in the Wireless-N internet adapter into the USB port and i left it pluged for a whole week and when i came back from my trip no juice in the battery.....And I unplugged the wireless-N thing and left the car parked for a week and had no battery draininage its only when i use the USB for something that require power.

peijffertje, what is the DEVCON utility where can i find that and is it something i set it up once or i have to do it everytime i turn the PC power on

I really appreciate all the help

Ramez

**ramez75** · 12-19-2006, 06:20 PM

I went into Device Manager and right clicked onto the USB icon and there was a power management tab and i found out that there is 2 boxes that can be checked or unchecked one box if checked then will bring the computer on from standby so i guess that can be used for WOL or bluetooth option to turn ur computer when u approach the car just a thought and the other box is for turning the power off but it doesnt say when at what mode, standby, hibernate, etccc, Well this is my laptop i hope i have the same configuration on my CarPC WinXP. I have winXP Pro on my laptop does anyone have Win XP Home edition if it is not much of hassle tell me if u have the power management tab.

Or I guess will find out when i get home this weekend just cant know if i have home edi or Pro edi and dunno if that will work at standyby

I will wait of inputs from u guys

**lifestyle** · 12-19-2006, 07:04 PM

I have Win Xp Home SP2 - and on my device manager , when i right-click on usb root hub then hit properties, i have - general-power-driver-details-power management (in the upper tabs)

**ramez75** · 12-19-2006, 07:09 PM

Thanks man thats exactly what i am looking for so if i have Pro or Home Edi i should be able to try it the question that remains is WILL IT WORK FOR STANDBY OR NOT darn gotta wait till the weekend to find out.

Unless any other suggestions

Thanks again

**DaveTN** · 12-19-2006, 07:28 PM

Why not use hibernate instead of standby? Standby does draw some juice from the battery as it keeps power going to the cpu and the memory. Hibernate saves a snapshot of what you are doing and shuts the computer down. Granted it does take a bit longer to wake up from hibernate...about 20 seconds on my system.

David

**ramez75** · 12-19-2006, 09:06 PM

DaveTN after i read ur reply I just called home and I was told the battery is drained, i guess I have to go into hibernate, the reason i never noticed this issue since i was using the car on a daily basis, but since i parked this this month for a while i noticed that.

So going into hibernate will not suck any power so i will not have to worry about the battery getting drained right?, I mean all the USB ports will not be able to get any power to in hibernation

Correct me if i am wrong

Thanks

**spoonraker** · 12-20-2006, 02:46 AM

Yes, when you hibernate your computer actually does shut completely off, no power at all should be used....

It simply writes the RAM to the hard drive before shutting the computer off, which then loads when you turn your pc back on when windows would normally boot.

Since the hard drive is non-volatile memory, it is stored even when the PC is completely powered down.