Thread: Re-engineered M2-atx firmware with fixes and added functionality

Originally Posted by Punky

if you can make the M2 keep the 5V on until a set threshold voltage like the DSATX, it'll make the M2 sooooo attractive.

Can you explain a little more what you mean? Do you mean 5V power rail or 5V standby, and do you mean battery threshold voltage? As far as keeping the 5V standby on for an indeterminate length of time and only switching it off when the battery gets to a certain voltage, the M2 is definitely capable of that. That is what the hard-off NEVER option is in the mini-box code (mine can do that as well).

Here is an idea to throw out there... it seems that the biggest desire for customization of the M2 is to have additional timing options...

Would you prefer the ability to have fewer sets of preconfigured timings by using the combinations possible with only jumpers A and B and then using jumpers C and D to explicitly turn on and off certain features like hard-off and changing the off-delay from seconds to minutes?

Let me clarify...

Consider jumper C to turn off the hard-off except when the battery voltage gets too low
Consider jumper D to toggle the off-delay between seconds and minutes

With pre-set timings for jumpers A and B:
B A autolatch amp delay off delay hard off
0 0 : 60 10 5 1
0 1 : 60 10 15 60
1 0 : 90 20 5 1
1 1 : 90 20 15 60

you could then get options like :
D C B A
0 0 0 0 : dumb psu mode
0 0 0 1 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 15 sec, hard off 60 min
0 0 1 0 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 5 sec, hard off 1 min
0 0 1 1 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 15 sec, hard off 60 min
0 1 0 0 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 5 sec, hard off never
0 1 0 1 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 15 sec, hard off never
0 1 1 1 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 15 sec, hard off never
1 0 0 0 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 5 min, hard off 1 min
1 0 0 1 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 15 min, hard off 60 min
1 0 1 0 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 5 min, hard off 1 min
1 0 1 1 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 15 min, hard off 60 min
1 1 0 0 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 5 min, hard off never
1 1 0 1 : autolatch 60 sec, amp delay 10 sec, off delay 15 min, hard off never
1 1 1 0 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 5 min, hard off never
1 1 1 1 : autolatch 90 sec, amp delay 20 sec, off delay 15 min, hard off never

What do you think? Does that solve a timing issue with anyone?

Originally Posted by bluTDI09

Can you explain a little more what you mean? Do you mean 5V power rail or 5V standby, and do you mean battery threshold voltage? As far as keeping the 5V standby on for an indeterminate length of time and only switching it off when the battery gets to a certain voltage, the M2 is definitely capable of that. That is what the hard-off NEVER option is in the mini-box code (mine can do that as well).

I meant to keep the 5v standby on so that the computer can stay in standby mode. From my understanding is that if you select the hard-off NEVER, the 5V rail will not turn off regardless of the battery voltage (I might be wrong). The DSATX has a function called ENABLE_SLEEP, which if you set it to true, it'll set the 5V standby on and it'll monitor the battery voltage and compared it to a LOW_VOLTAGE variable, if ever the battery voltage < LOW_VOLTAGE, it'll turn off the 5V standby. The LOW_VOLTAGE variable is settable using the serial interface, so the m2 won't be able to do that, but it shouldn't be too bad to even be able to set it before compiling the code.

From my understanding, I thought that the 5v rails WILL get shutdown from low battery even if your jumper is set to HARDOFF = NEVER. From the M2 manual:

"When 5VSB is always
active (HARDOFF=Never), M2-ATX constantly monitors the battery levels.
When battery level drops below 11V for more than one minute, M2-ATX will
shut down and re-activate only when the input voltage is > 12V."

One potential problem I see with using the M2 and standby is that to get standby to work, you have to set HARDOFF = NEVER. But if you wanted to shut your system down after it hangs, there is no way for the M2 to do it for you (because HARDOFF = NEVER) without physically pulling the plug.

Perhaps it can be programmed to set a timer on the 5V rail, instead of voltage levels...
I'm having my Opus reflashed to do just this...
i.e. sleeps (5V live) for 2 hours (depending on jumpers), for example, THEN hard off...but with the voltage drop still effective.

im not sure why anyone worries about the 5v monitoring. if your battery hits 11v your car isnt starting anyway. all the m2 does for its low-voltage shutoff is to protect your battery from damage , in no way is it designed to keep your battery from being drained.

this code re-work seems awesome though. the LED diagnostic and the low-power sleep state should be excellent. the m2's power draw while off always bothered me (its way too much) and i always hated how you never knew what the m2 was trying to do. it sounds like both problems have been fixed in software, which is great!

Originally Posted by nobb

One potential problem I see with using the M2 and standby is that to get standby to work, you have to set HARDOFF = NEVER. But if you wanted to shut your system down after it hangs, there is no way for the M2 to do it for you (because HARDOFF = NEVER) without physically pulling the plug.

you really should have a proper low-voltage shutdown controller , and have that feed the m2 for power. i designed a simple one, its on this forum somewhere. never had the time to build it though... ill build it when i have more time.

Originally Posted by nobb

From my understanding, I thought that the 5v rails WILL get shutdown from low battery even if your jumper is set to HARDOFF = NEVER. From the M2 manual:

"When 5VSB is always
active (HARDOFF=Never), M2-ATX constantly monitors the battery levels.
When battery level drops below 11V for more than one minute, M2-ATX will
shut down and re-activate only when the input voltage is > 12V."

OHHH, i guess it was my misunderstanding all along, so they only difference is m2 is hardcoded at 11V while the dsatx is settable.

Originally Posted by nobb

One potential problem I see with using the M2 and standby is that to get standby to work, you have to set HARDOFF = NEVER. But if you wanted to shut your system down after it hangs, there is no way for the M2 to do it for you (because HARDOFF = NEVER) without physically pulling the plug.

There's an easy way to solve this problem. Run a momentary switch to the RESET pins on your motherboard, whenever system hang just press the switch to restart the computer. Thats what i currently have.

or just use an m4 which is tunable on the fly and doesn't have any of these problems...