New shutdown controller - software

**Cobelli** · 10-12-2004, 07:40 PM

So much for that theory. Worked on the home pc but not in the car. Pleas help

And as for why, with hardware you don't have the convenience to change when the computer will shutdown. With the software i get a popup that says "hibernating in 10 seconds" but you have the option to keep it running for 10 mins or an hour. If i'm at the gas station or just gonna pop into the house ill tell it to stay up for ten minutes. Plus my mobo only hibernates if it recieves a momentary connection, any longer and it cuts the power.

cobelli

**Arathranar** · 10-13-2004, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Cobelli

And as for why, with hardware you don't have the convenience to change when the computer will shutdown. With the software i get a popup that says "hibernating in 10 seconds" but you have the option to keep it running for 10 mins or an hour. If i'm at the gas station or just gonna pop into the house ill tell it to stay up for ten minutes. Plus my mobo only hibernates if it recieves a momentary connection, any longer and it cuts the power.

Good points. I believe the first (bringing up a timed shutdown dialog with the option to extend/cancel) could be done entirely in software (in principle there's no reason why it can't - but it might require kernel changes). I'm still looking into that possibility - I can write a user mode app such that the PC doesn't shut down and brings up the dialog instead but the odd app might close immediately. I'm trying to work out how to avoid even that happening.

I've got a use for the hardware aspect though. My car turns off the switched 12v during the crank. So if I drive my (planned) auto pc off the switched voltage, I am protected against voltage spikes. I just need a small lead acid battery to avoid the drop to zero. I still want an automatic shut down. So I'm wondering if there's any way that I can continuously monitor for the 13-14V switched voltage and if it disappears for long enough (i.e. more than just during the crank), turn the computer off.

That way, when I switch the car on, the PC starts resuming from hibernate immediately and survives the crank. When I later switch the car off, it starts hibernating again ~10 seconds later unless I switch it back on again. That could be done with electronics, but a software solution + a custom serial cable would be simpler and cheaper.

**Arathranar** · 10-13-2004, 05:20 PM

The software timed cancel dialog is entirely doable without hardware. I'm going to add that to my machine soon.

But you will still need some way of converting a long-term switch on/off of the switched 12v line into a 'click' of the button. The electronics for that should be pretty simple. If there's a solution that just required wiring the switched 12v line directly onto a pin on the com port, that would be preferable but I imagine that's not how it works (and big bangs and smoke would result).

**dragonBTV** · 11-03-2004, 03:18 PM

in my opinion, LPT port would be better, because it is useless on carpc
rs232 com1 for GPS and com2 used by IR

I have done some softwork work with LPT input and output years ago, but it only works on win98. 2k and xp do not alow drict access to it.....

**weekendowel** · 11-04-2004, 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by dragonBTV

in my opinion, LPT port would be better, because it is useless on carpc
rs232 com1 for GPS and com2 used by IR

I have done some softwork work with LPT input and output years ago, but it only works on win98. 2k and xp do not alow drict access to it.....

There are a program that allows you to direct access the LPT port, I just don´t remember the name right now

**Multiplayer** · 11-10-2004, 09:10 AM

Tjäna

I've just finished the hardware, everythings working ok. But windoze just comes with the anoying message "it's now safe to turn of". I'm running winxp, and an M10000. Is there any settings i've forgotten.

**BulleDK** · 11-10-2004, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by Multiplayer

Tjäna

I've just finished the hardware, everythings working ok. But windoze just comes with the anoying message "it's now safe to turn of". I'm running winxp, and an M10000. Is there any settings i've forgotten.

Hej med dig! Endnu en fra Danmark :-)

Run Regedit and find:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below:
Data Type: REG_DWORD [Dword Value] // Value Name: PowerdownAfterShutdown
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry and Reboot

**Multiplayer** · 11-10-2004, 10:22 AM

Hej

Thanks for the help, going to try this tomorrow. As i'm building and configuring at work

(må hellere skrive på engelsk ,-) )

**BassBinDevil** · 11-10-2004, 08:34 PM

Some people use the parallel port to drive an LCD character display.

**calvincbr** · 12-13-2004, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Cobelli

I love the program but am having some serious problems. First off every time the computer returns from shutdown shutdown controller crashes. I get a standard type .net error saying "the file specified could not be found." the details talk something about the startinfo process. I'm running xp and have updated to sp2 and installed all .net versions and updates with no improvement.

I'm having the same problem and I've just completed a clean install of winxp. So there shouldn't be any conflicts between drivers yet. Let me know if you have any idea as to how to fix this problem. All I've installed before shutdown is MediaCar. Is there a better shutdown software out there?