My idea for a Laptop Switch for my MKIV Jetta. Can this work?!?

**Man Ace** · 03-30-2005, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

See if you have Wake on Lan in your bios, you amy be able to use that instead.

Nope. Not available either. So basically i am **** out of luck for hoping that would work.

**mwh350** · 03-30-2005, 05:18 PM

Man Ace send me a picture of the button that gets pressed on your laptop. On my laptop there were very small spots to solder on by the switch itself. The way that I tested what pins needed the wire was by jumpering the wire across the very small button. You can get access to it it is just a pain in the rear, and scary as heck if you don't know what you are doing. Most laptop power buttons press against a small silver button that is attached to a circuit board. I would expect that it is possible to solder a wire on like what you were thinking, and then use a relay from your fog light wire, and it would work world class!

**Man Ace** · 03-30-2005, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by mwh350

Man Ace send me a picture of the button that gets pressed on your laptop. On my laptop there were very small spots to solder on by the switch itself. The way that I tested what pins needed the wire was by jumpering the wire across the very small button. You can get access to it it is just a pain in the rear, and scary as heck if you don't know what you are doing. Most laptop power buttons press against a small silver button that is attached to a circuit board. I would expect that it is possible to solder a wire on like what you were thinking, and then use a relay from your fog light wire, and it would work world class!

Ok... I put everything back together last night. Unfortunately I couldnt event unscrew the circuit board that the switch was attached too because I didn't have a small hex screw driver? The wierdest lookin screw i ever saw. They must really not want you to remove it!

I will take a pic of my switch and try to reopen the case and snap a pic of the circuit board it is attached to. This whole laptop problem with powering on is a pain in the ***.

**Scouse Monkey** · 03-30-2005, 06:16 PM

What about getting a docking station or port replicator for your laptop. The IBM ones have power buttons youc an hack into.

**Man Ace** · 03-30-2005, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by Scouse Monkey

What about getting a docking station or port replicator for your laptop. The IBM ones have power buttons youc an hack into.

I tried looking into that, as I am not familiar with port replicators or docking stations and it seemed to me that my laptop didn't have the port in the back that was needed to connect to the station/replicator. I could of looked at the plug on the docking station but my computer wouldn't seem to fit.

I have a Toshiba M35X-S109 Laptop and tried searching specifically for a docking station for that model with no luck. When I get home I'll post a pic of the back of my laptop. Hopefully I am just looking at them wrong, otherwise a docking station would be great!

**Scouse Monkey** · 03-30-2005, 07:41 PM

yeah seems they dont make one for that model! should have got an IBM

They have good docking stations - i have one i got for £20 with a PCI slot, 2 additional PCMCIA slots (with controller) and a power button!

Post some pics of your power button, looks like some kind of laptop tray with a servo/solenoid activation built in might be your only option.

**Man Ace** · 03-30-2005, 08:57 PM

yea i will disassemble my laptop and take pics of my progress thus far when i get home tonite.

At this point I might just have to go to a pc version. I have an extra ATX complete computer system sitting in my garage. its got a 300 watt PSU though so I don't see how a OPus 150W DC PSU is going to work with it. All desktops in cars though are mini-itx it seems.If i went with a desk top it would also mean i would need to invest in a PSU & shutoff controller.

This laptop way seemed the most economical for me because i already had half the problem solved with power and shutdown.

**Man Ace** · 03-31-2005, 12:11 PM

I am going to figure out this laptop issue once and for all. I will take it apart and take pics tonite.

**Man Ace** · 03-31-2005, 11:37 PM

Ok after some struggling the laptop is now disassembled completely and I have full access to the switch. Now what?!

Here is a pic of my switch normally. It is a push down type switch.

**mwh350** · 04-01-2005, 12:48 AM

Yes you do solder to two of those points. The way that I found out which two legs of that switch to solder to was using a jumper wire. Just take a small piece of wire, and brush it against two legs of the switch at a time until you get the laptop to fire up. It is important to note that switches that small are momentary that is to say that it should just take a brush with your jumper wire to fire up the laptop. The connection only has to be made for just a second. Earlier in the post you talked about using the voltage from your fog light switch to power that switch. YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT IT COULD FRY THE LAPTOP. Use the Voltage from the fog light switch to pull down a relay. The relay will just complete your little jumper wire for a brief moment, and the laptop will fire up just fine. When doing your jumper trick you should get the idea. The relay you would need is only about 5$ at Radio Shack