Gps powered when shutdown?

Rs! · 07-13-2004, 03:05 PM

Hi, my power led on my gps mouse is lighted even when my computer is off, my question is should it be like that? if so how much power does it consumes

/Rs

Laidback · 07-13-2004, 06:44 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Rs!

Hi, my power led on my gps mouse is lighted even when my computer is off, my question is should it be like that? if so how much power does it consumes

/Rs

Ah but your computer isn't really off, is it? Still on standby power. Do a search, there's lot's of posts about this.....

philstuf · 07-19-2004, 12:25 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Rs!

Hi, my power led on my gps mouse is lighted even when my computer is off, my question is should it be like that? if so how much power does it consumes

/Rs

I am seeing the same thing on mine. My attempted solution was to try to change some settings in BIOS, but to no avail. As a last resort, I tried a USB hub, and powered it off whenever the car-puter was off. Seemed to work out nicely.

Another, potentially simpler option, is to locate the +5 V lead in the USB cable going to your GPS. Then, use a relay to switch open the lead in the USB cable. You can accomplish this by powering the relay from the +12V of the PC's power supply (86 on the relay for the 12V lead, 85 on the relay for ground), then locate and cut the USB's 5 volt lead (In the USB cable for the GPS, not in the PC!

). Then connect the 2 halves of the lead you sliced to the "normally open" (87) and "Common" (30) leads of the relay.

Hope this helps

-Phil

P.S. It is a VERY good idea to place a diode across the relay's input terminals (85 and 86) to clamp any reverse voltage as the relay shuts down (This can be upwards of 100 volts and has the potential to damage your PC). The direction of the diode is important, the anode toward negative, the cathode toward positive. The cathode side is usually indicated by a stripe. See the attachement below:

philstuf · 07-20-2004, 01:19 AM

I almost forgot. What motherboard are you using? If you have the option to turn off the USB power with a 5V+/5VSB jumper, this could do the trick, saving you the hassle of getting a hub or even hacking up wires. I never noticed it until tonight, as I am swapping out motherboards and was running through the jumper settings.

That little jumper fixed me up just fine when I noticed my XM PCR would still output audio during shutdown, and even the next startup.

I should have looked around the old motherboard before I went through my "hub-hassle".

-Phil