p1900 shutdown instead of sleep

natedawgg · 04-23-2007, 05:48 PM

ok so i have a intel mini connected to a p1900. i have had it up and running since january. ever since i installed the setup, the mini would go to sleep and wake up like normal about 80% of the time the other 20% of the time it completely reboots instead of waking from sleep. this was ok because it only happened like once a week or every two weeks or so. now within the last couple of weeks, the mini reboots every 2 or three times i start my car. this isnt a huge issue just kinda annoying. i wondered if it was because my battery wasn't strong enough so therefore the p1900 was shutting everything down for saftey. i don't know.

does anybody have any ideas to what could be causing this?

www.workingcars · 04-24-2007, 01:40 AM

If you can lay your hands on a bigger battery and try it for a week then you will find out, but i would say it probably is...

I had the same problem until i changed mine to stinger batteries...

jovenchris · 04-24-2007, 01:41 AM

hi

natedawgg · 04-24-2007, 08:39 AM

hey thanks for the tip. i will see what i can find. where do you get a battery like that? local car audio retailer im guessing?

www.workingcars · 04-24-2007, 09:18 AM

Any battery would do, but i chose to buy the stinger because it is better that the optima and i needed something for the system anyway, but it cured all my problems with sleep.

I do occasionally get it shut down, and i do mean occasionally, maybe once in every 50 visits to the car... But i consider that fine, and anyway, i have an auxillary power button now, so it doesn;t concern me in the same way it used too... Lol

iamgnat · 04-24-2007, 09:54 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by natedawgg

hey thanks for the tip. i will see what i can find. where do you get a battery like that? local car audio retailer im guessing?

At a minimum you should be able to have a auto parts store test your current battery for you to tell you where it is in it's life.

I don't know anything about Stinger batteries, but i've been happy with my Optima Yellow Top since I got it.

The battery is the first step, but it could be more too. Over the winter my battery was completely dieing on me if it sat for more than 24 hours so I replaced it with the Optima (I had the old battery tested and it wasn't holding a charge). Then a month or so later it was dead too. Turned out my Alternator had fried and wasn't putting out enough juice to keep the battery charged on my short trips to and from work.
So, replace the battery first, but if you still have trouble with it go get the electrical system tested (and hopefully you don't own a Ford Escape if you need a new Alt

).

Another issue might be that your Alternator isn't bad, but it isn't big enough to power your Mini and charge the battery. In these cases where the Mini shuts down, are you making a bunch of short trips? With lots of things on (heat/air, lights, etc..)? Most MFG Alts only put out enough AMPs to barely cover the factory options.

-dave

Bugbyte · 04-24-2007, 09:57 AM

I've seen the Optima yellow tops at Autozone.

iamgnat · 04-24-2007, 10:07 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

I've seen the Optima yellow tops at Autozone.

Sorry, yeah that is where I got mine.

BTW, if you (OP primarily) don't already know. The Yellow (vs the Red) top is a deap cycle which means you can drain it below the standard (effectively you can run it dry) bottom end with out damaging it like you would with a normal battery. IIRC it has substantially more cranking amps too.

-dave

natedawgg · 04-24-2007, 05:59 PM

yeah i didn't upgrade my battery in the begining b/c i figured that since i am not running any other amps that i would be fine. but i can imagine that with the weather changing and things like that may have caused my battery to not hold up as well. and to answer your question iamgnat, i do make lots of short trips, so that could very well be it. thank you all for your help. i will take my car to autozone since they do a free battery/altenator test, and see what that turns up.

zdero · 05-16-2007, 10:54 PM

my mac mini always shuts down. Even when I have a charger on the battery. I am running xp through the bootcamp program if that makes a difference. I jumpered the p1900 for standby, but could never get it to work.

iamgnat · 05-16-2007, 11:35 PM

You probably need to go look on the CarNetix forums since most of us run OSX, but i'll take a crack.

If you have the Mini in the house using it's power supply, what does Windows do when you quickly press the power button? In OSX, this tells it to go to sleep. The P1900 replicates this quick button press, so if Windows doesn't handle a real press then the P1900 won't do it either.

-dave

Bugbyte · 05-17-2007, 08:01 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by zdero

my mac mini always shuts down. Even when I have a charger on the battery. I am running xp through the bootcamp program if that makes a difference. I jumpered the p1900 for standby, but could never get it to work.

In the System Preferences-->Energy Saver panel, choose the "Options" tab and make sure you have checked "Allow power button to sleep computer"