Harmony remote and S3 sleep mode (1 Viewer)

[emphyrio]

MediaPortal Version: 1.1.1
MediaPortal Skin: StreamedMP
Windows Version: Windows XP SP3
CPU Type: Athlon XP 3000+
HDD: Samsung 1 TB
Memory: 1 GB
Motherboard: Asus M2N-E
Video Card: Radeon HD 4550
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 10.9
Sound Card: Logitech Z-Cinéma
1. TV Card: FloppyDTV
1. TV Card Type: DVB-C
1. TV Card Driver: 5.7
MPEG2 Video Codec: SAF 5 experimental 101018
MPEG2 Audio Codec: SAF 5 experimental 101018
h.264 Video Codec: SAF 5 experimental 101018
Remote: Logitech Harmony One
TV: Samsung 40" LCD
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

Here's a question about power management and S3 sleep state for you guys!

When I select the activity 'Use Mediaportal', the Harmony remote sends a power toggle signal to the TV, my speakers and my Mediaportal PC. Thus waking it from S3 sleep. No problem so far.

Then, when I press the Power button on the Harmony remote, it powers off my TV and my speakers. I programmed it to *not* power down the PC. I do this, because I believe that I should let the Mediaportal Power Management plugins handle the standby mode. So after 15 minutes of inactivity, the PC goes to standby (S3 sleep).

Question 1: am I correct that I should not 'manually' put my PC into standby, because then it will not wake up for a scheduled recording?

Unfortunately (and very WAF-unfriendly), if I press 'Use Mediaportal' in the mentioned 15 minutes time frame where the PC is waiting to power down, the Harmony *switches off* the PC. I don't need that! I need it to stay on if it is already on.

Question 2: is there a way to intercept the power toggle from the remote? So it won't put the PC in sleep mode if it is already on?

I hope I've described the issue right, and I hope you guys have some hints for me...

 

[nfox]

If you go to the XP Power options menu (r-click on desktop, properties, screen saver, power button), under the Advanced tab there are two options available for when you press the power button on your pc, and when you press the sleep button on your pc. I have the power button option set to standby, and the sleep button set to do nothing. The important one here is the sleep button option as this is how the pc will react to a sleep command being sent from your remote.

Regarding manually putting your pc into standby, if you use the option from within MP to put the pc into standby you should be OK (I do this with no issues), but you are advised not to use Windows options to do this.

So, the way I have things set up, if my MP pc is running and I press the power button on my remote it switches to the home screen and stops any media that is playing. This means that after 5 minutes (in my case, 15 mins in yours) Powerscheduler puts the pc into standby. If I want to shut down the PC immediately I use the standby option from the power menu on the MP home screen.

 

[emphyrio]

Thanks, that sounds like exactly what I need! Does your method of going to the home screen and then stopping all media also work when you are watching LiveTV? I'm just wondering, because when I stop LiveTV I always get a popup where I have to answer the question 'Are you sure you want to stop LiveTV'. Did you perhaps find a way to dodge that question when you power down?

 

[nfox]

The pop-up only appears if you try to stop live TV when it is playing full screen (at least that's how it works for me). If you exit to the home screen first and then stop TV you shouldn't get any pop-up. You can try it manually to make sure.

 

[emphyrio]

Thanks a bunch, I'll set it up the way you recommend and see how it goes!

 

[SwissBuster]

So, the way I have things set up, if my MP pc is running and I press the power button on my remote it switches to the home screen and stops any media that is playing.

This is exactly where I am today, sleep is working fine but I first have to stop the TV (or music) from playing in MP for sleep to activate. How did you program your remote to do this?

 

[nfox]

Wow, here's a blast from the past! It's made me realise how long I've been using MP. A big thanks to all involved!

You don't say if you are using a Harmony remote or not. The Harmony configuration app allows you to set up multiple commands to be sent for one button. (It used to just be available for Power On/Off, but I believe you can set up a macro for all buttons now). So I set up my Harmony to send different command for Power On and Power Off - Power On is, in my case, PowerToggle, but use whatever command turns your PC on. For Power Off I set the Haromony to send two commands: the first command takes MP back to the home screen (MediaCenter in my setup, because I am emulating an MCE remote); the second command is simply Stop, which of course stops whatever is playing. At this point MP should idle to sleep. I notice I put a 300ms delay between those commands, but I honestly can't remember if that was necessary, or if I was just being careful.

If you are using a Harmony you can open the config app, select "Devices", select your HTPC and click on "Change Device Settings". Then select "Power Settings" and press Next. This will take you through the process. If you are not using a Harmony, then I don't know how, or even if you can.

Hope that helps!

 

[SwissBuster]

Wow, here's a blast from the past! ...Hope that helps!

Yep, Harmony remote here. It took me a while to find the right place in the Harmony app to make these adjustments, but once I did, it worked seamlessly. I tested with a 1 sec delay at first to make sure it worked, then removed the delay without issue.

Thanks!

 

[Sepulchre]

ignore

 

[SwissBuster]

tell me more

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