1.38 MP Stops Accepting User Input (1 Viewer)

[joecrow]

So for me it all seems to be working as I would expect.

Many thanks, that is encouraging and hopefully my problem can be resolved with setting changes. I am using sleep rather than hibernation and MP is set to restart on boot but only to the Home panel. I also require system login after restart/reboot but this is handled automatically and login is not required on return from sleep. I do have the Power Scheduler set up for EPG grabbing which seems to work fine. First change I think is to try with no MP start on reboot, I'll keep you posted.

 

[joecrow]

Hmm, seems the problem is more general, with MP not running the PC still does not sleep on inactive timeout. This despite being able to put it to sleep with the standby button on my remote both with and without MP running and it returns to sleep after EPG grabbing and unattended recording. Also the Power Scheduler shows nothing stopping standby! Further investigation required.

 

[CyberSimian]

with MP not running the PC still does not sleep on inactive timeout.

If I remember correctly, Microsoft introduced a new sleep timeout setting in Windows 10 (or perhaps Windows 8), the System unattended sleep timeout. I don't know how this interacts with the old Sleep after.

To see these settings, use the powercfg command with the /qh option (I think that "qh" stands for "query hidden"). On my Windows 10 laptop it produces 1400 lines of output, so I suggest redirecting the output to a file:

powercfg /qh >powercfg.txt​

On my Windows 10 laptop:

• "Sleep after" is set to zero (disabled) on AC (i.e. mains power), and 15 minutes on DC (i.e. battery).
• "System unattended sleep timeout" is set to 2 minutes on both AC and DC.

I don't know whether these are the cause of your problem, but worth checking, I think.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

"System unattended sleep timeout"

I believe that setting is only available on a laptop, it certainly is not shown on either of my Win 11 PCs.
I am however making progress, for the HTPC I had Sleep set to 45 mins, and since the display is a TV which can only be placed in standby with CEC adaptor and the MP plugin I set the display timeout to Never as I did not want the system involved with cutting the video signal to the TV. It appears than any combination of those settings in which the display timeout is longer than the sleep timeout will cause the PC not to timeout to sleep. When I set the sleep timeout to 1 minute longer than the display timout the PC will first turn off the video to the TV then 1 minute later go to sleep both with or without MP running.
Just one problem though the system sleep timout is not the same as hitting the standby button on the remote even when MP is running, the PC goes to sleep OK but it does not trigger the CEC plugin to put the TV and AVR in standby so they remain on. Not sure there is a way round that?

 

[CyberSimian]

the PC goes to sleep OK but it does not trigger the CEC plugin to put the TV and AVR in standby so they remain on. Not sure there is a way round that?

I have never used CEC to control my TV (although I think that my Sony TV does support it), so unfortunately I cannot offer any advice on whether what you want to do is supposed to work. Possibly the CEC plugin could be enhanced (or fixed, if this is a bug) to behave in the way that you want. The problem is the availability of personnel with the necessary skills, time, and interest to make the changes needed.

However, employing a bit of the late Edward de Bono's "lateral thinking", is there a solution that does not use CEC? Well, yes there is: use a programmable remote control to control all of the relevant devices with one button press. This is what I use.

Several years ago I used a Logitech Harmony 650 remote control, which can operate up to 6 devices. So using the Harmony web site, you connect the remote control via USB, and then program it by specifying the devices that you have in your system. The Harmony "activities" mean that when you press the button for "Start HTPC", the Harmony sends "power on" signals for the devices that you have defined for that activity (e.g. HTPC, AVR, TV), and then sends "select input xxx" on devices with more than one input (AVR and TV).

The Harmony does true device state tracking, so if you want to switch from the HTPC activity to (say) the "Watch DVD" activity using a separate DVD player, the Harmony will send "power off" to the HTPC, "power on" to the DVD player, and "switch input" to the AVR and TV. When you press the "Off" button, the Harmony sends "power off" to all of the devices that it knows are currently powered on.

Sadly, Logitech discontinued the Harmony remote controls several years ago . And I have used my Harmony 650 so much that some of the buttons require excessive force in order for the button press to register, so I no longer use it for general control. However, I do still use it to select activities, which powers on the devices and selects the inputs (the activities buttons still work OK). Once that is done, I use a One-for-All remote control defined with the Microsoft MCE code set for the HTPC, and the TV's own remote control if watching the TV directly (HTPC switched off).

In some of their publicity material, One-for-All claim that their remotes support activities, but these are not true activities because the remotes do not do device state tracking. So using the RMIR open source freeware tool (plus a special cable), it is possible to define a macro that will send the necessary power-on, power-off, and switch-input commands. This will work provided that every device in your system has explicit power on and power off commands. If there is a device that has only a power toggle command, the "activity" defined for the One-for-All remote won't work correctly . Unfortunately, Microsoft MCE does not have explicit power-on and power-off, so although the Harmony will operate the HTPC correctly (because the Harmony does power state tracking), a One-for-All remote control would not.

I have various One-for-All remotes. The one that I am using at the moment is the URC-7145 Evolve 4. This supports 4 devices, and has good-sized buttons, with good separation between them. For the current range of One-for-All remotes, see this web page.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

When you press the "Off" button, the Harmony sends "power off" to all of the devices that it knows are currently powered on.

That could have been useful alternative to the CEC Remote, shame they stopped making the Harmony. I have not given up completely on the CEC Remote, there is an option to trigger putting the TV and AVR into standby when MP closes which I want to try, currently I do not have that enabled as it means both video and audio devices will be in standby if I want to run the MP config. for example.
I will be coming over to England on Friday for a 10 day visit so it may be a while before I can troublshoot further.