Remote Power Button! Cool Or Dumb?

[Ev The Nerd]

I am starting a new project and thought I would ask the LTT Forms before I got too deep in the project for any tips, thoughts, and general advice. 

 

So Here is the project. I am building a pc for Gaming!!! and video transcoding from Blueray/DVD format to MKV for Plex & Video Station on my Synology.

I am away from home a lot and would like to be able to remote into my computer at my leisure. to check in on the transcoding and a couple other odds and ends.

The only problem is Wake on LAN can be flakey at best and doesn't work if the computer is shut down. and i want to be able to let my computer go to sleep to save power.

that being said I am trying to find a solution that will look better than sticking MicroBot Push to the front of the machine!

I will probably end up with a relay inside of the machine, but I need to figure out what controller to use and how to set it up to be remotely tripped. your ideas and thoughts are welcome!

[SenKa]

Some motherboards can be set to turn on at set times even without user input. I feel like thats far more practical.

 

If you havent bought your mobo yet, make sure to search one out with this feature.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Hook up a Raspberry Pi to the internet and have its I/O pins connected to the PWR pins of the front panel header on the motherboard. Run a listener on the Raspberry Pi so when you send it a packet, it trips the PWR pins on the PC.

 

More info at https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/59652/pc-start-button-effect-from-electrical-point-of-view

[Ev The Nerd]

2 minutes ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

Hook up a Raspberry Pi to the internet and have its I/O pins connected to the PWR pins of the front panel header on the motherboard. Run a listener on the Raspberry Pi so when you send it a packet, it trips the PWR pins on the PC.

 

More info at https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/59652/pc-start-button-effect-from-electrical-point-of-view

I have looked into Rasberry Pi  a couple years ago. I like this idea. thanks for the tip!

[Ev The Nerd]

5 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

Some motherboards can be set to turn on at set times even without user input. I feel like thats far more practical.

 

If you havent bought your mobo yet, make sure to search one out with this feature.

I want something I can power up even if it's in the middle of the night from across the US. thanks for the input!

[Axeoasis]

2 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

Some motherboards can be set to turn on at set times even without user input. I feel like thats far more practical.

 

If you havent bought your mobo yet, make sure to search one out with this feature.

I agree with the auto on, if needed i'd do a few test runs to make sure it turns on consistently.

 

As with remote access, honestly i'd use chrome remote desktop, i've been using it for years now and it's very good, only downside is it sets window's aero mode to basic if you're using 7. It can fully control the PC to your liking, just be sure not to send a CTRL+ALT+DEL.

 

s with sleep, if the rig isn't too power hungry at idle i'd just let it sit on as it shouldn't really effect your electric bill too much, as long as it isn't constantly doing work 24/7 (computers only draw a small fraction of the PSU's max when they aren't doing anything). The raspberry pi idea sounds good as well though if power is a big concern for you.

[Ev The Nerd]

@Axeoasis I actually use Jump Desktop for my remote client. it works really well and takes up phew resources when running in the background. chrome can be a mem hog if you don't quit it from time to time. 

[Axeoasis]

1 minute ago, Ev The Nerd said:

@Axeoasis I actually use Jump Desktop for my remote client. it works really well and takes up phew resources when running in the background. chrome can be a mem hog if you don't quit it from time to time. 

true, if jump desktop works for you then i'd stick with that 

[AnonymousGuy]

I did this and made a thread about it: 

I guess the pictures got deleted from postimg.  The TLDR: buy a smart outlet for $30 and tap into the relay inside of it.  Using a RaspberryPi or DIY thing is "cool" but it's not smart engineering when you can take something off the shelf and leverage *their* effort and app support and everything. 

[NumLock21]

Some board uses a app that lets you power on/off your PC from your phone.

I know HP has this proprietary hardware features, for their servers, that lets users physically power on and off their computers, remotely even when they're on the other side of the globe. It's called Integrated Lights Out

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Integrated_Lights-Out

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

8 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

The TLDR: buy a smart outlet for $30 and tap into the relay inside of it.  Using a RaspberryPi or DIY thing is "cool" but it's not smart engineering when you can take something off the shelf and leverage *their* effort and app support and everything. 

Why bother with a relay when you could set UEFI to turn the computer on automatically whenever AC power resumes? Assuming those smart plugs actually physically disconnect the socket from mains.

[AnonymousGuy]

Just now, Mira Yurizaki said:

Why bother with a relay when you could set UEFI to turn the computer on automatically whenever AC power resumes? Assuming those smart plugs actually physically disconnect the socket from mains.

Reliability.  A relay is electrically "pushing" the button.  That "restart on AC" power I think doesn't work if you do a graceful shutdown too.  

[Axeoasis]

3 minutes ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

Why bother with a relay when you could set UEFI to turn the computer on automatically whenever AC power resumes? Assuming those smart plugs actually physically disconnect the socket from mains.

I'd definitely do with UEFI to turn the computer on as it's the most reliable way (i used it with my build when i went on a cruise last November for a week), although in the event his board doesn't support it or it's malfunctioning, i'd do the smart plug as they tend to have apps to allow remote control instead of just timers. then you just have to set the bios/uefi to turn on when it's plugged in.

[Mira Yurizaki]

On 1/18/2019 at 3:14 PM, AnonymousGuy said:

Reliability.  A relay is electrically "pushing" the button.  That "restart on AC" power I think doesn't work if you do a graceful shutdown too.  

Ohey three days later.

 

I just tried it. Set my ACPI "On Power Restore" option to "Power On", let it boot to Windows, did a Shut Down, unplugged the computer for 10 seconds, plugged it back in, PC came back on.

[Slayerking92]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQUANS8?pf_rd_p=1581d9f4-062f-453c-b69e-0f3e00ba2652&pf_rd_r=ZKQP3AXAM8BN5MTXJTFX

 

I have been thinking of something like this, then have Alexa turn my computer on and off.