Powering a NanoPi M4 with my Internal PSU

[Cpumonster]

Hi all,

 

I saw this build guide on making a mini-NAS with the 12v NanoPi M4 and was wondering whether or not it would be possible to get 12V at 3A, out of a standby power rail from my PSU. My goal is to integrate an all solid state Plex box into two of my spare 5.25 bays in my system.

 

My PSU is a Corsair CX850M, and my hope is to be able to power this system while the main PC is off.

 

I honestly don't understand PSUs that well, and if need be I'd be willing to swap out to a different PSU to make this project happen.

 

Thanks for any feedback you guys might have, and I hope you all have a good day.

 

[Windows7ge]

To my knowledge you're SOL. Standby power is only 5V and it usually maxes around 2~2.5A. You would need a PSU fixed powered on 24/7 and tap into the +12v rail where more than enough amps are available.

[BobVonBob]

You can't keep it powered with the main system off unless you use a second power supply.

[Kilrah]

The standaby rail on that unit is 5V/3A so the most you'd get at 12V with a boost circuit would be about 1A. And you couldn't use all of that since the rest of the PC will need some of that rail capacity.

 

It's not going to be much different on another PSU.

Better use a separate supply. 

[Eigencentrality]

24 minutes ago, Cpumonster said:

Hi all,

 

I saw this build guide on making a mini-NAS with the 12v NanoPi M4 and was wondering whether or not it would be possible to get 12V at 3A, out of a standby power rail from my PSU. My goal is to integrate an all solid state Plex box into two of my spare 5.25 bays in my system.

 

My PSU is a Corsair CX850M, and my hope is to be able to power this system while the main PC is off.

 

I honestly don't understand PSUs that well, and if need be I'd be willing to swap out to a different PSU to make this project happen.

 

Thanks for any feedback you guys might have, and I hope you all have a good day.

 

Try it out with the parts you have before spending dough on a separate PSU for a 12v SBC.

[igormp]

23 minutes ago, Cpumonster said:

Hi all,

 

I saw this build guide on making a mini-NAS with the 12v NanoPi M4 and was wondering whether or not it would be possible to get 12V at 3A, out of a standby power rail from my PSU. My goal is to integrate an all solid state Plex box into two of my spare 5.25 bays in my system.

 

My PSU is a Corsair CX850M, and my hope is to be able to power this system while the main PC is off.

 

I honestly don't understand PSUs that well, and if need be I'd be willing to swap out to a different PSU to make this project happen.

 

Thanks for any feedback you guys might have, and I hope you all have a good day.

 

Short the PSU's power on signal and leave it running 24/7. In the link you gave there's a video explaining on how to do so.

[Cpumonster]

23 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

To my knowledge you're SOL. Standby power is only 5V and it usually maxes around 2~2.5A. You would need a PSU fixed powered on 24/7 and tap into the +12v rail where more than enough amps are available.

Just for the future, is the 12V SATA power not available when the computer is asleep (or in standby)? Also would you happen to know roughly how many amps can be delivered via SATA 12V. It's also possible to use a Raspberry Pi 4 that runs on 5V for this project, and I was wondering if maybe I could step down 12V SATA.

 

Finally one more question: Can a computer still sleep with the PSU fixed on? Their are some really nice 80+ Titanium fan-less power supplies from Seasonic, that I'd be willing to fix on if I could still sleep the main system and all of its fans.  

 

I understand that it would be WAY easier to use a different PSU but modding is in part about making things simple and slick.

 

Thanks for your advice!

[Windows7ge]

8 minutes ago, Cpumonster said:

Snip

It is not. 12V, 5V, & 3.3V rails are all dead when the PSU is in standby. I've seen someone say the -12V rail is still active but this rail is usually extremely Amp limited.

 

I would use Molex. 3Amps over SATA would probably be fine but Molex can handle more.

 

If you were to opt for a 5V Pi you'd be better off just using a wall cellphone charger but with the right step-down converter you could run a 5V Pi off a 12V rail yes.

 

It's not normal for your PSU to be fixed on supplying the 3 major rails while the system is in sleep. That behaviour would be a real hack. I don't recommend attempting it.

[Cpumonster]

29 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

It is not. 12V, 5V, & 3.3V rails are all dead when the PSU is in standby. I've seen someone say the -12V rail is still active but this rail is usually extremely Amp limited.

 

I would use Molex. 3Amps over SATA would probably be fine but Molex can handle more.

 

If you were to opt for a 5V Pi you'd be better off just using a wall cellphone charger but with the right step-down converter you could run a 5V Pi off a 12V rail yes.

 

It's not normal for your PSU to be fixed on supplying the 3 major rails while the system is in sleep. That behaviour would be a real hack. I don't recommend attempting it.

Thanks for all your help!