Pauven wrote:NOTE: This tip is not a sponsored post, just a freely shared tip from one of our fellow CMC users. I thought this solution solved a common problem for many users, myself included, so I decided to do a full write-up. I've never used this hardware myself, though user pks says this works great for him.
This tip comes from user pks who normally powers off his HTPC, and uses the SIMEREC PCS-1 to power it up with his remote control:
pks wrote:A number of years ago, I purchased the very inexpensive PCS-1 hardware device from www.simerec.com and installed it in my PC. This approach might not be for everyone. I had to drill a small hole in the front of my PC case for the included IR receiver.
But installation wasn't that tough and I love it. It has always worked very well. Anyone interested in more info can check out:
http://www.simerec.com/PCS-1a.html
So once again, my butt has remained on the couch from startup to shut down. Now if I could only find someone to carry me to bed.
While pks only uses the PCS-1 for powering on his PC, it is actually capable of much more. It can perform a shutdown or a startup, and even a forced-poweroff. This little hardware device is connected to your PC's motherboard just like your PC's power button, and essentially lets you press the power button on your PC's case via remote.
That also means that whatever behavior you configure for the power button in Windows is now conveniently at your fingertips on your remote control. For example, in Windows you can configure the power button to do a shutdown, or hibernate, or sleep.
Here's some info from SIMEREC's website on the PCS-1:
Switch your PC on/off with your existing IR remote!
- Easy installation.
- Re-programmable, and retains learned IR buttons even if PC is unplugged.
- Great solution for home theater PC users.
- Works with over 99% of IR remotes on the market.
- No soldering required.
SIMEREC also offers the PCS-2 which has the same features as the PCS-1, adding 2-button support for independent on/off control. Personally, I hate when devices like TV's and A/V receivers use the same IR command for both on/off, as it makes programming macros on a universal remote harder. The PCS-2 seems like the perfect solution for me, and I'm seriously considering picking one up for my HTPC.
One of my main goals for using a device like this is to be able to force restart Windows remotely should the PC become unresponsive. When I asked pks if the PCS-1/2 could do this, he said he had never done this himself, but he did some digging in the documentation and found this:
pks wrote:Just noticed part of the documentation for the PCS-2. Kind of interesting. Pete
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Forced Shutdown Option
When the forced shutdown option is enabled, the PCS-2 will force the PC to shutdown if it has not
already shut itself down within 1 minute of the user requesting that the system shut down. This is
especially useful if your system has a background application that tends to prevent the system from
automatically shutting down.
By default forced shutdown is disabled.
To enable forced shutdown, hold down on the PCS-2 button until the LED flashes several times.
Note that forced shutdown will only work if the 4 second power-down option is enable in the PC BIOS.
(This is enabled by default on virtually all PCs.)
I'm a little confused by this 4-second power down BIOS option, something I have never seen myself. I also thought that to force a power down required a 10-second press of the power button. So there's a chance that this won't work as I hope.
If any other users have used the SIMEREC PCS-1/2, I'd love to hear about your experiences.