Switch on PC from external power switch

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Hello!
I have a PC (Dell, Windows 7), which is part of a bigger machine (composed from different hardware elements) and it is located in the interior of this machine. The external machine is conencted to the power supply via a central switch button. Once the user turns on the central switch, all the hardware elements of the machine (including the PC) must be powered on.
My problem is that the user cannot have access to the power button of the PC itself, so the PC must be capable to wake up when the external power switch is turned on but without pressing its power button.
I have tried finding a configuration in BIOS, through the Wake-Up on Power Loss configuration, but when I shutdown correctly the PC via Windows, turn off the external switch and then I turn on the external switch, the PC does not wakes up. I suppose that this happens because a correct shutdown via Windows is not a power loss for the BIOS, so it will not wake up the PC. The same happens with hibernation shutdown.
Does anyone have any idea, how can I wake up a PC when power is detected? Can I do that via software (maybe USB wake up?) without modifying physically the PC's power button?
Has anyone faced the same problem before?
Thanks a lot!

Posted 5-Feb-14 0:13am

pantelisZO

Add a Solution

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2014-02-05T00:22:00

If your PC does not have a BIOS option for wake on power on, then you are very, very limited in what you can do: but most do - it may be worth contacting the motherboard manufacturer and asking them.

The other alternative is "Wake on LAN" - it just needs a wired network connection and some traffic to it, so it's not too bad. I've not heard of a Wake on USB (and most PC's I've met power down USB when the power is off, so it's awkward to see how that would work either.

The best option, probably, it to run a wire to where the chassis power on switch connects, and close that externally when the power comes on - it's simple to do, and it's a lot more "future proof" than a motherboard / BIOS specific setting should the PC die and need replacement in the future.