How is your HTPC setup in regards to powering on/off?

[vorius]

Right now since I've just installed my OS and SageTV on my first HTPC It's a bit of a labor to get to watching TV. Boot the machine, wait for like 2 minutes, and then run SageTV and choose the watch live TV option. It's a process which my family really doesn't appreciate... "you payed over a thousand dollars on equipment that takes 10 times as long and 20 times as complicated to do something some cheap $100 thing could do?"

so I'm looking for ways to make it much more convenient to power on/power the HTPC and TV. The ideal solution which I'm guessing is not possible is one button turns on the TV and brings the computer to life. Obviously booting the PC every time I want to watch TV is not convenient, and neither is it to leave my computer running 24/7 (at least not convenient to my wallet!). What do you guys do? Put your computer in standby mode? Is it at all possible to have one button turn on TV and bring the HTPC back from standby and into SageTV ?

[wbarber69]

well I'm not sure how far you've put yourself into debt with your latest system upgrades, but I run like 3 to 4 different machines 24/7 and they all have some sort of affiliation to my sagetv box, server, client, fileserver, that sort of thing. Anyway I don't really notice that much of a hit on my energy spendings, now I can't say the same on my cooling costs with all of these monsters cranking out the heat, but in my opinion its far more important to watch the AC doesn't run too long, or to make sure your monitors and tvs are shut off when they are not in use. The only real thing you sacrifice from having your pc on all the time is the shortened lifespan of those components, but thats neither here nor there.

[Goodspike]

Scheduled task to shut down 6 days a week at about 1:00 a.m. Bios restarts computer about 4:45 p.m.

[GKusnick]

Client and server run 24/7. Server because it can't record stuff if it's not turned on, and client because I want it to be ready to watch within seconds any time I feel like sitting down in front of it. I supposed I could use scheduled shutdowns and reboots for the client, but it's simpler to just let it run.

[stevech]

mine runs 24x7. Live TV - we watch live-live, not via Sage.

thousand dollars? wow. I have $150 or so invested, excluding the older recycled laptop that runs this. Laptop consumes about 15 watts - not costly.

[jan smit]

My system goes into hibernate as soon as it has been idle for 3 minutes.
It wakes up automatically for one daily xmltv epg-update and for scheduled favorite recordings (after which it goes into hibernate again after 3 minutes idle time).

I wake it up manually when I want to watch something or want to do some maintenance. (dedicated Sage system with s-video SDTV-out).
Waking up from hibernate with Sage UI takes less than a minute.

[blade]

Going in and out of standby or hibernation too often can shorten the life of your hardware. Especially if you have your hard drives spin down. The same is true for shutting down the system. There is no way I'd want mine powering down after only 3 minutes, but that's just me.

I treat my Sage systems just like any other computer. I wake them and they stay that way while there is a possibility they'll be used. When I'm finished with them for the day (or for an extended period of time) they go into standby. I don't want my systems powering down and spinning back up half a dozen times a day (or more). For me the few cents I'd save on my power bill just isn't worth the reduced life.

[Mark SS]

Server/Client on one box in living room which goes into standby after 30 minutes of inactivity. Automatically wakes up to record or run XMLTV downloads.

TV switches itself to standby after the SageTV screensaver being displayed for 15 minutes, which is neat.

[nielm]

On 24/7 (its my home web-, file- and mail-server as well).

[leaving the] computer running 24/7 [is] not convenient to my wallet!.

Computers don't use that much power when idle... (I would be surprised if it is more than 100Watts, which is ~870KwH/year... At my electricity rates, this is ~€80/yr)

If you really don't like leaving it on, put it in standby -- if your hardware can handle being woken up!
Wake up time is much less than booting, and Sage will auto-wake for recordings.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by blade

Going in and out of standby or hibernation too often can shorten the life of your hardware. Especially if you have your hard drives spin down. The same is true for shutting down the system. There is no way I'd want mine powering down after only 3 minutes, but that's just me.

I think that's just an old wive's tale, but in any case, I'd agree 3 minutes is a bit excessive.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by nielm

If you really don't like leaving it on, put it in standby -- if your hardware can handle being woken up!
Wake up time is much less than booting, and Sage will auto-wake for recordings.

The problem with standby is not all computers come out of standby in perfect condition. Certain programs or drivers might not work right. That was true of my prior HTPC, and since the system I use works so well, I haven't even tried standby on the new one.

[bcjenkins]

In order for USB to be able to resume from standby you have to make a reg change. Attached as text file.

B

[jominor]

Originally Posted by vorius

Right now since I've just installed my OS and SageTV on my first HTPC It's a bit of a labor to get to watching TV. Boot the machine, wait for like 2 minutes, and then run SageTV and choose the watch live TV option. It's a process which my family really doesn't appreciate... "you payed over a thousand dollars on equipment that takes 10 times as long and 20 times as complicated to do something some cheap $100 thing could do?"

so I'm looking for ways to make it much more convenient to power on/power the HTPC and TV. The ideal solution which I'm guessing is not possible is one button turns on the TV and brings the computer to life. Obviously booting the PC every time I want to watch TV is not convenient, and neither is it to leave my computer running 24/7 (at least not convenient to my wallet!). What do you guys do? Put your computer in standby mode? Is it at all possible to have one button turn on TV and bring the HTPC back from standby and into SageTV ?

I leave my Sage server up 24/7. The clients I put into standby. Going from standby and off is about 20 seconds. Heck, standby is faster than the time it takes to turn my TV on and see a picture.

[jan smit]

There is no way I'd want mine powering down after only 3 minutes, but that's just me.

You have misunderstood what I was telling: The system wakes up to do a job, mostly recording a favorite, which will take 1-2 hrs. 3 minutes after the recording is finished I let it go into hibernate, unless a new recording is scheduled shortly after.
My system switches on and off on average 4 times per 24 hrs, which I prefer to the alternatives: switching on and off once per day and keep it running (idle for most of the time) for 16 hrs per day; or keep it on for 24 hrs without switching.
Switching to standby mode would be attractive if that could be done more reliably (on my hardware).

I know switching on/off wears out the hardware, but running it 24/7 wears it out also and produces heat and noise, costs electricity money and is bad for the environment. I have never worn out my hardware, but replaced it several times for other reasons: economic lifetime is a lot shorter than the lifetime of the hardware.

[blade]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

I think that's just an old wive's tale, but in any case, I'd agree 3 minutes is a bit excessive.

It's not, and it doesn't go just for computer hardware. Think of the drastic temperature changes in the cpu, gpu, hard drive etc.. going from room temperature to operating under a load. Any electronic component going from no current to having a load thrown on it is going to be stressed more than if it were idling along.

Think of when lightbulbs and fuses most often blow. It's not usually when it's running, but more often when the light is first turned on or when an additional device is plugged in that causes a surge in power consumption. Many devices including computers require more power at startup than they do at idle.

[blade]

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the conversation, but the talk about powering down or not reminded me of the light bulb that has been burning for over 100 years.

[blade]

Originally Posted by jan smit

You have misunderstood what I was telling: The system wakes up to do a job, mostly recording a favorite, which will take 1-2 hrs. 3 minutes after the recording is finished I let it go into hibernate, unless a new recording is scheduled shortly after.
My system switches on and off on average 4 times per 24 hrs, which I prefer to the alternatives: switching on and off once per day and keep it running (idle for most of the time) for 16 hrs per day; or keep it on for 24 hrs without switching.
Switching to standby mode would be attractive if that could be done more reliably (on my hardware).

I know switching on/off wears out the hardware, but running it 24/7 wears it out also and produces heat and noise, costs electricity money and is bad for the environment. I have never worn out my hardware, but replaced it several times for other reasons: economic lifetime is a lot shorter than the lifetime of the hardware.

So once a recording is finished if another doesn't start within 3 minutes it powers back down? I have too many favorites for that. My Sage server records most of the day with a couple hour breaks here and there and my clients are used to frequently throughout the day for it.

I use 8rdavcore to control my fans, voltage, and cpu speed to minimize power usage. Sort of like Cool & Quiet, but with more user control. For example I have an XP-1700 in one client underclocked to 1100mhz @ 1.25v (default is 1.75v). This is more than enough power for most things in Sage. If demand goes up it jumps to 1567mhz @1.75v, which rarely happens. The fans slow down once temps fall below a certain level and never reach max speeds unless temps get really high.

My other client is an XP2400-M and I do the same thing with it. I believe my underclocked speed and voltage is 1700mhz @ 1.2v and it jumps to as high as 2357mhz @ 1.65v if needed. I wish I could go lower, but my motherboard crashes if I go below 155 mhz (nforce boards can only adjust fsb with 8rdavcore) or I'd slow them down a lot more.

I also have it setup so they go to the deepest underclocked and undervolted setting before going to sleep to save a little more power.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

In order for USB to be able to resume from standby you have to make a reg change. Attached as text file.

There's a reason this is not on by default, which is that not all USB controllers handle S3 correctly. Make sure you know how to undo this change before you try it, in case your machine doesn't like it.

[ybrew]

I'm suprised anyone would turn a SageTV server off ever.

Mine runs 24/7. For clients, currently I only have a laptop and 1 MVP.

I'll primarily use MVPs and probably just keep them all powered on 24/7. For my media room, I'll have a client PC that will probably only be powered on when needed, but if it's left on 24/7 accidently, no biggie.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

There's a reason this is not on by default, which is that not all USB controllers handle S3 correctly. Make sure you know how to undo this change before you try it, in case your machine doesn't like it.

Absolutely correct. As with anything posted on the forum, what may work for someone may not for you. With that said, this works on 2 of my systems. YMMV

Have fun

B