Shutting down or starting up a PC from Vera

Developer's Corner General Dev Discussions
1

Hi,

Just wondering if any of you folks know if it would be possible to shut down a PC on the same network as Vera, from Vera, or (I’m sure even more difficult) start one up using wake on lan?

I have several PC’s doing different things on my home network and I think it would be very useful if this were possible.

Thanks for your help,

Mark

2

Uhm… Put a z-wave switch between the powercable and the walloutlet?!?

3

Thats what I wanted to accomplish but could not get it to work via Vera.
FYI. Not all PC’s support the WOL function so check your BIOS. Usually, if it does support WOL it will also support a BIOS timer which can be programmed to shut the PC down and wake it up.
Which is what I ended up doing. I set my PC to sleep at midnight and wake at 6:30 M-F (weekend times are different)
As a bonus to the PC wake up routine I have a script that starts iTunes and plays a few home made “Good morning sir, it’s time to wake up” followed by a silent track of 5 mins (snooze) then “Shall I start preparing your breakfast sir?” I used the PC’s txt to speech program voice of Michael. Then it goes on to play some wake up music. The wife thinks it’s too pretentious but since we don’t have a butler it’s the closest I could get. Plus it’s only coffee being made.
It would be more convenient if Vera could scheulde it though.

I hope some suggestions get posted!!

JOD.

*Edit. Or some code gets posted. :smiley:

4

Few options:

  1. Use an appliance module and a relay (similar to what many of us are doing with Garage door control) and connect the switched side of the relay in parallel with your on off button. This will give you on and off control if you have a scene that momentary toggles the power.

  2. Do it with IR and something like the MS MCE remote that can power the PC up. For this to work you’ll also need something like the SQblaster, GC100 or USB-UIRT.

  3. If you’re happy with just ON then what I currently have is my BIOS set to power on the PC after the power is lost. To turn on, I just cycle the outlet its plugged in to! For shutting down If need be, then I just use a remote app from iPad etc.

I plan on doing my option 1 at some stage!

5

Thanks guys.

I have a program shutting the PC’s down now on a timer basis, but I wanted to do it from vera. There are a couple of suggestions here that I am going to peruse though so thanks again for your help.

Mark

6

Take a look at this plugin:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_wake-on-lan

7

@mcvflorin,

Whats the chance that the next iteration of the Vera firmware will already contain the relevant OpenWRT packages for WOL? If there’s an official plugin for this, then people shouldn’t have to do any further hacks to get it functioning, especially when theres a chance that it can wiped with a future update!

8

WOL does take care of half the issue but you still need the Sleep On Lan part, for that we are SOL.

Maybe someone can create something from this:
http://www.passmark.com/products/sleeper.htm

*Edit. Is Vera able to send a batch file?

JOD.

9

[quote=“strangely, post:7, topic:168455”]@mcvflorin,

Whats the chance that the next iteration of the Vera firmware will already contain the relevant OpenWRT packages for WOL? If there’s an official plugin for this, then people shouldn’t have to do any further hacks to get it functioning, especially when theres a chance that it can wiped with a future update![/quote]

No hacks are required, ether-wake is included in the OpenWRT package. A hack is necessary when the user prefers other wake-on-LAN program and wants to use that instead.

As far as I know, Windows can be shut down remotely. Probably this is also true for Linux. The Wake-on-LAN plugin could be modified to shut down the computer by using these commands.

10

[quote=“mcvflorin, post:6, topic:168455”]Take a look at this plugin:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_wake-on-lan[/quote]
Wow- that’s great!
I used to log into my router and activate it’s WOL feature to wake up my computers for downloading, virus scans, etc when not home.

Your plugin is super convenient to use from Vera GUI- especially for those of us with dynamic IP addresses at home.

Thanks!!

Rob

PS- I shut the computers down with VNC when I’m done using them.

11

I have been using the relay method for a while and it never fails. I have a small “ice cube” relay I found and I connected it to a Z-Wave applicance module. I cut the wires going from my MoBo to my PC switch, as @Strangely mentions, and wired them to the switched side of the “ice cube” relay.

I chose not to setup a “momentary” scene, so that I could force the PC off if there was a problem by leaving the switch on or engaged for the 4-5 sec it needs to force an off, but you could easily have both.

There are a couple iPhone apps that offer a remote “off”, “Sleep” and the WOL options sounds enticing, but the relay method just works (as long as Vera does at least).

edit: I posted this in another thread for remote power cycling Vera, but it could be used for the PC possibly as a single component vs the X10 dialer and module: 2 Way wireless telephone remote control module (With Password, 6 Ringing)

12

LogMeIn.com offers free remote access to your all your computers and can shut it down or power it up… but only if it supports the “Wake on LAN” (power up)
I use it and it works great.
Regards
Tim