HTPC (ion-330ht) boots by itself
#1
Question 
Hello,

Usually I can find the answer through search and therefor I dont post that often. But this issue is just to weird and I dont know what to search for.

The thing is, I have an ASRock ION-330HT BD and I have installed XBMC Live on the HDD. As some of you might know there currently arent any Linux drivers available for the built in IR reciever of the ION-330HT. I have ordered an external IR receiver but at the moment I'm using only a USB mouse. In other words, if I want the HTPC to boot I have to walk over there and manually press the start button power button.

Now this is where it gets weird. I have experienced a couple of times that the HTPC has booted without me pressing the power button. I'm 100% positive I had shut it down using the shutdown function of XBMC (shutdown action is set to shut down and the power light goes out). Now already a couple of times I notice some time later (could be hours up to a day) that the HTPC has booted up again.

I must be missing something, how is this possible? Only things I could think of myself is that the HTPC is somehow still responding to the signals of my Harmony One remote control, but then again. The IR reciever doesnt work and the system is shut down. Another idea was wake-on-lan, but again. The system was completely shutdown.

I feel like such an idiot for not figuring this out. It would be nice if someone could point me in the right direction how this is possible.
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#2
Maybe there was a power spike and the motherboard thought it should turn itself on? There should be a setting in the bios to control what happens in that situation. Normally i thought it would only turn on if it was previously on, but might be something to look at at least.
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#3
Don't worry. You are not alone. My HTPC also restarts without anyone interacting with it. Most noticeable is it during the night. When I get up in the morning the HTPC is on even though it was off earlier during the night... Really strange!
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#4
My Asrcock 330HT does reboot itself as well.
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#5
Hi Guys,

i had the same Problem. It turned out, that it was related to my Wireless USB Keyboard.

I discovered, that this mostly happened when i turned on my TV. Then from time to time the LED of my USB Receiver for that keyboard flashed as it does when receiving keypresses or mousemoves. Whis this flashing the Asrock turned on.
By pressing a key on the Keyboard NEVER turned on the ASROCK and the USB receiver also does not flash when pressing a key on the keyboard when off.

As i turned off my TV the ASROCK stayed off. I moved my ASROCK 100cm away from my TV and now it stays off.


I also wrote to Asrock regarding this problem, with no solution.

Maybe you have similiar issues?

PS: Asrock told me that Power on by Keyboard is not supported Wink
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#6
i don't have this problem, as i turn it off at the wall.....
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#7
XBMC_Lover Wrote:Hi Guys,

i had the same Problem. It turned out, that it was related to my Wireless USB Keyboard.

I discovered, that this mostly happened when i turned on my TV. Then from time to time the LED of my USB Receiver for that keyboard flashed as it does when receiving keypresses or mousemoves. Whis this flashing the Asrock turned on.
By pressing a key on the Keyboard NEVER turned on the ASROCK and the USB receiver also does not flash when pressing a key on the keyboard when off.

As i turned off my TV the ASROCK stayed off. I moved my ASROCK 100cm away from my TV and now it stays off.


I also wrote to Asrock regarding this problem, with no solution.

Maybe you have similiar issues?

PS: Asrock told me that Power on by Keyboard is not supported Wink
This seems to be more explainable, since you have a receiver plugged in that can receive signals. It could be that the USB receiver for the keyboard is catching the signals from the remote of your TV.

This can not happen in my case as there is no working IR receiver at the moment. I will try unplugging the USB mouse though. Perhaps this is somehow triggering the automated boot. I still think it's strange as I have the system completely powered off.
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#8
Glitch Wrote:This seems to be more explainable, since you have a receiver plugged in that can receive signals. It could be that the USB receiver for the keyboard is catching the signals from the remote of your TV.

To speak Clear: my USB Receiver is an RF Receiver 2.4 GHZ and when testing i did not use *any* Remote. All i was doing is standing beneath my Asroock and watching the LED of the USB Receiver. When it flashed, the Asrock waked up and i powered it off with the Power button. Few minutes later it powered on again. I turned off my TV and the Asrock also stayed off.

BTW: This USB receiver did not power on my former HTPC (MSI MEdia Live) without interaction.
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#9
Well my guess is that ASRock is wrong in saying their product does not support power-on-by-mouse/keyboard. I have disconnected my mouse and will post my findings here. If the system does not boot by itself anymore this is clearly the cause. Next step will then be, how to turn of this unwanted behaviour ... Rolleyes
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#10
Just came home from work and the system had booted up without the mouse attached to the USB port. Doesnt look like wake-by-usb is the reason for this behaviour. This is getting really annoying. Confused
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#11
XBMC_Lover Wrote:Hi Guys,

i had the same Problem. It turned out, that it was related to my Wireless USB Keyboard.

I discovered, that this mostly happened when i turned on my TV. Then from time to time the LED of my USB Receiver for that keyboard flashed as it does when receiving keypresses or mousemoves. Whis this flashing the Asrock turned on.
By pressing a key on the Keyboard NEVER turned on the ASROCK and the USB receiver also does not flash when pressing a key on the keyboard when off.

As i turned off my TV the ASROCK stayed off. I moved my ASROCK 100cm away from my TV and now it stays off.


I also wrote to Asrock regarding this problem, with no solution.

Maybe you have similiar issues?

PS: Asrock told me that Power on by Keyboard is not supported Wink

Sounds like electromagnetic interference, nothing to do with a power on by keyboard feature. You mention that moving the computer away from the TV or leaving the TV off prevents the problem ... which also removed electromagnetic radiation produced by the TV. Looks like the Asrock 330 might not have the best shielding on it. Try wrapping it in a few layers of aluminum foil, making sure the foil is touching something grounded. If that also fixes it, then its for sure a electromagnetic interference issue and poor shielding on the PC.

Harry
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#12
Harry Muscle Wrote:Sounds like electromagnetic interference, nothing to do with a power on by keyboard feature.

Harry

I know this. My statement about the power on by keyboard was meant ironic. I also think it has something to do with interferences, although it never happend without the USB receiver.
I also think Asrock knows about the problem, as the asked me to remove ALL USB devices.
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#13
XBMC_Lover Wrote:I know this. My statement about the power on by keyboard was meant ironic. I also think it has something to do with interferences, although it never happend without the USB receiver.
I also think Asrock knows about the problem, as the asked me to remove ALL USB devices.

Sorry, didn't catch the irony Smile ... I wonder if the interference is somewhere in the USB circuits and any connected USB cables are acting like antennas picking up the interference and channeling it straight to the sensitive circuits. Try wrapping the cable in foil ... that might help.

Harry
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#14
bla bla bla bla look here http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=4...post458097

it has a link to http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Enable_Wake-On-Device

Those posts should help you out the rest of you could do with a read as well instead of talking nonsense.
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#15
X3lectric Wrote:bla bla bla bla look here http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=4...post458097

it has a link to http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Enable_Wake-On-Device

Those posts should help you out the rest of you could do with a read as well instead of talking nonsense.
All devices are set to disabled in /proc/acpi/wakeup . Then again I have no devices attached to it and the IR receiver does not work ... Huh The only thing attached to it is a network cable.
Code:
xbmc@XBMCLive:~$ cat /proc/acpi/wakeup
Device  S-state   Status   Sysfs node
CIR       S4     disabled  pnp:00:04
SMB0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:03.2
USB0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:04.0
USB2      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:04.1
NMAC      S5     disabled  pci:0000:00:0a.0
PBB0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:09.0
HDAC      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:08.0
XVR0      S4     disabled
XVR1      S4     disabled
P0P5      S4     disabled
P0P6      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:15.0
P0P7      S4     disabled
P0P8      S4     disabled
P0P9      S4     disabled

Doesnt look like any of these devices is causing it too boot out of itself ... I wrote ASRock about it and this is what they answered:

Quote:Hello,

Yes, we are aware that more people are waiting for a Linux driver for the IR controller. The chip manufacturer of this component is working on a driver. I will keep your mail so that I can send a driver when we get it.

Although the remote control is not working under Linux without the driver we are waiting for, the system can still be powered on by remote control. This does not depend on the OS. So maybe a signal from another remote control is to blame for this spontaneous start. You can easily disable this Onboard CIR Power On option in BIOS to test.

[screenshot of bios removed]

Please make sure that the other options marked in yellow are also disabled. This way (unwanted) Wake-on-Lan is also not possible.

Some software can start a system automatically via a timer. I do not know if XBMC Live has some function like that.

As a test, maybe you can also shut down the system, switch off the power, press the power button, switch the power back on again, and leave the system like that. Then see if it will still spontaneously start.

You can do the same without pressing the power button after switching off the power. Just some tests that might give us some clue…

If possible please check also with an officially supported OS, like Windows Xp/Vista/7.


Best regards,

ASRock Support
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