Questions about power saving

[dinki]

I'm thinking about using Windows XP power save mode on my SageTV server. I think I've read that SageTV will take the machine out of Sleep mode when a scheduled recording is about to start and put it back to sleep after it is complete. Can someone confirm this?

Also, would it be possible to wake the SageTV server from either my HD Theather and/or my Media MVP?

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best timeout before putting the server in sleep mode?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by dinki

I'm thinking about using Windows XP power save mode on my SageTV server. I think I've read that SageTV will take the machine out of Sleep mode when a scheduled recording is about to start and put it back to sleep after it is complete. Can someone confirm this?

It is supposed to do that yes. Sage prevents standby while it's recording, when it's not, it schedules the PC to wake for the next one and allows the PC to sleep (doesn't actually put it to sleep).

Of course there are potential complications. Not all hardware likes coming back from sleep correctly. Waking the server, not sure how that works (I haven't followed it.

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best timeout before putting the server in sleep mode?

I guess it depends on how much you record and how much you use it, but personally I don't even bother sleeping mine. There's just too many things that happen sporadically through the day that I think it would be constantly sleeping/waking, and I really don't want to try to debug devices not coming back right.

[dinki]

I see your point about it constantly sleeping/waking. I found a little program called SetPower that lets you define multiple power saving settings for different parts of the day. I'm thinking I can set the server to sleep from around midnight until we get up in the morning.

[carlgar]

Sage does wake up and allow the system to go back to sleep properly. However, I use the Vista OS and sometimes see that the system does not go to sleep when I expect it too. I have use Sage debugging to determine that it does not appear to be a Sage issue. I believe some program or task is running that will not allow the system to sleep properly. I can always force the system to sleep even if Sage needs the system up.

The extenders currently cannot wake up the system properly using a magic packet. I think most people get around this by configuring their network cards to wake the system on any activity.

I don't think the time to go to sleep is important, I don't even see an Sage option for that. I tell the OS to go to sleep after 2 minutes which may be too short for most me. It sometimes goes to sleep on me when I did not want it to. The wake time is what is important, I use 2 minutes. Some tuner cards may not work property when the system wakes up. The HDHR and PVR500 tuners work properly, I even power off the HDHRs when my system sleeps.