Recording Indicator LEDs Project

[Jonny561201]

Hi All,

I was a member on the former TheGreenButton.com for a number of years (same username), and although I have started to become active again I thought as a means of introducation I would share my most recent media center project. I was very eagerly awaiting the release of the Ceton Q, but when that was shelved I decided to update my nearly 5 year old media center. One feature I was really anticipating was the recording indicator lights as a way to quickly view the status of recordings while watching blu-rays or when the TV is off.

The intent was to use this on my previous HTPC case, but due to the configuration of the new Mb I purchased it required the move to a new case. This was due to the use of a riser card and the unfortunate reconfiguration of my expansion slots. However, I have completed the project with the help of LEDDriver and I think I owe that guy a donation for the amazing functionality.

The beginning of the project was to acquire the parts. Starting with 4 1kohm resistors, 4 red LEDs, and 4 mounting brackets:


Although not my best soldering job the next task was to put the parts together:


The LEDs (3 at once) are controlled via the onboard COM1 port or internal Serial port. I repurposed an old Firewire Mb header mount to attach the wires and secure to my Mb:


I set them up in my older desktop to avoid any issues should I have crossed the wires and miscalculated my hookups:


The moment of truth:


Using the case from an old memory card reader along with the help of a vice I was able to fashion an LED bracket:


Using a repurposed polarized lens from an old remote control I Was able to hide the LEDs behind this pane and drill out a groove in my case to match:


Borrowed a drill press to cut the holes and subsequent grooves. Cleaned them up with a couple hand files and have since turned down the intestity of a couple LEDs, but here is the finished product:

[Jonny561201]

The LEDDriver program seems to work with only 3 LEDs on the COM1 port so I have hooked up the forth LED to the Power LED Mb header. It is currently acting as an MC Power status light. Unless I am able to control this seperately or find another way to indicate that a fourth show is being recorded I may end up making it a Green or Blue LED.

When in MC only two LEDs turn on when 3 or more shows are being recorded. However, if I am in TMT it works as expected. If anyone else is using this program I would love to know if you got it working.

Last thing bothering me with my media center is getting WOL working from over the internet specifically for the Ceton Companion app. I have a DLink DIR-615 and it doesnt seem to be working correctly even with port forwarding. If anyone wants to help I would be willing to take that offer

[STC]

Nice work!

I use the same software but with only one LED and it flashes with pauses to indicate number of recordings.-
The LED is hidden behind the same panel my nMedia display is.

ON - 1 tuner
flash flash pause- 2 tuners
flash flash flash pause - 3 tuners
etc.

The hook from Media Center sometimes does not indicate the correct amount of tuners recording. This is a MC problem and I doubt it can be fixed.
For me sometimes when two or more recordings kick off at exactly the same time, the MC bug arises and one isn't counted properly.

[staknhalo]

I have a DLink DIR-615 and it doesnt seem to be working correctly even with port forwarding. If anyone wants to help I would be willing to take that offer

I have the same router. I will post pics for you on port forwarding/my setup/bios/device manager settings. You project was really neat

[RyC]

LEDSDriver really is a cool program. I've got my case power LED hooked up to the internal com port (quite the task with my case) and I've just got it set to solid on if it's recording anything and off it's not. But what I really love is this... I've got a batch script that automatically moves shows to my server once they're done recording. It saturates the network so if I'm streaming something, it stutters. With LEDSDriver, I can set the power LED to blink when it starts the script and then it stops blinking when it's done. Incredibly useful to me.

[Jonny561201]

I have the same router. I will post pics for you on port forwarding/my setup/bios/device manager settings. You project was really neat

Ill take all the help I can get! I got WoL working within the network, but no matter what I have tried I cannot get it to wake up the MC from the internet. I am using MST to help control sleep mode and ensure I am only entering S3 (I believe I also disabled hibernate from an elevated command prompt, but might check again when I get home).

[staknhalo]

Hey man I got your PM, sorry it took so long; I forgot . Anyway, here is what I do to get WOL/Mobile to work over my phone's mobile network. I made it kinda simplistic for anyone who stumbles upon this in the future.

Ok so for WOL from outside your home network, this is how I did it. First, I did not change anything within BIOS, all my settings are default. If these steps don't work you might wanna check any WOL settings in there (but only if it is not working after this).

Once the Ceton app/serices are installed head to your network adapter settings (Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections). Right click on the entry for your ethernet port and hit properties. We are only going to change one thing here. Head to the 'Power Management' tab. Make sure 'Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer' is UNCHECKED. It is checked by default.



Apparently the Ceton app doesn't send any magic packets, this is why you need to disable this. Should they ever add that, this wouldn't be needed.

Now head to the DIR-615 Router management interface via the browser. Head to the 'Advanced' tab up top, then 'Port Forwarding' to the side. Set it up to look like so ('IP Address' will obviously be different for you, just check what the Ceton app reports as your IP. 'Port' will be the same):



THEN MAKE SURE YOU HIT SAVE SETTINGS

Now you should be good to go. Just FYI, when you first launch the app over mobile (or LAN), it will wake the computer but will fail to connect. Just choose the computer again (after 30 secs or so at most I'd say) and it will populate content in the Ceton Companion app.