[Damage]

Hey, I know we're supposed to submit code to show we've made an effort but honestly I don't have any, i'm wondering if it's possible to program an alarm that will activate even when the pc is shutdown. You know like some cellular phones have an alarm that activates even when the phone is off, well can it be done with a pc?

If it is possible can you point me in the right direction so i can try figure it out?

[no2pencil]

Damage, on 8 Jun, 2008 - 06:48 AM, said:

i'm wondering if it's possible to program an alarm that will activate even when the pc is shutdown.

If you want it to alarm even when the computer is off, then you would need another computer to monitor that ones activities. Check the Nagios project for Linux.

Basically, what you want is for your monitoring computer to ping the computer that you need to know when it's down, & have it dialup via a modem when the pings stop responding.

[Damage]

so theres no way to like, i dunno code something in the bios or something to make it check on itself?
huh, so how do they do it with mobile phones then? Oh well, basically just wanted to turn my pc into a glorified alarm clock guess i'll just have to wake up my ass up the old fashioned way

[no2pencil]

Damage, on 8 Jun, 2008 - 07:33 AM, said:

so theres no way to like, i dunno code something in the bios or something to make it check on itself?

The bios addresses the hardware. The OS controls & communicates to the hardware through the addressing provided by the Bios. You can't shortcut.

Damage, on 8 Jun, 2008 - 07:33 AM, said:

huh, so how do they do it with mobile phones then?

Well, you said with no power. If my phone has no power it doesn't do squat.

Damage, on 8 Jun, 2008 - 07:33 AM, said:

Oh well, basically just wanted to turn my pc into a glorified alarm clock

Not exactly. You can do that, but you indicated specifically "i'm wondering if it's possible to program an alarm that will activate even when the pc is shutdown". A battery backup device can also detect & inform the computer that power has been lost, & it's running on battery. At which point it can alarm & wake you up. So are you trying to do something with the PC off, or when it detects it's off, or ... what? Can you clarify?

[PsychoCoder]

AFAIK There isnt a way to communicate with the computer, or vica versa, when the computer is shut off.

[Damage]

ahh, well was just a passing thought. Thanks for the input

[robertelder]

Damage,

You could try to force the computer to wake up from SLEEP or HIBERNATE mode.

I am also in the middle of working on a similar alarm clock for my computer... I keep getting involved in a project and forgetting about going to chow before the chow hall closes on me.

I have it so that users can create a playlist, or just select a single song to be played when the alarm goes off, in addition to thel option of having a very annoying flashing screen to grab the person's attention. Also has ability to start song quietly and build up over a set amount of time.

I'll let you know if I get it worked out!

-Rob

[Damage]

robertelder, on 9 Jun, 2008 - 04:20 AM, said:

Damage,

You could try to force the computer to wake up from SLEEP or HIBERNATE mode.

I am also in the middle of working on a similar alarm clock for my computer... I keep getting involved in a project and forgetting about going to chow before the chow hall closes on me.

I have it so that users can create a playlist, or just select a single song to be played when the alarm goes off, in addition to thel option of having a very annoying flashing screen to grab the person's attention. Also has ability to start song quietly and build up over a set amount of time.

I'll let you know if I get it worked out!

-Rob

thats almost exactly what i was going for(well i wanted to take it one step further and force boot the pc but that doesn't seem possible,or i haven't found a way yet) good luck