Link power draw in suspend mode?

[mbryner]

Hello,

I notice there's not much activity in this forum and most of the wiki pages are quite out of date, too.   Either everyone is very happy with their "gamma testing Link" or development has slowed.   I hope it's the former because the Link looks like a great project and I'm very interested in getting one.   A couple questions first before I order:

Background:
I used to have a Neuros HDD music player (the one w/ the backpack) because it could play Ogg's, but sold it when I needed more capacity and the iPod's could use Rockbox.   While I had the Neuros I was quite happy w/ it.   Until a month ago, I had a Linux box running MythTV hooked into the cable system.  Loved it.  Before that, I had numerous Linux servers, and had experience in SCO Xenix, HP/UX, AIX, etc.   Linux, open source software, etc. doesn't scare me, but I don't have a lot of time to play w/ bugs anymore so my wife and I each got Macbook Pros.    About 1 month ago, we moved to our new off-grid house in the mountains about 15 miles outside town.   High speed internet is by microwave link, unoptimized right now at about 6 Mbit.   Since we are off-grid, every little bit of power use is noticed, especially in winter with clouds/snow/rain limiting solar output.

Can anyone tell me how much power (watts) the Link draws when in suspend mode?  It should be close to zero for a good green product.   Average power when running?   (yes, I know the CPU says 45 watts)    There are some nice little set-top media player boxes out there that do all the codecs I need, like Flac and Ogg, but all of them focus on video and leave the music interface primitive, unlike XBMC.    The great thing about the Link is that it runs XBMC out of the box and does 1080p video (correct?).   None of the set-top boxes can do Flash websites yet so the Link is a leg up on them.

Also, can the Link do RF remote control or Android/smartphone/browser remote control?   Maybe that's a limitation of XBMC?

Thanks!

Marcus

[mbryner]

OK, nevermind what I asked about web browser remote for XBMC.   There is a good option for that.   I just need to know about power draw in both running and suspend mode.   If there is no reliable suspend mode, then how long to shutdown and boot up?  And is it just a simple keypress on the remote?   Thanks.

Marcus

[ChadV]

1) With the Intel version of the hardware, we've moved to Boxee instead of XBMC.  You can swap them out using Synaptic, though.

2) I don't have hard numbers (or an appropriate voltmeter to check) but the PSU in the unit is 250W max.  If you have the HDD model, you can use suspend-to-disk instead of regular suspend.  The flash drive model can suspend-to-RAM, or boots in approx 60-90 seconds.

The remote and keymote that we sell are 2.4Ghz RF units, and there are Android controller apps that operate over WiFi for XBMC/Boxee.

[mbryner]

Thank you Chad.   Maybe someone else can plug in a Kill-A-Watt meter and tell me the wattage in suspend mode.   I'll need to know what it is before I order because it will need to be close to zero.   If it uses 250 watts while running that is extremely high.

Marcus

[ChadV]

The 250W is absolute max.  The PSU is not capable of drawing more.

I know suspend-to-disk is 0W, it's just suspend-to-RAM and average draw that needs a Kill-O-Watt measurement.

[heyrick]

Could you not rig it up to a multimeter in amps/series to measure current draw, then work out wattage mathematically?

[mbryner]

0 Watts at suspend-to-disk is all I needed to know.   And suspend-to-disk and wakeup is controlled by the remote, correct?

[ChadV]

Yes.  (I should say <1W, but even with your restrictions that should be in the appropriate ballpark.)

You can power on via USB remote, I am not sure about via the IR adapter, though.