Hey Guys

All new in here so dont be to hard on me.

I am building a DIY Vidock, thats taking a ordinary pci-e graphics-card and hooking it up to your laptop.
Now I am using a standard ATX PSU to power my GPU, and I am putting it all in a nice lille Lian li case.

The problem is:
The case has a momentary switch, which is nice and I want to keep it, but I need to be able to turn on the PSU without a motherboard.
So... I want to use a small 5V relay as the PSU has a constant on 5V line (purple lead). Simple I quess. But I dont know enough electronics to make one.
Would one of these do it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Relay-Board-1-R...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5c4f6dd4

Simple for you guys I know

 

You don't really need a relay. If you short pin 14 (/PS_ON) to a ground pin that will trick the power supply into thinking it is plugged into the motherboard. Now when you press the switch it will work fine.

 

You don't really need a relay. If you short pin 14 (/PS_ON) to a ground pin that will trick the power supply into thinking it is plugged into the motherboard. Now when you press the switch it will work fine.

Which switch? I know about the "paperclip" trick, but then the psu is on all the time, I would like to turn on the psu with the switch on the case

 

You need a latching switch, one you can push and it stays down. Otherwise, if you want to use a normal push button switch to turn it on and off, you will need some kind of set/reset logic. The logic could then go to an open collector NPN, and the circuit can be powered off the standby 5V line.

You are trying to connect a full power PCI-E card to a laptop slot? Good luck, you'll need it, you're dealing with very fast frequencies and you will likely have way too much capacitance for it to work properly. Each lane in PCI-E is clocked up to 1 GHz and you may have as many as 16 lanes where you need to eliminate cross-channel noise and interference, you must also have minimal capacitance to get a good signal and a distance of no more than a few inches. Otherwise, it won't work properly, if at all. Also, I'm not sure, but aren't laptops compatible only with a few cards?

 

Yes, will the one I link to do the job?

Nja, there is a lot working done on the DIY Vidock, nothing new, and it works, I dont need luck
I will be looking at 50% performance of e.g. a gtx460, which is very fast on my x201

 

That's not a latching switch or relay circuit.

As said, you will only need a switch, which when pressed down, stays down.

If this is unavailable, let us know, I'll find a set/reset circuit.

I am curious how the DIY Vidock works.

 

Well I would like to keep the momentary switch on the case, so I thought all I needed was a relay to keep the power on or off :S

So what do I need, preferably something already build, as if I need to get parts etc, shipping and customs fees etc will be quite expensive (I live in Denmark and we have a customs fee of 30usd + 35% tax on everything from outside of the EU)

Here is a link to where we discuss the DIY Vidock, quite easy actually, almost plug and play
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences.html

 

Here is a thread about latching switches using a momentary input:

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=18261

Unfortunately it is not easy to make a single switch control a relay.

 

Unfortunately it is not easy to make a single switch control a relay.

Not quite true. You can use a flipflop to toggle the output on each trigger input. I am working on a circuit at the moment and will post it when I finish it.

 

Here is a bit of a circuit. Bit of a rush job but I think it might work.

 

Thank you, but did I mention that I am a bit of newb, I dont know how to read a diagram like that, other that there are different resistors etc
Are there no commercial available solutions? It just seems odd that you can buy all these momentary switches but no "flip flops"

 

You can buy flip flop chips and the circuit windoze_killa posted uses one.

There are unfortunately few other ways without resorting to a microcontroller.

 

Yes, but I dont know how to build it even with a diagram and the flip flop

 

Well I would like to keep the momentary switch on the case<snip>

It is not that hard to replace a switch in the case, if you are out shopping for a relay, why not shop for a replacement switch that will fit in the case, then your problem is solved! Since you can not really read schematics and such (not trying to put you down, just going by what was said) I believe the easiest method to accomplish this is to find a latching switch to replace the one on the case, since no matter what type of flip flop circuit or latching relay circuit people come up with, I believe it will still be way over your head to get it built..... stick with looking for a replacement switch, then maybe someday when you are a little more experienced you can build a different circuit..... remember K.I.S.S. .......

B. Morse

 

Its possible that my ATX power slave may be useful here;

If there is a 5 volt supply from the laptop then you can use my circuit to control the 'slave' PSU. (USB power possibly ?)

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=41025

Otherwise its building the usual Flipflop (toggle) circuit.

 

Its possible that my ATX power slave may be useful here;

If there is a 5 volt supply from the laptop then you can use my circuit to control the 'slave' PSU. (USB power possibly ?)

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=41025

Otherwise its building the usual Flipflop (toggle) circuit.

It may help if the OP can replace the switch with a latching one, if he keeps the momentary switch in the case this circuit will still not work, since there still wont be a way to keep the input on to the optocoupler without a latching switch....

B. Morse

 

To latch a relay is a easy task. Connect the relay to the power supply as you did it in the first place. Connect now the wafer of the relay to the +v side of the power supply and add a link between the NO (normally open) contact and the +v side of your relay. This will latch the relay until you power off the computer. See it's easy and you don't need any transistor circuits for the job.

 

Have a look at this diagram then you know how to connect the relay

 

To latch a relay is a easy task. Connect the relay to the power supply as you did it in the first place. Connect now the wafer of the relay to the +v side of the power supply and add a link between the NO (normally open) contact and the +v side of your relay. This will latch the relay until you power off the computer. See it's easy and you don't need any transistor circuits for the job.

Ok, this will turn it on, but how will he turn it off without unplugging the main AC power cord??

B. Morse

 

BMorse, that is so, so all I can suggest is to add a PTB switch on the supply line and then he just have to remember to reset the relay each and every time he power down the computer.
Fix it in a small plastic box with a red led indicator .Connect the led to the other side of the relay so when you press the switch, the led turn off and reset the relay all in one action.