October 9, 2008 12:24 AM

This is certainly bizzare. I have certainly never saw that behavior (I have seen the screen saver coming up - but never the unit turn off by itself).
I would try two things

a) Do a hard reset using the back button
b) If that does not help, then do a complete reset to factory settings using the Settings menu.

There is also the possibility that some other IR code is the same as the power off IR code, or if the batteries on the remote are low, the IR codes are erratic. So, put some fresh batteries and check if it goes off when you use some other remote at the same time.

October 23, 2008 6:22 PM

I have seen this too. When it happened to me I was using the Vista Extender interface, no the HP interface. It did NOT happen ever during Live tv viewing but did happen when I was running a video off the hard drive. Very strange.
I turned off the screen saver in the MediaSmart Connect and it seems to have fixed the problem. Also, I don't set the remote down and leave it pointed at the device...but that is probably just me being paranoid :)

I THINK that the video I was playing was off a USB drive on my Vista Media Center computer and not one of the internal disks in the Vista Media Center computer. The video played just fine but maybe there was some kind of latency that cause the MediaSmart Connect to think it was time to sleep? Dunno.

October 28, 2008 10:22 PM

I have been using me MSC with a Vista Home Premium (Media Center) computer for a couple of weeks, using it longer. I actually have 2 MSC units. one is connected wired and the other wireless. I am using it for longer periods recently, and the past two nights it has "gone to sleep" (message and all). There was no stray IR signals as I was the only person awake, and nothing else going on. I was surfing the web on the PC as I normally do, and the MSC went to sleep. I did a hard reset tonite, and will see if the problem continues to exhibit itself.

December 4, 2008 11:26 PM

I too have this issue...I have two units, only one exhibits this behavior, which is interesting. Has the "factory reset" option within the interface worked for anyone to the point that the issue did not recur?

I have hit the button on the back and that does not work as the issue definitely continues going this route.

December 17, 2008 9:33 PM updated: December 17, 2008 9:40 PM

Raoulsch said: Mine does that too. I have read on some other threads that the difference in power consumption between on and standy-by mode is actually insignificant, so I have decided not to worry about it. The "going-to-sleep" issue has not re-occured after the hard reset / reset to factory settings I did a couple of months ago.

How did you do the hard reset?

I thought TV guy was recommending pressing the reset button on the back of the system but reading the manual that just restarts the unit. The hard reset is done using the remote while in the settings menu, correct?

I am asking because my system has just started going to sleep while viewing video. It just started happening after using the system since the end of July.

nmpcrazy

(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n

December 19, 2008 9:36 AM

TV guy said:

nmpcrazy said:

Raoulsch said: Mine does that too. I have read on some other threads that the difference in power consumption between on and standy-by mode is actually insignificant, so I have decided not to worry about it. The "going-to-sleep" issue has not re-occured after the hard reset / reset to factory settings I did a couple of months ago.

How did you do the hard reset? I thought TV guy was recommending pressing the reset button on the back of the system but reading the manual that just restarts the unit. The hard reset is done using the remote while in the settings menu, correct? I am asking because my system has just started going to sleep while viewing video. It just started happening after using the system since the end of July.

First try the reset in the back. It does far more than restarting the unit. If the problem persists, then do a full reset to factory defaults (from the settings menu)

Glad to see that you are still around.

I did reset the button on the back but was not sure of the sequence. I put the unit into sleep mode and then pressed the back reset button. The unit did its thing and before the day was over it started turning itself off and I had one occurance of it going to sleep in the middle of a video. Should I unplug the unit and leave it unplugged for some period of time and then reset?

I also did the hard reset back to default settings and for now that seems to have done something. It has been 20 hours or so since I did that and so far the unit has not turned itself on.

Has the hard reset option continued to work for you? Is it something that may need to be done every so often? If I can get over this hurdle I think WAF will be high enough to move the unit to the main viewing area! If not then it will labor in relative obscurity in an upstairs bedroom.

nmpcrazy

(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n

January 15, 2009 3:58 PM

My MSC is also jumping out of standby. I'm running wireless N with static IP assignment based on MAC.
Question: What's the difference (if any) between a cold restart and a restart with the "reset" switch? So far a cold power down doe not resolve the issue. For those with the "jumping out of standby'... how many are using a wired connection?

February 16, 2009 6:02 PM

skingery said: I was just sitting here listening to music via Windows Extender mode on the HP MSC. All of a sudden it went to sleep. I didn't do anything and around 5 or so minutes later it turned back on. I never did do the 'factory reset'. Previously I've just used the button on the back. Just went through the Factory Reset options and we'll see if that helps.

I am sorry to say that resetting the unit did not permanently fix the 'going to sleep' problem for me. I did both resets. It is a frustrating problem and I now believe that the MediaSmart Connect is no more, which means support for this issue, of which there was very little to begin with, will be non existant.

February 18, 2009 9:34 AM

My unit jumps out of standby and goes to sleep while playing video. Resetting has not helped either problem. I did have a brief email from HP support suggesting the reset but they basically said that it was either my network or my PC or some other device that was causing the MSC to go to sleep. When I requested an RMA they (hp email support said I could only get that via the phone). I respectfully requested that they (email support give me the RMA because I had no success with getting any help via phone support (I contacted HP 4 times and in all cases after reaching a human and or several humans, I was cut off) but they have not replied back.

I basically like the unit especially when using it in extender mode but the going to sleep thing is a show stopper as well as the total lack of support. With just a little effort HP could have had a winner but instead they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

nmpcrazy

(Q9550 Quad/Vista Home Premium/PVR150/VMC), (P42.53/XP Pro/PVR250/ FusionHDTV5 USB/FusionHDTV7 USB/BTV)
Dell(P42.0,Linspire,2.5TB,used as server)
Linplayer2(2), Ziova CS615, MediaSmart Connect x280n

August 5, 2009 7:30 AM updated: August 5, 2009 7:37 AM

skingery said: Thought I'd jump back into this old thread.... My MSC started restarting randomly when watching things via extender mode. Really frustrating and rendering it basically unusable. At one point it turned off altogether and would not restart despite all efforts. At that point I unplugged it and decided to call tech support in the morning. Of course, as these things go, it turned on while I was on the phone with tech support. We left the case open and I called back a day or so later because it got worse again. I was able to get a refurbished unit and an RMA to send the old MSC back. My new MSC arrived today. All that was in the box was the MSC so I plugged everything back in and we'll see what happens. My theory? The power supply is bad. I think that is what we are all experiencing. The bad part? As I said, all that was in the box was a refurb MSC...NO NEW POWER SUPPLY. I wonder if the power supply can't handle power fluctuations. I do not think I am having them as everything else on that circuit (tv, etc) appear to be fine. If I had a UPS I'd try it out.

At this point in time I think it is mute whether the root cause is known or not. The x280n is no longer made and is barely supported. There is zero chance that the power supply, if that is the cause, will be fixed and become available.

FWIW my unit turns itselt on primarily when I mess about with Media Center on my PC. Also, if I do a reset the unit will not turn itself on or off for a week or so. That basically tells me that it is probably not due to power fluctuations or a bad power supply. I suspect the issue has more to do with the way that the firmware was written to conserve power and the way in which it is supposed to watch network activity. The blue light on the front of my unit pulses in brightness even when the unit is in standby.

I still have my x280n hooked up but it gets less and less use. Soon it will be a door stop which is a shame because when it does work it is pretty slick especially in extender mode. But shutting down in the middle of a video really ruins the experience and is the polar opposite of WAF.

August 27, 2009 12:19 PM

skingery said: Sadly, HPInvent is right. Seems like media center extenders are going away or being replaced. Even the new unit I got from HP had the issue where it turned itself off. I wasn't willing to have an expensive paper weight so I decided to see what I could do.... So the power supply that is shipped with this unit is supposed to put out 19V. Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier but I decided to test it with my volt meter. It reads like 11 to 14 volts and the needle pulsates between the two. Whacky. I'm thinking that has to be the problem and that is probably the low end of the tolerance for the device. Any dip would cause the device to look like you toggled power. Anyway, I hacked together the tip from the stock MSC power supply and an old laptop power supply and so far, so good. .... that was weeks ago. I haven't had a single drop out since installing my modified power supply so I'll continue using my MSC.

I am skeptical of your fix but I am giving it a go. I found a laptop power supply that simply plugs into the x280n. I tested both power supplies and they both output 19V DC. I tested them off and on for an hour or so and both behaved similarly. Most of the time the output was 19V but on occassion it was as low as 15.2V for both of them.

I have gone many times for several weeks before having the unit power itself off so it will take a few months of no powering off to convince me it is the power supply.

Thanks for the suggestion and I will post back.

BTW is the problem still gone? 

August 28, 2009 8:58 AM

So far so good. I have played several back to back full length videos without issue. I also noticed that the unit did not turn itself on during the night. When I get a chance I will take a look at the lap top power supply that I am using and report the make and model. No plug swapping required, just plug it in and go.