Password Protected Shutdown?

[KRH]

Can I Configure the Pandora to ask for a password when the off button is pressed?

I understand that the the off switch is software controlled.

 

[Squidge]

Out of the box? Probably not. Eventually? Maybe.

 

[KRH]

Out of the box? Probably not. Eventually? Maybe.

Ok, Thank you.

 

[Spadoof]

I would really like a feature like this. I remember having my first NDS and all my friends used to mess with me by turning it off in the middle of play (Great friends huh?). In anycase that may save someone some trouble somewhere.

-Spadoof :gp2x

You soon will be mine andora1:

 

[Squidge]

Pressing the button in the middle of play shouldn't do much but put the device into standby mode, so you'd just press it again and resume play. I would imagine the "Proper off" feature would be a press and hold, so you would have enough time to punch your mate before he managed to turn the device off, then you could just resume

 

[jmetal88]

I would really like a feature like this. I remember having my first NDS and all my friends used to mess with me by turning it off in the middle of play (Great friends huh?). In anycase that may save someone some trouble somewhere.

-Spadoof :gp2x

You soon will be mine andora1:

My friends tried to do that to me. What they didn't realize is that, since they had the original DS, and I had the DS Lite, the off button was in a much less accesible place, and they failed at their objective because of that.

 

[God Ginrai]

I remember having my first NDS and all my friends used to mess with me by turning it off in the middle of play (Great friends huh?).

My friends and I did that to each other. We named the power button the "Turbo button" and It was likely to be pressed when our friends were playing Mario Kart DS. We would say "Quick! Use the Turbo Button!" and then we would press the power button on our friend's DS. Then sometime later, they would attempt to do it to ours. It was great fun. ^_^

EDIT:

My friends tried to do that to me. What they didn't realize is that, since they had the original DS, and I had the DS Lite, the off button was in a much less accesible place, and they failed at their objective because of that.

Yea, we were disappointed when some of our friends got DS Lites. The fun kind of ended.

-God Ginrai

 

[appdirect]

Anyone could bypass that by removing the battery .

 

[slygamer]

You forget the simplest solution: Get new friends.

 

[Squidge]

Anyone could bypass that by removing the battery .

That would be kinda difficult to do whilst someone else is using the device, which is the entire reason for the suggestion

 

[fusion_power]

I understand that the the off switch is software controlled.

Really? Where did you read this? :blink:
I haven't found any official statement of the type of the power-switch yet. I know that many people prefer Hardware over software switches like the old Software/Hardware Volume control discussion. ^_^
Well, I'm not sure if a SW Power switch is better than a HW Power switch and vice versa. Hm...

 

[KRH]

Really? Where did you read this? :blink:

Don't forget that the power switch is a "soft" switch. It is conceivable that the software could register a quick flick of the switch as pause or resume, while holding the switch would actually shut the machine down.

Ask Chip, I just assumed that he would not make a statement like that without solid evidence.

 

[Chip]

Really? Where did you read this? :blink:

Don't forget that the power switch is a "soft" switch. It is conceivable that the software could register a quick flick of the switch as pause or resume, while holding the switch would actually shut the machine down.

Ask Chip, I just assumed that he would not make a statement like that without solid evidence.


My statement was based on common sense. Modern operating systems like Linux don't like to be suddenly powered off without warning. That is why all desktop and laptop computers have soft switches. The Pandora is essentially a very small laptop and will run into problems if the it is not allowed to shut down on its own terms.

If you would like a bit more than common sense to base it on, there have been a couple posts that indicate the Pandora will have a soft switch. Not to mention Squidge's post in this thread:
QUOTE
Pressing the button in the middle of play shouldn't do much but put the device into standby mode, so you'd just press it again and resume play. I would imagine the "Proper off" feature would be a press and hold, so you would have enough time to punch your mate before he managed to turn the device off, then you could just resume

 

[Squidge]

Actually, I was basing my post from common sense, just like yours. I've no concrete evidence.

 

[fusion_power]

Ask Chip, I just assumed that he would not make a statement like that without solid evidence.

Chip is a competent poster here but not a part of the Pandora-Dev Team.

Actually, I was basing my post from common sense, just like yours. I've no concrete evidence.

Wow I even YOU don't know it, than it's another of the the many, many Pandora secrets we don't know. ^_^
Maybe MWeston could clear this point if we ask him?

 

[MWeston]

The power switch is software controlled. It is connected to the power management chip and can be read by the OMAP through an I2C interface. It can fire an interrupt when pressed or it can be software polled (depending on what the kernel would like to do). It can also be set as a hardware failsafe and if you hold it down for a programmable number of seconds, it kills the entire system power. This is useful if Linux should lock up and you have no way to power it off in software, because this feature is pure hardware.

In the case of the Pandora, that it not often necessary unless you want to force it off completely, but there are other easy ways to use the power switch to reset the board if you just need it to reboot. Here are the configurations:

- Hold down MENU button and press POWER switch = HARD RESET
- Hold down MENU and START buttons while pressing POWER switch = HARD RESET into "peripheral boot mode" (used to load code from SD card, UART or USB). Those two blue wires on the dev kit PCBs hold the MENU and START buttons at ground potential so the board always comes up in this mode for code development.

I know I have explained most of this in other topics, but they do tend to get buried.

 

[fusion_power]

Thanks, MWeston. You are still the best Info-Source. ^_^
The Idea with the flexible usage of the Power Switch is great (power off if holding over a few seconds prevents from unwanted shutdowns if the switch gets moved in the pocket etc.. ). As long as I don't have to push Button-Combinations all the time if I want to shut down the Pandora, I'm fine with it. Start+Menu+Something can lead to many unwanted Actions I think, becaue Start and Menu Buttons seems to be mapped in every Program and you can never be sure to press everything exactly in the same time. .

 

[Karel Jansens]

The power switch is software controlled. It is connected to the power management chip and can be read by the OMAP through an I2C interface. It can fire an interrupt when pressed or it can be software polled (depending on what the kernel would like to do). It can also be set as a hardware failsafe and if you hold it down for a programmable number of seconds, it kills the entire system power. This is useful if Linux should lock up and you have no way to power it off in software, because this feature is pure hardware.

In the case of the Pandora, that it not often necessary unless you want to force it off completely, but there are other easy ways to use the power switch to reset the board if you just need it to reboot. Here are the configurations:

- Hold down MENU button and press POWER switch = HARD RESET
- Hold down MENU and START buttons while pressing POWER switch = HARD RESET into "peripheral boot mode" (used to load code from SD card, UART or USB). Those two blue wires on the dev kit PCBs hold the MENU and START buttons at ground potential so the board always comes up in this mode for code development.

I know I have explained most of this in other topics, but they do tend to get buried.

The Nokia Itablets' powerswitch recognizes short, medium and long keypress (times can even be set by user). Each can be assigned a different action. It would be neat if the same could be done on the Pandora, so that e.g. a short keypress suspends to RAM and a long keypress (in fairness, the medium keypress is just annoying ) brings up a menu with different power and suspend options (suspend to card, reboot, power off, halt all wireless connections...)

I'm not saying this should be changed, just that it's very useful on the Nokias (provided you don't fuck it up, as Nokia did in the later iterations of its OS)

 

[God Ginrai]

It can also be set as a hardware failsafe and if you hold it down for a programmable number of seconds, it kills the entire system power. This is useful if Linux should lock up and you have no way to power it off in software, because this feature is pure hardware.

I think this should be set to the standard 10 seconds. That way, like Squidge said, just pressing the Power could be suspend, and pressing+holding the power button for less than 10 sec could be Shut Down.

-God Ginrai

 

[Squidge]

I think this should be set to the standard 10 seconds. That way, like Squidge said, just pressing the Power could be suspend, and pressing+holding the power button for less than 10 sec could be Shut Down.

I agree, although I don't mind having to press MENU + POWER for a hard reset, as long as it's not instant (for seconds delay at least).