Protecting a Monitor Power Button from Accidental Shut-off

June 10, 2004 9:38 PM

Mac-feline interaction: Can I get my PowerMac G4 to ignore the monitor power button while running? [more inside]

An oft-repeated scenario: I'm working at my computer. My cat decides to come sleep in front of my monitor. In the process of settling down, she triggers the power button on the monitor. The computer immediately goes to sleep, without asking for confirmation. This is somewhat vexing.

I've got the options set in the Energy Saver control panel so that my computer to sleep instead of shutting down entirely, which is preferable, but is there any way to get my Mac to ignore the monitor power button entirely, or at least ask for confirmation? I'm running Panther 10.3.4, and my machine was purchased in late 2001 if it makes a difference. Work-arounds are welcome, too, as long as they're not too memory-intensive (128 MB of RAM means that memory gets tight very easily.)

posted by Johnny Assay to computers & internet (10 comments total)

There was a thread on this in the Mac Achaian over at Ars (their search is broken) and the gneral consensus was 'No'. There is a way to do it with Mac OS 9, but the setting isn't kept in pram and, of course, doesn't translate to Mac OS X.

What *might* work is to put a piece of cellophane tape over the button. That should keep her from triggering the touch sensitive surface.
posted by nathan_teske at 9:58 PM on June 10, 2004

Errr... Ars being Ars Technica
posted by nathan_teske at 9:59 PM on June 10, 2004

On the "Displays" panel under System Preferences, there is a tab for "Options" (after Display, Arrangement, and Color). The only options are:
Display power button controls
* Display Power Only
0 Computer Power

However, the power button on my cinema display seems almost impossible to activate with a cat.
posted by Kwantsar at 10:16 PM on June 10, 2004

Kwantsar - are you using OS X or OS 9? Looking at two different Macs, both running 10.3.4, and neither of those have an option tab.
posted by nathan_teske at 10:50 PM on June 10, 2004

Wait, 128MB of RAM?? Can we take up a collection to buy you some more? OS X is *painful* with that little RAM.

Could you just tape a little flap of carboard over the button? Or, if you're picky, a little flap of translucent plastic?
posted by bcwinters at 11:01 PM on June 10, 2004

I had a similar problem with the reset button on a PC, and I found that half of one of those breath freshener strip thinger containers was exactly the right size to prevent unintended shutdown, while still allowing me to reach in sideways with a pen to bounce if if needed. Plus, minty fresh.
posted by majcher at 1:06 AM on June 11, 2004

No idea, but I'd like to say something, as one of the biggest Apple cheerleaders around:

Touch-sensitive buttons can be cool, but if they're on a hair trigger (and don't have a confirmation screen), they're annoying. The G4 Cube had this problem. The current monitors do too. Most notably, my 40g iPod can't be reliably activated from my pocket the way my clickable 5g one could.

I think the iPod mini gets the balance right. It's touch sensitive for some things, and actually provides feedback for others. Here's hoping Apple starts moving more in that direction.
posted by jragon at 8:30 AM on June 11, 2004

There's a hardware solution, but it's kind of pricey. Use two adapters -- one that converts the ADC connector on the Mac to DVI, and another that converts the DVI back to ADC (and injects power for the monitor). The latter is an expensive piece, around $100 if I remember correctly. Basically, this will disconnect all the monitor's features except the video, i.e., the power button's signal will not travel back to the computer. Don't know how well this would work in practice, but in theory it'll work just fine.
posted by kindall at 8:39 AM on June 11, 2004

Kwantsar - are you using OS X or OS 9? Looking at two different Macs, both running 10.3.4, and neither of those have an option tab.

It must be X -- there's nothing called "System Preferences" in 9. I'd guess you only get the "Options" tab if you've got an Apple display connected. Or maybe even only certain models of Apple displays.

Seems to me the Scotch-tape solution ought to work.
posted by jjg at 10:53 AM on June 11, 2004

jjg -- right right, but this is on a PowerMac G4 with an 17" Apple lcd connected.
posted by nathan_teske at 11:12 AM on June 11, 2004