5 replies to this topic

[GregR]

I was just wondering if there is any programatic way to turn off the backlight on the nwazet display. It would be good to be able to do this when the app is idle for a long period of time and you want to save power. Is this possible? Also, what about the power LED on the module? Thanks! Greg

[Fabien Royer]

Hi Greg, To conserve power when you don't need the display, I'd recommend turning the display off completely instead, through the Go! socket power control. Cheers, -Fabien.

[GregR]

Hi Greg,

To conserve power when you don't need the display, I'd recommend turning the display off completely instead, through the Go! socket power control.

Cheers,
-Fabien.

That would work but then I have to maintain the state of what is on the display. If I could just disable the backlight everything would stay in place and be immediately readable when the backlight was turned back on. Maybe you can make that available in a future firmware update.

Thanks for the quick response...

Greg

[GregR]

Also, it appears the functionality to turn the power on/off for a specific socket is not yet available.

[Chris Walker]

Hi Greg,

Also, it appears the functionality to turn the power on/off for a specific socket is not yet available.

The feature to power on/off a GoPort was built into Netduino Go primarily for re-flashing modules. Really, it's designed to turn off 3 modules while a single module on the channel is being re-flashed.

We're looking at the option of exposing this feature for scenarios where a user wants to power down a GoPort programmatically. The concern is that data transmission to/from an active module might provide a tiny bit of power to a powered-down module and that module might then create noise on the shared data bus.

It's definitely possible to power down all four modules at the same time and then repower them...if that's of interest we can bubble up a managed code method for that as well.

The upcoming GoBus 1.5 spec will provide some new power management capabilities and guidelines. Among other features, we're creating the ability for devices to go into a low-power standby mode and we're codifying the low-current enumeration guidelines (so that any module can be enumerated without worrying about overloading the power rail).

Chris

[ShapeShifter]

To conserve power when you don't need the display, I'd recommend turning the display off completely instead, through the Go! socket power control.

Besides what was already mentioned, another issue with turning off the display board completely is that it eliminates the possibility of waking up the screen by touching it. I have an application in mind where the only UI will be a touch screen, with no other buttons available. I'd like the screen to first dim, then finally shut off after inactivity, but would need a way to wake it back up with a touch. Without it, this display is not particularly useful for this application.

The ability to turn off the display backlight under software control is a feature that is likely to be useful to many people, not just Greg and I.

-- SS