MINIX NEO Z64 Auto Power On

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE Auto Power On - Jumper Position for Power Recovery Enabled Inside the MINIX NEO Z64 (Fig 1.) With the rece...

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE
Auto Power On - Jumper Position for Power Recovery Enabled
Inside the MINIX NEO Z64 (Fig 1.)

With the recent release of the Z64 and the Bay Trail processor goodness it brings with it,  I saw a great opportunity to try out a new windows capable mini PC to hopefully act as a low cost, low energy pseudo server on the home network.

Of course a server's functionality is greatly increased if it can automate computing and schedule various tasks around the clock, so some sort of recovery after power failure feature is needed.

The Z64 does not do this straight out of the box, however knowing that some of the other models on offer from MINIX have on board jumper settings to achieve this I had to take a look.  Some of you who have bought this great little piece of kit will be dismayed that you will be required to open it up to enable this, but I found it was relatively easy to do.

*Standard Disclaimer: Please note if you care about your warranty at all, DO NOT OPEN YOUR device, or do so at your own risk.

If you are still reading and do want to try this out, make sure you have good quality mini screwdriver (Phillips head) available, those little screws feel like they will strip easy if you have a cheap one!

STEPS:
1. Unplug the power and any other items you may have inserted into the device (eg USB's, MicroSD, Cables)

2. Flip the device over.  You will need to peel off the 4 small rubber feet located on its underside as the screws are located there.  I found they retained enough stickiness to place back on without using adhesive - your experience may differ.

3. Take out the 4 holding screws - use a firm grip and applying good downward pressure so as not to strip the head of your screws.  I found mine to be rather tight.

4. The board should lift out easily with the connecting wires still attached. You will be able to flip it over, locate the PWR_MODE jumper and then set it to the position as shown in Fig1.

5. You are done.  Put everything back together


WHAT TO EXPECT:
I have done some initial tests and listed the results for you; here is the behaviour you can expect from your Z64 after setting the jumper in the steps above.

1. Conditions: NEO Z64 is on, power supply to device is momentarily cut then resumed (unplug/re-plug power cable).
1. Result: device powers up automatically

2. Conditions: NEO Z64 is manually shut down from within windows, power supply is maintained.
2. Result: Device powers down and stays shut down.
- 2a. If device power button is pressed in this shut down state, device will start back up.
- 2b. If the power is cut to device (unplug/re-plug power cable) in this shut down state, it will start automatically as if recovering from power failure.

Next on my list of things to do is work out how I can image this little beast with a server O/S like 2008. The Windows 8.1 install on here is pretty good (and runs well on the Z64) but the extra functionality of a server would be the bomb!  If anyone has any tips on how to do this it would be very much appreciated!