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Turn on a RPi Zero (but also other models) by remote

-=guybrush=-

Hello to everyone! :)  I use the RPi Zero as a mediacenter with LibreElec and I've already and successfully connected an IR remote to GPIO to control it but I still can't turn it on by remote but just plugging a power supply in as by design. I know there are several hats around which do what I want but my question is another. I've also found this product:

https://powerpractical.com/products/luminoodle-usb-switch

which is essentially an IR switch and potentiometer for a led strip but if you look at the product brief it should be suitable to turn on and off a RPi too. Given that it is essentially what I was saying, what about something like this one?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001884693662.html?_randl_currency=USD

It costs a fifth and it should still do the job. The 4 pin output connector is made by the 5V rail and one each for the three colours (R, G, B) and eventually I would use the 5V rail only. Another question: could a RPi be powered through GPIO using the 5V pin or just by USB? Thanks in advance for your advices and have a nice day! :)

  • The first product looks like it should work since it states it can work with the Raspberry Pi. It doesn't look very practical since you run the risk of someone switching power off from the remote control before the Pi has done a controlled shutdown, if a user isn't familiar with how to shutdown Linux. Still, perhaps that is a low risk, or of not much importance if no important data is on the Pi (e.g. streaming video from a server elsewhere).

    The second product is (to me at least) a leap of faith to assume that it will control the 5V supply. That product might just set the light levels to zero on the RGB channels but continue to supply 5V. Just setting the RGB channels to zero would be easier and cheaper for the manufacturer to implement.

    The Pi can be powered using the GPIO connector, it has 5V and GND pins, so it is not essential to power the Pi from the USB connector if you don't wish to.

  • in reply to shabaz

    First of all, thanks for your reply. I agree with you: I'm not that much confident the second would work. Given that it costs almost nothing, I would buy one to check what actually happens by a multimeter. Thanks for the confirmation about the possibility of feeding power through GPIO. It's clear that the so freed micro-usb port would eventually remain just empty given that, by what I know, it isn't suitable for data transfer unless some kind of hw modification I'm not aware of does exist. Have a nice day! :)