Software trigger to shut off controller(s)

[societyblind]

This will help save battery instead of waiting the 15 minute timeout.
I can use this program to do this in windows
http://sourceforge.net/projects/turnoffxboxcontroller/

[mainmachine]

I think the challenge might be: where do you add this? You would want to cover as many desktop environments as possible. I am a big fan of the cinnamon desktop, and I know that compatibility between Gnome 3 and Cinnamon applets is OK at best.

I do know that if you stop the xboxdrv service, the gamepads turn off immediately...

So we would basically need an applet with a button to stop the xboxdrv service...

Ideally, I think the best solution would be if you could stop the service by a "long press" of the green button on the controller itself - not sure if that's feasible.

Anyone?

[societyblind]

Actually I wouldn't mind a command at all and I guess shutting off the service works, but then you would have to manually activate it again before being able to reconnect the controller. Perhaps I will try a script that turns off the driver and restarts it a few seconds later in a launcher for now. Doesn't turning the service on/off require root/sudo?

[mainmachine]

hmmm.... this might achieve both in one command:

sudo service xboxdrv restart

I can test it later today, but if someone can confirm that it turns off the gamepad, that would be nice! :)

[mainmachine]

OK, so the above command to restart the xboxdrv service does indeed also cause the wireless xbox360 gamepad to power off. :)

Now we just need a fancy button somewhere, or to trigger the restart by a long press of the big green super button. Anyone?

[societyblind]

Tried it. Stopping the xboxdrv service seems to turn off the xbox controller but I think it just turns off the LED. As soon as the service is restarted the controller reconnects. I can't say for sure if it's really off or not. restarting the service just causes my controller to reconnect.,

[mainmachine]

hmmm... I really don't know of any way to test how "off" the controller is other than measure the current passing through the battery...

I know how to do this, but it would take some kludging.

In the meantime, if anybody knows of a way to test the power draw of a controller in this scenario, it could save some time and effort...

What happens when you turn off your Xbox console? Does the controller just go dark? If so then I think we've got the same behavior.