remote shutdown?

[swmr]

Just ordered new iMac 27inch, but I've always had laptops. What do you guys do for shutting down if say you are away from home, but expecting a potential power outage.

Or just a plain old power surge or lighting strike, is surge protector good enough? (obviously the disks would still hard shutdown I guess)

 

[GGJstudios]

Generally, a surge protector should be sufficient. You could use a remote control app like TeamViewer.

 

[swmr]

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I thought macs had a feature that could remote access but for free. But TeamViewer looks pretty close to what I wanted...

Anyone know of similar options?

 

[interrobang]

Any decent UPS will automatically shut a Mac down when the power fails.

 

[philipma1957]

Any decent UPS will automatically shut a Mac down when the power fails.

I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH !

If you fear power outages from storms you need one.

Along with proper surge protection if you use cat 5 wire for the net and or use eyetv with an f-connector to your tv/cable source.

http://www.amazon.com/Cable--Line-C...R7EK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322492369&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_c

http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-...8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322492418&sr=1-8

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I thought macs had a feature that could remote access but for free. But TeamViewer looks pretty close to what I wanted...

Anyone know of similar options?

TeamViewer is free for personal use.

 

[VPrime]

There is a built in VNC and SSH.
Go to System preferences > Sharing. Turn on screen sharing for VNC. ou will need to open port 5900 on your router to access outside of your network. Remember that BNC is not secure or encrypted.

There is also SSH, same sharing window turn on "Remote Login" (open port 22). This will let you log in remotely using terminal. You can shut it down (and do lots of other things) through the terminal.

You can also do VNC over SSH so it is secure and safe

 

[swmr]

Thanks everyone!

I must have misread something about TeamViewer but I went back and gave it a try. On my MBP it looks like what I want but my iMac hasn't shipped yet so I'm not yet sure.

Good advice on the UPS.

Any decent UPS will automatically shut a Mac down when the power fails.

Can you explain this to me? How does the Mac know to start closing programs and shutdown. I know very little about battery backups...

 

[macdudesir]

Good advice on the UPS. Can you explain this to me? How does the Mac know to start closing programs and shutdown. I know very little about battery backups...

Im not the OP of that quote, but I believe the UPS comes with software that you install on your Mac so when the UPS notices a power outage, the battery backup kicks in long enough for the UPS to tell the software to initiate a shutdown on the Mac. I'm sure interrobang can answer better than me though

 

[swmr]

Im not the OP of that quote, but I believe the UPS comes with software that you install on your Mac so when the UPS notices a power outage, the battery backup kicks in long enough for the UPS to tell the software to initiate a shutdown on the Mac. I'm sure interrobang can answer better than me though

sounds plausible

 

[Consultant]

Thanks everyone!

I must have misread something about TeamViewer but I went back and gave it a try. On my MBP it looks like what I want but my iMac hasn't shipped yet so I'm not yet sure.

Good advice on the UPS. Can you explain this to me? How does the Mac know to start closing programs and shutdown. I know very little about battery backups...

Once battery level goes below certain preset level on UPS, the UPS (connected to your computer with USB) will tell your computer to shut down via its software.

 

[flynz4]

Once battery level goes below certain preset level on UPS, the UPS (connected to your computer with USB) will tell your computer to shut down via its software.

You do not even need the software that is often shipped with a UPS. Once you connect a UPS to your computer (via USB), then a new tab will appear in: System Preferences->Energy Saver->"UPS tab". This gives you a lot of control on how your computer should act when on UPS power. There are shutdown options that let you determine shutdown actions based on runtime, %of battery remaining, or "UPS time remaining". I choose to have my computer set to perform an automatic shutdown once the UPS battery level is 75%. I do not care how long my iMac will run on batteries. I would rather the thing just do a graceful shutdown soon after the occurrence of a bonafide power outage.

/Jim

 

[swmr]

Anybody use primarily Teamviewer? I was messing around a couple minutes ago and first could not even get the app to open. It just bounced, asked for admin password, than nothing.

After a restart, it opens after password, but adds a second icon to my dock. If I close the app and reopen by clicking the second icon, the first bounces while opening, but a third icon appears (with the white dot underneath signaling an open program).

Basically if I don't keep the app open all the time, it will make duplicate icons when I do open it. Seems buggy to me.

 

[GGJstudios]

Anybody use primarily Teamviewer? I was messing around a couple minutes ago and first could not even get the app to open. It just bounced, asked for admin password, than nothing.

I use it daily. It sounds like it wasn't installed properly. Also make sure you don't have it blocked in your firewall settings.

 

[swmr]

I use it daily. It sounds like it wasn't installed properly. Also make sure you don't have it blocked in your firewall settings.

Also, after removing all icons from Dock, when I right click>Quit, a brand new instance on the app opens itself on the right side on the dock.

I did a standard default install, and didn't notice any problems on day one (although I have not used it since then).

 

[GGJstudios]

Also, after removing all icons from Dock, when I right click>Quit, a brand new instance on the app opens itself on the right side on the dock.

I did a standard default install, and didn't notice any problems on day one (although I have not used it since then).

I'd try uninstalling and reinstalling. I've installed and used TeamViewer on dozens of computers, both Mac and Windows, with no such issues.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

 

[swmr]

Thanks for the super quick replys. I'll try to reinstall, and I'll play a little more when my iMac ships tomorrow with Lion. I'll come back if I find anything else I guess.

Also I tend to use uApp but maybe I'll do my own deletion for this one.

 

[GGJstudios]

Also I tend to use uApp but maybe I'll do my own deletion for this one.

In most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this.