How to disable autosleep in 4.1 speaker system? (in the HW)

[redfox1]

Please, can anyone hardware experienced help me?

My product: Cambridge SoundWorks 4.1 PCWorks FourPointSurround speaker system, manufactured in 1999.
(subwoofer, 2 front and 2 rear speakers, analog signal)

Problem: This HW system switches itsfelf down (goes asleep) after a short period, when no sound is coming from the PC sound card. Recovering from sleep takes some time again, so when I try to play a short sound, I can't hear anything.

Well, how to disable the autosleep feature in this hardware and have it fully active, during the whole day?
Maybe there is a potentiometer or a switch there..? I did not dismantle it yet

Thank you very much.

 

[13thmonkey]

I think I have the same speakers (little beige square ones?) have they always gone to sleep? mine don't. you may have a fault developing.

 

[redfox1]

Yes, they should be th same...

I have just been following the behavior of the greed LED for sime time - it takes minutes before it goes to sleep again.

Well, then I tried to set the speaker output to maximum power - no result, still off.
Then I set the audio output to MAX in Windows too - the same, it sleeps. (I have SB Live Value audio card, but I think it does not matter).
The AC power supply does do have a switch, so the autosleep functionality should be in the HW near the subwoofer.

The only thing what enables the power again, is a longer sound coming from the sound card.

Well, now I take a screwdriver and will start looking into the HW.. (I hope the screws are standard types)

 

[13thmonkey]

I'll have a look at mine and see what it does

 

[redfox1]

Well, I am in ... no switches there, just standard components ... I plugged in all the cables, except for the subwoofer and it is still ON... after 5 minutes.

So, maybe the hardware is scared of me and works for now or it does not like the subwoofer plugged in... will see in an hour.

In any case, I'll post a final report here (if I won't damage it at all)

 

[redfox1]

The final summary after 2 days of research:

The whole system goes to sleep after about 15 minutes of inactivity.
Recovering from sleep takes about 20 seconds, when starting to play a sound (very long in my opinion)

There is no switch, jumper or anything inside the HW, which could be tuned directly, only resistors, transistors and some elyt. capacitors. No one of the capacitors servers as a timer.

So, I had to leave it, as it is... will see if I get an answer from the customer support of the manufacturer (I think its beyond their capabilities to solve this problem).

 

[rifern]

Your post is from 2009, I really don´t know if you still have your speaker system.
I was facing the same problem, and found a solution.
Tested and working!!!!

The solution is in french. I used the Google translator.

http://fonctionerd.free.fr/index.php?post/2008/01/14/18-cambridge-soundworks-41-fps1000-desactiver-la-mise-en-veille


Regards!

 

[redfox1]

Thank you very much, I still have these speakers
redfox1

 

[rifern]

Thank you very much, I still have these speakers
redfox1

Nice. Now almost 24 hours after the component removal, it´s working perfect.
Regards