Console and TV Power Management
HandyCafe can switch a PlayStation on when a session starts and put it back to standby when the session ends. The TV the console is plugged into can follow the same schedule. Everything happens over the local network. No extra hardware is needed.
A console left running overnight costs money every night. This feature exists to make that impossible to forget.
What Is Supported
| Device | Switch on | Switch off | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | Yes | Yes | Needs a one-time pairing per console. |
| PlayStation 4 | Yes | Yes | Same pairing as PS5. |
| PlayStation 3 | No | No | The console has no network power protocol. |
| Xbox | No | No | Listed by discovery only. Power commands are not supported. |
| LG webOS TV | Yes | Yes | Can also switch to the console's HDMI input. |
| Samsung TV | Yes | Yes | 2016 and later, plus 2013 and earlier. See the note below. |
| Android TV / Google TV | Yes | Yes | Covers Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense, Xiaomi and newer Vestel sets. |
Samsung sets from 2014 and 2015 need an encrypted handshake HandyCafe does not implement. Those sets are found and named. They are not offered for pairing.
A TV that speaks none of the supported protocols is still listed by name. It simply has no pairing button.
Before You Start
Three things have to be true. Each one is a common reason for the feature not working.
- The server and the devices are on the same network. A guest Wi-Fi is a separate network, even when it shares the same router.
- The consoles have rest-mode networking enabled. On the console: Settings, then System, then Power Saving, then Features Available in Rest Mode. Both "Stay Connected to the Internet" and "Enable Turning On PS5 from Network" must be on. Without these the console cannot be woken.
- The TVs are switched on while you pair them. A television that is off has every control port closed and is indistinguishable from a set HandyCafe cannot drive.
Turning the Feature On
Open Settings, then Consoles. The Network and Power block sits below the console list.
The switch in the block header turns the whole feature on. Everything below it appears only while it is on.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Wake console when a session starts | Sends the wake command the moment a session opens on that console. |
| Put console to standby when a session ends | Starts the grace period below when a session is stopped. |
| Put to standby when the bill is settled | A separate trigger. Covers the case where the session was already stopped and the bill is closed at the counter afterwards. |
| Prevent unauthorised use | Puts a console back to rest when it wakes with nobody booked in. Off by default. |
| Standby grace period (minutes) | How long to wait before the standby command. Covers the customer who pays and immediately extends. |
| Scan interval (seconds) | How often HandyCafe checks what each device is doing. |
Pairing a PlayStation
Pairing is one-time per console. The PlayStation Network account is asked for once per cafe rather than once per console. The second and every later console skips that step.
- On the console, open Settings, then System, then Remote Play, then Link Device. An eight digit code appears. Leave that screen open.
- In HandyCafe, open Settings, then Consoles. Press Scan Now. Consoles on the network are listed with their address and current state.
- Press Pair next to the console you want.
- Choose which registered console record this device belongs to.
- On the first console only, sign in to PlayStation Network. A window opens for the sign-in and closes by itself when it is done. Nothing has to be copied back.
- Enter the eight digit code from the console screen.
- Press Connect.
The console card now shows a power badge. Clicking it opens the power panel with the current state, the paired devices and the recent activity.
Pairing a TV
A TV is paired to a console record. Opening a session then switches on both the console and the screen next to it.
- Switch the TV on.
- Open the Device Finder page. The power panel of the console the TV belongs to works too.
- Press Connect as display on the TV row.
- Choose which console this screen sits next to.
- Accept the prompt that appears on the TV screen. On an Android TV the set shows a six digit code instead, which you type back in HandyCafe.
- On an LG set you can then choose the HDMI input the console is plugged into. Opening a session switches the TV straight to it.
HandyCafe works out which protocol the set speaks from the TV itself. You do not have to know whether your television runs webOS, Tizen or Android.
Device Finder
Settings, then Device Finder, lists everything answering on the local network: consoles, televisions, the computers HandyCafe already manages, network equipment and customers' phones.
Each row shows what the device says about itself, its hardware address, its network address and whether it needs setting up. Clicking a row opens the full detail, including the raw description the device reported and which control ports it answered on.
Devices HandyCafe can take over show a Pair or Connect as display button. Everything else is listed for reference. A device that answered but said nothing about itself is grouped as unidentified, which is usually a customer's phone, a printer or a network box.
What Happens During a Shift
- A session opens. The console is woken. The TV comes on with it. On an LG set the HDMI input is selected too.
- The session ends. The grace period runs. If no new session has started by then, the console and TV are put to standby.
- The bill is settled. If that trigger is on, the same grace period runs from that moment.
- Somebody switches a console on by hand. If the unauthorised use setting is on, HandyCafe puts it back to standby, records the event and tells the cashier.
Every power command is recorded. The power panel of each console shows the recent activity, including the reason a command failed.
Troubleshooting
The console did not turn off after a session. Open the console's power panel and check the recent activity. The most common reason is that the console is not paired. No command can be sent to a console that has not been paired. The second is that the grace period has not elapsed yet.
The console was found but cannot be woken. Rest-mode networking is off on the console. See Before You Start above.
The TV is listed but has no pairing button. There are two possible reasons. The set was off during the scan. Failing that, it speaks a protocol HandyCafe has no driver for. Switch the set on and scan again first. The detail panel says which of the two it is.
Nothing is found at all. The server and the devices are on different networks. A guest Wi-Fi counts as a different network.
The PlayStation Network sign-in window will not open. HandyCafe fetches the sign-in address from its own server. Check the internet connection and try again.
Privacy
The network scan is a live look. Nothing about the devices it sees is stored. A record of which customer phones were in the building is never kept.
Pairing secrets are encrypted before they are written to disk. They never leave the server.