Don't Laugh: How can I tell if the 721 is ON?

[larrydj]

Here's my situation. A friend is housesitting our home while we're gone a week. I have a 721 in a home theater system, all controlled by the Pronto. I'm writing up basic instructions on how to use the system, which is really easy since must operations are Pronto macros.

I leave the 721 ON all the time, because the 721 doesn't have discrete ON and OFFs. My ON macros turns on the TV, A/V receiver, sets up the inputs, etc. etc, but doesn't touch the 721. My OFF macro turns everything off, except the 721, which stays on. All this works fine.

However, I'm writing down some brief troubleshooting tips in case of a problem. One problem is the occasional Power outage from the utility company. Even if just for a couple seconds (happens more frequently than you might expect, I live in California), the 721 turns off. The cure is simple: walk over to the 721, and if it is OFF, turn it ON.

However, there is no indicator on the 721 front panel I can see that it is ON or OFF. I dont' want someone to turn it OFF when it was ON, merely beause the remote wasn't pointed at the system correctly. How can I insure and describe a fool-proof system of making sure the 721 is ON? Is there a manual front panel situation that guarantees it, without looking at the TV screen (assuming that there was a remote control error that did not put the TV into the correct state)?

[UpOnTheMountain]

There is a small green led on the left side of the power button on the front right hand side of the 721. This light should glow green when the 721 is in the "on" state.

[larrydj]

That's what I thought, but my green lamp remains unlit. I just manually turned the 721 ON and OFF manually while watching TV to confirm it, and the green lamp stayed unlit. Maybe I have a problem, but it seems unlikley. I wonder if I have it in some state where the lamp isn't workign correctly?

[UpOnTheMountain]

I don't think there is state where you have output from the unit and the light doesn't glow green (aka turned on).
It sounds like your unit has a bad led (is there such a thing ?) or a cold solder joint/bad connection.

[John Corn]

larry, thats a small green lite too, I often have trouble knowing if that little green light is on or off.

[larrydj]

I must have an intermittent. I saw the green light late this afternoon again. But now, at 10:30pm, it wasn't on, though I was using the TV. The red record light is on, though. Hmmm...could it possibly go off when I'm recording?

[Allamand]

On simple fix is buy a UPS for your 721, it is a computer after all and power outage isn't good for a hard drive! They are less then a 100 bucks and well worth the money invested into the 721.