Stream Deck always on

deanpribetic · March 24, 2020, 7:13am

Hey there,

I have an Elgato Stream Deck connected to my iMac and am running into a little issue with its display.

My Energy Saver Computer Sleep setting is currently set to “Never” (Display sleep is 1 hour, screen saver kicks in after 20 minutes).

When the display goes to sleep, the Stream Deck panel lights up and shows the default screen (the Stream Deck logo displayed across the 15 buttons of the device). I’m worried about it ruining the displays in the device and so I unplug it every night.

Is there a better way to shut this thing down?

MartinPacker · March 24, 2020, 8:00am

I have the same problem - from a different angle: Light pollution from my home office.

I have the StreamDecks (Mini plus Regular) on a powered USB hub but even powering the hub off - using a remote smart switch and my iPhone - doesn’t avoid the logo problem.

I had hoped there was a way (on a MacBook Pro) to power down USB ports but there doesn’t seem to be. (Anyone know of a way?)

So I take the StreamDecks and place them face down on the desk the last thing I do at night. This, of course, doesn’t assuage your worry.

Like you, I really wish Elgato now Corsair would fix this. In the meantime I wonder if there’s a hacker solution.

vco1 · April 30, 2020, 1:20pm

Just stumbled upon this topic. The good news is that there is a “hacker solution”. The bad thing is that this solution won’t work with the official Stream Deck software from Elgato. So you have to basically create everything from scratch. No drag and drop, but code.

The solution I’m talking about is Hammerspoon. HS has Stream Deck support and can watch all kinds of system events, including display and sysem sleep. Apart from that, you could even create a timer to switch off you Stream Deck - in software - at given times. The sky is the limit basically.

That being said, it’s not the easiest road and (some) scripting and/or programming knowledge is definitely a must as everything is done in a language called LUA.

MartinPacker · May 1, 2020, 6:57am

Interesting. As I have two Streamdecks I wonder if I can run one (the 6-button) with Hammerspoon and the other with the official Streamdeck software.

vco1 · May 1, 2020, 1:19pm

That I don’t know. Only know that the Hammerspoon devs state that it only works if the official SD app is not running. I only have one SD mini, so can’t help you with testing.

I have my SD now configured that it will turn black if either my Mac goes to sleep or shuts down.

tjluoma · September 17, 2020, 4:35am

ICYMI - I’m not sure when they added this, but the Stream Deck app now has a “Sleep Timer” which will turn off your Stream Deck’s screen after 5 minutes - 2 hours:

timlawson · September 17, 2020, 6:32am

Yes, the sleep timer is great - use it all the while and it fixes the issues mentioned above.

MartinPacker · September 17, 2020, 7:12am

Thank you TJ!

I always keep up to date with the Streamdeck software and I also hadn’t noticed this.

Keith · February 22, 2021, 11:54pm

Hi, Just got a Stream Deck today and am wondering if the introduction of the sleep timer really works.

I notice that the timer does turn off the Stream Deck while I am using the computer. BUT, if I simply put my iMac display to sleep, the default Elgato logo appears but does not appear to time out in the same way, and when I return some hours later the Stream Deck is still displaying the default logo.

As I run my iMac constantly and simply put my display to sleep this is potentially a big issue for me.

MartinPacker · February 23, 2021, 7:51am

I’ve found the same so I turn my 2 StreamDecks face downwards each night.

Keith · February 26, 2021, 8:13pm

Hi Martin, you might want to try doing a firmware update. This seems to have done the trick for me.

MartinPacker · February 27, 2021, 8:26am

Thank you. I thought being up to date with the app would keep me in good shape. I’ll have to investigate whether I’m also up to date with the firmware.

mwean · February 28, 2021, 4:55am

I’m having a similar problem, with the added wrinkle that it’s connected to a CalDigit TS3 Plus. If I use one of the unswitched USB ports, it just stays on with the Stream Deck logo. If I use the switched USB port, it flickers off and on every few seconds. I’ve updated the firmware on both devices. The only thing I can think to do is get a USB cable/hub with a power switch, but I’m not sure that will work well. Has anyone gotten it to work with the CalDigit dock?

MartinPacker · February 28, 2021, 9:15am

You might have hit on something here: My StreamDecks are plugged in via a powered USB hub. I’m not about to switch it off - so the 'face down" low tech solution is probably still my best bet.

leanda · February 28, 2021, 11:17am

Mine is also plugged into the CalDigit TS3, the Streamdeck always seems to stay on the logo when the Mac is asleep.

Out of interest, what is the latest version of the firmware? Mine is showing 1.00.007.

Leeabe51 · February 28, 2021, 6:50pm

I don’t see a way to update firmware. Does it do it automatically? I don’t see anything on their site about it.

My Mini is on firmware version 3.00.001

Your link is broken. Goes to the CalDigit site.

tjluoma · February 28, 2021, 10:58pm

For CalDigit dock, you can find the latest drivers, etc at https://downloads.caldigit.com.

My 32-button Stream Deck has a firmware of 1.00.007. I believe that if there is a firmware update available, it will appear next to the “Firmware Version” in the Preferences » General in the Stream Deck app.

I have my Stream Deck connected to a CalDigit hub, and it works fine. I have mine set to “Sleep after: Never” and it does stay at the Stream Deck logo when my Mac is asleep, but I assumed that was because I told it not to sleep.

HTH.

mwean · March 1, 2021, 4:49am

So I found this utility that lets you control the power to ports of USB hubs. I hooked it up to KeyboardMaestro, and it does work, but it turns back on as soon as I disconnect my computer. I’m not sure if that’s specific to my hub, so I’m going to buy a couple others to try.

tjluoma · March 2, 2021, 9:54pm

FWIW - the Stream Deck app v 4.9.3 now has a ’sleep’ button for the Stream Deck.

I made a “Multi-Action” button which does:

open /System/Library/CoreServices/ScreenSaverEngine.app
Sleep Stream Deck

and it starts my Mac ScreenSaver and my Stream Deck screensaver. (Note that the order appears to be important: sleep the Mac first, then the Stream Deck)

Thought this may help some folks here.

Stream Deck 4.9.3

mwean · March 3, 2021, 4:59am

Ok, this is pretty nuts, but it totally works!

I found this TP-Link smart plug (other models should work as well) for which people have reverse-engineered the network protocol. This means that the switch can be controlled by a shell script! I plugged the Stream Deck into a powered USB hub, which I plugged into the smart plug. Then I made Keyboard Maestro macros to switch the plug on when I connect to the CalDigit dock and off when I disconnect from it. So far, it’s working great!