In going through the 164LX hardware documentation I noticed an
interesting jumper. Jumper J1, located on the mb right next to the power
connector, is the "soft power connector". 

Why is this not very well known? The letters next to the jumper even
say something like "SFTPWR". I hooked a LED up to it and saw the LED
light up slightly, but the machine didn't come on. Then I tried a
small alligator clip across the two pins. 

Poof, the machine fired right up. 

Further experimentation shows that I can't leave it jumpered forever,
it requires a pulse. It *does* both turn the machine on and turn it
off. 

So, it could be wired up to make a switch on the front of the box
work. It cannot be used to bring the box back on without human
intervention (like, after a power outage). Well, this might be good
enough for some people without resorting to things like paper clips
jammed into the power connector.
-- 
Kevin P. Neal                                http://www.pobox.com/~kpn/
           On the community of supercomputer fans:
"But what we lack in size we make up for in eccentricity." 
  from Steve Gombosi, comp.sys.super, 31 Jul 2000 11:22:43 -0600