EsDee wrote:
Ask yourself how many wrong numbers you get per week. Ask yourself
whether you really want your computer reset everytime someone misdials
the number of the pizza-parlor. Ask yourself whether you really want
everybody on the planet to be able to reset your computer at will.
Including everybody on usenet, once someone finds out the number you
assigned to this and posts it here.
I'm sorry, but no functional computer needs to be reset twice a week.
Hitting reset everytime your computer hangs is like buying a new car
everytime the old one runs out of gas. It is the desperate attempt to
avoid solving a problem.
If your computer hangs that often, then your setup is broken -- either
in hardware or in software. Fixing it will not only save you money in
the long run (no need to keep a GSM) but will probably teach you a
bunch of things. Some of which might even come in handy in the future.
cordially
Y.T.
I do agree with what YT says - even a windows box shouldnt need
rebooting that often, and often resorting to a hard reboot too often can
cause more problems in the long run, such as data corruption or nackered
hard disks.
However, I accept that it is sometimes necessary to hard reboot a
machine far far away, and the peace of mind and sense of power simply
being able to do it brings. However as others have stated, using a phone
is open to abuse - I for one would get a sick satisfaction from phoning
your computer to reboot it every 5 minutes. Also bear in mind that
whatever phone you are using, you can GUARANTEE that some chap will
phone your computers mobile several times a day to sell you cheap double
glazing or save you money on your energy bills. do you really want that?
However, if you do decide to go ahead with it, and you may be thinking
what im thinking here, I suggest that you connect the relay to the reset
switch and NOT the power line, reason being that the second option can
cause far more data loss and even trash your hard disk beyond useability
(ive had it happen to me during repeated brownouts - I have a ups now)
another method that springs to mind however, is to have a fully
automated "watchdog device" a watchdog card will normally set you back a
few hundred bucks/lira/quid (delete as appropriate) and works by
monitoring your computer for lockups, and rebooting if one occurs. A
cheaper alternative is to build a circuit with a monostable timer, which
can be reset if it recieves a periodic signal. IE, get some software
which sends one of the pins on the parallel port high for a second or so
every 4 minutes, and if the circuit doesnt recieve this signal to reset
itself every 5 minutes, it triggers the relay and resets the computer
(does that make sense?)
hope you find the solution that works best for you anyway.
