From owner-freebsd-hackers Mon Jan 29 18:59:24 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id SAA12455 for hackers-outgoing; Mon, 29 Jan 1996 18:59:24 -0800 (PST) Received: from phaeton.artisoft.com (phaeton.Artisoft.COM [198.17.250.211]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id SAA12445 for ; Mon, 29 Jan 1996 18:59:16 -0800 (PST) Received: (from terry@localhost) by phaeton.artisoft.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id TAA05407; Mon, 29 Jan 1996 19:55:48 -0700 From: Terry Lambert Message-Id: <199601300255.TAA05407@phaeton.artisoft.com> Subject: Re: Multi-Port Async Cards To: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au (Michael Smith) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 19:55:48 -0700 (MST) Cc: terry@lambert.org, msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, hsu@clinet.fi, hm@altona.hamburg.com, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: <199601300251.NAA12777@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> from "Michael Smith" at Jan 30, 96 01:21:50 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > > 1) Do a hard reset, not a soft reset, on triple fault (this is the > > problem with not rebooting after shutdown on a machine with a > > buggered keyboard controller INT 19 interface). > > This doesn't help if your system dies from another fault (eg. locked > hardware). I submit that if you have this happen, you *want* a phone call. > > If you are running a large site, invest $35 in a watchdog reset board. > > Do it, do it NOW. There are BSD drivers for several of this type of > > board. > > If you have a source for the $35 variant, I'd love to see it. The only > reference I managed to track down was for a $400 product, which unsurprisingly > failed to enthuse me. Currently I install 8-port relay boards in a > nominated 'stable' system, and run lines from the motherboard reset pins > to the relays. Crude, but _very_ effective. (Until someone runs the > 'cylon' program I use to test the cards 8) One of the Europeans (Joerg? Soren?) built a card. > > This is really irrelevant. What is the use of not answering the phone > > vs. bogusly answering the phone and not talking? Long distance charges? > > USERS. Count yourself _fortunate_ that you don't have to deal with them. I've had to deal with them -- are you, indeed, claiming LD charges? > > Most US LD companies (not TelAmerica) start charging after 6 seconds, > > answered or not. Your customer is going to be pissed off by the fact > > that he did not get service, and won't really give a damn about the > > failure mode that caused him to not be serviced. > > Observed behaviour here is much to the contrary, I'm afraid to say. You're right. He'll ask you what happened, then he'll ask you to make it not happen again. So you'll fix the "answers phone but no one there" problem by substituting the "doesn't answer phone" problem. How do you fix the "doesn't answer phone" problem? If your hardware burns down, your customer is going to squawk, period. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.