On Fri, Jun 03, 2005 at 09:56:17AM -0600, TJ Hunter wrote: > a cron job running a simple shell script using a command line > program called bottle rocket[1] and an x10 firecracker kit[2] would > be perfect for what you need. > > [1] http://mlug.missouri.edu/~tymm/ > [2] http://www.x10.com/automation/ck18a_s_ps32.html
Hmmmm. I shoulda looked into that. I put my 1337 EE sk1llz into action
w/ my DSL modem when it started requiring power cycles every so
often. I built a simple circuit with the necessary resistance into the
base of a transistor which controlled the current from the modem's
power supply, which I split between the modem and the coils of a relay
that controls the power to the modem. I bought a parallel cable and
stripped one of the wires, connecting it to the base. I installed the
parapin library and wrote a script executed as a cron job to check for
connectivity. When the connection goes down, it attempts a PPP reset,
and if that fails, it de-asserts the pin to the base of the
transistor, switching the relay to cut the power to the modem, waits a
few seconds, re-asserts the pin to switch the relay and turn the modem
back on, and then the script brings the PPP connection back up. It's
been like this for several months, and it works like a charm. Of
course, the correct solution is probably to just buy a new modem, but
why bother when I have something that just works? :-)
The parts for this solution should cost you less than $15, unless you
fry your parallel port controller.
Mike
.___________________________________________________________________.
Michael A. Halcrow
Security Software Engineer, IBM Linux Technology Center
GnuPG Fingerprint: 419C 5B1E 948A FA73 A54C 20F5 DB40 8531 6DCA 8769
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
- Henry David Thoreau
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