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Date: Sat, 17 Jun 1995 19:19:29 -0400
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From: dennis@et.htp.com (dennis)
Subject: Hardware Reboots
Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org
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>Apparently, many have misunderstood my request.  I apologize if I
>wasn't clear.  I'll try again.
>
>I can't use reboot(8) or shutdown(8) as these only do a "warm boot"
>(i.e. equivalent to ctrl-alt-del in DOS).  I need the hardware reset
>associated with a "cold boot" (i.e. equiv. to power cycle or reset
>button).  I need to be able to do this remotely without physical
>assistance at the box.
>
>I know there is software to do this in DOS, so I'm hoping that there
>is a way under BSD/OS.  Any ideas?
>

There is no soft way to do a hard boot. 

Perhaps I could get some feedback on what interest might be for the
following product:

One of our sync cards has a "watchdog timer", which can be set to "hard
reboot" the PC if no interrupt is received for X seconds. (there is a jumper
on the board which connects to the reset pins on your MB). If you run a
simple utility you can set the timeout to ~0 and hard reboot the machine on
demand.

Now you probably don't want to buy a sync card for $500. to get this. But if
a stripped down card (for say $150) was available would there be interest?
It would be very easy to do.

Dennis
Emerging Technologies, Inc.