Controlling a relay via cellular phone.....

Hello,

Since a few weeks I am running a webcamserver . It is stationed 40 Kilometers away. I control it via an UltraVNC connection. However, about 2 times a week I need to hard-reset the computer manually. I am looking for some kind of construction to reset the computer via a GSM cellular phone. The only thing I need is a relay that I can switch by making a call to the GSM phone. So, I need only 1 channel. This relay could switch the reset-button.

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks in advance.

Marcel

Reply to
EsDee
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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.

--
Remove YourClothes before you email me.
Reply to
ytyourclothes

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.

Reply to
Mark Fortune

Another solution might be to just set up a windows timed event to reboot your remote machine on a daily basis at some obscure time of day or in the very early morning. If it is restarting ever day and you are getting by with only having to reset every 3 or 4 days, then the software solution would circumvent any need for a hardware fix.

Reply to
BadHabit

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