[Tfug] OT - PC Autostart Hardware

[Zack Williams]

On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 3:27 PM, Jim Secan <jim at nwra.com> wrote:
> I know there's lots of hardware lurkers out there, so here's a HW question.
>  I use network power switches to allow me, or an automated process, cycle
> power to a PC.  These things are not cheap, and they are one more piece of
> equipment to keep track of and fiddle with (and get lost/stolen).  Are there
> internal PC power supplies that can be triggered to do a power cycle from a
> process running on that same PC?  I have a PC that also houses a GPS
> receiver, and when things hang my first hack-fix is to force a reboot, and
> I'd like to have a second level of response wherein I cycle power to the
> whole box.  Does such a power supply exist, and what about SW to drive it?

For the reset part, you could probably do this with an Arduino +
Ethernet Shield, wired to trigger a relay in parallel with the reset
button on the motherboard.  Total cost would probably be less than
$60, and you could do multiple machines as there are multiple output
pins on the Arduino.

http://www.arduino.cc/

The second part could be completed with a larger relay hooked into the
power circuitry.

Ideally, you'd want to purchase future systems with some sort of LOM
capability.

- Zack