avrispmkii vs.software controlled reset

I migrated my current Arduino project to a more powerful board featuring a 644. Since I work on the commandline I figured that I do not need the bootloader anymore since I can flash with the mkii just as well. This has the advantage that I can leave the serial monitor attached all the time.

However there is one thing that keeps bugging me. With the bootloader I was able to trigger a reset by software. Now I always have to take my fingers of the keyboard and reset the software by pushing a button on the board.

Not a big deal but I would prefer to be able to trigger this by software as well. Switching to the boot loader would not resolve this though because this would imply that I have to detach the serial monitor for the reset.

Now obviously the mkii can pull down the reset line, otherwise it could not flash the processor. Has anyone a hint how I can tell the mkii to pull down reset but NOT flash the processor?

Cheers, Udo

Argh, I am feeling somewhat stupid. Found the solution in a post by myself...

avrdude -t -p m328p -P usb -c avrispmkII </dev/null

triggers a reset. And as a bonus clearly indicates if the device is actually powered up.