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Projects General Guidance
1

Hello all, new to the forum and to Arduino. Not sure if this is the right place, if not I apologize. I am looking to build a setup that monitors a computer, or multiple computers and if the keep alive does not respond, send a signal over a wire that is plugged directly into the reset pins of a computer. Would really appreciate any insight or guidance on where to start for what is the best board and what is the best software to program something like this. I am continuously reading and will continue to research.

Thanks!

2

Hi,
Arduino (UNO or any) can do this..

The challenge is getting some "I Am Alive" pulse / signal OUT of the computers. Parallel port USED to be good for this; gone on modern computers. You could use Serial port if available or a USB-To-Serial adapter.

Look at "Optical Isolators" for both directions so you don't need to worry about ground loops and interference.

3

terryking228:
Hi,
Arduino (UNO or any) can do this..

The challenge is getting some "I Am Alive" pulse / signal OUT of the computers. Parallel port USED to be good for this; gone on modern computers. You could use Serial port if available or a USB-To-Serial adapter.

Look at "Optical Isolators" for both directions so you don't need to worry about ground loops and interference.

What about something like an UNO with a nic, like this http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Ethernet-to-any-Arduino-project-for-less-than-/ and program a ping to each device. If the device does not receive a certain amount of pings, it will send a signal to the reset switch of the device. With the UNO how many 2 connector sets could I use from it?

4

How do you want to discover a blue screen situation?

5

program a ping to each device. If the device does not receive a certain amount of pings, it will send a signal to the reset switch of the device.

Interesting idea. BUT could an ethernet interface reply to a ping request (once set up) even if the computer is hung?? Hmmm...

Some Ethernet How-To HERE

6

arduinoaleman:
How do you want to discover a blue screen situation?

That could come from another monitor that looks at a constant log file, if it stops writing it suspects a blue screen or software stopped running and resets