[ale] Running a hands off remote Linux installation

[Jim Lynch]

On 07/31/2012 11:42 AM, John Pilman wrote:
> I set up a pc at my mom's house with some security cameras attached, 
> and I had trouble with the power going off occasionally.  In the BIOS 
> there was a setting to tell the computer to boot whenever the external 
> power came on, but it was poorly named; something like 'Power Off 
> Options.'   There were three options, boot, don't boot, and boot if it 
> was running when external power went off.  It works, mostly, but it 
> does not have an orderly shutdown when the power goes off.  I think 
> that would improve things.
> ...John
Yes it has that option, however I've found that some power outages, 
namely ones that bounce the power a few times and/or brown out cause the 
computer to hang at boot, hence the need for a UPS.  Also I really don't 
like for a system to power off if I can help it.

Since I have a bunch of Arduino type boards and a pretty big solid state 
relay laying around, I'm tempted to build something that monitors the 
mains and waits for a sustained period of power up time and then power 
cycles the UPS.  I might toss a NiMh backup into the mix so it keeps 
running when the power is off for a while anyway.  I think I can put the 
cpu into a micro power sleep mode but I think the regulator will kill 
the NiMh eventually.  Maybe I can use a LDO regulator with low power 
sleep mode also.

Something to think about.  Who knows, it might make a good magazine 
article and I'll get rich!

Jim.