Re: Web Enabled Time/Temp/Humidity and I/O Controller

["Robert Green" <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"petem" <petem001@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:hd1bkn$5hk$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<stuff snipped>

> An ATX pc is never really off..
>
> In fact part of the MB is still under power..

Yes, so true, and so responsible for so many blown motherboards and add in
cards.  I used to participate in a PC user group helpline and I recall a lot
of calls from people who thought the machine was off when they hit the
switch, yanked the cover, popped in a card or fiddle with a drive and then
it woke up and burned up.

When I bought a 10K RPM WD Raptor drive and a dual head video card, the case
stayed terribly hot after shutdown, with the sensors showing that the chip
temps spiked once the main fans stopped.  Fortunately, the low voltage
that's always available on an ATX system allowed me to use 5VDC timed fans
to keep extracting hot air from the system after it was powered down.

I only ever *popped* a PCI video card that wasn't much good, but developed
the rule that when the cover's off, the cord is pulled out of the back.
Like Cpl. Dwayne Hicks said in "Aliens" about dropping a nuke from orbit,
"It's the only way to be sure!"  Before that, I had put some case screws on
the shelf that hung over the open PC, listened to some loud rock and roll
and the damn screw danced into the machine and killed a tape backup card

As for WOL and other methods of waking the motherboard up, some machines,
cards, OS's and BIOS's are definitely better than others.  The newer the
machine, I've found, the more likely it is to actual work.

Still waiting for my temp and humidity sensors to arrive before I start
playing around with my WebControl board.  Assembling as much info on CGI and
micro-web servers as I can while I wait.

--
Bobby G.