Have to disagree with that - at least in any embedded device I've ever worked on (and I've worked on a great many), the hw watchdog was incapable of independent detection of anything. All it did was wait for a tickle from the firmware which, if absent for greater than x amount of time, would result in the hw timer reaching the endpoint and resetting or rebooting the board. This is certainly the way the wrap and alix boards work.
Not to say that there aren't some out there that work the way you suggest, but I don't think that's the norm. Tom S. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Ihnen" <os10ru...@gmail.com> To: "Tom Sharples" <tsharp...@qorvus.com>; "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 1:25 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? A hardware watchdog timer isn't something that's "supported". To me that sounds like a software feature. A true hardware watchdog is a separate circuit that oversees the system. If it detects a problem it toggle the power controller chip to reset the whole board. Greg On Dec 20, 2009, at 2:19 PM, Tom Sharples wrote: > That's good - but just because it's supported at the chipset level doesn't > necessarily mean the ubnt firmware or sdk supports it. In any case we > were > working with the original a/g nano's and bullets, not the M series. The M > is > way too new and bleeding edge for us. > > Tom S. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Michael Baird" <m...@tc3net.com> > To: "Tom Sharples" <tsharp...@qorvus.com>; "WISPA General List" > <wireless@wispa.org> > Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 11:02 AM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? > > >> Tom, >> >> Try again, Ubiquity AR71xx based stuff (all the M series) supports a >> hardware watchdog fine. >> >> from dmesg via OpenWRT. >> Atheros AR71xx hardware watchdog driver version 0.1.0 >> >> Regards >> Michael Baird >> >>> A hardware watchdog timer, typically, watches only one thing - is the >>> software and/or CPU still alive? If a software pinger fails to reset a >>> hardware counter or timer every few seconds or so, the timer reaches the >>> end >>> of its count and resets the motherboard. It is a failsafe if everything >>> else >>> goes wrong - something that happens more often than one would like when >>> you're using developmental drivers. Software watchdogs are a poor >>> substitute >>> for obvious reasons - if the software or CPU is completely hung, the >>> software watchdog won't work either! >>> >>> Tom S. >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Mark Stephenson" <m...@countryconnections.net> >>> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> >>> Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 4:12 AM >>> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? >>> >>> >>> >>>> Tom, >>>> >>>> Do you happen to know what a hardware watchdog timer watches? Perhaps >>>> there >>>> is something it can watch like whether or not the device is sending on >>>> the >>>> Ethernet port or the program counter. But, it seems that as embedded >>>> systems >>>> add more software, a useful hardware watchdog timer becomes less >>>> possible >>>> because there are more things that can go wrong and it is >>>> difficult/expensive to make the hardware capable of checking those >>>> things. >>>> >>>> Thanks, Mark >>>> >>>> >>>> On 12/20/09 2:01 AM, "Tom Sharples" <tsharp...@qorvus.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>> A software watchdog timer is not the same thing as a hardware watchdog >>>>> timer. >>>>> And SNMP has nothing to do with either. >>>>> >>>>> Tom S. >>>>> >>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>> From: jai...@budget.net >>>>> To: Tom Sharples ; WISPA General List >>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 9:03 PM >>>>> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Please don't take me wrong on this but your statement (b) bothers me. >>>>> You >>>>> are either running a very old version of Air OS or you have no clue >>>>> what >>>>> your >>>>> talking about. UBNT has support for SNMP which I use to monitor not >>>>> only >>>>> uptime but signal strength and a few other key items check out ZenOss >>>>> if >>>>> you >>>>> need to watch these devices or any other network device for that >>>>> matter. >>>>> AirOS >>>>> also has a "Watchdog timer" in the software that will automatically >>>>> reboot a >>>>> device that fails a ping time you set. I have never had to power cycle >>>>> a >>>>> UBNT >>>>> device. In fact I had to reboot a Mikrotik router because it had a >>>>> locked >>>>> process in the packet sniffer application that drove the CPU to 100% >>>>> so >>>>> the >>>>> UBNT gear has a higher uptime than the core router. >>>>> >>>>> Jaimie >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sat 12/19/09 12:24 PM , "Tom Sharples" tsharp...@qorvus.com sent: >>>>> >>>>> My biggest concern with these units is (a) lack of mechanical >>>>> robustness - >>>>> little plastic bits leak or break off quite easily and (b) lack of >>>>> a >>>>> hardware watchdog timer which personally I think is essential esp. >>>>> when >>>>> you're using "development stage" firmware. We did most of the work >>>>> to >>>>> port >>>>> our Qcode to run on the ubnt platform, but have decided to shelf >>>>> that >>>>> project for another year, waiting for things to really settle down. >>>>> In the >>>>> CCTV business, there's no-one around to power-cycle the equipment >>>>> and >>>>> unrecoverable device hangs are really a disaster. I realize that >>>>> the >>>>> ISP >>>>> business is a little different because the customer can always >>>>> reboot >>>>> the >>>>> CPE! >>>>> >>>>> Tom S. >>>>> >>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>> From: "Robert West" <robert.w...@just-micro.com> >>>>> To: <jai...@budget.net>; "'WISPA General List'" >>>>> <wireless@wispa.org> >>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:55 AM >>>>> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> I'm with ya on all that, Jamie. We've had minor issues but I expected >>>>>> things to not be perfect, they never are with version 1.0! The trade >>>>>> off >>>>>> is >>>>>> worth it, for me anyhow. >>>>>> >>>>>> Bob- >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On >>>>>> Behalf Of jai...@budget.net >>>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 10:26 AM >>>>>> To: WISPA General List >>>>>> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Ubiquiti ready for prime time? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> We use all UBNT and I have been very happy with the equipment. >>>>>> Tower has 2 Rocket M5s With 120 sectors, backhaul is Rocket M5s with >>>>>> the Rocket Dish. CPEs are Nano M5. Durring testing at 4 Miles with >>>>>> CPE to AP I was able to sustain symmetrical speeds of 75M to our >>>>>> test server on the other end of the backhaul. I was really amazed at >>>>>> how well they preformed for the price. I have read all the horror >>>>>> stories in the UBNT forums but have yet to have one problem. Probably >>>>>> just cursed myself and should of kept my mouth shut. But so far so >>>>>> good. >>>>>> On Sat 12/19/09 6:35 AM , Mike m...@aweiowa.com sent: >>>>>> I was almost ready to pull the trigger on some Ubiquiti equipment >>>>>> for >>>>>> a new project. The scent of low price is alluring. Then I start >>>>>> reading about connectors pulling out, connectors not soldered on >>>>>> properly, and the wrong boot code on boards. >>>>>> Is it too early? Should I wait a bit before I dive in? Has the >>>>>> haste to get product into the distribution stream compromised >>>>>> quality >>>>>> control? Is the low price just too good to be true? I'd be >>>>>> interested in some constructive thoughts and analysis. >>>>>> Thanks mg >>>>>> >>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>>> ---- >>>>>> WISPA Wants You! 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