[vdr] Re: Do we need an external watchdog?

[Karsten Müller <kmu@ratio.de>]

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On Thursday 15 August 2002 14:40, Carsten Koch wrote:
> I wonder why it would be useful to have an external
> watchdog, such as Karsten Müller has implemented it.

It is useful (at least for me) to prevent my machine from missing some
recording events ;)

> IIRC, vdr makes an alarm call in the main loop that
> resets the system's alarm timer every time vdr gets
> to that point.
>
> Is there any way this method can fail?
>

I can not tell why, but I've seen this sometimes (too often for me,
therefore I implemented the watchdog)

> Would we have to cover not only the vdr main loop
> but also all threads - in case the main loop is
> still working but a thread (for example a recording
> thread) hangs?
>
> I guess what I want to know are three things:
>
> 1) is the built-in function 100% bullet-proof?

Not for me.

>
> 2) If no, is Karsten's method 100% bullet-proof?

No. You won't find anything 100% bullet-proof.

>
> 3) If no, is it at least an improvement?

Yes. At least for me.

>
>
> Carsten.

I don't want to blame the VDR itself (I can't prove it ;-) )
it could be any of the AIO patches. I don't have the time to 
dive any deeper into this so the watchdog is more a workaround
than a solution. It just helps a bit :)



BTW: 
@Klaus: Does it make a difference from an internal view, if one
starts a recording with 

"GREEN", "RED", "OK", "MENU" ?

or 

"MENU", "RED" 

If I do "MENU", "RED" (quick recording) I can almost be sure that vdr just
does nothing until after almost exactly one minute either the built-in or
the external watchdog (depends which one's first) will restart the VDR.

If I do "GREEN", "RED", "OK", "MENU", restarts do happen *way* less often...



- -- 
with best regards
- ---
Karsten Mueller
Softwaredevelopment / Keyaccount Manager
RATIO Entwicklungen GmbH
Admiralitaetstr. 59
20459 Hamburg
Email: mailto:kmu@ratio.de

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