Subject:

How should I use the electrical receptacle on the back of the Data-Link?

Products Affected:  GEMLink, GEM3 & GEMII

This special receptacle provides an important 'watchdog' feature in ALL of Q-COM's DOS & Windows-based control programs.

Here's why:

Auto-Recovery
GEMLink operates in a very sophisticated 32-bit Windows environment, which should never be shutdown by simply turning the power off to the computer.  (Note: sometimes, in the case of a system lock-up, shutting off the power is the only recourse.  However, this should always be used as a last resort)  Windows needs to be shutdown properly so it has a chance to write important information to the hard drive.  Therefore, Windows should always be shutdown using the shutdown selection on your Windows taskbar.  For more information on proper Windows shutdowns click here.

In GEMLink the 'watchdog' feature has been taken over by a special program, which is called 'Watchdog' appropriately enough, and is built into GEMLink.  If GEMLink should cease to function for any reason, this program will restart GEMLink automatically and resume greenhouse control with no further intervention required.

However, as was mentioned earlier, Windows itself can sometimes "lock-up" in such a way that the only recourse is to TURN OFF THE POWER and reboot.  While this is not the most desirable, it is absolutely essential to the failsafe operation of GEMLink (or any previous version of Q-COM's GEM control programs). 

Therefore, make certain that your host computer is plugged into the receptacle on the back of the Data-Link or QLink Alarm - Rebooter Unit to recover automatically from an operating system failure.

If you wish to use a UPS with your GEM* system, which is highly recommended, you should plug the Data-Link or Rebooter power cord into the UPS, then plug the CPU into the Data-Link or Rebooter receptacle.  The monitor and any other peripherals should plug directly into the UPS.

In addition to the above requirements, make certain that the host computer is set to turn on whenever power is restored to the power plug, or the auto-reboot will not do any good.  Moreover, make certain that there is no LOGON screen to stop the reboot process.