According to Ron Burnett:
>
> Our HP3000 Series 957 froze up around 6 p.m. yesterday (Sunday
> evening down-under).  Since it wouldn't respond to a ping from
> another node on the network, I raced in to find the computer room
> air conditioning unit loudly complaining and registering 90 degrees
> Celsius (yes, that's really what it said!), and 90% relative
> humidity.
>
> I couldn't believe those figures, but am here to tell you that
> every metal surface in the place was **hot**.  Not quite hot
> enough to fry an egg, but getting there.  My own super-sensitive
> body tells me it was probably only about 45C and humidity well
> under 50%.
>
> The console had a stripe of reverse-video OVERTEMPs on it.
>
> I switched on the auxiliary a/c unit (not used for three or more
> years) and grabbed a large oscillating fan from another office
> and got the temperature down a few degrees within about 20 minutes
> or so, and the 957 picked up where it had left off with no damage,
> other than the loss of DST offset on the system clock.
>
> Now for the question--can anyone think of a way to interrogate
> MPE/iX's sense of temperature?  If it can shut down the OS, then
> surely there is some way to ask it how cool (or hot, depending
> on your age) it is.  I've looked at SYSDIAG and can't find
> anything.  PRED didn't report the overtemp shutdown during its
> nightly run at about 3:15 a.m.--why not?  A scan of the system
> log file open at the time shows nothing related to the overtemp
> condition.
>
> And why did I loose my one-hour DST offset?  I haven't bothered
> to set a TZ--does that have anything to do with it?  Despite
> travelling around the world 14 times in three different directions,
> I'm still pretty fuzzy about computing time differences (I know,
> says Mother, got out of bed in Missouri at 4 a.m.).
>
> So ... how can I get my system to tell me what its operating
> temperature is?  (I have a rectal thermometre, if that's of any
> use.)
>
> Ron Burnett
> Royal Children's Hospital
> [log in to unmask]
>

Ron,
For about 5 years we have been using a monitoring device called
Sensaphone from Phonetics, Inc. of Aston, PA, phone
(215)558-2700.  We have it configured to monitor the computer
room temperature and power.  If the temp rises above 805 degrees
F. or the power is lost for more than 10 minutes, a calling
sequence is initiated.  It uses a POTS (Plain Old Telephone
Service) line to call a list of up to 5 numbers.  It also has a
number of output signal capabilities that can be tied to the
inputs being monitored.

Be also have a thermostatically controlled electrical trip
switch installed that will drop the electrical power in the
computer room if the temp rises above 95 degrees F.  The
purpose is to avoid any thermal damage to equipment when staff
can't respond quickly to a call from the Sensaphone device.
This device can be installed by most any electrical contractor.

The cost (5 years ago) for both devices plus installation was
around $500 - $600.

I'm sure there are many other such devices on the market.  Some
probably much more sophisticated.

I hope this helps.
Steve B.


--

===============================================================
Steven P. Barrett                 (703) 222-3132 - voice
Automation Coordinator            (703) 222-3135 - FAX
Fairfax County Public Library     [log in to unmask]
Technical Operations Center
4000 Stringfellow Rd.
Chantilly, VA  22021

--- The opinions expressed here are mine alone . ---
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