slackbuilds_ponce/system/watchdog

Linux watchdog timer daemon

This service periodically writes to /dev/watchdog - in the event
of it _not_ being able to do so, Linux may reset the system.

For this to work a kernel driver for the aformentioned device needs
to be loaded.  The module may be found in:
  /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/char/watchdog

It can be configured to try and fix things (such as networking)
before triggering a reboot.  See the examples included in:
  /usr/doc/watchdog-$VERSION/examples

This package also contains the 'wd_keepalive' program by Marcel Jansen
which "can be run during critical periods when the normal watcdog
shouldn't be run. It will read from the same configuration file;
it will do no checks but will keep writing to the device.

The watchdog was written and is maintained by Michael Meskes
(it is based on example code by Alan Cox).

To enable the watchdog: make sure a kernel module gets loaded for it
(at boot) such as the 'softdog' or an actual hardware driver... 
Then add the following to rc.local:

  # Start the watchdog timer deamon
  if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.watchdog ]; then
    /etc/rc.d/rc.watchdog start
  fi