>
>A watchdog timer is a pretty pathetic reliability measure, and is not
>without its own dangers.  Carefully used, it is a cheap way to increase the
>overall reliability of a system, but it also introduces another opportunity
>to design in a mistake that will take down the system.  Even when it works,
>it may silently mask a fault that should have been repaired before it got to
>the point that it stops the system altogether.  Do you tell anybody when
>your watchdog goes off?

True enough.
Where I'm using it, all I care is that the system not get into a "locked
up" state, requiring the user to power-cycle the device.  Data that gets
dropped on the floor won't hurt me, so it's used within it's means I think.

I do wonder how the "big guys" do it, since an out-of-control micro can
wreak absolute havoc in as little as one instruction, and no watchdog has
even a hope in hell of catching that.

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