Disable power button

[Fritz Whittington]

On or about 2003-12-28 08:29, fred smith whipped out a trusty #2 pencil 
and scribbled:

>On Sun, Dec 28, 2003 at 09:46:45AM -0400, Robert Marcano wrote:
>  
>
>>On Wed, 2003-12-24 at 14:04, Arturo Fermin Jimenez wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Is there any way to disable the power and reset button  on  a  FC1 Box?
>>>It is the only safety measure I am missing in my setup.
>>>
>>>Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad everyone!!! :-D
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>If you are using an ACPI enabled motherboard/kernel read
>>/etc/acpi/events/sample.conf, it calls shutdown when a power button is
>>pressed
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Arturo
>>> 
>>>      
>>>
>
>Also, some BIOSes have settings to control what the soft-power button
>does, possibly some may allow you to disable it entirely.
>
>  
>
The power button is simply a momentary contact closure switch, connected 
to the motherboard with two wires.  Replace the push-button with a 
key-operated switch.  Keep the key.  The reset button is of the same 
sort, but since it's not essential you could just disconnect it. 

You could just disconnect the wires at the motherboard, usually it's 
just a push-on stake-pin type of connector.  However, you would then 
have to arrange something for powering-up after a power failure; either 
by having a BIOS setting that turns on when power is restored, or by 
opening the case to temporarily re-connect the button. 

Remember that none of this prevents power-down by someone removing the 
power cord, either from the back of the machine or from the wall 
outlet.  If you want that type of security, you're going to have to use 
armored conduit to wire the box directly to the power mains.   Keep in 
mind that there may be local safety laws regarding how difficult it is 
to remove power from a piece of equipment in an emergency.

You haven't really told us exactly what problem you're trying to solve 
here.  If it's just to prevent an accidental push of the button, since 
mostly they're recessed into the front panel, you could simply tape a 
hard plastic card over the button, and a notice to use only in emergency. 

-- 
Fritz Whittington
I believe that if it were left to artists to choose their own labels, most would choose none. (Ben Shahn)

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