Watchdog error vs Power Scheme Selection

[Merle]

After a bit of online searching about power saving schemes I found my answer. From more tests of our Classmate/cRIO I found that I could get rid of the system watchdog errors when in "Portable/Laptop" and "Max Battery" power schemes while under battery power. All other schemes produced an average of 4 watchdog errors per minute. It didn't matter what the HD/monitor/system standby settings were (I tried many, including NEVER), it just mattered which power scheme name I selected.

Intel has included a power saving scheme in some of their CPUs called SpeedStep (including our Classmate's Atom processor). Based on which power scheme you select the CPU may get powered back to save battery power. In the two selections that elimated errors for me Microsoft overides the Intel scheme to control the CPU power.

My solution was to go into the BIOS and disable the SpeedStep and C-State options (under Advanced>>CPU Configuration). Since doing this I have run our system for over 2 hours in TeleOp mode with ZERO watchdog errors while trying all power schemes and with/without AC power.

Merle Yoder
The GRUNTS Team #3146