Rebooting 101- soft vs hard resets on DMP’s

There are several supporting resources available when it comes to powering on and off your control system. The various system specific procedures for a hard reboot of your Daktronics Control System are listed here: What are the proper rack startup and shutdown procedures?
Daktronics recommends powering up and testing all display equipment approximately four hours before an event to address any issues. On continuously running control computers, Daktronics recommends restarting the control system once a week.

Experts recommend restarting your computers if things are running slower than normal or the fans are making a loud noise. If your displays are not going to be in use, you may also want to shut your system down to save power.

However, there are some cases where a soft restart would be preferred over a reboot. A soft reset will restart appropriate applications without turning off the computer. This can be done after configuration changes or during the troubleshooting process.

The steps to perform a soft reset vary depending on the type of application. Here are some examples of soft resets that can be done.

• Show Control System – Here is a article that explains how to restart the SQL server.
• DMP-7000 – Here is an article that explains how to restart the V7 sign service.
• DMP-8000 – Simply click on the restart player button on the player’s control panel.

Some customers with continuously running displays have the capability to automate a restart on a weekly basis. If you are interested in more resources regarding reboot procedures, please check out Daktronics Customer Support.