Carlos: There are several other signals you can try listed on this page: http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/sect_12_01.html If none of those work, I don't think there is anything else you can do besides reboot. Neil -- Neil Aggarwal, (281)846-8957, www.JAMMConsulting.com Will your e-commerce site go offline if you have a DB server failure, fiber cut, flood, or other disaster? If so, ask me about our geographically redudant database system.