Postgres Disconnection problems

Hi,

We are using PostgresDAC 2.2.1 and PostgreSQL 8.0.2 on
i386-redhat-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC i386-redhat-linux-gcc (GCC) 4.0.0
20050412 (Red Hat 4.0.0-0.42).

I perform a simple test as follows.

1. I connect to the database, which is located on a LAN.

2. I simulate Internet problems by unplugging the Ethernet cable of the
client. There is no PSQL activity going on.

3. Plug the ethernet cable back in

4. Run some sql, which gives me a Postgres SQL error -1, Server closed
connection unexpectedly

So far so good. Problem is that the postmaster does not detect this
connection as dead and keeps it idle for an unknown amount of time. This is
a real problem for us because we use persistent connections to authorize
access to a custom built 68030 based system, which has a limited number of
"slots" that we can use. By not releasing a dead connection we are also
holding that 68030 slot busy.

We could develop some kind of watchdog timer in the Daemon that handles the
authorization but I was wondering if Postgres already have something similar
built in.

Any ideas ?

Thanks

/Otto Blomqvist