4 ms·

Random crashes on a Netware server (1-3-ish times a week) = dishwasher in the kitchen, which was immediately behind the server. Fix: Move the server (which was

Random crashes on a Netware server (1-3-ish times a week) = dishwasher in the kitchen, which was immediately behind the server. Fix: Move the server (which was just on a table) to another corner of the computer room. Regular increase in coax Ethernet network error rate = moon tides affecting nearby river and increased ground water during heavy rain affecting ground voltage level on side of building next to the river. Poor or unable-to-connect modem link = nail through telephone cable on wall. Misbehaving fibre optic token ring topology; 'data getting corrupted in transit' = EMP being injected into one electrical/optical transceiver on one network card in a PC closest to 'The largest laser in Europe' (and its power supply). This was at a UK Government defence research lab in the 1990s. 200MB hard disk in PC - would spin down when the case screws were inserted. Never did find the root cause (pressure on 'something'). This was my work PC so I just left off the screws. Computer room overheats = Delivery of listing paper put on floor in front of self-contained circulating air cooling system in the corner of the computer room. Fix: Move the boxes.

linsomniac 4y ago
Back in the early '90s I worked at a PC builder. They got in a batch of drives that had their PCBs closer than usual to the screw holes and installed quite a few before they noticed. They tried to RMA the drives, but were refused. In the end the got a bunch of shorter screws for those drives. They were a fairly large local business, but they priced out big quotes for the University based on the price of parts dropping over 3 years, and then one year in the late 90s prices went up rather than down, and it suddenly put them out of business.
- linker3000 4y ago
  I can relate to the screws issue. We also did have a 'The cleaner unplugged the packet network termination unit to use the socket' episode.
linker3000 4y ago
Forgot one of the best ones: A large leisure centre/sports complex had 'ghost typing' occurring on several new Olivetti PCs. Root cause: Due to the size of the site, the staff had 5W walkie talkies to keep in touch. The new batch of Olivetti computers had cheapened keyboards, and instead of the electronics being encased in a metal clamshell, there was just a foil-backed piece of card folded over the PCB; this did not work as an effective rf screen and the walkie talkie signal strength was hitting the circuitry and causing random keypresses - including CTRL-P to keep dumping screen images to the dot matrix printers (this was DOS world late 1980s/early 1990s). Immediate fix: Replace new keyboards with earlier revisions. Longer-term fix: I seem to recall it was 'a few more capacitors' for rf decoupling.
wjdp 4y ago
Had random wifi dropouts in student flat = took far too long to work out we had a leaky microwave
bayouborne 4y ago
'80's. Super-tweaked Siemens b/w inkjet printers modded to print color. Siggraph in Vegas. Feverishly iterating through successive builds until the very last second, catching a red-eye out to opening day. Exploded booth printer displays were cool. Beautiful main pcb built around four 2712 eproms. Huge crowds in booth "Color!" Test print after print after print, smooth... Obsequious Canon operative, "May take picture?" "Sure!" Flash pops off - 2 of the 3 show printers immediately into Grand Mal seizures..Vomiting ink everywhere. Power cycling restores order. "May take picture again?" "Um.. ok" Same catatonic response. Sweating. Naked eprom windows. Photons. Masking tape saves day.
mattpallissard 4y ago
Random bit flips = squeaky raised floor tile in data center

linsomniac 4y ago

Back in the early '90s I worked at a PC builder. They got in a batch of drives that had their PCBs closer than usual to the screw holes and installed quite a few before they noticed. They tried to RMA the drives, but were refused. In the end the got a bunch of shorter screws for those drives. They were a fairly large local business, but they priced out big quotes for the University based on the price of parts dropping over 3 years, and then one year in the late 90s prices went up rather than down, and it suddenly put them out of business.

linker3000 4y ago
I can relate to the screws issue. We also did have a 'The cleaner unplugged the packet network termination unit to use the socket' episode.

linker3000 4y ago

Forgot one of the best ones: A large leisure centre/sports complex had 'ghost typing' occurring on several new Olivetti PCs. Root cause: Due to the size of the site, the staff had 5W walkie talkies to keep in touch. The new batch of Olivetti computers had cheapened keyboards, and instead of the electronics being encased in a metal clamshell, there was just a foil-backed piece of card folded over the PCB; this did not work as an effective rf screen and the walkie talkie signal strength was hitting the circuitry and causing random keypresses - including CTRL-P to keep dumping screen images to the dot matrix printers (this was DOS world late 1980s/early 1990s). Immediate fix: Replace new keyboards with earlier revisions. Longer-term fix: I seem to recall it was 'a few more capacitors' for rf decoupling.

wjdp 4y ago

Had random wifi dropouts in student flat = took far too long to work out we had a leaky microwave

bayouborne 4y ago

'80's. Super-tweaked Siemens b/w inkjet printers modded to print color. Siggraph in Vegas. Feverishly iterating through successive builds until the very last second, catching a red-eye out to opening day. Exploded booth printer displays were cool. Beautiful main pcb built around four 2712 eproms. Huge crowds in booth "Color!" Test print after print after print, smooth... Obsequious Canon operative, "May take picture?" "Sure!" Flash pops off - 2 of the 3 show printers immediately into Grand Mal seizures..Vomiting ink everywhere. Power cycling restores order. "May take picture again?" "Um.. ok" Same catatonic response. Sweating. Naked eprom windows. Photons. Masking tape saves day.

mattpallissard 4y ago

Random bit flips = squeaky raised floor tile in data center