Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mmm.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!mmm!mrgofor From: mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) Newsgroups: net.rumor Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories Message-ID: <637@mmm.UUCP> Date: Wed, 19-Mar-86 12:41:30 EST Article-I.D.: mmm.637 Posted: Wed Mar 19 12:41:30 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 21-Mar-86 06:39:03 EST References: <14700001@hplabsb.UUCP> <476@mmm.UUCP> Reply-To: mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) Distribution: net Organization: none Lines: 43 A while back I was the tech support person for a minicomputer OEM. Our customers were located all over the SF Bay area, we were located in Sunnyvale. Since the customers were spread around, I usually tried to diagnose and fix problem over the phone. One day a Berkeley customer called me to complain that there were sparks and bad smells coming from the computer. I assured him that that was ridiculous - computers don't generate sparks. He said that it sure did - every time he tried to plug in his modem. I told him to try it again while I was on the phone, so I could try to diagnose the problem. He laid the phone's handset on the table rather than putting me on hold (it wouldn't reach over to the computer, but it was in the same room). Things were quiet for a few seconds, and then I could hear a loud yelp that made its way across the computer room and through the phone. He came back on the line and said the computer had bit him. Clearly, this was an on-site job - not something I could diagnose from his description - so I drove up to Berkeley. When I got there, I saw the flat ribbon cable that connected the modem to the terminal interface - the power wire was on the edge, and for the whole length of the cable the plastic insulation had melted off, leaving the bare wires. Hmmm, I thinks to myself, what could cause such a thing? I whipped out my handy-dandy volt-o-meter and tested the outlets to which the various pieces of equipment had been connected. All were 110 volts - looked good. It finally occurred to me to check the polarity of the sockets - and sure enough - they were wired wrong. It was a very old building, and whoever had done the latest wiring in the computer room was obviously no fan of consistency. The modem and the computer tried to share a common ground, but in reality there was a whopping potential difference between them, and when they were hooked up, sure enough, the computer generated sparks and bad smells - something computers are not generally supposed to do. -- --MKR "The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency." - Albert Einstein