UPS Power problems Tech Support |
- UPS Power problems
- "We need to train our users"
- Did I miss something???
- Speed point is not working - Critical call!
- Are You Kidding Me?!
- Arc City || Rain Stick
- Appending P
- 3 trips to find dumb issue
- Of course there's no signal to the monitor. It isn't plugged in.
| Posted: 15 Feb 2019 01:37 AM PST I work in a hospital. A reliable power source is, of course, extremely important, specially so for Theater and ICU. These wards have their own UPS and back-up power separately from the rest of the Hospital. Well yesterday I received a frantic call from the Pharmacy manager complaining about intermittent network connectivity. Just as I placed the phone back it rang again, it was the Reception Manager. They are also experiencing intermittent network connectivity. As any proper IT Tech would do, I went down I had a look at the network cabinet for these two areas, they shared one and both was on the same floor. What I found was that the cabinet is experiencing power dips, causing it to go down and then the switches have to boot up again which takes a few minutes. I saw the cabinet was plugged into the blue power plugs and then I knew. I was quite relieved as I knew the ball was in Technical/Maintenance court now. They had to come and see why the power is dipping. Anyhoo I went to report the issue just to find Technical running around like headless chickens. The UPS and backup power in theater is faulty, causing the UPS not to charge and then results in power dips. I then realized that the cabinet that feeds Reception and Pharmacy is somehow on the same power line as the UPS from Theater. Pharmacy Manager asked for a update on the issue and I told her my theory of what the problem is, "I think it is UPS in theater that is causing the issue. Whenever they go down this cabinet goes down too." She was happy and we went home, Technical was one it, they were working on a fix. Next day(today) as I walk into Admin, the Hospital Manager calls me. I can hear from his voice he is angry and irritated. "Yes Sir?" "Why did you tell the Pharmacy Manager that the problem is with the Theater UPS, who told you that?!" "I'm sorry Sir, that was just a logic assumption I made looking at the facts. Whenever Theater goes down ....." ...get cut off! "NO! YOU DO NOT KNOW THIS. WHO GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO TELL HER THIS?! YOU ARE NOT AN ELECTRICIAN! YOU WILL GO TO HER AND APOLOGIES FOR LYING THE HER!!!" I was dumbstruck and did not say a word back. I went downstairs and apologized to the Pharmacy Manager for the false info I provided her. About 30 mins back the Technical Manager as well as Regional Tech Manager(it became a real problem!) came to my office to give me an update on the power etc. "Yea we found the problem with the power to the cabinet. It is the UPS in theater. This cabinet is connected to it for some reason and that is why the power is dipping!They UPS guys are sending a team in the next hour or so." "Oh ok, did you tell this to the Hospital Manager?" "Yes, we did." I'm still waiting for him to apologize... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:05 PM PST First time post. Happened yesterday/today and I'm a little worked up about it. I work IT for a large company that has many locations across the company. We get calls from tons of different locations every day while also working tickets in our "downtime." My supervisor has me out of the call queue working on a company-wide domain migration. To do one store I can usually migrate 9-10 computers a day, depending on how cooperative the store is. Lately our locations have been having issues with the domain transfers, leading my supervisor to ask me to work on making sure users know how to handle the changes. I call the store and inform them of what the migration means, i.e. having their own login to a computer that syncs with their email password. Basically that's it. Their files stay where they always had them, it doesn't affect their programs. Just the login. Easy right? So after telling me they understand what it means and making sure the users have their email passwords right, I start migrating the PC's. I tell the person helping me it USUALLY takes about an hour and a half per pc, maybe two hours, but it could easily take longer if I run into issues. They happily say ok and let me remote into their machine. About two hours in, I'm in four different computers monitoring progress and making sure the transfers go through. Several hours later, the four PC's are done and I'm ready to move onto more. I've already checked the user's logins with the provided passwords and make sure all their files are in the correct locations and their programs work. I call them back and ask them to go through the login process (I'm still remoted in so I can see what they're doing). I successfully walk them through and then they start trying to use their normal, day to day programs. Another success. They see all their files are there and tell me they'll call back if they have any more issues but they want to do the rest of the computers the next day. No biggie, I have tickets to work so that's fine. Today, before I even start my shift, they've called three times in an hour saying they can't log in. They also submit two tickets, one saying "Need to know what to do when it is saying CONTROL ALT DELETE to log on nobody knows there password. HELP HELP" and the other in all caps saying they haven't been able to log in "all day" (it's 9am at this point and they open at 7am, so... two hours?). My coworker asks them to input their email password and see if it works. It does. They then claim one of their programs isn't working. He checks, it works. Surprise. So he asks how they're logging in. They start using their email login for a program they've used for years after doing it successfully the day before and being told that program didn't change. He asks if anyone showed them how to login and their first response is "No!" I tell my supervisor after hearing this and he basically tells me to deal with it. I'm already a little frustrated with the company right now but this just made it worse. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 05:31 PM PST Been an IT Consultant for about 9 years and recently had this experience. In an email chain, I had to assist someone in setting up their email account on their phone. It got to the point where I asked for their password to test on my own mobile device to confirm it was actually working. That portion of the email went a little like this: Me: Hi, I'll be sending you an encrypted email following this one right now so that you can create an account and login to an encrypted portal. There you will respond with your email password so we can test over here on a mobile device. User: Hi, I received the link to the portal. What is the best way to proceed? Should I login on the computer? I'm not sure of the purpose of this portal. Me: Yes, login to the portal on the computer. The portal is so that you can reply to my email there and include your email password. This is for security purposes. User responds to my plain email, not in portal: Hi, here is my password to the encrypted portal. Here is my email password. What I would like to know is what was missed in this whole conversation? In the end, the email was eventually properly configured on the phone, but this whole piece in the middle just makes me scratch my head. [link] [comments]  |
| Speed point is not working - Critical call! Posted: 15 Feb 2019 02:19 AM PST The previous company I worked for specialized in POS systems. They support loads of different clients, from Retailers, Fuel stations, Pharmacies, Hardware stores and so on. This one a got allocated a call from a fuel station about 400 km's from our site. The call stated that the speed point is faulty and customers cannot use their cards to pay. I called the station and went through the basic steps like, what is the error code, is there connectivity, is there power etc etc but none of these could get the point to work again so the only thing left was to drive there. I packed the replacement device and off I went on my 4 hour drive to the site. When I arrived, I first went in the introduce myself and get the paperwork signed so that I can start working. I also had to put on ALL my protective clothing as this fuel company(starts with an E) requires when any work are being done on any of their sites. I went inside the shop and asked where the faulty speed point is. I started my troubleshooting, cable check, wall box check, power check, paper.....mmmm strange! "I'm sorry, do you maybe have a paper roll for me?" "Yes sure, here is a ENTIRE box full of it!" I got a roll and put it onto the printer and out came spewing all of the slips for the past two days. The cashier was just standing there, dumbstruck. "What, what did you do, that was so fast, WOW well done! "I just replaced the paper roll...." "Oh ok, where do I sign?" And that is my story how I drove 4 hours to replace paper on a speed point! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:37 AM PST I haven't posted here in awhile. All the "craziness" just became part of the job. I have something new to share with you all. We recently just moved to a new centre and the IT Supervisor was exhausted from working a lot of overtime and needed someone to help set up applications on the new machines. I volunteered. He showed me what to do and how to do it. It was very simple. He told me that if the user was not at their machine when I get to it, to shut it off, do what I needed to do and if they have any complaints, for me to redirect them to him. They needed to be rebooted after I did the update anyway. Now, the department that I was doing this for at the time, had all applications except the most important one. I'll call it Important Application or IA. I came up to this Lovely User who I will call LU that I knew was going to be a problem. Here's how that went: Me: Hey. I'm here to fix IA. I'm going to need to log you out and push an update. LU: Are you kidding me?! You mean, you have to log me out and I have to open up everything again?! Me: Yes. I've done it for all other PCs. I have yours and a few others left to do. LU: Well, I don't want to open up everything again! Me: Look, if I don't do this, this PC won't work. LU: This is ridiculous. What's your ID? Me: Look. If you have complaints, go see IT. I'm helping him out. I was told to just shut down PCs and do it. I'm being more than nice enough to let you log out. LU: mutters grumbles Fine. Logs out Me: Thank you. I understand how it would be annoying to have to open all applications again, but seriously. In the time that was spent arguing, it could've been done very quickly. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:39 PM PST FTP! I do desktop support for two offices and thought I'd share. Formatting suggestions welcome. Working on tickets from my desk, a user visits my cube with a laptop in her hands and a very alarmed look on her face. As I turn around, I hear an unusual series of clicks emanating from the laptop in her hands.
She demonstrates, holding the device aloft with both hands so the lid is facing up, she gradually tilts it along the y axis 180 degrees so the sides are facing up/down, and the moment she began tilting it, I hear a fierce series of crackles and pops emerging from the device, a flurry of cascading muffled pings and pops continue and grow worse the more she tilts it. It only took her 2 seconds to turn it, but I see the laptop in slow motion and notice tiny particles flying out of the vents and my mind superimposes the image of racing arcs of electrical discharge onto the device, trying to justify the ridiculous sound it was making. It sounded like the whole thing was somehow shorting out everywhere. O.O
I've installed some concern in the user, as she now backs 2 steps away from the laptop... Then two steps further. I grab a yard stick from the corner of my cube, and use it to depress the power button from a safe distance until we have a hard shutdown.
I gingerly take the device, loosening 8 screws, wondering if I should just take it outside or bury it in sand in case it's the battery catching fire but... How was the laptop still on and working fine that whole time... There's no detectable smell, no signs of smoke... Something's not quite ri-- And as I remove the service cover, I'm greeted with our answer: Desiccant. The laptop is full of dozens of little orange anti-moisture desiccant beads. I struggle to find a place where they aren't present. The CPU fan is choked with them, they're under the keyboard, snuggling the battery just... Everywhere. Most are intact and pretty spherical, but some have been pulverized and ejected from the exhaust vent. When you turn the laptop, they all rush from one side to another, vaguely sounding like rain (or doom). Fear of electric shock or a self oxidizing fire quickly subsides into laughter and tremendous relief as I realize what this laptop really was. It was a rain stick! Convinced it was safe and filled with laughter, I bring it to our sysadmin and ITSM in turn:
We share a giggle about our temporary Dell rain-stick for several minutes before we move on. How did this happen? Really simple, a relatively large bag of desiccant that came with her personal leather bag tore open and the entire contents poured into the laptop via the exhaust vents. A thorough disassembly cleaning, and decommissioning of the rain-stick followed, as, sadly, this was a relatively new and powerful laptop and the owner could generate more revenue as an analyst than as a musician. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:51 PM PST I work in a small/medium manufacturing firm mainly doing Systems Administration/general IT Support. We have an...interesting user base that ensures that there is never a dull day. Here is one short story that occurred earlier today. The actors are $AS - a Technical Support Officer and myself. I received an email from $AS just after heading out to get some lunch, it was a request for us to reset his password for one of our offline systems. $AS probably uses this system once every couple of months, as a result...we reset it every couple of months for him, always setting it so it needs to re changed on first login. So once I get back to lunch I head down and reset his password, writing down his username and password on a post-it note for him. I went to his desk to hand it over, but he wasn't there. On my way back to the desk I see him, he was looking for me. I hand over the note and head back upstairs. I have a chat with my boss, who informed me that $AS was looking for me. Should be all good now, right? $AS will login, reset his password and perform the one task that he needed to on the offline network and get on with his day...Nope. I get a call about 5 minutes later, $AS can't login, he has now locked himself out, can I come down and help him. I dutifully stop what I am working on, lock my computer and head down to render what assistance I could. Once I get down there, $AS tries to login again, using the password as written down, however by now his account is locked out. So I log in, and unlock the account for him. He tries again, it still doesn't work. I ask him if he is typing it in right, he says that he is, the password is p:Password as stated on the post-it. I resist the urge to crumple myself up into a ball and disappear from existance and inform him to try with the p: part. The password works, however yet another red cross error message comes up. $AS practically throws up his hands without reading it. It is the standard AD Please enter a new password message, god only know why they chose a red x instead of the standard information exclamation mark. I have $AS actually read the message and then reset his password. I wonder how long until I will need to head back down again. Please send help. There will likely be some more stories, if I haven't repressed those memories too deeply. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:46 PM PST I made 3 trips to a site in order to figure out why an IP phone was occasionally dropping calls. This companies helpdesk takes care of all configurations and they replaced the phone 3 times so they believed the issue had to be the drop. After testing the drop on the 1st trip (which passed) and then using a different drop on the 2nd trip I believed the helpdesk was wrong but I showed up for my 3rd to just run a completely new drop and 100% confirm the issue was on their end. Spoilers: I was wrong. The way these drops appeared to be ran was through their basement and then they just came up through holes in the floor where they were punched down at biscuit jacks. It turned out the drops actually came out of the wall instead of the floor. The reason I didn't realize this is because instead of the drops being punched to a faceplate at the wall they actually had several feet of slack and then were punched to a biscuit jack. Normally this wouldn't be an issue. It would be ugly and the wrong way to do things but it would still work. The reason this became an issue is because they just had new cubicles installed and the installers placed the cubicles on top of the drops so they were being pinched fairly badly. In order to fix this problem the correct way we would have needed to installers to come back and deinstall the entire row of cubicles but since only 1 person was experiencing issues they didn't want to do this. So with permission I just drilled a whole in the floor and poked my new drop through. As far as I know issue is resolved. [link] [comments]  |
| Of course there's no signal to the monitor. It isn't plugged in. Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:27 AM PST So this post reminded me of the following story. A few years ago i jumped on the "Xeon gaming" bandwagon, and picked up a cheap 2 socket workstation on ebay. I got all the components used and pretty cheap on ebay, from the SSD to the graphics, and i thought i put together a decent machine. I wanted to keep it pretty stock, and stick to OEM parts when possible. With the case i bought being the base model, i needed to get a new heatsink. I thought to myself "it's only a heatsink" and that i'd find spares on eBay for maybe £20. However, it ended up costing a few pounds less than the pair of Xeons cost. That was the first blunder. The second issue came up when i realized the motherboard was the wrong revision, and didn't support the pair of Xeons that i had bought. Again, i went straight to eBay, and stumped up for the more recent revision motherboard. That's another chunk of change i wasn't expecting to fork out. So finally the day comes where i can start putting it together. I swap out the motherboards, then tackle all the rest of it. It was pretty much a complete PC disassembly and rebuild. What resulted was a beast of a machine. Out of the factory, this machine would have been near the top end, and it looked like it too. It was surely going to play all those AAA games that i couldn't play on my laptop. And then i turn it on. The power light is on, but no display signal. Shit. Given this thing had cost me a chunk more than i was expecting, the thought went through my mind that i might have killed it during it's construction, or that maybe the GPU was DOA. I went into full panic mode. I checked all the connections to the PC. Checked the graphics card was installed properly and powered. i couldn't find anything. I swapped out the new GPU with the one that came with the machine originally, and had the same problem. I try googling it. I attempt a BIOS reset, basically blind. Nothing. I still cant get the bloody thing to work. And then i notice something. The VGA cable is lying on the desk, having fallen out of the back of the monitor. I facepalm myself so hard, plug the VGA cable back in and tighten it up. Lo and behold, the machine is working perfectly. I reinstall the new GPU and start to install Windows. But the machine hasn't finished with me yet! During the attempt to install Windows, it became apparent the SSD wasn't being detected. A quick google, and i found it wasn't compatible. I found another SSD, used, at a bargain price. This time it was compatible, and finally my beastly PC was complete. Until a few days later i noticed it was really noisy. I found that i had installed one of the heatsinks backwards so the fans were blowing into each other. TL;DR: PC build was a complete clusterfuck. VGA into the monitor fell out and i didn't notice for 2 hours after much troubleshooting. Yes, i'm a colossal moron and am an embarrassment to techy's everywhere [link] [comments]  |
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