When TVs don't work and users forget how to read Tech Support |
- When TVs don't work and users forget how to read
- File not found... or ever made
- rj45 cable vs user ... may the odds be ever in your favor
- Construction Gone Wrong
- A Certain Kind Of Ethernet Connection
- Oh THAT cable
- It won't boot because there isn't a drive in it
- of scales (part 3)
| When TVs don't work and users forget how to read Posted: 12 Feb 2020 01:38 PM PST Ah yes, another day on the job, as a T1 tech support at an Eastern European telco. Freshly out of training, but already jaded by older clients' inability to unplug a router. Today I discovered another client disability.
A few moments follow, of me finding their contract in the database and checking what kind of television they have. In my mind I say "Ah, satellite. This should be easy." It wasn't easy.
At this point I pretend to do some background checks and put her on hold. I go to the TV we have continuously running in the middle of the call center, look at the back of the receiver, and yank the satellite cable out. Bingo. In the middle of the screen it says clearly "No signal. Please plug in the satellite cable. (Error 2)", in a big and very readable font. I then play a bit with the coaxial cable and intentionally make it have very weak signal and plug it in. I get looks from my coworkers who curiously watch me mess angrily with the TV. "Signal is fluctuating, please check satellite dish and cable. (Error 15)" Alright, that's all I need. Back to the client.
You don't need to understand what it says, just tell me the freaking error message! Anyway, I knew this would happen.
Hallelujah, I got the error code.
I say the required formalities and wait for the call to end. click Very annoyed, I finish the ticket and try to relax a bit. My choice of leisure activity? Repairing that coaxial cable I just destroyed (somehow that brings me a lot of pleasure), under the stares of my boss, and a laughing coworker that kept quoting "read ma'am, read!". Goddamn it, end users. [link] [comments]  |
| File not found... or ever made Posted: 13 Feb 2020 12:26 AM PST Not Tech Support, just being helpful. Possibly the shortest first post on this sub. Cast: Me: ... T: Teacher SDU: Stressed, Distressed User Now onto the story. T: "Copy the file that you made last lesson onto your devices." Everyone: [copies file] SDU: [Stress sounds] "I can't find the file! Hey u/SabreLunatic, I can't find the file! Help me!" Me: "Okay, what did you call it?" SDU: "I don't know. I don't remember." Me: "Right. Maybe it's Untitled.hex? No it's not there. Maybe on Onedrive? No?!" I then proceed to look through both the client account files and the Onedrive but both have no .hex files. Me: "Did you even make the file?" SDU: "No! Can you find it?" TL;DR: read the title [link] [comments]  |
| rj45 cable vs user ... may the odds be ever in your favor Posted: 12 Feb 2020 09:20 PM PST TL;DR at bottom. This happened not too long ago so my intellect is still recovering; it probably will be for quite a while. We use voip phones at work and these phones are kinda crappy. The only way to reboot them is unplug the connection and plug it back in. Just the other day I spent 10 minutes explaining to a user how to pull an rj45 cable out of a phone. Yes, that was read correctly. 10 minutes to explain how to unplug an rj45 cable. Those painful 10 minutes went something like this:
There is only one cable plugged into the phone. I could feel that my eye was starting to twitch.
by being smarter than the cable...?
At this point, I muted my headset and banged my head on my desk. I think I even growled from the back of my throat. This went on for 10 minutes until It should be noted that all remote uses are deployed with this beautiful guide to walk them through every step of the way. This lovely document is complete with easy English, step by step instructions, and lots of pictures in full color. We even print the guide for the users. Aaaand we also do an in-person training. I guess we need to start deploying a mini foam hand so the users have something to squeeze during the stressful times of remote equipment setup. That being said, the majority of users can figure out what do to. So it's not our training or our user guides that cause confusion. Sometimes the simple act of unplugging a cable is just too much. TL;DR spent 10 minutes explaining how to unplug an rj45 cable from the back of a voip phone and a total of 2 hours to handhold a user through setting up remote equipment. Edit: formatting [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Feb 2020 07:35 AM PST Working in K-12 public education oftentimes involves building or renovations of schools. I came from a background in casework and millwork and fine furniture and countless building projects. I like to watch over projects making sure things are being done as they should which I know has annoyed more than one construction manager. This story involves a brand new school being built. There are biweekly construction meetings and I am attending most of them. I document problems with technology and usually provide answers quickly on any questions that come up. The school is scheduled for open at the beginning of the next school year. It is winter and I notice that a computer lab has data jacks and power outlets roughed in at 48" above the finished floor. I scratch my head and investigate. The blueprints for all trades show these under the counter where a cable tray runs. I point this mistake out to the construction manager at a scheduled meeting, drag him and several others to see the problem and then follow up with written communication to the appropriate parties. While it is an unfortunate mistake, it should not be too hard to correct. Someone just needs to move some conduit and boxes. Two weeks later at the next meeting, my problem is acknowledged by the appropriate trades and will be a priority so progress overall is not slowed down. I again follow up with communication acknowledging their acknowledgment of the issue and their plan to correct it soon. Another two weeks and another progress meeting. This time I have to ask what is going on since drywall has now been installed and everything remains at the wrong height. There are surprising looks and fumbled words but the assurance that it would get fixed ASAP. As we progress through the spring and summer seasons, the problem remains the same with each trade completing their work. Electrical and data cables are pulled and terminated. Drywall is finished. Vinyl wall coverings and carpets are installed. Finally, the computer lab furniture including the counter with a cable tray underneath is installed. I continue to make and distribute written documentation and at every step and well as in-person discussions during the whole process. It's now less than a couple of weeks before we get the building turned over for the most part. We do a walkthru with all parties including from the school. School is about a month away and they begin to prioritize what needs finishing and what can be completed after opening. I mean, who needs a gym when you have the whole outside to have PE or recess. When we get to the computer lab, and the general contractor takes a bit of pride in having this virtually complete and says we can begin installing computers anytime we want. The newly hired principal notices point out the obvious problem in the room. Some construction folks ask if this is an issue and before I can say anything, the principal says it is and someone else from school administration agrees. They sheepishly say how they wished this was caught sooner thinking they will have to live with it. That is when I chime in and begin presenting all of my written communication along with notes about verbal discussions on-site too. Needless to say, the lab was corrected but not before the start of school. They had to order new vinyl wall covering which didn't arrive very quickly. I know several trades work overtime to fix the mistake. Sadly, I have so many similar stories with school construction and renovation. [link] [comments]  |
| A Certain Kind Of Ethernet Connection Posted: 12 Feb 2020 12:58 PM PST (First post, be nice) Smallish company with lots of remote sites and a few larger offices. Cast: User - Calling from a small remote site Me - Lowly helpdesk employee [Fade in as phone rings and is picked up by Me] Me: Helpdesk, this is jackstic, how can I help? User: I can't get into the servers [He means network drives] Me: Okay, are you able to connect to the internet at all? Can you get to Google? User: No Me: Okay, if you check in the bottom-right of your screen, can you see if you're connected to the WiFi network [Cue 10 mins of me explaining how to view available WiFi networks and determining that his device isn't registered with the software that essentially turns domain credentials into a WiFi password and hands that over to connect] Me: Okay, I'm going to need to remote into your machine to fix this, so I need you to plug into the internet User: I don't think we have anywhere to plug in Me: You can just take the connection from the network printer User: Okay I'll plug in now Me: [Checking TemaViewer] You're still showing offline, are you plugged in? User: Yes I'm plugged in! Me: [Frantically checking all systems on my end] So you're plugged in? Can you get to the internet? User: OF COURSE IM PLUGGED IN! NO, I CANT GET GOOGLE OR THE SERVERS!? Me: [In a moment of realisation] You took the cable out of the printer right? User: [Hurried shuffling on the end of the phone] Umm... Me: [In disbelief] Did you take the cable out of the printer end, or the wall end User: I plugged my laptop into the printer Me: [Silent facepalm] [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Feb 2020 11:08 AM PST Short one for you here today- Got me a ticket: "Broken wire for (person's) 2nd monitor, located at (location)" Transcript of emails w/user
So, of course, I showed up with every type of video cable, power cable, and USB-B cable I could get my hands on [link] [comments]  |
| It won't boot because there isn't a drive in it Posted: 12 Feb 2020 08:10 AM PST Hey all, first time posting here but I saw this sub and it reminded me of something that happened a few months back. I'm not really a tech support employee, I'm just a student with a dream of becoming a PC repair and assembly technician. But around the school I'm known for being able to diagnose technology issues regardless of the device just because of my broad range of experience. This happened two months ago at the beginning of December. The school provides students with a decent laptop (at least they were decent three years ago when we got them) and it's kind of hard to mess anything up on the software side because of how restrictive the settings are. So imagine my shark when one day in history, when we're supposed to be taking notes on our laptops, the guy sitting to the right of me is having trouble getting his laptop to boot. At first I thought it was because it was low battery (the laptop refuses to boot and only gives a low battery indicator, I saw the screen out of the corner of my eye and thought this is what the error on the screen was for) but I looked over and saw a Cascade of errors wash down the screen. He turns to me and asks if I have any idea what any of it means. Mostly it's just 'filepath not found' but one thing stuck out to me: 'Operating system not found.' I tilted the corner of his laptop upwards and saw underneath the edge, a giant gaping empty drive bay. I ask him where the 'thing that goes here' is and he says '...oh. it's in my locker.' He leaves and comes back HOLDING THE HARD DRIVE OF HIS LAPTOP. I watch has he slots it into the side of his laptop and press the power button, and it boots as well as a laptop that the school bought in 2015 (but is actually probably older than that) can. I have no idea how the drive wasn't damaged just rocking around in his locker. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Feb 2020 04:22 AM PST TL;DR ongoing story about getting a digital weighing scale to work with a cr*ppy piece of software. Today: oh it really is not working $me: obvious $appadmin2: slightly less useless than $appadmin from Part2 $vendorrep2: more technically capable than $uselessvr from Part 2 $vendorrep3: silent, not sure how capable So, there's 2 people coming over from the manufacturer. They bring our scale back and they are going to update the firmware on the other scale we have to the latest version. This they say, should take care of the issue. $me: "Hi, I was told this morning you would be over today to test a few things?" $vendorrep2: "Yes, we have everything with us, where can we connect things?" $me: "Right over here." I make sure the test-workstation is powered on, and wait for it to login. The service account can no longer login, someone changed the password between the previous test and today. Right, first have that one fixed, this is nicely prepared by my collegue. </s> After literally running to the people that handle credentials and passwords (alas, I have no powers there), I come back, restart the workstation and I check if the scales are recognized as such (yes, there's a custom serial port visible in device manager on COM4). $me: "Sorry for making you wait, it is fixed now, you should be able to test." I leave the scene to put out other fires. *** 45 minutes later*** $appadmin2: "It is still not working, can you install $terminal_software on the machine so we can check?" $me: "Sure, I'll see what I can do" Downloading/installing software. $me: "There ya go" $vendorrep2: "Something must be wrong with your machine, I cannot enter anything in the session from the keyboard." $me: "This machine has been working fine otherwise, but I see you are using $other_terminal_software on your laptop. Is that freeware too? If so, why not install it instead?" Downloading/installing software. $me:"Can I hold your laptop for a moment?" I dutyfully go through each and every setting to make sure they're an exact match between systems. $me: "There ya go" He types a few commands, it now works in the exact same fashion as it does on his laptop. Low-level communication is working as designed then anyway. *** 45 minutes later $vendorrep3 shows up, asking for a RS-232 gender changer. Apparently they cannot make this thing work with the USB port, something goes wrong with the data coming in. $me: "Can you show me what is going wrong then?" $vendorrep3: "If we have the application check the for data we get an error message" I walk over to have a look. Sure enough, it is giving the exact same error message it has been giving for the past few months. So all this testing, updating, revising from their end has done exactly nothing. Even more, it seems these two have not had ANY information from the previous $vendor_rep. Now I am curious. This scale has a type B USB port for connection to the host and several type A ports for additional hardware to be connected. Then I see what they are going to try. They want to use a serial-to-USB converter cable from one of the hub ports on the scale back to the workstation on that RS-232 port. $vendorrep3: "See, if I go to this menu here, I can set it to RS232 for connection to the client" Yeah client, not host, you fool. I have read the documentation on this hardware, that is not what those USB ports are for. $me: "No, I don't have a gender changer, please ask desktop support if they have one or even a regular RS-232 connection cable (female-female)." I walk away as I already know this is not going to fly. There's something more fundamentally broken, most likely the communication protocol has changed in the 15 years between the previous model and this one. And so I wait for another chapter in this complete clusterf*ck of a project. Lucky for me, I just need to make the software land on the system, I don't have to make it actually work :) [link] [comments]  |
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