The site doesn’t work on the phone debugging Tech Support |
- The site doesn’t work on the phone debugging
- my desktop computer kept powering off -- a user's perspective
- You’re just guessing though, aren’t you?
- Cunninham's server specs
- Bad Architecture Part 5, Lawtechie learns more...
- "What baseline file?"
| The site doesn’t work on the phone debugging Posted: 03 Jun 2020 10:34 PM PDT So one of my customers forwards an email from a user 'The site doesn't work on the phone.' this is a website I built and support but it seems to work fine for me.. and now all of a sudden we're getting bug reports from users.. all of them are the same 'It doesn't work' Which is ideal for debugging. It doesn't work .. could mean A LOT OF THINGS. On the phone could mean A LOT OF THINGS.. android.. ios .. various browsers .. the site is responsive so naturally I go on with my android and try a bunch of stuff .. make an order.. it seems fine I can't figure it out I email the users.. please tell me what you were doing when 'it didn't work' .. was there an error? What phone are you using.. what browser are you using? I tell the site owner (who has an iphone) please test browse and fake order stuff and see what the issue is. Meanwhile.. the bulk of the orders are going through fine.. like all kinds of regular activity are humming along... but these few people are bitching.. but number of bitching is increasing! Finally .. I notice the owner has added a product with $0 that people can buy that gets allocates them to a day for a drive through pickup slot for products (it's a farm) .. but had turned on paypal for that item.. along with check/cash so if some people had selected paypal for $0 dollars and submitted the order to paypal with android/ios 'it wouldn't work' .. as they never scrolled down to the return page with $0 order anyway .. fuck .. so now I fixed her $0 product never to show paypal as a method... but FFS .. why can't a user give a good bug report???? rant off :) edit: from a later email 'If you can that's great. I was trying not to bother you with this new little project, but if it's easy to disappear the PayPal button in the checkout for this little phase that might help all the folks who don't read my very clear email instructions.' The poor lady assumed that users would read 'very clear email instructions'.. god love her. They'll never do that :) [link] [comments]  |
| my desktop computer kept powering off -- a user's perspective Posted: 04 Jun 2020 02:11 AM PDT This is a story of how I learned a valuable tech-support lesson -- document EVERYTHING. And I am stating now: I am an end-user, not a tech-support person. But this story involves a lot of tech support, so I hope that's ok. And while I am far from a true tech support hero, I am often the "oh hey, he's here, ask him to fix this problem" guy. So I try to keep my google-fu practice strong and help myself as much as possible. Or rely on my smart friends. Which is why, when my iFruit desktop computer started randomly turning off for no obvious reason... I realized something had to be done. It was my first iFruit. Before that, I always bought the cheese grater models (this was some years back), but the latest generation of all-in-one devices had honestly gotten to the point that it would do whatever I needed it to. That is, I could use it as a full-powered video editing system, which is what I use to make my living. At first, the sudden shut-offs were really rare. 6 weeks or two months could go by with no problems. I would guess maybe I'd jostled the power cord, or... I had no real idea, but they didn't happen often enough for me to find a pattern. And then they started happening with more regularity, while I was trying to finish a cut for a client. I turned to my amazingly-smart friend for help, and he found something I'd missed: my hard drive had been recalled. It was a first-generation device, that combined a traditional HDD with an SDD for fast access to the most used software, and there were issues with it. That's ok. I made sure my backup was fully up to date. The machine was under warranty. And I made my appointment at the fruit store and brought it in. Here's where I made the mistake that would cost me some extra money down the line: I accepted the technician's reasonable assumption that the failing drive was causing the sudden shut-downs. More importantly, I did not insist they write the information down. Had I only said, "Add to the paperwork that the customer is saying the computer keeps turning off at random times, suddenly and without warning." Oh boy, that would have been solid foresight. But I figured the tech was right. When I got my computer back and restored from my backup, all was working again. For months! And then the computer died. Out of nowhere, power off. If I unplugged it for 30 seconds, it'd always power back on. And as before, it was a really, really rare issue. Sometimes it would go another month before it happened again. I'd reboot, and it'd go 2 weeks. And then suddenly, it'd power off all the time. Multiple times a day. It was affecting my deadlines, and I didn't want to lose additional days without a computer, but I finally had to bring it back to the store. By now it was out of warranty. And they had no record of the power-outages on my paperwork, because I hadn't insisted on it. I know that was my fault, and I won't make that mistake ever again. But their tech couldn't find a specific problem with it. All hardware tests passed. They said they could swap out the power bank, so I did. There went a few hundred bucks. A month later, the issue was back. I brought it back in. They left it running in the back room for a few days, no problems. But we agreed to swap out another component, just in case. Because again, the hardware tests all passed. So we picked another part that may or may not have been the culprit, and that was swapped out. More $$. I know what you're thinking -- it's my power outlet. That's my fault, I skipped past all that, but I can assure you this issue occurred with multiple outlets, in multiple rooms of my house, with multiple power cables, and different UPS units. But the fruit techs assumed it was an issue with my electrical system at home. not the device. But when the issue started happening yet again, I brought it back once more. By this time, the store manager was my contact person. She assured me they'd figure it out somehow, and that it wouldn't cost me any more money, whatever it was. But they were still thinking it was at my end, so we decided to leave my computer set up in their back room for a full week this time. A week later, they called me back. It was still running smoothly. No problems. It was time to pick it up and bring it home. I'm not a religious man. Not even a little. But the tech gods were on my side that day. While I was driving to the store, the computer instantly powered off... while the tech was looking right at it! Finally, they had confirmation! So when I got to the store, they let me know they had independent verification and... well, they still had no idea what was causing the problem. By this time, the computer was at least 2 years out of warranty -- this all took place over a few years, IIRC. Like I said, the shutdowns were REALLY sporadic for a long time. The manager kept her word. I'd put in about $450 out of pocket, and I didn't have to spend a penny more. No, I'm not thrilled about that cost, but in the end it was worthwhile. The store provided me with a brand new model of the computer, years more current than the one I'd bought. And since -- when I had originally purchased it -- I had upgraded it with a faster processor and maxed out the system with 32GB of RAM (as a film/tv editor, I want lots of RAM to handle the video, edit system, photoshop, etc, all open at once).... well, they had to custom order a new device to match the specs. So I went from a good screen to a 5K screen, maxed out RAM, much newer processor, etc. It wasn't free, that part sucked. But it was worth the money I put in, and I'm writing this post on that same computer, about four trouble-free years later. But boy... had I insisted they write down the sudden-power-off issue when I first brought it in for a failing drive, it wouldn't have cost anything extra at all. Lesson learned, and I'm still a happy customer. tl;dr: document EVERYTHING. That ONE TIME you need it, it will save your bacon. I'm sorry, did I already say that in my first sentence? Yes! Because it's THAT IMPORTANT! [link] [comments]  |
| You’re just guessing though, aren’t you? Posted: 03 Jun 2020 06:28 AM PDT Hello TFTS, I have another one from long ago, I was 21 or 22 at the time. I used to work for a consulting firm, most of my time was spent at one of our bigger clients. Sitting in my little broom closet of an office at the clients site, I got a message from our main wireless guy at our firm. Me = Me C = Coworker C: Hey you got a moment? Me: Sure, what up? C: That AP at (client site), AP#14. Me: Yes. C: Trace it to a port on a switch, please? Me: Port 17. C: Oh, you already know. Me: Yes. C: Port 17 on what switch? It's not .52 either. Me: Correct, it is on Switch .49 in the closet next to the main entry. C: You're just guessing though, aren't you? Me: No... .38 .49 and .56 are in the closet… Me: .49 has port 17 labeled as AP#14. So yes, that is the one. C: Well then, that's all I needed, that was impressive. Me: Well, I spend a lot of time here so; you think I would know these things. C: True that, thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2020 02:30 PM PDT "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." A project manager asked for a new server, but only gave the CPU and RAM requirements, along with that it needed to be a physical server. After reaching out to them for days regarding the drive sizes, and other requirements, I still had no response. I got the director involved and he gave some clues as to what this was about. He got me the end users and I was able to contact them directly. Of course, being end users, and not the ones working with the vendor, they barely knew what they wanted. But I made a best guess as to the other server specs and sent the request off for a quote. Only then does the PM respond with a list of corrections about what the server actually needs. Bonus:
Time for a drink [link] [comments]  |
| Bad Architecture Part 5, Lawtechie learns more... Posted: 02 Jun 2020 10:50 PM PDT tl;dr- I'm working at Large Client (LC) trying to clean up after a security audit that showed significant issues. One of the largest obstacles is LC itself. I'm stuck with Ian again. He's the lead engineer on the Vault, which does blockchain things and is all things to all people. At least according to the brochure. Lawtechie has: An empty laptop bag Lawtechie is back in the Equipment Dispensary. There are fewer bored LC employees here. The short woman who has seen things is also not there. Nothing happens. I give up and make my way to my cubicle. There's an intro mail from Aarush. He'd like me to meet the team tomorrow. In the meantime, he sends me a few links to more details of the Vault. I accept. The details aren't that detailed. I do find an infomerical video explaining how The Vault will fix everything, given by Aarush. I also notice that none of the source code is in the regular reposititories. I email Ian and Aarush. The answer from Aarush is not satisfying. I get a paragraph almost instantly:
Oh dear. A code review narrated by Ian is going to be awful. I consider replying with "I wanted a thing to do that didn't require me to interact with Ian. If you'll sign my timecard, I'll detail your car",but I know better. I get distracted by my LC chat pinging to get my attention. Betty:"I need clarification on audit finding seven- Inaccurate system inventory" And a link to an audit report. The one I'm not supposed to have. Betty is my savior. Or she didn't know I'm not supposed to see it. Either way, I'm going to solve her problem as best I can to thank her. A quick search reveals a dry finding:"Some systems are not reflected correctly in the current inventory". It reads like the auditor was calling out an inconsequential thing like using the same labels for systems kept for parts and systems that could be repaired and put back into service. Or it's a very dry way to say "ten percent of our entire fleet is unfindable and unaccounted for". I respond to Betty. LawTechie:"Thanks for the link. To close this finding, show me your inventory list and I'll take a look." Betty:... Betty:... Betty:"It's the same inventory list" me:"Well, how can we prove that the inventory list is accurate?" Betty:"It's complicated. I'll get you an invite to the Slack channel. You can ask there" me:"What?" Betty:"There's a Slack channel to keep track of systems" For a second I consider how one would go about spinning up VMs from slack. and then possibly a macro to assign a relevant meme based on the outcome. I think I've misunderstood what's going on. It's time to meet Aarush and Ian. Aarush's conference room is in a wing that is slicker than I'd expect for LC- exposed brick, reclaimed wood. This must be where the cool kids work. Aarush is a tall, thin man who speaks quickly and to control the channel. I ask for an overview and get the same infomercial pitch. The Vault can be used for transactions of all types, file storage and can make its users more attractive. Aarush shows me a transaction handled by the Vault- seeing the item, placing the order and handling the transaction. For $172.92, I'm getting a smaller generic monitor. Great. Any more detailed question results in either: "You should look at the code to understand" "This is proprietary private blockchain" "It definitely meets that requirement better than any existing solution" I find I'm asking him questions to keep him talking. My consciousness is drifting away from this conversation. I'm imagining that I'm running in a circular maze and I'm only spending time. Then it comes to me- Aarush's answers are always positive. If I ask if it does something good, it does. If I ask if it does something bad, it doesn't. me:"The Vault stores all transaction data permanently, right?" Aarush:"Of course" me:"But you told me you weren't storing credit card numbers" Aarush:"Well, no. We're not storing those" I'm back on the circle. Luckily, Aarush has to take a personal call. He leaves his laptop unattended. Ian's been ignoring us both. I grab Aarush's laptop and look at the demo transaction. Out of curiosity, I add a second monitor and change the shipping information to Weisbaden, in Hesse, Germany. The price changes to €172.92. Huh. I add three more units. The whole lot is a bargain at €172.92. I have a feeling I'm being had here. I take a quick picture, get up, push Aarush's laptop back to where it was and walk over to Ian. Ian's customizing some kind of tacticool attachment he's ordering from a gun fetish site. I kick the back of his chair. me:"Hey, can you walk me through how this code works?" Ian looks at me with an expression I don't recognize- fear. I reflect on the grad student interviewing sociopaths: "That's what they look like before I stab them". I'm puzzled. Why is he scared? I can't actually pay attention to what Ian says, only because it'll be too confusing. I'll just keep him talking. Ian:"Hey. Why do you need to see the code? It's locked down." me:"Uhh, to get an overview- to understand how it all works behind the scenes, since there's no documentation" Why is he afraid? Is there something really wrong with what they've put together? me:"Uh, huh." I think the Vault is vaporware, but I can't prove it yet. Ian isn't going to share with me unless he's forced. My phone buzzes with an email from Betty that explains why keeping track of systems is hard:
And I'm going to figure out who owns what and keep track. This seems to be an ideal use of a private cloud blockchain. To be continued... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jun 2020 04:38 AM PDT Backstory: I work for a distributor company where we sell CCTV products, but also everything that revolves around IT (servers, cables, switches, routers, etc). A big majority of our customers share the same knowledge as us and most of our calls revolve around product knowledge. Very rarely we get a customer with little to no knowledge about both the product and and IT. A customer called me today with an intercom set. He told me he had issues with it. Me: Tea Client: Bruh
10 seconds of logging in, I see the tab "SYSTEM" right there, in broad daylight. I hover my mouse over it.
I close the teamviewer, send him a manual to make sure he doesn't lose his way and proceed with my daily tasks. 15 minutes later I receive another call.
"Oh no, he didn't" I thought
I open teamviewer. I open his downloads-folder. I click once on the baseline file (which was still zipped) to highlight it.
Reluctantly, the dude called his boss to give the bad news. I didn't feel bad for this guy. Usually when a dude is sent somewhere with little to no product/IT-knowledge I'll help them gladly, but at least they were able to follow simple directions. [link] [comments]  |
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