What does that say exactly? Tech Support |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2022 11:35 AM PST Back when I was network supervisor/manager for a South Korean shipping company, I was at my first regional IT meeting where the high mucky muck from HQ came to give us a speech. He announced to all present that as English was the language used around the world in the shipping industry, everything in the company would be done in English, as in the computer operating systems, etc. Fast forward a year or two and I come back from holiday to find all the Korean managers of the separate office functions (finance, sales, etc) have acquired and installed the Korean Version of Windows on the machines they use. I am still responsible for maintaining those machines despite the fact every icon now has Korean text under it saying what it is. Luckily, unless they have happened to change the icon to something else, MS has the same icons across the various languages. Now whenever there is an error message or problem pop up, I need to have the Korean manager try to translate the Korean text into an English. Imagine a driver telling the mechanic the error message says the engine will not run. What it really means is the engine will not run as it is out of fuel. Some fixes required a great deal of thinking about why the error is occurring. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2022 04:48 AM PST Hi guys, obligatory LTL, FTP. This just happened the past week. I'm a last year PhD student working with bioinformatics. So of course since the word "informatics" is in there, I also unknowingly became the lab's IT support over the years. Cannot run a command-line program? Sure, I'll help (translation: Google the error message). Oh a pandemic hit us and now we'll need to access every computer remotely? I guess I'm the only one who knows how to Google for that, too. Need to image a Linux or Windows machine? VPN not connecting? Hey, have you guys tried turning it off and on again? Backstory to this post: last year, our department bought a very expensive microscope. At first we placed it in our lab as an immediate solution, but since it was meant to be shared by the entire department, it eventually had to be moved to a shared room. The microscope can be remotely controlled by the company's software, which needs to be individually installed by their technician in every machine we intend to use. So our plan was to move the microscope to the shared room along with a desktop computer to control it. Naturally, the company's technician would install the software, set up the connection between microscope and computer, and test that everything works properly in the new room. Cue to this week's incident. We are:
Prior to $tech's visit, I imaged a desktop computer that was lying around in the lab. I set up its remote access, set it to wake after power outage, all that good stuff. I explained to $postdoc and $pi that it was basically ready to install the microscope software and be moved to the new room. I asked them to let me know when $tech would come, so that I could be there to help if needed (my research can be done remotely so I'm not everyday in the lab). Of course they didn't do it. I'm at home finishing my research for the day when at 5pm I get a message from $pi: $pi: "hey $me, $postdoc and $tech are struggling to make the computer work in the new room, can you help them? Cheers" Against my better judgement I send $postdoc a message and ask what's up. Here's how it goes: $me: "hey $postdoc, $pi said you were having some trouble, is the computer working?" $postdoc: "hi $me, yeah everything was working fine, $tech installed the software and set up the connection to the microscope. But then we moved the computer to the new room, and now it is not turning on. We tried a lot of stuff and don't know what's up." So we go through some troubleshooting steps: are the cords plugged on the wall, are the LEDs on, does the monitor turns on, are the cables properly connected, have you tried every port, etc. $postdoc: "yeah, we tried everything. The monitor is fine, it just has no signal. Our guess is that the the PSU is dead. We first connected it to a 110V outlet and it was set to 220V, so maybe that's what caused it?" Brief explanation: in my country, both 110V and 220V outlets are common even in regular houses (and yes, it's as messy as it sounds). Some devices only work at a given voltage, some devices can automatically transform from 110V to 220V, and some have a manual switch for this. The computer fits this last case. Now, what $postdoc did was bad, but connecting 220V devices to 110V outlets shouldn't in theory nuke the PSU - not as bad as the other way around, anyway. $postdoc: "$tech even took it back to the old room, plugged it in the 220V outlet that it was previously connected to, and nothing happened. So yeah, we're pretty sure it's the PSU." At this point it was almost 6pm and $tech was heading out. In my head, I wasn't really buying the PSU thing, but I couldn't figure out the root cause without going to the lab and seeing for myself. $me: "ok I can go to the lab in a few days, then I'll check it out. Worst case scenario I take it to a repair shop." $postdoc "ok, thanks $me." A few days later, I take the 50-minute drive to the lab. If the issue was really with the PSU I was kinda pissed that $tech apparently borked it, but whatever, let's see what's up. I get to the lab, put my stuff on the desk and immediately go check on the computer. Surprisingly, I hear a faint whizzing coming from the case. Wait, is the computer turned on? I check the monitor and as $postdoc said, it's on but has no signal. I gaze back at the case, and then into the case, through the transparent acrylic casing. And then it hit me... ... cue palm meeting face ... I move towards the back of the case, unplug the VGA cable from the motherboard port, and plug it back into the video card port. Lo and behold, after 30 seconds of troubleshooting, I'm met by inspiring images of Windows landscapes in the monitor. I send a picture of the working desktop to $pi and write: "I'll send you my rates later by email" - just joking of course. But maybe... Now if I had a ticket system, I'd go with: "$tech is defective, replacement needed." As for $postdoc, their words echoed my head: "...we tried every port...". Huh. Turns out users do lie. [link] [comments] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Tales From Tech Support. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment