Re: [PLUG] More hardware woes

["Keith C. Perry via plug" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On 11/17/22 11:21, Walt Mankowski via plug wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 10:52:31AM -0500, Keith via plug wrote:
>> I would almost be of a mindset to bring it back to Microcenter and tell them
>> that the same thing happened and oh-by-the-way, "show me the tests you did
>> for my $40".
> Yeah, it's super frustrating. But to be fair, it worked for me when I
> brought it home, too.
>

Well, it worked until it didn't.  I think we're all scratching our heads 
even more now.  Its weird that they would say they didn't find anything 
and then this would happen again but that is why I would want to 
challenge them as to what they actually did do.  If all they did was 
boot it for a couple of minutes because it worked then that is not due 
diligence.  Just out of curiosity, did they give you a check list of 
what they did?


>> That said, I think you're not too far from me during the day so if you want
>> to borrow a PS tester I have one but I have another weird suggestion I don't
>> think I heard you try.
>>
>> Can you to take the computer and plug it somewhere else in your place that
>> is at least not on the same circuit as your current receptacle?  Ideally you
>> want to be on a different circuit and phase but unless you did some major
>> electrical work on your place you might not know which receptacles are on
>> which phase (and you might not be multi-phase anyway).  A good choice would
>> be a receptacle in the washer / dryer area when there are not running. It
>> would be best to use a decent extension cord if you need one (i.e. not one
>> from a convenience store).
> It's currently plugged into a relatively new UPS. I can try plugging
> it into a different outlet. I'm skeptical that it will change
> anything, but I guess it doesn't hurt.


I'll spare you and the list my rant on UPS devices.  Let's just say they are a 
point of failure (because they really don't work the way people think 
they do) and in my book should NOT be blindly trusted.  I'm going to 
assume you tested without the UPS too but if not, you should.  If fact, 
as annoying as it is, if your system does work on a different outlet, I 
would test with the UPS there too just to confirm that the UPS is not 
the culprit.


>
> I live in a big apartment building with a laundry room in the
> basement, so that's not really an option.


Yea, I can't see that going over well :)


>> My rationale for this comes from a similar issue I have at my place, which
>> is an old Quaker house where the electrical work done here was <sarc>
>> special </sarc>.  I've fixed most things but I have one situation where my
>> printer will not print if it is plugged into the receptacle and circuit
>> everything else is plugged into.  At stand-by it is fine but when it would
>> try to spin up to print, there would be just enough voltage sage to trip the
>> transfer switch for the protected items but not enough to pop the breaker.
>> That's not the weirdest of occurrences and maybe you're familiar with this
>> type of situation but it is something that can happen.  Typically more
>> possible in older buildings but I've seen happen in more modern structures
>> as well.  This can also be another instance of a one-and-done as I described
>> before where you didn't have an issue until you did but that issue is not
>> going away.  I don't think it was the dust but the difference in
>> environments (your home and their office) could matter. Electrical
>> infrastructure is the only relevant thing that jumps out to me.  This is
>> pretty easy test too.  I can volunteer my 50ft heavy duty extension cord for
>> the job.
> I can see why you'd think that, but it's been plugged into the same
> spot for years without any problem. It worked 5 minutes earlier in the
> same outlet!
>
> The only other thing I can think of is that replacing the drive
> involved flipping over the box on its side, so maybe a now a cable is
> touching something it shouldn't be. Or something. Who knows?
>
> Walt
> ___________________________________________________________________________


While there certainly could be that random screw hiding in the case 
ready to roll ever so slightly to the nearest electrical path or that 
cable that just wants to be free, that feels less likely. Especially in 
light of someone else handling your system.  All that movement should 
have revealed something to the folks at MC but without an internal 
inspection (did they do that?) it certainly could be a thing.  I keep 
going back to the things that changed directly by you and things that 
could have changed as a result (2nd, 3rd  and higher order "effects").  
Electricity is like water and will go places it shouldn't if it can, in 
ways that don't immediately make sense.  Same spot or not, had you not 
poked the bear (i.e. working on your computer) we probably wouldn't be 
talking about why the bear won't behave  :)  Of course this nonsense 
because at some point you're going to work on your computer (and 
hopefully not poke bears).

Along those lines, did you check the mobo for errant screws (including 
making sure the screws holding down the mobo are secure) or loose 
cables?  As a rule, whenever I open my case to blow it out, I check 
everything since I know I can knock something loose (I have RGB fans 
which I do "play" with so I know that my risk factor is higher no matter 
how careful I am).  Its another annoying task but having been through 
with a sick server back in 2019, not knowing what the problem was (in 
that case bad memory) would have caused me to lose sleep.


-- 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Keith C. Perry, MS E.E.
Managing Member, DAO Technologies LLC
(O) +1.215.525.4165 x2033
(M) +1.215.432.5167
www.daotechnologies.com
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