The Best Way to fix electronics!

ast3r3x

I've done this before but there is nothing that gives you more satisfaction then a swift kick or slam to an electronic device to make it work. Sometime you break it more but when you are at that point it will either make it work or break it completely. I was about to do a presentation the other day in front of my Techniques of Research class and my wireless mouse wouldn't work no matter what I did. So I slammed against the desk (haha everyone jumped) and the teacher just got a mean look on her face until I explained that the mouse no seemed to work.



My mouse hasn't worked for a week and so I slammed it against my knee (hurt slightly) and it worked again.

ipodandimac

where i'm from we call this "fixing it the russian way."

airsluf

Kickaha and Amorph couldn't moderate themselves out of a paper bag. Abdicate responsibility and succumb to idiocy. Two years of letting a member make personal attacks against others, then stepping aside when someone won't put up with it. Not only that but go ahead and shut down my posting priviledges but not the one making the attacks. Not even the common decency to abide by their warning (afer three days of absorbing personal attacks with no mods in sight), just shut my posting down and then say it might happen later if a certian line is crossed. Bullshit flag is flying, I won't abide by lying and coddling of liars who go off-site, create accounts differing in a single letter from my handle with the express purpose to decieve and then claim here that I did it. Everyone be warned, kim kap sol is a lying, deceitful poster.



Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.



Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever.

kickaha

When my Dad was in the Army, he was a computer operator/programmer on an old IBM System360 that had been battle-hardened. Instead of burnable paper punchcards, it had metal disks that were read radially instead of linearly, for instance. (For years, that what he thought 'hard drive' meant...)



There was a technician on base who kept the beast running, and he would shoo everyone else out of the trailer while he worked on it, stating security clearance problems, and wouldn't let anyone see what was in the *HUGE* toolbox he always brought.



My Dad finally wheedled his way into being allowed to see how he fixed it, since he wasn't authorized to open the panels himself. The tech opened up his toolbox, and brought out... a massive pair of steel-toed boots.



He then proceeded to pull the machine away from the wall, where my Dad saw it was dented *all* to heck.



Yup, the tech proceeded to kick the CRAP outta the back panels. My Dad was aghast, but the tech told him that it did one of two things with loose wires and leads - reseated them, or knocked them completely loose so it was easy to find them. And, it did the trick 90% of the time.





A couple of years ago, I related this story to Fred Brooks, head of my dept, and the chief architect of the 360 project at IBM... he laughed harder than I think I've ever seen him. He agreed that that was a *wonderful* first cut at diagnostics in the field, and applauded the tech's willingness to do what was needed versus what was strictly in the manual.





And yes, for years my Dad thought that was where the term 'booting' a computer came from.

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

And yes, for years my Dad thought that was where the term 'booting' a computer came from.

I still think it is





You have the most awesome stories, you should make them into a book...a book of completely random stories haha.

mike peel

I had a problem with my old phone - the screen kept going funny. This was back in the days of bricks; it was a cheepo Motorola one from a couple years back. Whenever I had the problem, I went and found a good solid surface, and hit it with the phone a couple of times. It always solved the problem.



But that was a cheepo 20GBP phone. No way would I do it to my new 100GBP phone, at least not for a long time. For one thing, it's a lot smaller and flimsier. They made more solid phones in those days...

scott

We fix a lot of electronics at work. It's not unusual for us to start off by pressing down all connectors and looking for ones that are not attached. We don't even thing about it anymore.

nebulous

My friend had a TV set in her childhood that didn't work unless you pounded on the side of it with your fist. Apparently, there were two wires inside it that didn't quite meet up unless you gave it a constant beating. It kind of took the entertainment out of watching TV - you couldn't just sit and veg out. I think it was a good thing.

That story about the boots is great!! My mom's solution is to press every accessable button in every permutation possible. This is also how she turns on the computer. Rather than just reaching over and pushing the large, protruding button that just BEGS to be hit (no matter how many times I show this to her, she can't remember to do this. Parents...), she hits all the buttons for "Screen Brightness", "Contrast", and the occasional F12. A recent conversation with mom:



Mom [forlorn]: "Life is no longer simple".



Ashley: "You're using the computer again?"



Mom [in absolute shock and disbelief]: "Yes! But there's just one problem. There's no on/off switch!!"



Ashley: "Right, Mom. You know, I have used the thing for 2 years, and I believe it was on for a little while in there."



Mom: "Well, I can't find one. There are all sorts of buttons, but they haven't turned it on yet. I've been pressing all of them. There was one that I pressed and it said 'Powersave', but no on/off button!"



Ashley: "Mom-"



Mom: "The mouse buttons work fine. I clicked those once or twice too, but no little arrow came up. I just can't believe it. I'm sure that if I just keep pressing all the buttons then eventually I'll find the right combination and order so that the computer will turn on."



Sigh... I love her anyway, though.

digitaldave

Kickaha,



Great story .



I used to work repairing stuff, and one guy had a motto that he stood by: "If in doubt, give it a clout!" . He was an aerial rigger, so I guess the finer points of delicate electronics were lost on him . Scary thing is how often it worked!!!



Dave.

telomar

Funnily enough the old Apple displays from pre-LCDs sometimes had issues with vertical lines forming on the screen. Apple's solution to this was percussive maintenance or a moderate blow to the side of the monitor. Actually worked too.



Failing that never forget the more you tape it the closer you must be to fixing it

low-fi

Ah, yes, the "Technical Tap", as I like calling it. Worked on a frightening number of occasions!

ast3r3x

We used to have gateways at my school that I guess their Hard Drives were slightly defective and would sometimes stop in a place the motor couldn't get it going again, so the fix was to lift the machine and give it a little slam by dropping it back to the desk. It worked.



Wasn't there a problem with an older mac that chips became loose and raised off the board that you had to do somethign similar to reseat them?