Funny support calls

[reimero]

These are some calls I received while working at the IT department of our local library. These aren't so much sucky as amusing. (I should also mention that one of the more prolific librarians mentioned here was not at all tech savvy, but she was an amazing librarian for whom I have nothing but respect. She knew her area of expertise like nobody's business. It's a shame she's retired now.)

Librarian> "(My boss) says my computer needs more bytes!"

Librarian> "The light bulb needs replaced in the screen" (actual problem: the monitors were progressively losing their brightness and needed replaced.)

Librarian> "The laser printer needs a new ribbon"

Librarian> "There's smoke coming out of the terminal. What should I do?"
Me> Unplug it! I'm on my way up! (note: this would happen from time to time with this model of terminal)

[Kilamon]

Librarian> "There's smoke coming out of the terminal. What should I do?"
Me> Unplug it! I'm on my way up! (note: this would happen from time to time with this model of terminal)

[JustADude]

Seconded. Talk about a bad investment!

[reimero]

These were old Wyse 60 terminals that had one particular part made out of paper. After several years of continuous use, they'd sometimes eventually overheat. It sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was.

[smileyeagle1021]

These were old Wyse 60 terminals that had one particular part made out of paper. After several years of continuous use, they'd sometimes eventually overheat. It sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was.

umm... a computer that had a part made out of paper... oh how I love that irony (considering how computers are supposed to replace paper)... ok back to the why the hell would someone design a piece of equipment that they know will get hot with a piece of paper in it?

[Bliss]

Happens in the best of companies. like for example the Apple III which tended to overheat, and the PCB would curve from the heat unseating the chips. the response from Apple was to rise the machine one inch over the desk and let it fall which would reseat the chips.....

Btw paper is a pretty decent isolator and once the machine is scraped biodegrades easily so don't mock it. :P

Btw I'm NOT defending Wyse terminals, at work I need to support a version of the Wyse terminal protocol for an old program and it's a friggin nightmare

[earl colby pottinger]

Paper

I have worked on a number of designs that had paper inside the case performing some useful function.

The main problem is not that the designs run hot, but rather that the units get hot when they:

a) Are never cleaned and dust blocks the cooling vents/fans.

b) Units are left on 24/7 where as the original designer expected the units to be turned off at the end of a business day.

c) Units are stored/used in small air-tight cabinets when the heat of operation gets to build up to ridiculous levels. Then on a summer long weekend, they turn off the AC to save power but forget about the hidden away unit and leave it running. Why more places don't burn down I never know.

[technical.angel]

oh how I love that irony (considering how computers are supposed to replace paper)

To go a little , my uni has gone paperless. We don't mail out grade cards. Other than that, there is SO much paper around here for us being paperless. Everyone makes fun of it.

[Ringtail Z28]

Librarian> "The laser printer needs a new ribbon"

I get this one almost everyday at work. I've tried explaining how laser printers work to my coworkers but it's too complicated for them.

[sld72382]

The funny ones are always things like this one:

SC: One of my CD drives won't open.
SLD: Okay, which drive is it, the top or bottom drive?
SC: The bottom one, the one that says expansion bay.
SLD: Have you added another CD drive since you've bought the unit?
SC: Nope.
SLD: That expansion bay doesn't open. It's a blank panel the acts as a place holder in case you want to add another drive in the future.
SC: But it has opened before!
SLD: Ok, open the bezel that is in front of the case. Is there a blank panel there, or a drive?
SC: A blank panel.
SLD: As I said, it won't open because a drive does not exists there, it's a place holder so you can add a drive in the future.
SC: But I'm telling you it opens! My son puts CDs in there all the time!
SLD:

Turns out her idiot son was slipping CDs into the thin slit above the blank panel. Besides probably getting scratched (behind the plastic panel is a medal shield) she's very lucky those CDs didn't short anything out. She then had the nerve to ask us to send a tech out to open the case and retrieve those CDs. I told her she needs to bring it into the store, as the service contract does not cover stupidity.

[depechemodefan]

Turns out her idiot son was slipping CDs into the thin slit above the blank panel. Besides probably getting scratched (behind the plastic panel is a medal shield) she's very lucky those CDs didn't short anything out.

That reminds, we have a machine where you add money to your library card to make copies. So people put coins in, which is fine. Until some days the machine won't accept coins. It gave some weird error message I don't remember what it said. Anyway, the manager realizes if you shake the machine it would start working.

What was happening was that the coin box would get full and the coins would fall out and hit the wires and short them out. Still, the people who cleared the coin box wouldn't come in more often, though I blame the City for getting the lowest-bid contractor.

[earl colby pottinger]

Trouble

What was happening was that the coin box would get full and the coins would fall out and hit the wires and short them out. Still, the people who cleared the coin box wouldn't come in more often, though I blame the City for getting the lowest-bid contractor.

When you can't get people to come in and collect cash money, then you know you really have a problem.

[JLRodgers]

This thread reminded me of a set of computers a local college got years ago. They went with the "cheapest" bidder. The video cards were "better" than the other ones on the campus so everyone was happy! Until 90% of them caught fire. All the power cables (or some cable) that attached to the video card was defective and would catch fire if the computer was on for more then an hour.

And when I say fire, I mean fire -- one computer melted the internal components and required an extinguisher. All the computers were pulled (no warrenty as the "cheapest bidder") and used them in the computer science degree as they were scrapped for parts basically. One day we forgot about the video card problem. Turned it on. 5 seconds smoke, 10 seconds fire. Woman panicked and screamed "fire! what do we do!?!?" I calmly walked over, looked at the flame and said "I'd suggest cutting the power"

Fire burned a few seconds more then went out.


The professor's response to it when she returned was priceless though. This thread just reminded me of that lol.