tech stories #2
a new update already! for the past few days we've been working on a customer's machine. he dropped it off for a simplistic cleanup, but because of his nonchalant attitude, i did not bother turning it on and checking it out before he left. simple cleanup, right? well, when we put the machine on the bench, it did not power up. it turned on, but there was no video on the screen. so, we begin tearing the entire machine, trying to diagnose why it's giving these problems when there was no mention of any power-related issues when the machine was dropped off. two to three days elapse, and we're out of options. we call the customer to tell them their motherboard is blown, as that is the only option when faced with a condition such as this. they begin to go into "well it worked fine when i dropped it off, blah blah blah". reluctant to argue, we begin trying to figure out the next step. ultimately, it came down to, "okay, tell this guy sorry, but he's out of luck. fix it or don't". knowing the position this puts me in, i decide to tear the machine apart even further, taking the entire motherboard out of the case to ensure it's not shorting against metal in the chassis, reseating the CPU, the whole nine yards. lo and behold, it boots up. put it back in the case, it boots up sporadically. we are essentially at a loss. why is this happening?
the customer calls today. we go through what's going on, it won't boot up, we've gotten it to boot up here and there but nothing concrete to form a perfect diagnosis. he tells us, "well, you know about the reset button, right?" UM, NO? "well, every day i have to turn it on, wait five seconds, hit the reset button, then it turns on." .... "this would have been pertinent information when you dropped the machine off." we investigate further. as luck (?) may have it, he's right. the computer turns on flawlessly with his directions. this certainly indicates an issue with the motherboard, but if it works for him, i guess we don't fix it. we begin working on the cleanup that he requested, after spending hundreds of dollars in lost time trying to figure out a key element of his quirky machine that he neglected to mention.
the customer calls today. we go through what's going on, it won't boot up, we've gotten it to boot up here and there but nothing concrete to form a perfect diagnosis. he tells us, "well, you know about the reset button, right?" UM, NO? "well, every day i have to turn it on, wait five seconds, hit the reset button, then it turns on." .... "this would have been pertinent information when you dropped the machine off." we investigate further. as luck (?) may have it, he's right. the computer turns on flawlessly with his directions. this certainly indicates an issue with the motherboard, but if it works for him, i guess we don't fix it. we begin working on the cleanup that he requested, after spending hundreds of dollars in lost time trying to figure out a key element of his quirky machine that he neglected to mention.