Here's a little advanced computer tip for you all on a Friday, definitely not based on recent personal experience.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

Here's a little advanced computer tip for you all on a Friday, definitely not based on recent personal experience.

If you have plugged in a cable, and it does not work, ensure that the end of the cable that you have plugged in is part of the same cable as the other end of the cable. This can really make a difference.

Yours bemusedly,

Neil

[podsrover@mastodon.social]

@neil that's a great tip!

[ravenlb@infosec.exchange]

@neil big Friday mood

[rail@snailedit.social]

@neil me when I learn I haven’t plugged a cable all the way in and wondering why it doesn’t work

[poleguy@mastodon.social]

@neil Evil corollary: of you want to really mess with someone's setup do not simply unplug cables. Rather swap cables at random. Leave nothing unplugged. Extra credit if you match the quality and style of their cable management aesthetic.

[barubary@infosec.exchange]

@neil Or the software equivalent: If the bug fix or feature you're trying to code is stubbornly refusing to work, ensure that the file you're editing is the same as the file being used by the build system (and that the program you're testing is the one that you've just built).

[benbradley@hachyderm.io]

@neil I was actually reading this while waiting for my PC to finish booting and the screen I was waiting to not be black was not plugged in.

[ncrazed@fd00.space]

@neil applies to rope climbing "pre-flight" checks too. Just because you're both tied into the ends of a rope correctly doesn't mean that it's the same rope.

Don't just buddy check, system check!

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@benbradley Not just me, then

[thirstybear@agilodon.social]

@neil Most excellent advice.

Also, make sure said cable has not been chewed in half by foster kittens. (There lies a sad tale of the demise of a web cam As far as possible everything I now use has replaceable cables rather than integrated)

[davidbcohen@twit.social]

@neil @TheBreadmonkey Technical support from the Viz letters page here.

[ojs@c.im]

@neil another corollary: when working in VM management, make sure your on the right host before hitting reboot on the host (that is not the host that has production VM's).

[faithfulljohn@mastodon.scot]

@neil This is not unknown to me

[tautology@infosec.exchange]

@neil I've not been this person before. No, never, well, not this week.

[slothrop@chaos.social]

@neil Ah yes!

Me recently: I’ve been doing computers professionally for more than 20 years now. I’m good at this!

Me: why won’t my second monitor turn on? Surely the display driver software is misconfigured. Let me check.

(20 minutes of focused search for the error)

Me: wait, maybe I’ll go check the HDMI cable, just to be sure.

No prizes for guessing what the problem was

[zebulonmysterioso@mas.to]

@neil so many of the fails in these replies are way too close to home.

[pavel@mastodon.arch-linux.cz]

@neil That never happened to me

(lied someone in the replies)

[alex@social.moreati.org.uk]

@neil call it a case study. Then we can all admire your level-headed holistic joined-up professional analysis, and industry best practice.