From: Rollo.Ross@levels.unisa.edu.au
Newsgroups: unisa.help
Subject: Re: 3 VAX machines not working in library.
Date: 7 Sep 92 13:15:20 +0930
Organization: University of South Australia

In article <18587.2aab3133@levels.unisa.edu.au>, 9207987h@levels.unisa.edu.au
writes:

>>>> There are 3 VAX machines currently not working in the library, L 3-17.
>>> 	It would be sensible if you reported [...] what the problem is.
> how would I know what the problem is? When the screen is
> just sitting there blank, and all attempts to make something happen
> fail, that's usually when the "experts" come in. That's what they're
	Thank you. That's a clue. Now we know we're not looking for the
problem "the screen gets corrupted and even when you redraw it with CTRL/N it
still comes out wrong", for example. 

>>> No-one is very keen to exhaustively test 20 terminals trying to find which
>>>ones you are talking about.
> Exhaustively test??!! Pah! How about walking into the room and looking at a
> few screens. Maybe the blank ones could be the terminals which aren't
> working! They could also be the ones which no student seems to be
> working on.....
	Experience shows that at least half the problems reported by 
first-years are not equipment failures, but are simple operational problems
like: it's not plugged in; someone's pressed CTRL/S; the terminal setup has 
been interfered with. These problems are likely to be fixed by someone with a
little understanding before we even hear about them. Before we rush off to
dismantle the terminals which happen to be idle at the time, we'd like to know 
that we're looking at the right terminal, and that the fault is still there. 

>>> Also, hardware problems at the Levels should be reported to the operators,
>>> phone 3086 or mail to CCOPR.
> Weren't you the one Mr. Ross asking students to use this newsgroup to
> report such terminal failures/problems? I think so. 
	What I actually said (in message <17940.2a52c3c9@levels.unisa.edu.au>,
item 102 in unisa.help on Levels) was:
|	Better still, send mail to HELP (or HELP@LEVELS, if you're not on the
|Levels cluster). That's an alias that gets redirected to someone else when I'm 
|on leave.
|	I suggest posting to News if the answer is likely to be helpful
|to others, mailing to HELP if it's not going to interest other people.

	9207987H continues:
> Perhaps a little sign could be put up in each computer room - "If there are
> any terminal problems phone 3086 or mail CCOPR" - could be useful. 
	What an excellent idea! How about a blue plate, 9cm by 5cm, glued to 
every single piece of computing equipment, saying "For hardware faults, 
phone the Computer Centre operators", and giving the phone numbers. The plate 
could even have the equipment number on it, so we'd know which particular 
piece of equipment was faulty. Then all we'd have to do is persuade people to 
follow the instructions. Should be a cinch!

                                    Rollo Ross, Network Manager (CLW campuses)

Computer Centre,  University of South Australia, The Levels, SA 5095, Australia
Ph +61 8 302 3158 Fax 302 3385 DTE 505282622004  Rollo.Ross@Levels.UniSA.Edu.Au
--------------------------------------------
Student: Doctor, one of my body parts isn't working.
Doctor:  Which body part would that be, and what seems to be the problem?
Student: It's the one that's not being used, of course.
Doctor:  (Thinks: Shall I advise brain surgery or castration?) Mumble.
#! rnews 4010