mp3jrick
What a pattern, it seems my PC knows my gig scedule.
I can pound this system every single night of the week, but come Saturday it's time for trouble.
Now I know it's easy to sit back and read and say, ok I would have found that, so would I.
The test of ones capability comes when all hell breaks loose, the clock is running, your nuts are in the vice and you are thinking about "plan B" engagement.
So the story goes like this: I get up yesterday, Saturday around 7am and go to the studio and boot up.
Been ripping all week to vob and now building urban sets for mixing.
As I begin I realize I didn't turn on the projector, so I have to reboot.
I slap vdj shut with TM and close.
When I go to reboot the projector does it's search and then the screen goes black along with my monitor, pissa, here we go.....saturday.
That's gotta be it, we will just eliminate saturday and this will never happen again....
Riiight.
So naturally i'm seeing power but no boot and pull the case to check the bios/mb battery and voltage level.
It is 3 mos old and perfect @ 2.98VDC, what did I expect....I'm thinking how many other systems I have active that never have had the battery looked at and changed, this is bullshit.
Not seeing bios, so it's not windows or hardware I figure.
Now this is where common sence in thoubleshooting comes into play.
The key words for troubleshooting are: 1) Perception, because you have to see the problem in order to fix it and know you fixed it. 2) Common sence, because logic is what is going to prevent a reoccurence for making your day or night again.
Find it, kill it and move on.
If I was going to add a 3rd, it really should be first, and that is composure.
You can't fix shit without a clear mind, control the panic or it will control you.
Nobody likes on the spot trouble, but if it has motors, tits or hard drives it's bound to be trouble at one time or another.
So back to the story.......After screwing around for an hour or so, I called my buddy Jason.
OMG, Jason.......1st thing in the morning......am I ready......phone messages, msn messages, nudges.
Finally he's there.
Gotta say it had him going also, right Jace?
And this is the path that found it.
Looking for jumper settings on the Asus site, he stumbled onto the troubleshooting section.
Simple as 1,2,3.
1) Power, yes.
2) Recent hardware install, if yes remove.
It was that simple.
I had installed a pci card to support my new usb mixer.
I needed more usb and opted for the usb/firewire card.
It's been fine everynight this week.
So the long winded point of this is:
1) Stay calm and composed, you can't fix it if the brain isn't at full capacity.
2) Perception, just like anything else, go back to where it last worked properly.
3) Use common sence to recognise it and kill it, so it doesn't come back.
I never sould have expected this card to prevent a boot, but it did.
An error or loss of proper function, yes.
But a no boot/black screen, doubt it, at least get through the bios then stop.
So I shifted my usb mouse to ps2 and had the extra port available for the 2nd usb on the mixer.
Could have done that originally but wanted more inputs all around.
But it's always Saturday, always, at least it happened early in the day.
It could have happened one boot later when I was at the gig, a video gig for a 16th party.
That would have been a total plane crash if that had happened.
Thank you for letting me be so lucky that it wasn't, and thanks to Jason who's common sence approach helped find the problem, I owe you one.
It is more important to post this so others benefit from this, so remember this one, it's paid for......
I can pound this system every single night of the week, but come Saturday it's time for trouble.
Now I know it's easy to sit back and read and say, ok I would have found that, so would I.
The test of ones capability comes when all hell breaks loose, the clock is running, your nuts are in the vice and you are thinking about "plan B" engagement.
So the story goes like this: I get up yesterday, Saturday around 7am and go to the studio and boot up.
Been ripping all week to vob and now building urban sets for mixing.
As I begin I realize I didn't turn on the projector, so I have to reboot.
I slap vdj shut with TM and close.
When I go to reboot the projector does it's search and then the screen goes black along with my monitor, pissa, here we go.....saturday.
That's gotta be it, we will just eliminate saturday and this will never happen again....
Riiight.
So naturally i'm seeing power but no boot and pull the case to check the bios/mb battery and voltage level.
It is 3 mos old and perfect @ 2.98VDC, what did I expect....I'm thinking how many other systems I have active that never have had the battery looked at and changed, this is bullshit.
Not seeing bios, so it's not windows or hardware I figure.
Now this is where common sence in thoubleshooting comes into play.
The key words for troubleshooting are: 1) Perception, because you have to see the problem in order to fix it and know you fixed it. 2) Common sence, because logic is what is going to prevent a reoccurence for making your day or night again.
Find it, kill it and move on.
If I was going to add a 3rd, it really should be first, and that is composure.
You can't fix shit without a clear mind, control the panic or it will control you.
Nobody likes on the spot trouble, but if it has motors, tits or hard drives it's bound to be trouble at one time or another.
So back to the story.......After screwing around for an hour or so, I called my buddy Jason.
OMG, Jason.......1st thing in the morning......am I ready......phone messages, msn messages, nudges.
Finally he's there.
Gotta say it had him going also, right Jace?
And this is the path that found it.
Looking for jumper settings on the Asus site, he stumbled onto the troubleshooting section.
Simple as 1,2,3.
1) Power, yes.
2) Recent hardware install, if yes remove.
It was that simple.
I had installed a pci card to support my new usb mixer.
I needed more usb and opted for the usb/firewire card.
It's been fine everynight this week.
So the long winded point of this is:
1) Stay calm and composed, you can't fix it if the brain isn't at full capacity.
2) Perception, just like anything else, go back to where it last worked properly.
3) Use common sence to recognise it and kill it, so it doesn't come back.
I never sould have expected this card to prevent a boot, but it did.
An error or loss of proper function, yes.
But a no boot/black screen, doubt it, at least get through the bios then stop.
So I shifted my usb mouse to ps2 and had the extra port available for the 2nd usb on the mixer.
Could have done that originally but wanted more inputs all around.
But it's always Saturday, always, at least it happened early in the day.
It could have happened one boot later when I was at the gig, a video gig for a 16th party.
That would have been a total plane crash if that had happened.
Thank you for letting me be so lucky that it wasn't, and thanks to Jason who's common sence approach helped find the problem, I owe you one.
It is more important to post this so others benefit from this, so remember this one, it's paid for......
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 1:37 pm
bogart
You are so right about being calm; Very difficult though when you get to a gig and your blood is already pumping, then something goes wrong. Fortunately you were able to fix the problem before the gig. II had a few problems when arriving at the gig and you are sooo right about Jason being able to pull us out deep s**t. You have a heck of a lot more in your system than I do so I can only imagine how you felt.
Obviously when the problem was fixed the rest of the day/evening went without a hitch.
Obviously when the problem was fixed the rest of the day/evening went without a hitch.
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 2:38 pm
mp3jrick
Perfect......., absolutely perfect.....
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 2:45 pm
DJ_whiteDVL
Rick,
I had a similar experience this saturday too.
Me and another DJ were doing a high school party and everything was going smooth...well for the first 20 minutes or so.
Then everything shuts down while everyone is dancing. One of the breakers blew. So anyhow everything comes back on except for 1 tripod with lights. I go see what the problem is following each cable and everything seems fine. So I reset the DMX box and still nothing comes on. So I guess the DMX box blew during that short out (Great). We keep the night going with only 2 lights on another tripod which seemed to go off everynow and then for no apparent reason until another DJ brings us a box full of extension cords.
So I run off and hook up all the lights seperatelly using seperate extension cords running outside of the gym and into the hallway LOL. Man that didn't look good but at least it worked...That is until 10 mins left to the end of the night when the lights went out again lol.
While we were waiting on the extension cords people tripped on the power cable to the sound system even after we tapped it so I had to go back and tape it all over again. Our low flying fog machine made quite a mess leaking water all over the place so I had to go clean it up and empty the fog machine outside.
Well Here's the breakdown of the night. First 2 hours, we've seen all the problems go off. Last 2 hours I hopped on the mic while the other DJ was mixing and kept everyone moving for the remainder of the night.
Its a good thing we were calm and were 2 guys to setup or else I think 1 DJ would have never been enough lol.
I had a similar experience this saturday too.
Me and another DJ were doing a high school party and everything was going smooth...well for the first 20 minutes or so.
Then everything shuts down while everyone is dancing. One of the breakers blew. So anyhow everything comes back on except for 1 tripod with lights. I go see what the problem is following each cable and everything seems fine. So I reset the DMX box and still nothing comes on. So I guess the DMX box blew during that short out (Great). We keep the night going with only 2 lights on another tripod which seemed to go off everynow and then for no apparent reason until another DJ brings us a box full of extension cords.
So I run off and hook up all the lights seperatelly using seperate extension cords running outside of the gym and into the hallway LOL. Man that didn't look good but at least it worked...That is until 10 mins left to the end of the night when the lights went out again lol.
While we were waiting on the extension cords people tripped on the power cable to the sound system even after we tapped it so I had to go back and tape it all over again. Our low flying fog machine made quite a mess leaking water all over the place so I had to go clean it up and empty the fog machine outside.
Well Here's the breakdown of the night. First 2 hours, we've seen all the problems go off. Last 2 hours I hopped on the mic while the other DJ was mixing and kept everyone moving for the remainder of the night.
Its a good thing we were calm and were 2 guys to setup or else I think 1 DJ would have never been enough lol.
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 6:08 pm
mp3jrick
Having 2 able people is a major asset to any stressfull situation.
Nothing beats a think tank session with an extra set of hands.
Now apply what I said about perception and common sence and see what you would do different now.
Know your load, know where your breaker/s are and tape/tag them, and their rating.
Breaker's ratings will deminish with age and use with no way to actually test them.
People tripping over cords is asking for it imo.
My biggest problem with breakers usually is idle fingers not load.
I start to see the lights go down one set at a time, as I am saying please ******* don't hit the wrong BAM!
Always wanted to make a clipped tag with DJ IN USE on it, gotta make that happen.
Another hazard in venues is tired assed outlets that have been over used, stressed and or broken.
Not much you can do on the spot, just look closely at this stuff while you have the chance.
It's the first thing I look at when setting up.
I'm sure we have some really good stories and recoveries, post 'em up.
Nothing beats a think tank session with an extra set of hands.
Now apply what I said about perception and common sence and see what you would do different now.
Know your load, know where your breaker/s are and tape/tag them, and their rating.
Breaker's ratings will deminish with age and use with no way to actually test them.
People tripping over cords is asking for it imo.
My biggest problem with breakers usually is idle fingers not load.
I start to see the lights go down one set at a time, as I am saying please ******* don't hit the wrong BAM!
Always wanted to make a clipped tag with DJ IN USE on it, gotta make that happen.
Another hazard in venues is tired assed outlets that have been over used, stressed and or broken.
Not much you can do on the spot, just look closely at this stuff while you have the chance.
It's the first thing I look at when setting up.
I'm sure we have some really good stories and recoveries, post 'em up.
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 6:22 pm
DJ_whiteDVL
yeah but the breakers that blew weren't ours hehe and we didn't have access to check out which breaker was on which outlet either. we asked the school janitors but none of them had access to the breaker boxes. Well stuff like this happens very often in schools since the electrical isn't always made for pushing 5000 watts of power through one outlet.
We all learn from these little mishaps although its what makes us better in the long run.
We all learn from these little mishaps although its what makes us better in the long run.
Posted Sun 23 Oct 05 @ 6:29 pm
Pionara
Indeed you are right WhiteDVL...you don't measure a DJ by how he copes when it's going well, you measure him by how he copes when it's going badly...
And sadly, if you don't control the panic as mentioned above, it will indeed control you!!!
Keep spinnin'
P
And sadly, if you don't control the panic as mentioned above, it will indeed control you!!!
Keep spinnin'
P
Posted Mon 24 Oct 05 @ 1:57 pm
frd1963
Breaker boxes in school gymnasiums are the worst. Have you ever accidentally turned of the gym lights and then they won't go back on because they need some special power on sequence or cool down period before they can be re-activated? I once had this problem during setup and no one knew how to get the lights back on. Ended setting up by the light of some scanners and a derby then ran the lights all night to light the room up enough to be safe for the kids. Looked cool and got lots of compliments, but wasn't quite appropriate for an elementary school dance ;)
Posted Mon 24 Oct 05 @ 8:22 pm
cyberia
"If it has motors, tits or hard drives it's bound to be trouble at one time or another."
LMAO, this should be in the quote of the day section!
LMAO, this should be in the quote of the day section!
Posted Wed 26 Oct 05 @ 1:27 am