It all started this morning at about 5:30, with the alarm going off. For the next two hours the day just got worse, I drove to the office and started the desktop PC after the power outage on Sunday. Then I started the Unix system, I was greeted with a long beep followed by three short beeps and then the sound of the fan running down. A quick check revealed that the problem would seem to be the EGA adapter, not enough time to investigate further I headed for the car park to await my lift to one of the other offices.
When we left it was just getting light, the conditions were good, within 20 minutes the traffic was almost as heavy as the rain. We arrived at the other office, had a quick breakfast and got ready for the conference call – using the new fangle’d video conferencing equipment. At this point we had the second failure of the day – the five Unix S.A’s. proved to be no match for the technology and after around half an hour we decided to do things the old fashioned way. After the conference call, meet a potential new member of the team, then head back to my office. Wondering what to do about the broken Unix system that I had worked on for an all to brief period in the morning.
After trying everything I could think of I was not really any further forward on the repair front and was beginning to get quite frustrated, the system obstinately refused to do anything other than produce one long beep followed by three short beeps. OK a new graphics adapter it is then, a quick trip to the computer store and we’re ready to “Rock n Roll”.
The new adapter is fitted, the system is closed up and powered on. The sound of a long beep followed by three short beeps proves to be too much, I find that the server is unable or unwilling to defend itself. After a few minutes I calm down, the machine is taken apart and all connections are tested – the original graphics adapter is reinstated and the server is powered on. The resultant short beep, followed by the boot sequence on the screen proved to just add the frustration. A quick helping of humble pie at the computer shop as I try to convince the sales assistant that I’m a clueless customer, not too difficult in reality. And it’s of home – on my way through the pouring rain I decide that on balance, it’s a beautiful day – mostly!