Please
check your cables before questioning me!
The initial news was shocking:CERN,
the European atom-smasher, had found
evidence that atomic particles could travel
faster than the speed of light!
The news shot around the world at, yes, the
speed of light, with scientists talking
about the possible death of Einstein’s
General Theory of Relativity.
CERN did insert a caveat: More tests were
needed to confirm the finding.
And now we know the sad truth: Neutrinos
don’t travel faster than
186,000-miles-per-second, or if they do,
CERN can’t prove it. Indeed, physics was
almost upended by a loose
fiber optic cableused
to connect a GPS receiver to a CERN
computer, Reuters reports.
Turns
out the problem was one familiar to everyone
who works with communications or computing
hardware: A cable.
In
this case, one that connected a GPS to a
computer to provide accurate time for the
experiment. Once the bad cable was
factored-out, neutrinos slowed down and
Einstein was redeemed.
One of the first lessons I learned in
computers — and I learned it the hard way
and repeatedly — is that the problem is
always a cable until proven otherwise. Home
entertainment installers also know this
truth. Likewise all my ham
radio buddies.
Symptoms relieved
Computer won’t turn on? That’s an unplugged
power cable. Can’t play music? Speaker
cable. Something doesn’t hear? Mic or
line-in cable.
No
display? The video cable or maybe the
display power cable. No network? That’s the
Ethernet cable. All of these can be
accidentally or intentionally pulled out.
Some
cables will fail over time. Works one day,
dead the next.
Sometimes the cable isn’t really what you
think it is — the wires don’t lead where you
expect — and the cable doesn’t work because
it’s the wrong cable. This is especially
true with new cables that you’ve never seen
work before.
Sometimes the pins in the connector become
bent or broken — so don’t force a cable
where it doesn’t want to connect. That’s
another lesson I learned the hard way.
Likewise, not connecting the cable to the
computer or device if screws are available
for that purpose.
