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Article #645

Re: Floppy Disk / Toilet Flushing

#645
From: tur... James Turner
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 1989 23:43
42 lines
2636 bytes
a...@grendal.Sun.COM (Andrew MacRae) writes:

>While with Xerox AI, I heard about the following bug report...

>It seems that an AI researcher had one of the Xerox 1108 LISP machines
>at his cabin up in the mountains.  His cabin was isolated and he used
>a generator to provide electricity.  The 1108 in general was hardy enough
>to run off of the generator, but the eight inch floppy drive was sensitive
>to power fluctuations.  The result was that the floppy would report data
>errors if used right after the cabin's toilet had been flushed as the
>water pump would kick in, lowering the amount of power available to the
>LISP machine.  (The hard drive didn't seem to be affected.)

>Thus an official bug report was created and entered... "Floppy disk drive
>reports errors when toilet is flushed."

>					Andrew MacRae

Hi Andy!

I got to deinstall that machine (it was a loaner), and it really was in an
isolated spot.  Little farmhouse sitting at the top of a mountain in NH.

The day I pulled it out, the owner wasn't there and the only other occupant 
of the farm refused to help me carry it because of a bad back (if you've
ever tried to lift an 1108, you know why he was hesitant).

Adding to the fun was the fact that the ground was extremely muddy so I 
couldn't wheel it out to my car.  Getting it in the trunk was a real 
truss-buster...

And then there was the time I had to help carry an 1108 up a spiral
staircase...

*******************************************************************************
* James M. Turner                   *      Great moments in Aviation #4:      *
* System Engineer, Northeast Region * Controller Ray Darr breaks the all time *
* Solbourne Computer, Inc.          *  record when he simultaneously vectors  *
*                                   *   94 targets through the New York TCA.  *
* tur...@Soleast.Solbourne.COM      *  He is relieved from his shift when he  *
* (617) 273-3313                    *     orders a seagull to squawk 1200     *
*******************************************************************************
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Message-ID: <58@soleast.Solbourne.COM>
Path: mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!samsung!soleast!turner
References: <240@sixhub.UUCP> <129613@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>

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Path: mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!samsung!soleast!turner
From: tur...@soleast.Solbourne.COM (James Turner)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Floppy Disk / Toilet Flushing
Message-ID: <58@soleast.Solbourne.COM>
Date: 26 Dec 89 23:43:38 GMT
References: <240@sixhub.UUCP> <129613@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Distribution: alt
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Burlington, MA
Lines: 42
Posted: Wed Dec 27 00:43:38 1989
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