Apple power supply problems

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Thu Oct 8 19:43:48 1998

Eric Smith wrote:
>
> Marvin replied:
> > whatever reason, I didn't find with the VOM. Running it a short time with
> > the fuse shorted out heated up the chip and I was able to feel where the
> > problem was. Troubleshooting vs normal operation :).
>
> Not so bad if it was something common and easily replaceable. But how
> would you have felt if the problem had turned out to be a $0.05 shorted
> passive compenent which caused then caused the failure of a rare or
> exepnsive chip? Remember, the fuse isn't to protect the component that
> failed and caused the problem, it's to protect the rest of the components
> that are still OK (*).
>
> IMNSHO, it is almost criminally negligent to suggest shorting a fuse to
> anyone as a troubleshooting technique.

IMNSHO, there are many troubleshooting techniques, and part of being able to
do effective troubleshooting is knowing when to use what technique. Like
writing robust code, error checking is probably 80% of the code bulk (okay,
slight overstatement) and when I talk about troubleshooting techniques, I
leave out the disclaimers most of the time. I tend to assume that whoever
trys them has the background to know when they are applicable. When I talk
about shorting out a fuse, it is assumed that other common troubleshooting
techniques have failed.
Received on Thu Oct 08 1998 - 19:43:48 BST