The mysterous "Unplug, then replug" fix for technology: WHY?!?!?!

[SVD]

So occasionally my Internet goes dead. One of the times It did, my grandpa, who knows little of modern tech asks "Did you try unpluging it and plugging it back in after a while?" Answering no, thinking "What's that got to do with the problem, surely it's the ISP that's having issues", I begrudgingly do it anyway upon his insisting.

Whadaya know? Miracle of miracles, Internet is alive again, to my thankful and amazed chagrin. Subsequent times Internet dies it's the next thing I try after checking the network status through my ISP's phone system.

Today: Deja vu, this time the remote for the dining room satellite system. The remote wont talk to the box and change channels, access the guide, nothing! After playing around looking for manuals to the box, finding them and double checking that the box and remote were talking on the same wavelength, then thinking that we'd have to call in the experts, grandpa again comes up with the "unplug, then replug" Idea. Thinking it would do no good, I apply this sledge hammer and, again Bingo! Right as rain.

I cant get it out of my head now, what the is it with that barbaric action, which goes against my young feller technological intuition, that FIXES those kind of problems!?

 

[Brent]

It just resets stuff, like the connection. Any kind of anything with transmission data can lose a connection or signal, by unplugging it you are not only turning the whole thing off, but you are also discharging the static electricity, and when you plug it back in the device goes through its initialization routines and re-connects with whatever transmission protocol it is using. The unplug and plug back in routine also works well for computers that have a problem, I've found sometimes it is best to just turn it off, unplug and hit the power button a few times so as to drain the power from the power supply, then plug back in and turn back on. Resets do wonders for electronics.

 

[SVD]

So, lemme see if I got this straight: static bungs up the transmission protocols and equipment (or other compontents for that mater), putting them in the wrong energy state. The unplug-replug fix drains all of the energy from the system, thereby discharging the static from the transmission stuff. The replug gets them in the corect energy state to function properly. Is that right?

 

[STR]

Any number of things could be messing up you equipment. Usually it some line of code that gets itself stuck in memory and won't go away. Reseting clears the memory and allows everything to proceed. The only thing I've ever owned that isn't generally helped by a total reset is the android phone I'm writing this post from, probably because its linux core sandboxes each app and won't let one destabilize the whole system. It still has its bugs, but they're fixed by force closing the problem app and restarting it, or in extreme cases, unstalling/installing. Basically the turn on/off trick with a scalpel rather than a hammer.

The one exception being the cellular modem, if that's acting up a reboot is usually needed. Again, this is usually due to the programming getting stuck on something.

 

[Lindley]

Eh, in principal it's no different than restarting a computer after a crash. Basically, when things get themselves into any kind of bad state, you need to get them back to a known state before they can proceed; and the easiest known state to put them in manually is "off".

 

[CorporalClegg]

Maybe it was original intended to get fat Americans out of their chairs for a few minutes?

Though, along those lines I suppose it's only a matter of time before there software that can simulate the procedure so people can do it right from their computers.

 

[shivkala]

Maybe it's something put in there by tech support people. It causes a problem, requiring people to phone tech support, but it's a simple fix, meaning the tech doesn't actually have to do much on their end. Therefore, it sustains the need for technical support without generating a lot of work.

 

[Trekker4747]

I think the whole "unplug it and plug it back in" or "turn it off then turn it on" thing works a whole lot better than the "hit it with the nearest blunt object up to and including your hand" option.

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Unless you captain of the Enterprise.

Kirk-Chop!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I'm kind of fond of the "blunt object" protocol.

Or at least the "throw it against the wall" protocol.

 

[scotpens]

Shutting down and rebooting the computer works for me. More than half the time, anyway. Same for switching the modem off and back on when I have internet issues. If it works, I don't ask questions.

 

[JonathonWally]

I think the whole "unplug it and plug it back in" or "turn it off then turn it on" thing works a whole lot better than the "hit it with the nearest blunt object up to and including your hand" option.

But the beauty of percussive maintenance is that it works on people too.

 

[Trekker4747]

Shutting down and rebooting the computer works for me. More than half the time, anyway. Same for switching the modem off and back on when I have internet issues. If it works, I don't ask questions.

Eh, if something's really fucked-up on my computer I'm a bigger fan of the registry roll-back or -even harsher- the registry edit.

 

[SVD]

But the beauty of percussive maintenance is that it works on people too.

"Percussive maintenance", that's good, I gotta remember that one!

Maybe it's something put in there by tech support people. It causes a problem, requiring people to phone tech support, but it's a simple fix, meaning the tech doesn't actually have to do much on their end. Therefore, it sustains the need for technical support without generating a lot of work.

It's a CONSPIRACY, that it!

*grounding, satisfied sigh*

Now I have a cause for the problem of "all a sudden, the device isnt working": static plugging up the works or the machine falling into a rut of bad code.

This relieves the mental chaffing of "how does this fix work?"

Allways good to have the complete picture of "Problem, Cause, Solution, How it works"

Thanks all!

 

[NuFan]

Ghosts in the machine.

 

[MetalPants]

This solution is good for some automotive problems as well. Disconnect the battery overnight so as to let the vehicle's computer completely drain off energy, and then in the morning just reconnect.

 

[trekkiedane]

Maybe it's something put in there by tech support people. It causes a problem, requiring people to phone tech support, but it's a simple fix, meaning the tech doesn't actually have to do much on their end. Therefore, it sustains the need for technical support without generating a lot of work.

And hope no one will ever think of a way to automate the process...

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivk8Ez9pwCU[/yt]​

 

[paudemge]

I think unplugging and plugging back in is usually just a reset, it is just that there are a lot things that don't do a hard reset when you just hit the reset switch or even turn them off, you actually have to interrupt the power and sometimes for some length of time.

This solution is good for some automotive problems as well. Disconnect the battery overnight so as to let the vehicle's computer completely drain off energy, and then in the morning just reconnect.

I think this is a little different in that the computer in your car constantly gathers data and makes adjustments, by letting it sit over night without power it resets and clears all the learned data.

 

[MANT!]

In electronics, simply unplugging and plugging back in can fix a LOT of hardware issues...

An example, often the AFCS computer on the B-52 DAFCS (Replacing the Electron Tube A/A42G-11 autopliot) would show a failure mode (it had 3 redundant systems normally one would fail in flight to pop up the malfunction mode)..one approved fix was to disconnect the unit and re-install it after 5 minutes.. this allowed all the capacitors and buffers the time to discharge completely and cause a "Hard Reset" upon installation and power-up.

On older systems the connectors might get minor corrosion, lowering the applied voltage to the unit..some were very voltage sensitive and the minor corrosion often would be eliminated upon a re-install...


So the software "gets stuck" and cannot communicate, you remove the computer from it's power source, letting the buffers drain and upon power-up..VOLIA!! a hard reset was all that was required..

 

[RedShirt]

In electronics, simply unplugging and plugging back in can fix a LOT of hardware issues...

An example, often the AFCS computer on the B-52 DAFCS (Replacing the Electron Tube A/A42G-11 autopliot) would show a failure mode (it had 3 redundant systems normally one would fail in flight to pop up the malfunction mode)..one approved fix was to disconnect the unit and re-install it after 5 minutes.. this allowed all the capacitors and buffers the time to discharge completely and cause a "Hard Reset" upon installation and power-up.

On older systems the connectors might get minor corrosion, lowering the applied voltage to the unit..some were very voltage sensitive and the minor corrosion often would be eliminated upon a re-install...


So the software "gets stuck" and cannot communicate, you remove the computer from it's power source, letting the buffers drain and upon power-up..VOLIA!! a hard reset was all that was required..

Yep... "Reseated (computer X)" was one of the most common fixes for avionics issues on C-141s & C-5s.
It's also proven incalculably useful in dealing with industrial Programmable Logic Controllers in my civilian career - second only to powering down the whole machine, counting to 10, and starting it back up.