JB's Blog

Kernel fault.

So I got a job handed to me from a frustrated admin who’s been trying to fix a seemingly crazy problem.  It’s compounded because the problem was remote as well.

Symptom: User is reporting sporadic keys being pressed.

Troubleshooting: oh boy, here’s the list of things that were done before I had a look…

step 1) Assume hardware keyboard failure with laptop.  Try to get user to clean the keyboard and look for any blockages, etc.  Result: no fix.

step 2) Assume laptop’s keyboard is faulty and recommend sending in for repairs.  Configure spare laptop for user whilst machine is in repair.  Result: After an few hours usage the user rings back reporting same problem.

step 3) (next day) Assume some software being migrated between old laptop to new affecting keys being pressed.  Search google and find numerous references to crazy trojan viruses and other nasties.  Create new user login from scratch and purge user profile. Result: no fix

step 4) Assume some type of trojan, spyware, virus is affecting both laptops and begin extensive antivirus scans.  Result: no fix

So keep it simple?

I was handed this job and I asked what was the original problem?  By this stage it seemed quite convoluted and what’s worse the problem was intermitted  at best.

I remote into the Windows laptop, looked at the device manager and notice there are two keyboards listed…. I ring up the user and ask is there anything else plugged into the laptop.

Turns out he did have a device plugged into the machine.  It was an plugin for his wireless logitech mouse… turns out it was also a plugin for a wireless logitech keyboard.  The keyboard had shifted around the office over time and had somehow made it into the bottom of a filing cabinet that was being bumped once in a while by the receptionist downstairs.

So next time you come across a problem, please take a deep breath and rule out the simple things first.

With swapping this Blog out to pure SysAdmin goodness I’ve been on the hunt for a decent personal journal solution.

I’m trying out a new App called ‘Day One’ which has Mac and iPhone support.

The key feature I love is that it uses Dropbox to sync.  So you’re always up to date and have online copies of your memories.  I had a quick poke in the database and it looks like the database it keeps are simple flat file XML.

<dict> <key>Creation Date</key>
<date>2011-03-11T00:48:07Z</date> <key>Entry Text</key>
<string>The 11th of March and I’m going to attempt to try and journal….</string>

The plainer the text the better the application in my opinion.  Especially when it comes to things like Journals and information you want to keep longer then a year.

I hope the author will include picture support in future.

I’ve had this blog since 2004 and I’ve never really kept it up to date as often as I would like.

Now I have decided it’s purpose, and that’s to be a repository of knowledge for all my SysAdmin related junk.  I’m going to update it as frequently as I find new and interesting tidbits of info to share with the world.

So no more personal info, no more soppy posts, just hardcore sysadmin junk.

Now here is a photo of my dog looking very, very interested in what’s happening above.

I’ve been recommending Macbook Pro’s as replacement laptops for my clients for a while now and what’s crazy is that they’re actually buying them!

I had a strange request the other day from a user who was adamant that something was wrong with his Caps Lock key.  Working away on his machine I didn’t notice anything wrong with the key, and couldn’t find anything jamming the key.  So I wrote it off as a once off and told the user I couldn’t find anything wrong.

Time passed and a week later I had the same angry request that the Caps Lock key was annoying the user.

This time I had the user sit down and demonstrate to me their problem.  He said that it seemed like the key wasn’t responsive and began jamming away on the Caps Lock key.  Sure enough, as he smashed the key repeatedly you could see the LED light only blink sporadically at best.

I jumped on to test it myself and realised why I didn’t see it as a problem at first.  I very rarely use the Caps Lock key whilst this user uses it literally every time he wanted a Capital letter.  When I used the keyboard I didn’t pick up the problem as I naturally tapped the Caps Lock key a little longer then a normal key press.

Turns out, this is a feature and is intended to prevent people from accidentally hitting the caps lock key.  It’s been a feature since 2009 and I haven’t noticed the change.

Good news for the user I retrained him to use the Shift key instead when typing capital letters.