Maybe it's not a ghost. Maybe the hardware is as flaky as I think it is.
I am trying to get consistent behavior out of some boards. Let's call them Hamsters. The Hamsters have a microprocessor and other nifty chips, and are supposed to collect data and send it over TCP/IP to a PC. The software on the PC with which the Hamsters interact indicates how many Hamsters are connected at any one time.
I've tested each of the Hamsters individually and together, so I'm sure they are all functional. When I left work last Thursday, all four were chatting happily with the PC. This morning when I power them up, only two and sometimes three connect with any consistency. I fiddle around, testing cables and connections, and eventually narrow in on the non-performing Hamster. I narrow further and determine that it's a bad cable. Then I hook all the Hamsters back up in their original configurations, bad cable and all, and suddenly all five are talking to the PC. That's right—five.
I'm wondering what established that fifth socket, seeing as how there are only four Hamsters. Data are coming in through only three of the sockets. If I had five data streams, I'd be scared.
206 words | June 14, 2004 08:12 PM | Rocket science