Why did you unplug when you weren't supposed to?

[draggar]

This is happening almost on a daily basis now.

Someone gets a pop up that says "critical update - please do not interrupt" or I am working remotely with them telling them that an update has to go though.

So why is it they always feel that it is OK to just unplug because they don't want to wait for it?

They don't call it a CRITICAL update just for laughs, you know.

Most of the time these people are back, yelling at me, because the update "broke" their computer. Well, if you didn't unplug it dumbass.

Oh, and now I'll need to reload the OS now so your 20-30 minute update, where you could still use the computer (just a little slower) is now a 5-7 hour reload and restore that you will have NO access to your computer.

[crashhelmet]

It's for this reason alone that I don't help our customers with firmware upgrades for their routers. Too many times, after i'e told them repeatedly not to touch anything or to connect an Ethernet cable into the router and disable the wifi connection they unplug the router or they're still connecting wirelessly. they always find ways to have what i say go in one ear and out the other and they always end up with paperweights. At this point, I've got all of the major router manufacturer's phone numbers memorized.

CH

[Racket_Man]

ahhhhhh the power of listening

If I remember correctly that when updating an IBM RS/6000 AIX box machine, the updates HAVE TO BE DONE IN A CERTAIN order or you will end up with a VERY large heavy and bulky paperweight (I think going so far as even IBM can not do a recover from out of order updates). something about the kernal and firmware being seperate things (too long ago to remember) but one HAD to be completed FULLY before starting the other.

I know of at least a couple of calls the tech support company I used to work for got in reguards to this. the only thing we could tell them was "Call IBM for further support"

[Chromatix]

On the RS/6000, the Firmware would be the local equivalent of the BIOS, which probably lived in Flash (or equivalent). And like the BIOS, the low-level routines to update the kernel probably lived inside it...

Most PCs have a removable BIOS chip, which is rarely used as such - but it's a way to recover from a complete BIOS-flashing screwup.

I'd be a little surprised if an RS/6000 didn't have one, but it would certainly need physical access and a special tool for the job. Whether it would then be able to boot far enough to redo the kernel, however, is another matter to which I don't know the answer.