Ken Sletten <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>We had something unusual happen both yesterday and
>today:  Short duration power failures on both days, and in
>both cases our Series 957 was NOT successful in
>completing the power fail recovery cycle.  All attempts at
>TC and/or RS were no-go;  in both cases we had to resort
>to turning off the power switch on the SPU cabinet.
>In the last month or so we have had a couple other cases
>where power fail recovery on our 957 was unsuccessful,
>but not to the extent that cycling SPU power was required.
>Note we have been on X.50.24 for about seven weeks.
>
<<explicit details deleted>>
>
 
Ken (et al),
 
            The number one cause of unrecovered PFAILS is sloppy
power when power is restored. After a power outage all kinds of
things are powering up and causing undetectable brownouts and
sags and surges. A good line conditioner (isolation AND regulation)
will prevent these anomalies from reaching the system and its
core components.
 
            The next time you encounter a PFAIL and the system
seems to hang up, try generating a PFAIL of your own. Pull the
power cord on the CPU (to kick it into battery back-up), cycle
power on the console and external discs and tapes, then plug the
CPU back in. This will cause the system to go through PFAIL
RECOVERY with, hopefully, clean power and in most cases will
bring the system back to life without the need for a restart.
 
            There is always the possibility that there is a CPU
or power supply problem with your system and that probably needs
to be checked out. However, I have used the above technique, very
successfully, for a lot of years on a lot of different 3000's and
PA3000's. I hope this helps.
 
--
                            --Pete Crosby
 
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