My explanation was not clear. I believe the serge damaged the port not the cable, which is why I am seeking software to test the integrity of internal things like the motherboard. My apartment is the upper basement of a house, where hydro is a part of my rent. However outlets on this floor seem to share circuits with other things both on this floor and likely in the rest of the house which may not be wired well. for example the fridge is on an outlet with other items, so, at least according to those who have already investigated a slight surge or feedback may be being sent. I suspect one of my older mac laptops has paid the price, my stereo which was just refurbished will stop, if something elsewhere int the house is turned on those kinds of things. Have to run extensions because the outlets are all under the radiators etc. The thing is though I cannot be sure just what is damaged, without a tool to test the internal items like the board itself. I only know the machine would not speak, even though sighted help at the time indicated the software was loading on the screen. Kare On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
| From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
| When the issue started, it turned out that the machine was working, but the | port had stopped.
Correctly diagnosing a problem is often the first 90% of fixing it. It often isn't easy. (Often it is easy, but we don't remember those events.)
| However the real issue, how my landlord manages hydro in my apartment, means | that the issue as it did last night can start again.
How does your landlord manage hydro?
It is unlikely that a hydro problem will damage a serial cable. I think that a surge powerful enough to melt copper would first fry the electronics.
Serial cables can be damaged by rabbits, by wheely chairs, by desk drawers, by excessive flexing and other physical trauma. The soldering of the connectors can fail due to mechanical stress (especially home-made cables). Pins can get bent and even break. Over the years, contact oxidization can happen.
<http://melslilzoo.blogspot.com/2016/09/rabbit-proofing-for-your-indoor-rabbit.html> This contains a picture of a rabbit laying waste to cables on a desk. My experience is that they find cables on the floor, behind a desk. Or ones that come too close to their cage.
| Please do not feel you are not providing solutions, because you have in the | past just as here.
I'm glad to be corrected. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk