TICTH all my Apple devices. First, the newish iPad Pro that was working perfectly at 11:30 p.m. Thursday was deader than the proverbial on Friday morning. Then, also on Friday, my iPhone 8 collapsed and had to be rebooted - no, not just rebooted, but Restored to Factory Settings. (These are now words that reduce me to a mass of quivering, weeping helplessness.)
Not only did it take hours, but Apple Support lied to me; my phone is nothing like (rather than "Just like!") it was before, with my apps scattered over eight screens instead of a much more compact three, and with apps I'd long since deleted (like - ptui! - Facebook) restored, and apps I used every day disappeared. Oh, and I'm now stuck with iOS 14, which is a desperate mess.
Because I couldn't get an appointment to fix my iPad until Saturday afternoon, I bethought me of my old iPad2. I couldn't remember the passcode, and Apple Support told me that I have to - wait for it - Restore it to Factory Settings. Tonight I gave up and tried to do that, and failed utterly.
I've never been a fan of cults; Apple may have taken the #1 spot in that lineup. If any kindly person has any good suggestions for getting the Ancient iPad back online, please PM me! I'm a justly desperate woman.
Not an Apple person. But I did a Duck Duck Go search on "how to revive an ancient iPad". Here are some results. You might want to check out the last one first. It mentions using the "iforgot" part of Apple's site, applying for an "account recovery waiting period", etc.
You're welcome. I've had multiple electronic things go wonky at the same time, too. Not fun. I sometimes wonder if they picked up some damaging signal, electromagnetic whatsit, or whatever.
I knew someone who had an ongoing problem with cars, electronics, etc. They'd stop working at the worst times, like rush hour on a crowded bridge. Kind of like people who can't wear an analog watch because they've got some sort of magnetic interference.
You're welcome. I've had multiple electronic things go wonky at the same time, too. Not fun. I sometimes wonder if they picked up some damaging signal, electromagnetic whatsit, or whatever.
I knew someone who had an ongoing problem with cars, electronics, etc. They'd stop working at the worst times, like rush hour on a crowded bridge. Kind of like people who can't wear an analog watch because they've got some sort of magnetic interference.
Anyway, I hope it works out well for you soon.
ETA: Does this leave you phoneless? FWIW, if you don't currently have a landline, you might consider it. I still use mine for most things. Much less fuss, IMHO. Doesn't have to be charged, and it still works if the electricity goes out.
When we had landlines in Canada, they didn't work during power cuts - there was a sort of "mother-socket" that was plugged into the mains, so, no power, no phones.
Our mobiles would work until they ran out of juice ...
Just checked the validity of this Re landlines with my home expert, who said that if we had power cuts, he has two handsets which could be plugged in to the telephone connection while the digital handsets are not working.
Indeed. Why the blazes do they never ask you if you want their bloody updates, or whatever shiny (and probably useless) new toy they're trying to peddle?
The golden rule of engineering (and other disciplines) has clearly passed them by:
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!
I'm afraid this is no longer the rule in IT. It's what led to WannaCry. My job is mostly fixing stuff which isn't broken, because people keep finding new ways in which it can be broken for nefarious purposes.
Tech companies force updates because otherwise a sizeable proportion of people never update and never realise the reason they are running slow is they've been hijacked to send out thousands of phishing emails.
Fair point @KarlLB - I hadn't appreciated the problems of phishing...
I let my laptop (Windows 8.1, I think) update itself, as that seems sensible, but I have McAfee LiveSafe as an extra. Mr M appears to keep up-to-date with scans etc., and renews himself in January.
I was therefore surprised to find an email yesterday, purportedly from McAfee, warning me that my subscription had expired. Ha! I immediately consigned the offending message to Spam, and therefore TICTH the barstewards who thought they could fool me...
Also TICTH the Corrosive Properties Of Soot. Preparing the Ark's stove for its winter duties (it's an old Rayburn solid-fuel range), I thought to check the chimney above deck. It immediately fell down, having rotted through its base support, where it comes up through the deck from below. The chimney is, in fact, in two parts, and it was the steel joint that had rusted - the vitreous enamel bits are remarkably resilient.
Norty Wurds were uttered, I'm afraid, but I have a Cunning Plan™, and have ordered a new part to act as a joint between the chimney in the galley and its extension above deck. This latter, too, will be renewed, but it's as well this happened now rather than in the middle of bl**dy January...
Ah! the joys of living in something different from anyone else's abode...
When we had landlines in Canada, they didn't work during power cuts - there was a sort of "mother-socket" that was plugged into the mains, so, no power, no phones.
Our mobiles would work until they ran out of juice ...
That sounds like a cordless phone on a land line, which needs to be powered for the 'base station' (that's the 'mother socket') and for charging its batteries.. If you have a plain old fashioned plug-in phone, it is powered by the phone line and carries on working without a domestic supply. We have cordless phones, but one old one is always plugged in ready for power cuts.
I had always been told to have a "non-cordless" landline telephone that would work if I lost my power. About a year ago, my telephone company installed a new modem for my telephones and internet. Even that "non-cordless" telephone goes through it. One day when I briefly lost power I tried it out just to see if it worked. Nope. It goes through my modem, and my modem does not work without electricity.
Thanks. Bishops Finger. Unfortunately, they have tied in the telephone line to the modem somehow. It's no problem -- we rarely lose power, and I have my "flip phone" if needed.
Ah - I thought perhaps they had. My modem/computer etc. were added after the phone line was put in (O! so many years ago!), so the modem can easily be disconnected and bypassed...
I have paid extra for an Actual Landline (wired in, no modem or electricity required to run it, and have an old corded phone in case of need) for almost five years, since my father was in hospice, I was going through some cancer crisis or other, and the wireless system was a sometime thing. I had to have a communications device, and this ensured it.
Since, these days, it's mostly spammers who call the landline, I have contemplated getting rid of it - but I still want to have a means to make a call no matter what. I may just leave it to my trustee to get rid of it when the time comes.
We've got a landline (it was cheaper to keep it than to get rid of it, go figure) and yes, the spammers and election idiots call it constantly. But we haven't yet found a non-electricity dependent phone for it. I may have to hit up Ebay.
I'm looking at that site named for a big river. I'm looking for a new landline phone as a backup, because my current one is wearing out. And my cell reception where I live is very bad.
I searched the site for "corded landline phone", and got lots of hits at various prices. You might also try the discount sections, like Warehouse.
Some phones like that do require batteries, though, for a keypad light, caller ID, etc. Frankly, those have never worked well on my current phone--possibly needed a better band of battery.
This is raising questions in my mind. I do have what I call a landline, and a corded phone for emergencies which goes straight into the wall. But it isn't the BT line any more, it is a line which comes in with my broadband. It has worked when I set up a corded phone for my guest, but I am now woneering if it will work if anything goes wrong with the cable supplier. The wire is definitely separate from the fibre connection to the router.
Ah - I thought perhaps they had. My modem/computer etc. were added after the phone line was put in (O! so many years ago!), so the modem can easily be disconnected and bypassed...
That's the normal way. I have a splitter and filter at the wall and the phone is plugged into one bit and the modem/router the other. The phone is not in the slightest dependent on the LAN.
Me, too. I miss the soothing sound of the rotating dial; and playing with dialing to get to the place and rhythm where you don't have to let the dial go all the way back after the number. Small pleasures.
When I was doing the aforementioned shopping last night, I noticed there were actual rotary phones with a working rotary dial! (Not the fake ones, where the dial doesn't move, and there's a push-button inside every hole on the dial.)
Evidently, these are some sort of hybrid, because the listing said they work with current phone lines. Traditional rotary phones use a different kind of line, 'cause different tech. Maybe these have some kind of adapter inside?
Anyway, I wouldn't mind having one. But traditional rotary phones take longer to dial, and that could be a problem in an emergency.
When we moved in here there was a Big Button land line phone left by the previous owner. It seemed to work OK, but after a while became very erratic - needed picking up & shaking before giving a dialling tone, and didn't always connect with an incoming call. I put it down to the copious gritty dust that got everywhere during the renovations.
Eventually we gave up trying, and just used the one in the bedroom, an old, basic, BT handset which we had brought with us (We had brought two, but gave one to a charity shop before the Big Button became a problem)
Thanks to the discussion upthread I took a look at the big river site, thinking I could get a replacement handset for the hall - while browsing I saw that a very similar one to ours needed batteries to make all its 'features' work. Lightbulb moment!
I turned the non-functioning handset over, saw a battery compartment and opened same. Lo and behold - batteries, one of which was corroded. Clearly the cause of our telephone problems.
Having had a couple of battery corrosion problems with other small gadgets which had caused permanent damage I didn't hold out much hope, but a quick rub with a bit of sandpaper on the affected terminal and a set of new batteries - all is resolved.
Thanks to Golden Key for investigating the big river site for corded phones, otherwise we'd never have thought about duff batteries - or batteries at all!
I would send it to hell but it seems hell is here. Wildfire 15 miles from here, zero containment, and high winds forecast for the next two days. Mr. Image had several seizures last week and hurt his back and leg and can not walk and remains in bed. This would make evacuation very difficult.
Is there some kind of central number you can call to let the first responders and the powers that be know, so they can help figure something out?
I'm in SF, so not in a direct fire area. But from what I've heard on the news during various fires, over the years, they want to know that kind of thing ahead of time.
FWIW, YMMV. Best of luck.
ETA: Maybe Mr. I's doctor(s) could help? E.g., confirm his health status to necessary parties?
Thank you golden key I have already made plans to make calls Monday morning, to plan ahead. Hoping that the three fires now going will be blown away from us. I am only concerned about one at the moment. I am also praying for those in Napa and Santa Rosa in the path. It is heartbreaking what is burning.
Thanks, HA. As soon as I'd hit "post comment", I wondered if that was what it was. I think I'd be in sympathy with Karl - I suspect it's not something I'd want to have shoved into my earholes, as it were!
What is it with builders and loud *music*? It doesn't seem to make them get the job finished more quickly...
I recall walking to work in London across the concourse of Waterloo Station in the rush-hour. Martial music, of the brass-band variety, was sometimes relayed over the tannoy, to get the sheeple moving faster!
I believe that classical music is sometimes played outside Underground stations in "difficult" areas, as the yoofs wot congregate there don't like it and move on ...
Electronic dance music, lots of it in this house as husband and younger son are fans.
You have my deepest, deepest sympathy.
In this house, music runs from Gong to Metallica via Hawkwind, Tull and Fairport. I get a lot of stick that my music's old, but it's not my fault that there's not much productivity in the genres that appeal to me. I like lyricism, melody and harmony (which yes, Metallica do provide); rhythm doesn't do much for me beyond being a framework to hang the rest on; in fact if its too prominent and insistent it irritates me*, and dance of any kind doesn't interest me in the slightest.
I'm reminded of a shopping trip in Oxford Street, when I was getting thoroughly fed up of the (lack of) quality of muzak in the various shops I'd been in.
Eventually I went into Laura Ashley (a favourite of mine in those days) and although I hadn't really intended to buy anything (I usually waited for the January sales and it was November) I bought a scarf or something similarly small and inexpensive purely because their piped music was Vaughan Williams' Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which lifted my mood and restored my faith in human nature!
I remember - many years ago - going into a bookshop in Lisbon and recognising that the music they were playing was from Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha". I felt very pleased with myself!
So you should - a very obscure opera, to say the least!
(I once went to a fairly professional production of it, accompanied by a Kiwi lady friend. We decided - reluctantly - to stick it out for the second half, but a lot of people didn't....)
Comments
Not only did it take hours, but Apple Support lied to me; my phone is nothing like (rather than "Just like!") it was before, with my apps scattered over eight screens instead of a much more compact three, and with apps I'd long since deleted (like - ptui! - Facebook) restored, and apps I used every day disappeared. Oh, and I'm now stuck with iOS 14, which is a desperate mess.
Because I couldn't get an appointment to fix my iPad until Saturday afternoon, I bethought me of my old iPad2. I couldn't remember the passcode, and Apple Support told me that I have to - wait for it - Restore it to Factory Settings. Tonight I gave up and tried to do that, and failed utterly.
I've never been a fan of cults; Apple may have taken the #1 spot in that lineup. If any kindly person has any good suggestions for getting the Ancient iPad back online, please PM me! I'm a justly desperate woman.
Not an Apple person. But I did a Duck Duck Go search on "how to revive an ancient iPad". Here are some results. You might want to check out the last one first. It mentions using the "iforgot" part of Apple's site, applying for an "account recovery waiting period", etc.
--If you want to try again to reset/restore your iPad, maybe written instructions would be easier?
"If you forgot the passcode on your iPad, or your iPad is disabled" (Apple Support).
--"If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch" (Apple Support).
NOTE: if you look towards the bottom of the page, there's a link for the Communities section of Support. Maybe another user could help you.
--"Recover your Apple ID when you can’t reset your password. If you use two-factor authentication and can’t sign in or reset your password, you can regain access after an account recovery waiting period." (Apple Support)
Best of luck!
It's definitely discouraging, particularly when it turns into major problems with three devices at once...
I knew someone who had an ongoing problem with cars, electronics, etc. They'd stop working at the worst times, like rush hour on a crowded bridge. Kind of like people who can't wear an analog watch because they've got some sort of magnetic interference.
Anyway, I hope it works out well for you soon.
ETA: Does this leave you phoneless? FWIW, if you don't currently have a landline, you might consider it. I still use mine for most things. Much less fuss, IMHO. Doesn't have to be charged, and it still works if the electricity goes out.
Our mobiles would work until they ran out of juice ...
I'm afraid this is no longer the rule in IT. It's what led to WannaCry. My job is mostly fixing stuff which isn't broken, because people keep finding new ways in which it can be broken for nefarious purposes.
Tech companies force updates because otherwise a sizeable proportion of people never update and never realise the reason they are running slow is they've been hijacked to send out thousands of phishing emails.
I let my laptop (Windows 8.1, I think) update itself, as that seems sensible, but I have McAfee LiveSafe as an extra. Mr M appears to keep up-to-date with scans etc., and renews himself in January.
I was therefore surprised to find an email yesterday, purportedly from McAfee, warning me that my subscription had expired. Ha! I immediately consigned the offending message to Spam, and therefore TICTH the barstewards who thought they could fool me...
Also TICTH the Corrosive Properties Of Soot. Preparing the Ark's stove for its winter duties (it's an old Rayburn solid-fuel range), I thought to check the chimney above deck. It immediately fell down, having rotted through its base support, where it comes up through the deck from below. The chimney is, in fact, in two parts, and it was the steel joint that had rusted - the vitreous enamel bits are remarkably resilient.
Norty Wurds were uttered, I'm afraid, but I have a Cunning Plan™, and have ordered a new part to act as a joint between the chimney in the galley and its extension above deck. This latter, too, will be renewed, but it's as well this happened now rather than in the middle of bl**dy January...
Ah! the joys of living in something different from anyone else's abode...
That sounds like a cordless phone on a land line, which needs to be powered for the 'base station' (that's the 'mother socket') and for charging its batteries.. If you have a plain old fashioned plug-in phone, it is powered by the phone line and carries on working without a domestic supply. We have cordless phones, but one old one is always plugged in ready for power cuts.
(Assuming you haven't thought of that already!)
Since, these days, it's mostly spammers who call the landline, I have contemplated getting rid of it - but I still want to have a means to make a call no matter what. I may just leave it to my trustee to get rid of it when the time comes.
I'm looking at that site named for a big river. I'm looking for a new landline phone as a backup, because my current one is wearing out. And my cell reception where I live is very bad.
I searched the site for "corded landline phone", and got lots of hits at various prices. You might also try the discount sections, like Warehouse.
Some phones like that do require batteries, though, for a keypad light, caller ID, etc. Frankly, those have never worked well on my current phone--possibly needed a better band of battery.
Anyway, YMMV. Good luck!
That's the normal way. I have a splitter and filter at the wall and the phone is plugged into one bit and the modem/router the other. The phone is not in the slightest dependent on the LAN.
Me, too. I miss the soothing sound of the rotating dial; and playing with dialing to get to the place and rhythm where you don't have to let the dial go all the way back after the number. Small pleasures.
When I was doing the aforementioned shopping last night, I noticed there were actual rotary phones with a working rotary dial! (Not the fake ones, where the dial doesn't move, and there's a push-button inside every hole on the dial.)
Evidently, these are some sort of hybrid, because the listing said they work with current phone lines. Traditional rotary phones use a different kind of line, 'cause different tech. Maybe these have some kind of adapter inside?
Anyway, I wouldn't mind having one. But traditional rotary phones take longer to dial, and that could be a problem in an emergency.
But it's cool that these exist!
I prefer the international standard 2020-03-08 or spell out the month name. 08 Mar 2020.
Eventually we gave up trying, and just used the one in the bedroom, an old, basic, BT handset which we had brought with us (We had brought two, but gave one to a charity shop before the Big Button became a problem)
Thanks to the discussion upthread I took a look at the big river site, thinking I could get a replacement handset for the hall - while browsing I saw that a very similar one to ours needed batteries to make all its 'features' work. Lightbulb moment!
I turned the non-functioning handset over, saw a battery compartment and opened same. Lo and behold - batteries, one of which was corroded. Clearly the cause of our telephone problems.
Having had a couple of battery corrosion problems with other small gadgets which had caused permanent damage I didn't hold out much hope, but a quick rub with a bit of sandpaper on the affected terminal and a set of new batteries - all is resolved.
Thanks to Golden Key for investigating the big river site for corded phones, otherwise we'd never have thought about duff batteries - or batteries at all!
Is there some kind of central number you can call to let the first responders and the powers that be know, so they can help figure something out?
I'm in SF, so not in a direct fire area. But from what I've heard on the news during various fires, over the years, they want to know that kind of thing ahead of time.
FWIW, YMMV. Best of luck.
ETA: Maybe Mr. I's doctor(s) could help? E.g., confirm his health status to necessary parties?
Not helped by the fact I have a particular loathing for EDM.
I recall walking to work in London across the concourse of Waterloo Station in the rush-hour. Martial music, of the brass-band variety, was sometimes relayed over the tannoy, to get the sheeple moving faster!
You have my deepest, deepest sympathy.
In this house, music runs from Gong to Metallica via Hawkwind, Tull and Fairport. I get a lot of stick that my music's old, but it's not my fault that there's not much productivity in the genres that appeal to me. I like lyricism, melody and harmony (which yes, Metallica do provide); rhythm doesn't do much for me beyond being a framework to hang the rest on; in fact if its too prominent and insistent it irritates me*, and dance of any kind doesn't interest me in the slightest.
*Drumming circles at festivals drive me insane.
Maybe so they can hear it over the sound of their building?
I'm sure that's why it's on at the volume it is, but can't at least some of them share my music taste? Just occasionally?
The ideal piece though would be 4'33".
Eventually I went into Laura Ashley (a favourite of mine in those days) and although I hadn't really intended to buy anything (I usually waited for the January sales and it was November) I bought a scarf or something similarly small and inexpensive purely because their piped music was Vaughan Williams' Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which lifted my mood and restored my faith in human nature!
Did you...er...take your time in choosing said scarf?
(I once went to a fairly professional production of it, accompanied by a Kiwi lady friend. We decided - reluctantly - to stick it out for the second half, but a lot of people didn't....)
Even though I'll probably wish I hadn't asked...
Thx.