• Back from being "off the grid" for a couple days. Starting the day by setting up a ProTools rig. #
• Unpacked a new iMac in the Student Ministries office for ProPresenter. Everyone in the Student Ministries dept. now wants one. #
• Taking the new ProTools rig to The Warehous for hook-up. #

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I posted a picture earlier today of a Mac that had crashed during an install DVD boot.  The machine was slated to get wiped, reloaded, and set up as a Pro Tools rig for the Main Auditorium.  Not thinking much of it, I went ahead and cleaned the machine without doing an reinstall of OS X.  I installed our audio hardware and Pro Tools on top of it, and loaded a couple sessions to test things out.  So far everything seemed to be working real well, and since I was playing drums for the rig’s first time on stage, I’d be able to further test the unit first-hand.

I carted the new rig over to the Warehouse (our Jr./Sr. High environment) and hooked it up.  It tested just fine.  However, once we started warm-up, things turned ugly.  The G5 mac locked up almost instantly when we began playing a Pro Tools-aided song.  I rebooted the machine, played the session back to make sure it was ok, and strangely, it was just fine.  However, when we went to actually play along to Pro Tools the machine crashed again.  What was WEIRD is that the mac would only seemed to crash while we were playing our instruments.

After a few more minutes of "experimentation," it became strangely apparent that the crashing was being caused by my snare drum.  Now before you write this off as "the IT guy is on weed" or something, consider the process we took to get here.

• We ran the PT track with no band, and machine did not crash.
• We ran the PT track with everyone in the band except me for a few measures.  As soon as I began to play the snare drum, the computer seized up.
• We ran the PT track again, this time with the band, and every drum on my kit except the snare.  The machine ran just fine until I started hitting my snare, after which the machine locked up again.

As it turns out, we ended up playing the worship set without and back-up tracks, and it was still good.  The whole situation is just weird though.  I know there’s an underlying cause for the crashing (why else would an OS X install DVD not boot?), but being able to trigger it with the snare drum?  That’s just goofy, and honestly, I don’t even know where to start with this one.

More on this weirdness as the situation unfolds.

This is rare, so I thought I’d grab a picture of it as a keepsake.  This happened while the system was booting an OS X install DVD.

I’m not rejoicing or anything … like I said, something this rare is worth a picture. 

• Looks like I can add "coffee machine repair" to my resum_. #
• Heard birds singing for the first time this year while walking to the car. Spring is on the way. #

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• Looks like I can add "coffee machine repair" to my resum_. #
• Heard birds singing for the first time this year while walking to the car. Spring is on the way. #

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• Feeling good because I got plenty of sleep, and also because I’m not sore from bowling. #
• @jasonpowell Try some Decyfer Down for additional crunch. #
• Chasing out some issues in New Grounds’ audio rack. Some rewiring is definitely in order here. #
• Got the New Grounds audio sorted out, but it still needs rewired. #
• Back at the church, setting up drums to practice for tomorrow. #

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• Putting the wraps on another bithday, AND sleeping in tomorrow. w00t! #
• Made some progress on our Katharion/LDAP issue today. Now eating at Big Jim’s. Best burgers ever. #

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• Got a new rack put together for some security equipment. Just need to bolt it to the floor now. #
• Just got done working out for the first time in 11 days … Feels gooood. #
• Just got a birthday present from my awesome girlfriend. Off to parents’ now for dinner. #

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• Working on UPS shutdown scripts for our servers. #
• Taking a break from work, and checking to see if Jess’s Twitter is configured right. #
• Still cracking on scripts … almost done though. #
• Finally left around 1:00am. Still can’t get pfSense to do a scripted shutdown, but at least the servers are set. #
• I feel like a purchasing agent this morning. #
• Counting and measuring for new patch cables! #
• Just watched a DeLorean pull out of our main hallway. #

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• @wantmoore I’m not much of a coffee man at the shop … I like my chai. #
• Back from the cafe … going to try to knock out the last of this cold wth some NyQuil-assisted sleep. #
• Hooray for NyQuil. I had a good sleep last night, and my cold is just about beat. #
• Finally leaving for the office. It’s going to be a late one tonight. #
• Had a good meeting with Mike and Todd…going to close a couple tickets and then head to Subway w/ Jess. #
• Just found out we’re renting a Bobcat to remove excess snow from the parking lot. Fun stuff! #

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