Please wait - I need to reboot

[Hilton]

Hi,

I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ. We get
pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We need to reboot
the computer. The emergency lights will come on for about a minute. This
happens all the time. It's perfectly normal." He rebooted, fired up the
engines, and off we went.

I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".

Hilton

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, "Hilton" > said:
>I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ. We get
>pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We need to reboot
>the computer. The emergency lights will come on for about a minute. This
>happens all the time. It's perfectly normal." He rebooted, fired up the
>engines, and off we went.
>
>I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".

At that point I'd say "I'm not trusting my life to Windows", and get off
the plane.


--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Medication did wonders for me, Dave. Perhaps it could for you, if a
crowbar and half a pound of axle grease counts as medication.
-- Red Drag Diva

[Arnold Sten]

Hilton wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ. We get
> pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We need to reboot
> the computer. The emergency lights will come on for about a minute. This
> happens all the time. It's perfectly normal." He rebooted, fired up the
> engines, and off we went.
>
> I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".
>
> Hilton
>
>
Probably a Microsoft system. I sure that Bill Gates is smiling all the
way to the bank.

[Jimbob]

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 05:58:12 GMT, "Hilton" >
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ. We get
>pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We need to reboot
>the computer. The emergency lights will come on for about a minute. This
>happens all the time. It's perfectly normal." He rebooted, fired up the
>engines, and off we went.
>
>I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".
>
>Hilton
>

Dear god, please don't let Windows CE make it into the cockpit.





Jim

http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org

[Michelle P]

I hate to say it but Windows controls the cabin functions (heat/ac,
lights) on the airbus's.
Michelle

Jimbob wrote:

>On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 05:58:12 GMT, "Hilton" >
>wrote:
>
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ. We get
>>pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We need to reboot
>>the computer. The emergency lights will come on for about a minute. This
>>happens all the time. It's perfectly normal." He rebooted, fired up the
>>engines, and off we went.
>>
>>I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".
>>
>>Hilton
>>
>>
>>
>
>Dear god, please don't let Windows CE make it into the cockpit.
>
>
>
>
>
>Jim
>
>http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org
>
>

[Casey Wilson]

Hilton, I'll bet you just opened the flood gates for another stupid
diatribe from the Windows vs. the world mob.

[Wolfgang Kemper]

Is this true? The last Airbus I was in had a LINUX based entertainment
system. (I know because they had to reboot my station)
Why should they mix operating systems?

[Darrell S]

Hilton wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I was flying (on American) from LAX to SJC today on an EMR 140 RJ.
> We get pushed back. After about 5 minutes, the captain says: "We
> need to reboot the computer. The emergency lights will come on for
> about a minute. This happens all the time. It's perfectly normal."
> He rebooted, fired up the engines, and off we went.
>
> I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".
>
> Hilton

Many airliners use FMS (Flight Management System) and no movement is allowed
while the system is "initializing". They might not have noticed that
wasn't complete before starting their pushback. It would be necessary to
"reboot". Perhaps his "stable table" for IRS use is an AHARS unit. On that
type system there are no switches to "reboot" it if it has a problem. You
have to remove normal aircraft electrical power and bring the power back on
line one side at a time within a specific time period. This starts a new
"initialization" of the gyro system. On the MD80 aircraft the captain could
have used the Ground Service power system to keep the cabin lighted with
normal power while he turned the generators off and then back on. Either
the EMR 140 RJ doesn't have that capability or the captain forgot.

--

Darrell R. Schmidt
B-58 Hustler History: http://members.cox.net/dschmidt1/
-

[Peter Duniho]

"Casey Wilson" <N2310D @ gmail.com> wrote in message
news:eDZoe.6217$KQ2.3601@trnddc08...
> Hilton, I'll bet you just opened the flood gates for another stupid
> diatribe from the Windows vs. the world mob.

Funny how you worded that. I don't know what your intent was, but it sure
reads like the "mob" you describe is the pro-Windows side, which in fact all
of the stupid replies are actually going to be (already are) from the
anti-Windows side.

[Ben Hallert]

I was on an CRJ-700 and experienced the same thing a few weeks ago,
also at LAX. Kinda disconcerting.

Regarding the poster that begged that Windows CE never make it into the
cockpit... too late! I believe some Horizon/Alaska flights use an
iPaq of some sort to do weight & balance, and maybe others do too.

[George Patterson]

Peter Duniho wrote:

> Funny how you worded that. I don't know what your intent was, but it sure
> reads like the "mob" you describe is the pro-Windows side, which in fact all
> of the stupid replies are actually going to be (already are) from the
> anti-Windows side.

I read it as if he meant "Windows vs. the world" mob. Which also parses out to
be something different from what was probably meant.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

[John Clear]

In article >,
Wolfgang Kemper > wrote:
>Is this true? The last Airbus I was in had a LINUX based entertainment
>system. (I know because they had to reboot my station)
>Why should they mix operating systems?
>

Why not? The cabin enviornmental controls are designed for Airbus,
the entertainment systems are purchased by the airlines.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

[Casey Wilson]

"George Patterson" > wrote in message
news:G10pe.1047$5M2.133@trndny06...
> Peter Duniho wrote:
>
>> Funny how you worded that. I don't know what your intent was, but it
>> sure reads like the "mob" you describe is the pro-Windows side, which in
>> fact all of the stupid replies are actually going to be (already are)
>> from the anti-Windows side.
>
> I read it as if he meant "Windows vs. the world" mob. Which also parses
> out to be something different from what was probably meant.
>
Yah, I meant the anti-Windows horde with their blatherings.

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, "Hilton" > said:
>I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".

http://zeeb.at/oops/WindowsPanel.jpg


--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation.

[Robert M. Gary]

The other day as I was boarding a new A320 I noticed the first officer
was typing on a laptop that was mounted in front of him (of course the
Airbus has no yoke so there is more room).

-Robert

[Robert M. Gary]

Windows CE is old. I run Windows SE in my cockpit.

-Robert

[Jimbob]

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:25:36 GMT, Michelle P
> wrote:

>I hate to say it but Windows controls the cabin functions (heat/ac,
>lights) on the airbus's.
>Michelle
>
>Jimbob wrote:
>

Here's the scenerio I see already.

My niece (The little spyware magnet) is surfing the net on the 777's
In Flight Entertainment system. She downloads a trojan that requires
the Captain to "Punch the Monkey" every 60 seconds so he can see the
ILS approach display.


Oh, the horror.....


Jim

http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org

[Stubby]

Paul Tomblin wrote:

> In a previous article, "Hilton" > said:
>
>>I had no idea that a pre-taxi step was "Computer: REBOOT".
>
>
> http://zeeb.at/oops/WindowsPanel.jpg
>
>
This triggered an interesting idea: the ability to ask ATC to run a
diagnostic on your onboard computer. This is like asking for a weather
check, radio check... computer check.

[Jimbob]

>This triggered an interesting idea: the ability to ask ATC to run a
>diagnostic on your onboard computer. This is like asking for a weather
>check, radio check... computer check.

What if they find your porn? ;)


Jim

http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org

[Bob Fry]

>>>>> "J" == Jimbob > writes:

J> Dear god, please don't let Windows CE make it into the cockpit.

Windows NT made it onboard a Navy guided missile cruiser with these
results:

http://www.gcn.com/gcn/1998/July13/cov2.htm

The US Navy's so-call "Smart Ship technology" left the Aegis missile
cruiser USS Yorktown dead in the water off the coast of Cape Charles,
Va. for several hours. The shutdown of the ship's propulsion was
credited to a database overflow in a Windows NT system. The crash was
caused by the inability of the OS to properly handle division by
zero. Said Anthony DiGiorgio, a civilian engineer with the Atlantic
Fleet Technical Support Center, "Using Windows NT, which is known to
have some failure modes, on a warship is similar to hoping that luck
will be in our favor." The Navy is still expected to spend $138
million expanding the "Smart Ship" program to the entire Aegis class,
and to other ships in the fleet. (Government Computer News, 13 July
1998)

[Peter Duniho]

"Casey Wilson" <N2310D @ gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Zc3pe.12210$_w.1931@trnddc01...
> Yah, I meant the anti-Windows horde with their blatherings.

And what do you know...you were exactly right. :)

[Hilton]

Darrell,

> Many airliners use FMS (Flight Management System) and no movement is
allowed
> while the system is "initializing".
[zap]

Thanks! Very interesting.

Hilton

[Peter Clark]

On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 10:13:33 -0700, "Darrell S" >
wrote:


>Many airliners use FMS (Flight Management System) and no movement is allowed
>while the system is "initializing". They might not have noticed that

I thought it was the IRU or INS that required no movement? If the
position is fed to the FMS from a GPS receiver there's no problem with
movement per-se, it just takes a little longer to finish acquisition.

And it usually would be difficult not to notice the system hadn't
finished aligning - are these things part-glass? I don't know of a
glass system that doesn't X or blank out at least the AI and nav
display whenever the system doesn't have alignment. Don't they also
have a caution "IRU x ALIGN" message on the EICAS?