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From: Grant on 1 Aug 2010 21:00 On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:23:33 -0700, "JosephKK"<quiettechblue(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >Found this recently: > >++++++++++ > >Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer > >Gregg Keizer, *Computerworld*, 26 Jul 2010 > >A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon >had been freezing with a [BSOD] prior to the explosion that sank the >oil rig last April, the chief electrician aboard testified Friday at a >federal hearing. > >In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics >technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that >the rig's safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode >to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings. > >Williams said that a computer control system in the drill shack would >still record high gas levels or a fire, but it would not trigger >warning sirens, He also said that five weeks before the April 20 >explosion, he had been called to check a computer system that >monitored and controlled drilling. The machine had been locking up >for months. You'd have no data coming through." With the computer >frozen, the driller would not have access to crucial data about what >was going on in the well. > >The April disaster left 11 dead and resulted in the largest oil spill >in U.S. history. > >========== > >What can i say? MS Windows should not be used for safety critical >systems in any way. Related story in latest comp.risks says they turned off the alarm system at night so workers could sleep and not have to wake up for the frequent false alarms at 3:30 :( Grant.
From: Robert Baer on 2 Aug 2010 04:50 Richard Henry wrote: > On Aug 1, 4:23 pm, "JosephKK"<quiettechb...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> Found this recently: >> >> ++++++++++ >> >> Subject: Tech worker: 'Blue screen of death' on oil rig's computer >> >> Gregg Keizer, *Computerworld*, 26 Jul 2010 >> >> A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon >> had been freezing with a [BSOD] prior to the explosion that sank the >> oil rig last April, the chief electrician aboard testified Friday at a >> federal hearing. >> >> In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics >> technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that >> the rig's safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode >> to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings. >> >> Williams said that a computer control system in the drill shack would >> still record high gas levels or a fire, but it would not trigger >> warning sirens, He also said that five weeks before the April 20 >> explosion, he had been called to check a computer system that >> monitored and controlled drilling. The machine had been locking up >> for months. You'd have no data coming through." With the computer >> frozen, the driller would not have access to crucial data about what >> was going on in the well. >> >> The April disaster left 11 dead and resulted in the largest oil spill >> in U.S. history. >> >> ========== >> >> What can i say? MS Windows should not be used for safety critical >> systems in any way. > > Old news: > > The Yorktown lost control of its propulsion system because its > computers were unable to > divide by the number zero, the memo said. The Yorktown�s Standard > Monitoring Control > System administrator entered zero into the data field for the Remote > Data Base Manager > program. That caused the database to overflow and crash all LAN > consoles and miniature > remote terminal units, the memo said. > > http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx Whoever wrote the data entry program should be strung up buy the balls for NOT checking the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry! There is absolutely NO excuse!
From: JeffM on 2 Aug 2010 14:12 >Richard Henry wrote: >>[USS] Yorktown[...] >>http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx >> Robert Baer wrote: >Whoever wrote the data entry program >should be strung up buy the balls for NOT checking >the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry! >There is absolutely NO excuse! > The Rules of Operating System Design #1 Applications must never crash the OS. #2 APPLICATIONS MUST NEVER CRASH THE OS.
From: miso on 2 Aug 2010 15:52 On Aug 2, 11:12 am, JeffM <jef...(a)email.com> wrote: > >Richard Henry wrote: > >>[USS] Yorktown[...] > >>http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart.... > > Robert Baer wrote: > >Whoever wrote the data entry program > >should be strung up buy the balls for NOT checking > >the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry! > >There is absolutely NO excuse! > > The Rules of Operating System Design > #1 Applications must never crash the OS. > #2 APPLICATIONS MUST NEVER CRASH THE OS. It's really hard to arm chair analyze the BSOD. In an industrial environment, you have sensors going to i/o boards, noise spikes, etc. This can easily be a hardware problem. I've had usb soundcards lockup linux in the past. Current ALSA seems a bit more robust.
From: krw on 2 Aug 2010 18:45
On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 11:12:26 -0700 (PDT), JeffM <jeffm_(a)email.com> wrote: >>Richard Henry wrote: >>>[USS] Yorktown[...] >>>http://gcn.com/articles/1998/07/13/software-glitches-leave-navy-smart-ship-dead-in-the-water.aspx >>> >Robert Baer wrote: >>Whoever wrote the data entry program >>should be strung up buy the balls for NOT checking >>the validity of EVERY parameter entered during entry! >>There is absolutely NO excuse! >> > The Rules of Operating System Design >#1 Applications must never crash the OS. >#2 APPLICATIONS MUST NEVER CRASH THE OS. No. The OS must not be *able* to be crashed by an application. *WHATEVER* mischief the application tries to get into. |