Well bork me sideways: A railway ticket machine lies down for a little Windoze
- Reference: 1593678605
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/02/bork/
- Source link:
[1]
Click to enlarge
It is a return to form for our old friend, the blue screen of death (BSOD), although in sideways form. Either the screen is advertising the consequences of over reliance on the wares of [2]Micros~1 , or the STOP is down to something making igdkmd64.sys very poorly.
igdkmd64.sys looks to our untrained eye to be something to do with onboard Intel graphics. While some might quibble about full-fat Windows being overkill for digital signage, shoving Nvidia or AMD's finest behind the screen would seem a step too far for most. So Intel it is.
Something has certainly made the video driver choke. Windows, being Windows, has responded with all the stability of an elephant on an electric scooter.
Still, it did manage to at least complete a physical memory dump, even if passing passengers are unlikely to heed its pleadings for the attention of a system administrator or even that of a technical support desk.
Snapped by an eagle-eyed Register reader a couple of years ago, the surroundings look a little down at heel, despite Southampton's grand plans for redevelopment. The art-deco exterior is pleasant enough, although we were saddened to read that Gerry W [3]reckoned it was "old fashioned and a bit tired looking."
Bob S [4]stuck the knife in with: "There is no such thing as an amazing railway station."
Oh, Bob, how wrong you are. There are many temples to train travel in the world, and examples of architecture to set a traveller's heart soaring even as the latest delay is mumbled from the PA system.
Sadly, after this episode, we fear Southampton Central is not one of them. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/07/01/railwaybork.jpg
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/15/microsoft_regism/
[3] http://foursquare.com/item/5d8722c50bfa0a0007ebe24e
[4] http://foursquare.com/item/592090b718d43b1bee747d34
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
There are amazing railway stations from the Victorian and Edwardian eras all over the world.
They are a testament to the huge contribution that the railways made to both trade and freedom of movement.
Just the cast iron work in some of the structures, in terms of size and decoration, couldn't be made economically even with modern technology.
Amazing railway stations
Amazing history captured in an iconic building
Amazing lack of sense to fill these places with Windows machines
Some of the modern ones are amazing too - Gare de Lyon and Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Milan for all of its inherent fascist architecture is simply breathtaking.
The TV Series 'The Architecture that the Railways gave us'
or something like that is well worth watching. Seeing the inside of the clock tower at Kings Cross Station was well worth it.
Dodgy memory
That error code could well mean the memory's faulty
As is the memory of anyone who trusts rail travel these days...
I feel rather sad
I clocked that the picture was Southampton before reading the article even though I generally only go there once a year. In Paddington they have ticket machines with very large touch screens and one of those had a BSOD though I didn't have the presence of mind to photo it.
Art Deco
"Old fashoned"? Clicking through reveals a rather nice Art Deco façade. Those unit pavers out the front don't look period-correct though,
Back in the 1930s, they didn't have advertising kiosks running Windows, but they did tend to have advertising posters using nice graphic design.
Victorian computing
Did you know that Isambard Kingdom Brunel developed an operating system for station signage based on Babbage's engine and powered by cast iron flakes and leather shavings?
Actually, he didn't.
Re: Victorian computing
Given train operators' attitude towards punctuality, presumably such a device would be known as an Indifference Engine.
Re: Victorian computing
and it would run on 'Swindon Time' if Brunel had anything to do with it.
Re: Victorian computing
Actually it was John Saxby in 1856 that was granted the first patent for a system of interlocking railway signalling to ensure the correct sequence of operation and prevention of conflicting route setting. Although as early as 1843 a system of mechanical points interlocking was operating at Bricklayers Arms Junction in England. I suppose one could view such mechanical computers as the first programmable railway infrastructure. There was also a complex system of electrical communication between signal boxes and even between stations by way of coded bells, and all train movements and communications used to be logged in massive ledgers in the signal boxes. It's a fascinating insight into process... there were special bells for direction, line, the class of train (goods, passenger express, special service etc.), destination... and it was all signalled downstream ahead of the arrival of the train itself, like a virtual representation of the train travelling ahead of and parallel to it. A Victorian version of a hybrid circuit/packet switched network.
Why not set to auto reboot?
Seems odd a sign would not attempt an auto reboot, obviously if it fails to boot multiple times the repair menu normally comes up.