Troubleshooting Guide

Time Critical Problem Solving

1. Triage - Getting things exactly as they were before may not be the most immediate concern. Ask yourself what must get working again quickly, what can be worked around, what can be ignored? If critical call a show stop.

2. Examine & Confirm- Identify the problem, what caused the issue, a power drop (dodgy powerboard? actor tripped on a cable? Did that initial issue cause other problems, was the thing you think was wrong the ACTUAL cause or was there something else? It is much better to know than to guess at this point.

3. Rectify - make the necessary changes to the system, switch out the faulty part etc to get things working again.

4. Test - This is the most important step. The audience can wait a few more minutes. Try and recreate the problem, test the system, take a breath. The only thing worse than a show stop is 2 show stops when the problem wasn’t solved properly the first time.

5. Commence the show

Not Time Critical Problem Solving

Before you start

1. Plan - Do a small sketch, write out the signal flow or have a chat with someone about how everything connects. The best way to solve problems is to stop them from happening and if you have a plan in place (and some paperwork to follow) things will go a lot smoother and most simple problems like things being plugged into the wrong spot will be avoided. This is also the best time to be familiar with the equipment you are using, read the user manual (RTFM).

2. Work systematically - Within your plan think about how you will do things and in what order (not just everything to be done). Common setup issues are ‘high imedance air gaps’ (something not plugged in at all) and are easily avoided when working methodically and systematically. Start at 1 end of the chain and work across, or 1 area of the venue at a time. Communicate that work plan with the rest of your team and stick to it. Jumping between tasks means things get missed, forgotten or assumed.

3. Test before tricky Installations - if you have some technology elements that are going in hard to reach positions or complex systems test them locally first, confirm they work and do everything required before installation to avoid doing the work twice.

If it hasn’t yet worked (e.g. you’re just setting up)

• Is everything plugged into power, is the power switch ON

• Is everything that should be connected, connected together- trace the run physically from 1 end to the other checking all connectors as you go

• Have you set the mode, setting or config correctly?

• Turn it off and On again

• Read the user manual

If it suddenly Stops working

• Undo the last thing you just did? Did that fix it?

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• Has someone else touched something? plugged something into the same switch or power outlet or helpfully ‘removed a random cable’? If so - tell them to undo it and try something else

• Read the user manual

If it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t

• Check for loose physical connections (especially network cable broken plastic clips?)

• Think through the order of operations, are you sometimes doing things in a certain way (when it works) and sometimes a different way (when it doesn’t)

• Read the user manual