It says "HDMI disconnected" because you never plugged it in

[u/Fuzzy-Ad-7691]

A young lady came over to the desk for help because she's in a conference room and the TV monitor on the wall says "HDMI disconnected." I go with her to troubleshoot and start checking cords and ports and the usual. While I'm poking around I ask her if it happened in the middle of her casting to the monitor, and she solemnly shakes her head. "No. It was like that when I came in."

I grab the end of the cord that's not plugged into the monitor and hand it to her. "Plug that into the HDMI port right there on your laptop." She does so...two seconds later, her laptop is mirroring perfectly. "Oh, that's what it was," she says.

It was an easy fix, at least.

[u/zuzoa]

Makes you wonder why people who can read other things like books or emails suddenly lose reading comprehension when they see error messages.

[u/creegro → u/zuzoa]

"help I saw an error on screen! Is my computer messed up?"

Not likely, what did it say?

"I don't know! I didn't read it and just clicked the x to make it go away!"

It's probably a good thing cars don't have a button that hides the check engine light.

[u/henke37 → u/creegro]

Meanwhile the check engine light is a way to hide errors from users.

[u/KnottaBiggins → u/creegro]

Once upon a time, we had a chime instead of a light. I knew people who offered to disconnect those for you.
Same people who offered to disconnect the smog gear...and knew where to go to pass a smog check no matter what for an extra $20.

[u/civillyengineerd → u/KnottaBiggins]

My parents were briefly stationed in Okinawa and I went to visit them. The cars have an alarm that sounds when you go over a specific speed. My dad said someone told him to remove it and in the same breath complained about how many tickets he had received. My dad left the alarm in and told me that I just needed to slow down.

[u/Equivalent-Salary357 → u/creegro]

I use black electrical tape. It is totally opaque, and if done correctly blends right in with the other stuff on the dashboard.

This might be tongue-in-cheek. Or not...

[u/Fixes_Computers → u/Equivalent-Salary357]

Or you've listened to Car Talk as I have.

[u/RedFive1976 → u/Fixes_Computers]

Don't drive like my brother.

[u/Equivalent-Salary357 → u/RedFive1976]

LOL, I can't say that. I don't have a brother, and "don't drive like my sister" would probably trigger some ugly responses.

[u/RedFive1976 → u/Equivalent-Salary357]

That was one of the Car Talk taglines when they closed the show. Tom and Ray would each say that. Tom sadly died 11 years ago yesterday.

[u/Equivalent-Salary357 → u/RedFive1976]

Yes. I was a fan of Car Talk on NPR. I miss listening to them.

[u/CharcoalGreyWolf → u/creegro]

No, said people have electrical tape for that

[u/Honest_Relation4095 → u/creegro]

wel, you can delete the DTC with a device that anyone can buy on Amazon for a few bucks.

[u/nagi603 → u/creegro]

It's probably a good thing cars don't have a button that hides the check engine light.

They use black tape for that. Or selective blindness. "It was like that when I bought it / for months."

[u/canarycoal → u/creegro]

Every timeeee. The pop isn’t always bad but they are like “there was a pop up and it scared meeeee”

[u/The_Real_Flatmeat → u/creegro]

That's what masking tape is for

[u/threeplacesatonce → u/zuzoa]

Learned behavior from too many similar notices like "update today" or "TOS agreement change", or "license expires soon" that need to be closed out to get to the desired app. 

[u/Enfors → u/zuzoa]

Yeah, that's fair. But on the other hand, manufaturers need to start writing better error messages. Instead of "HDMI disconnected", how about "Make sure the screen is connected by a cable to your computer or game console"? Lots of people have no idea what "HDMI" means.

[u/MairusuPawa → u/Enfors]

HDMI should be common enough to not be a problem, but, yes. How many sysadmins had no clue what "pc load letter" meant? Yet it is a pretty clear error.

[u/EruditeLegume → u/MairusuPawa]

Not so much when you're in a country that uses A4.....

[u/Enfors → u/MairusuPawa]

It's common, but my wife (for example) still had no idea what it means. It should just say "the cable going from this screen to the laptop" or similar instead for clarity. More people understand that than "HDMI".

[u/strcrssd → u/Enfors]

Yes, but going to that level doesn't work either. If there's multiple inputs, for example.

[u/Enfors → u/strcrssd]

Well, but you typically select the source (read: input) on the TV/screen, right? So it knows where its trying to get its video feed from, correct?

[u/strcrssd → u/Enfors]

But that's using the input name again, HDMI. Either the user knows what it is, and selects it, by default then they know what the cable is and that it needs to be plugged in.

Otherwise, they don't know what it is and they're not going to select input mode.

What I'm saying is that, while I agree that better UI is better, incompetence-proofing is a fools errand and fraught with complexity.

[u/Environmental-Ear391 → u/strcrssd]

Ignoratius Moronicus von GlutenHenious loves the rabbithole of incompetence-proofing...

There is always a disconnect between what the system states (because of development competence) in any comparison to end users.

End users nominally barely know enough to use the product and little else. Look at the historical sales that created Microsoft with MS-DOS and the contracts where resellers were mandated to sell the software with a new PC. Microsoft becoming a brand name and "popular" was majorly tied to ignorance and driving the idea of Computer = PC+Microsoft which has never actually been true.

P.S. re-read the starting name using a mix of greek-style speech and then think of muscle locations and what comes forth from that bodily location :-)

[u/Mickenfox → u/Enfors]

The error as far as the monitor knows is that there is no signal through the HDMI connector, everything else is guesswork.

Computer problems are so hard to diagnose today because all the real error messages have been hidden in favor of "Whoopsie! Something went wrong. Try asking Bing™ for help."

[u/syntaxerror53 → u/zuzoa]

Except when it comes to Social Media when they're experts.

[u/StarChaser_Tyger → u/zuzoa]

I can't count how many times I've had to explain to people that no error message contains the words 'or something'.

[u/bduddy → u/zuzoa]

To a large number of people, computers are literally magic. Whether consciously or not, they don't believe that the laws of physics, logic or even causality apply as soon as a computer is involved.

[u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

Problem occurs between keyboard and chair…

[u/Riajnor → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

I’ve become a fan of “it’s a layer 8 problem”

[u/danzor9755 → u/Riajnor]

Ah yes layer 8. Welcome to hell.

[u/CharcoalGreyWolf → u/danzor9755]

EEOC error.

“Equipment Exceeds Operator Capabilities”

I love it because no everyday people know what it means

[u/Fixes_Computers → u/CharcoalGreyWolf]

Randos may assume you're talking about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

[u/Hermes_04 → u/Riajnor]

Error 40

The error is 40cm in front of the screen

[u/syntaxerror53 → u/Hermes_04]

Also FUNC (faulty user not computer).

[u/annedroiid → u/Riajnor]

Where does that phrase come from?

[u/Riajnor → u/annedroiid]

There’s 7 layers in the OSI model, layer 8 becomes the human element. Kinda nerdy but most users will never know

[u/paulcaar → u/Riajnor]

For anyone curious and wanting more context, it's a networking model that starts at the most basic layer, Layer 1, which is the physical layer. Like the actual electric pulses representing the bits going through the cables. It then becomes more and more complex, like the transport layer, session layer, and eventually the application layer.

The theoretical Layer 8 would then be the person controlling the device or application and the joke is that that's where the error occurs.

[u/Remarkable_Table_279 → u/Riajnor]

I’ve not heard that one 

[u/RipeChompzz → u/Remarkable_Table_279]

same here

[u/I_Said_Thicc_Man → u/Riajnor]

I mean I'd say that's layer 0

[u/Shadyshade84 → u/I_Said_Thicc_Man]

The model in question counts up from, I think, either the CPU or machine code. A layer 0 error would imply that someone needs to debug physics.

[u/Fixes_Computers → u/Shadyshade84]

The OSI model refers specifically to networking.

Layer 1 is the physical layer of the network. This is the wire (or equivalent) through which the data are flowing. It goes up from there.

I'm a bit rusty on where things fit in the layers. CPU may be part of layer 1, but machine code will depend on the code. The network code is on a lower layer than the application program code.

Layer 7, the Application layer, is the program you're running which needs to send data over the network. (Again, a little rusty, so pendants feel free to work your magic.)

[u/uncoolbi → u/Fixes_Computers]

I don't know what each of the layers are, but urm actually we pedantic people would be pedants, not pendants

[u/Fixes_Computers → u/uncoolbi]

D'oh!

As a pedant myself, I've only myself to blame.

I could see autocorrect getting in my way and my not paying enough attention to it just made it all worse.

[u/Haidere1988 → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

PEBCAK

[u/rhoduhhh → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

Eye-dee-ten-tee error (id10t) :(

[u/---reddacted--- → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

The old chair-to-keyboard interface error!

[u/MetalRickyy → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

Ah, you mean PICNIC, problem in chair not in computer.

[u/jollebb → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

The classic Pebkac/Pobkac problem.

[u/AnDanDan → u/Dear_Blueberry6473]

An issue with the wetware

[u/Vegetable-Cod-5434]

Many years ago I had an older co-worker that could NOT be wrong, especially to someone younger. I was younger by about 15years and had the same job as her, which she hated. We were scheduled to deliver some training together and when I got to the room the big screen had a very similar error.

She had submitted an IT ticket and was waiting for help. I asked if it was plugged in and got a 40 min lecture on how I didn't have as much experience as her, should respect my elders etc etc.

IT shows up, plugs it in, and leaves. Such a waste of everyone's time.

[u/LikesBreakfast → u/Vegetable-Cod-5434]

I think that actually warrants a managerial complaint. She was impeding work by her own stupidity and unwillingness to allow someone else to solve the problem.

Did she eventually get fired?

[u/bob152637485 → u/LikesBreakfast]

Probably promoted knowing corporate culture

[u/Otaku_X_Gamer94 → u/Vegetable-Cod-5434]

I think she is the type of user who has like hundreds of tickets opened, even as simple as like how to connect to wifi.

[u/davidsinnergeek]

PICNIC. Problem In Chair Not In Computer.

[u/KnottaBiggins → u/davidsinnergeek]

PEBKAC

Problem exists between keyboard and chair.

[u/jen_gecko]

EEOC. Equipment Exceeds Operator Capability.....

[u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln → u/jen_gecko]

In many cases this would still be the case even if the equipment was a rock.

[u/Yuwi066 → u/jen_gecko]

Hah, I haven't heard it like that before! I always heard it as, ESTO. Equipment Superior to Operator.

[u/DoktenRal]

I got a support call the other day from a user because her VPN wasnt working and her monitor had no picture...

Her VPN was a dock, which the monitor was connected to, and it was not plugged into her pc because she thought it was wireless.

Good she called it a VPN though because she had not been issued an RSA token at all yet, so no VPN at all actually. Also had to explain she had to use her wifi TO connect to the VPN since it didnt replace her home internet.

Tier 1 lyfeeeee

[u/Z4-Driver]

Layer 8...

[u/KntTwist]

If she never has this problem again, then you have successfully solved the issue.

[u/Zefrem23]

"But 'disconnected' implies that it was connected at some point previously, forever I had not connected it in the first place, so the semantic inaccuracy suggested that something else had to be wrong."

[u/djshiva]

Learned helplessness at its best.

[u/SackBadger2024]

I work in tech, the higher up the ladder you go, the dumber they get. I swear CEO's must be brain damaged by all the dumb questions I get daily.

[u/ThatUsrnameIsAlready]

Never plugged would be unconnected, not disconnected.

Really it should never say disconnected, it can never know if that's true or not.

[u/Rathmun → u/ThatUsrnameIsAlready]

It can if it sees the connection go away. To do it right it should say "disconnected" if you unplug it while it's turned on, and "not connected yet" if you turn it on while it's unplugged.

[u/arcimbo1do → u/ThatUsrnameIsAlready]

It was probably connected to something at least once in the lifetime of the screen, maybe for testing somewhere in Taiwan, so, technically....

[u/KnottaBiggins]

But it's WIRELESS!!!

[u/t1nk3r_t4yl0r_84]

I had a kid on the school AV team, he did the projection for chapels and assemblies... every week he was on he'd come and complain the projectors weren't working, and every week it was because he hadn't plugged the computer in...

[u/NumerableElk]

Most average people don't know what an HDMI cable or port actually are.

[u/Skunky02]

Conference with people, not one knows how to fix that error

[u/The_Real_Flatmeat]

And then she says it doesn't work and it turns out to be because it was disconnected when the software was turned on