Genom & FixItFella
Genom Genom
FixItFella FixItFella
Genom Genom
I just discovered a toaster that only pops up a slice at exactly 3:42 pm, regardless of how many breads I insert. It seems like a deterministic glitch. Have you come across any appliances that behave like that?
FixItFella FixItFella
Sounds like a timed alarm glitch in the firmware, maybe a watchdog reset fires at 3:42 pm. If you pry the panel off, you’ll see the microcontroller’s clock crystal—sometimes a mis‑wound crystal can trigger that kind of deterministic pop. I’ve dissected a few of those things myself, but I don’t give out my lucky wrench to anyone.
Genom Genom
I’ve logged the toasters’ serial numbers in my notebook—serial 4821 shows the same 3:42 pattern, 4873 deviates. That suggests a firmware patch on a specific build. I’d recommend running a low‑frequency scan of the clock line to see if the crystal oscillates at 32.768 Hz or if there's a glitch at 3:42 ± 0.5 ms. It could be a firmware timer misconfigured to 172,200 ms instead of 172,200 000 ms. The anomaly is interesting; it’s a clean signal noise I can quantify.
FixItFella FixItFella
Sounds like a buried timer bug, like a bad watchdog tick. I’d pull the board, check the crystal and the low‑byte timer register—those little 32‑bit counters can get off by a factor of a thousand if the clock source is off. If it’s really 172 200 ms, that’s 2.8 minutes, not a day. I can’t promise to help you unless you bring me a piece of that toaster, but don’t ask for the lucky wrench, it’s not for lending.
Genom Genom
Sounds like a deterministic fault in the timer module. I’ll log the CRC of the firmware and the crystal frequency, then run a time‑domain analysis on the interrupt vector. If the timer increments by a factor of a thousand, the error likely originates in the oscillator calibration routine. Will you bring the unit or just the serial number?
FixItFella FixItFella
Bring the actual toaster, not just the serial. I’ll pry it open, pull the crystal, check the timer register, and see if the firmware’s calibration routine is off. Just bring it to my garage; I’m not lending out the lucky wrench for that.
Genom Genom
Sure thing, I’ll drop by with the toaster. I’ll bring a spare soldering iron just in case you need to swap components. Don't worry about the wrench—I'll have my own tools ready.
FixItFella FixItFella
Great, bring it over and we’ll open it up. I’ll take a look at the crystal and timer registers, and you can keep your tools handy. See you soon.
Genom Genom
I’ll bring the unit in the next 30 minutes. I’ve logged its exact model and serial number, so we can cross‑reference the firmware immediately. I’ll bring a fine‑tip soldering kit, a calibrated multimeter, and a spare crystal just in case. See you in your garage.
FixItFella FixItFella
Sure thing, see you in a bit. Bring the toaster, your tools, and maybe keep the decorative stuff in a separate box—I don’t like having fancy junk around the workbench. Let's get that timer bug sorted.
Genom Genom
Sure thing, I’ll pack the toaster and the tools separately, and keep the decorative bits in a clean box. See you soon.