Back in the day ...
... we got a small shipment of Pilot build IBM 5150s. With them came some dot matrix printers (Epson MX-80? I can't remember ... but they were not IBM labeled). My job was to hook them up and to verify that they worked ... somehow my Boss had found out I was into the then fledgling world of micros, and was a member of the Homebrew Computer Club, and he needed them up and running for a class/demonstration by IBM over the following weekend.
Naturally, they came without the necessary printer cables. I read the (very minimal) documentation, and figured out that they needed standard serial cables. So I filled out a stores request, had my Boss sign it, and went back to my office, cables in hand.
The cables didn't work. I walked back to Stores and swapped them for 6 others. Still nothing. I figured it must be a problem with the 5150s (remember, they were Pilot Build), and carried on checking out the software that came with them. About then, a Mentor of mine stopped by to eyeball the new kit. I explained the problem with the printers. He said nothing but grabbed a test light and a cable. A couple pokes, and he dropped the stuff back on my desk.
"Null Modem" he said. "Now lef's go get lunch."
Turned out the entire box of supposed straight serial cables was wired null modem ... Seems that they went into Stores untested when received from the manufacturer. And this was at the Satellite division of Ford, in Palo Alto. I haven't trusted wire at face value ever since.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
