Thanks for the animated discussion in response to my original post. 

A few points to take home:

(a)  Some have implied that I am arguing against upgrades, or insisting
that upgrades be 100% error free.  I am not suggesting that at all. 
However, given the widespread frequency of this problem, I am
suggesting that *putting a one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on
the download page would address this issue*.

(b)  Some have suggested that resetting the device is the "obvious"
answer.  I don't think these users have actually encountered the
problem.  Physically power cycling the Transporter "apparently" cures
the problem, only to have it recur when one tries to play another file.
Since most consumer products reset when fully power cycled (and the
Transporter, when afflicted with the "upgrade of death" seems to
reset), this is a frustrating problem to face as an end-user.  Putting
a one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on the download page would
address this issue.

(c)  Some have suggested that searching in the forums is a reasonable
solution.  But, as I pointed out in my original post, the first hits I
got when I searched the forums for the solution had incorrect
information.  *Putting a one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on
the download page would address this issue.*

(d)  Some have suggested that searching the Wiki is the obvious
solution.  I searched under combinations of terms such as Transporter,
hangs, 7.2, etc and didn't find a page describing this widespread bug. 
It actually took me a while to realize that the Transporter didn't reset
when the power was cycled.  (One good point is that anyone could change
the Wiki.  However, I notice that a Logitech employee posted to this
thread, and the Wiki remains unchanged.)  *Putting a one-sentence note
(or even a simple link) on the download page would address this
issue.*

(e)  Some have suggested I should have called or written to SlimDevices
technical support for advice.  However, I note that ccjj did exactly
this and did not get correct advice (over a period of two weeks). 
Since the Transport upgrade bug is a widely reported bug, this suggests
to me that SlimDevices support was also not able to navigate their own
information sources.  So, even if you completely reject my arguments,
how about making the materials useful for SlimDevices support? 
*Putting a one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on the download
page would address this issue.*

(f)  Some have suggested that I might be a dimwitted or technically
inept.  Well, I have been a tenured computer science professor at CMU
and now at UC Berkeley, I have built large systems, I continue to build
large systems, and thought I was fairly technically adept.  I was also
willing to sign my real name here.  However, let's suppose I was just
an ordinary Joe with no special technical ability.  Would that mean it
was OK to allow a serious bug to persist -- with no warning -- and no
useful advice from technical support?  *Putting a one-sentence note (or
even a simple link) on the download page would address this issue.*

(g)  If I were czar, I would solve this problem by including an
automatic reset during the upgrade process, and forcing users to
re-enter system passwords.  But since I am not czar, I wish to once
again make the following, constructive suggestion:  *Putting a
one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on the download page would
address this issue.* 

To summarize:  *Putting a one-sentence note (or even a simple link) on
the download page would address this issue.*

Is this really so much to ask?

Doug Tygar
Professor of Computer Science
UC Berkeley


-- 
tygar
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View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=52514

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