by Charles Miller

Years ago when I was younger and perhaps a lot more foolish, I remember my skydiving instructor explaining that a serious problems some skydivers experience is referred to as "brain lock." The idiom describes a situation where the brain is temporarily frozen in place, and therefore unable to respond. And it is not entirely uncommon for electronic brains to suffer from "brain lock."

This situation can exist when a computer, phone, or other device has put itself to sleep or hibernated from lack of activity. In this situation it will not return to the waking state. This also seems to occur when installing software updates. The device is already off, so turning it off does nothing, and it will not start either because it is stuck in the sleeping state. What to do?

The first time I wrote about this problem way back in 2010, my advice was to remove the battery from the computer, unplug it from the wall for a moment, then plug the power connecter back in to start the computer without the battery in place. A lot has changed since I wrote that. Good luck today finding a laptop computer, smart phone, or any other portable device with a removable battery. Most portable devices now have non-removable batteries soldered in place, meaning the device can never be completely turned off.

Fortunately, in most cases a brain-locked device can be forced out of its frozen state by holding the power button down for a full 30 seconds. After being forced to shut down in this way, the computer, phone, or tablet will often start up normally. In the case of a failed software update, you might have to do this more than once. I have observed that after several failed attempts to install updates, most Operating Systems will give up trying to install that update (until next month).

Before anyone jumps to conclusions and blames this on Microsoft Windows, there is more evidence to consider. My Windows laptop has experienced brain lock, and my MacBook Air laptop has exactly the same problem. Every year or two it comes down with "brain lock" and I have to force it to shut down as previously described.

Based on the available empirical evidence, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a Microsoft problem; and neither is it an Apple problem. Since this "brain lock" exists across many operating systems and different brands of computers, so logically it has to be a hardware issue. There is a surprising amount of commonality between different kinds of computers. A blank hard disk from a Mac fits right into a PC, and vice versa. A number of the memory chips and chipsets for video, Wi-Fi and sound cards are created by the same chipset manufacturers. These components are not necessarily interchangeable between different computers, but the underlying technology comes from a similar lineage.

In any case, there is a lot of sharing of parts and design technology going on between the manufacturers of entirely different types of computers and portable devices. Apparently one of the bits of technology they are sharing was whatever it is that causes devices to experience intermittent brain lock. This is a nuisance, but thankfully not as serious as jumping out of an airplane and then suffering brain lock that keeps you from pulling your ripcord.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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