Blue Screen of Death amongst issues that plagued Deepwater Horizon
By Darren Murph 
posted July 23rd 2010 10:52PM
posted July 23rd 2010 10:52PM
A recent report in the New York Times details a myriad issues that led up to the eventual explosion that started the mess known as the "BP oil spill," but aside from obvious mishandling of warnings and red flags, one particular issue was troubling those working on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig long before April 20th. Mike Williams, the rig's chief electronics technician, has come forward with a multitude of icky details surrounding the negligence that was involved in the catastrophe, with the one most germane to our discussion being the following: "For months, the computer system had been locking up, producing what the crew called the Blue Screen of Death." Williams continued, noting that "it would just turn blue," with "no data coming through." Of course, it's not as if BSODs are totally uncommon out in the working world -- Microsoft's Windows powers the vast majority of systems that corporations rely on daily -- but this one rubs just a wee bit differently. Hit the source link for the full spill. [Image courtesy of Ultrasaurus]
Damn you Microsoft
So it was MS whose software BSOD'd and caused all this BS (BP Spill) ?? :p
@Brt312
Most of these corporate "BSODs" are due to poorly written proprietary software.
Work for IT too long and you know how over blown and inefficient these softwares are. OS is blamed just because that is what users see on their screen.
@Brt312
Get a Mac and avoid oil spill.
@Brt312 If this is the real reason, that really sucks.... If BP is finding excuses and putting the blame on Microsoft, that's even worse...
@TheSmartGuy In this case they implied it was related to a part they had on order. Might have just been memory. But in either case, its not responsible for the wellhead explosion as Engadget is implying and BP was not pointing the finger at MS.
@TheSmartGuy
Also most of these corporate computer problems are due to incompetent IT departments.
IT = some of the dumbest tech people period
@memeslayer More like, get a Mac and pay extra for Boot Camp and a Windows license because nobody writes any software for enterprise equipment monitoring and control for OS X. I am willing to bet that if the OS was at fault, then the rig was running XP.
@Brt312
This isn't microsofts fault. It's not there fault Transocean doesn't maintain there computers. The problem had been going on for a month and it still wasn't fixed. Besides you can't blame the whole thing on one computer error when there were tons of other know problems that know one bothered to fix.
@Brt312, only engadget could blatantly turn a report about neglegence into an anti-Microsoft post (I'm sure Gizmodo would have made it more blatant).
And what cleverly named TheSmartGuy said it's almost 100% of the time on poorly written software. Or it could have been poorly maintained hardware (being in the middle of the ocean and obviously ancient).
@Brt312
A bad worker always blames his tools.
@memeslayer Why were you downranked? That was funny! Saying that supposedly getting a Mac wouldve stopped the oilspill? Haha proves that android fanboys are idiots and have gone so far as to hate any great product made by apple other than the iPhone
@Brt312 Screw you. If you knew anything about computers you damn well would know that no BSOD could cause an explosion on a freaking rig. No company's IT. And I do mean NO company would setup a system where a single OS failure could take out the entire building, rig, etc. Period. end of story. This is more of Engadget being a D-Bag posting sensational stories to drive clicks. You guys really are ***holes.
@That guy 2 They think Im an Apple fanboy apparently.
@John Doe yeah no s***
@Templarian Any lame trick for more traffic
Obviously, whenever something goes wrong and there is a computer in the room, it's Microsoft's fault.
@rockSY
They tried calling Microsoft support but their iPhone 4 kept dropping the call
Engadget, you really ought to reword this post! You have phrased your story in such a way that many people will infer that the Blue Screen of Death had something to do with the worst environmental disaster in American history. The truth of the matter is that it was simply another example of poor maintenance and oversight on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. You have to realize a significant portion of those who read this story will not follow the source link to get the full "spill" as you so tactfully put it, but instead will walk away thinking that Microsoft or someone else was responsible for BP's self-made catastrophe. It's your job as a journalist to provide all the facts necessary for your readers to come to the appropriate conclusion, and misleading them in this way, whether deliberate or not, is shameful. I'm willing to let it slide, provided you correct your mistake, but needless to say I'm disappointed to see my favorite tech blog posting such a sensationalized story.
@Billy Hmm just like Apple finding excuses about Antennagate and continually dragging other companies into the mud.
Lower consequences, same principle.
@Gad Get Your have the only comment that makes sense
@TheSmartGuy Yet, there has never been more literal a time as this to use the term "BSoD"
@Nn4458
Stop! Your spelling is giving me a BSOD.
@Gad Get Engadget is not composed of journalists. They are blogers who cater to their own personal agenda instead of factual consistency. They are the fox new of the blog world. In this case catering to Apple in many cases. They may not outright say MS did this, but they damn well know what conclusions people will get from their post. Ditto with Faux News.
@John Doe Whats the CNN of the tech world then?
@John Doe
The truth is that news blogs like Engadget have just as much influence as mainstream journalists, and therefore just as much of an obligation to report things in a responsible and ethical manner. Saying that these bloggers are not journalists is just a cheap way of letting them off the hook for sensationalist and misleading stories.
You're right about one thing though: Fox News being a complete joke.
@Brt312
BSOD = black sea of death?
@TheSmartGuy Why would we need to move it from NT4, it works just fine?
@TheSmartG
They should have used Windows Embedded which eliminated a lot of problems for mission critical needs.
@Ducman69
so now they wanna bring windows into this because they didnt call someone to come in and fix the problem wow thats sad
@DefPoet
incompetent IT,
or people using their work computer to browse everything, download everything, and install anything. against the IT department advice.
no department can do things right , if as a user , one put crap that will cause issues ion the machine. crap that is in millions on internet.
@Brt312
Instead of blaming MS; you and Engadget should blame the incompetent jerkoffs who didn't have the balls to stand up to BP and run an oil rig the right way. There's a reason why I run Adblock on this site.
@memeslayer Having worked as someone who provided tech support to OSX users, and sold Apple equipment, I think you'll find that the assumption OSX is more stable that Windows is nothing more than that.
The reason you hear about Microsoft BSOD's more though is PC users tend to build their own stuff, and many people don't perform proper stress testing, so hardware incompatibilities cause issues. You'll also find that the OSX user-share is still tiny. I'd say that these days, faulty hardware is the most common cause. And from what I observed, users on Windows are more likely to blame Windows, rather than their hardware or themselves, whereas Apple users will tend to blame hardware (because they like to believe Apple bugs don't exist).
That being said, http://imgur.com/zVSSa.jpg is a photo I took at a major retail store here with a section run by Apple employees.
The oil rig was probably getting BSOD's because they had a virus (in which case their IT team are morons), or faulty hardware which is likely. Either way, they can't blame the hardware, because any high risk operation should have redundant computers, and hardware safeguards (which was meant to be the blowout preventer, which they clearly didn't test properly).
@AndrewLuecke
I can only sympathize. I just spent the last two weeks removing Microsoft Onecare, which has been discontinued, that caused a nasty BSOD on Dell D630 laptops upon reboot. Since its expiration, something as simple as the printer spooler caused UAC to fail as well. The result? Unable to remove OneCare or do anything UAC related.
http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/280906-vista-suddenly-unable-run-any-programs-require-administrator-rights.html
F*cking typical. If you think that *NIX aren't any better -you are just plain wrong. Sorry, Microsoft [Is Not Responding]
@DefPoet
Its funny how OPS gets rolled into Apps team when people say IT.
According to our Service request DB 90% of the issues arise from poorly coded apps. Server teams and infrastructure teams get blamed for no reason.
This is why we use Software Forensic tools to dig a little deeper and point a huge foam finger at the culprit.
Haha, oh wait this article isn't a negative report about the iPhone 4 or Mac security, I guess that laugh is out of place in the Engadget comment section.
Look, if this was an iMac with a kernel panic, you'd be laughing your asses off and you know it so suck it up when it's Windows that has an issue.
Always with the excuses - 'it's probably not the OS but the applications'. Right, it couldn't be one of the many viruses or other malware causing it or some driver conflict or registry corruption? Interesting how that excuse doesn't fly round here when Apple say that a lot of crashes are caused by Flash.
When it's Windows, it's the software to blame. When it's Flash, it's Apple to blame. When Flash crashes on Android who's to blame? Nobody, you just dismiss the crashes and pretend they didn't happen.
I got me a brand new HP laptop recently with the latest and greatest Windows 7 and y'know what, it's a complete and utter piece of shit. The hardware is cheap plastic, and tacky covered in garish stickers, the OS came riddled with all sorts of HP bollocks. When the system is logging in, it just sits there with the spinning disc for like 2 minutes, still with the persistent access notifications, asking to reboot every time I change the slightest little thing.
Unix systems are so much better than this. Their process management makes so much more sense. No registry to think about, all software with a place and everything in its place. If I need to, I can hose the system and restore it to factory condition with my settings and apps in tact in 20 minutes. You try doing that with Windows. You can't even back your registry up easily - even Windows migration doesn't work properly unless you use an install disc.
@TinWard
Actually it's all Apple's fault because their OS is so awful that no-one will touch it as an enterprise solution so they had to use Windows.
Or you're a cock. One of the two.
@TheSmartGuy: "Most of these corporate "BSODs" are due to poorly written proprietary software." "OS is blamed just because that is what users see on their screen."
On systems BP likely using, the software is least of the problems.
BSOD is most commonly caused by poor device drivers and the hardware (not certified to work under all the stresses of oil rig). Responsibility for at least one of the reasons - poor device drivers - partially lies with MS. I coded in past drivers for both Windows and Linux (mostly latter), and all Windows device drivers I have seen were of generally low quality.
But the BSODs caused by drivers quality quantitatively is peanuts compared to number of dead systems I have seen due to use of uncertified/untested hardware. They simply saved on hardware...
Once again, what the hell is the "alt." good for? Is this gadget news? No! It's fu**ing unbelieveable rubbish journalism!
@Brt312
Rational me: Should have updated your drivers!
Emotional me: Should have used Linux!
@The Madman or maybe just used something more reliable than windows XP/98 hahaha, something called.. Vista, or 7 perhaps ?
@John Doe I wonder why with the amount of people complaining about all the Microsoft-bashing-linkbaits, Engadget still does that? Do they read the comment? I mean too much anything will offend people and drive readers away. I don't think that's what Engadget wants
@Billy Well, it seems it is the new industry standard, to do something wrong and then blame it on something else or claim that the others are at least as bad... I'm not pointing fingers...
@TheSmartGuy That's the truth. I have this one proprietary vendor program to manage network nodes, and I get a guaranteed BSOD because of a driver it has. I reboot, and then it loads after.
@Brt312 Almost all of BSODs have been from hardware issues. My guess is that their computers were choking on dust dirt and grime and they look like they were repurposed from the the early 90's.
@Billy
That platform has dynamic tracking. Which means that GPS and thrusters keep it in a stationary orbit on the water and over the pipe. Lose that and you lose the platform connection to the pipe.
@DefPoet
Spoken like a true "IT Wannabee". You need to get over your "tech-inferiority complex".
@Gad Get
There you go mistaking engadget for journalism again. Stop that! You'll put an eye out.
@Brt312 This is not Microsoft's fault, it is the engineer who designed a real-time control system with a desktop OS, extremely dumb idea.
Trust I would love to blame Microsoft, but this is not their fault.
Oh quit blaming shit on other companies BP. SUCK IT UP!