# Occam's Razor Troubleshooting **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2026, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396 "2026-01-06T07:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/1 "2026-01-06T07:36:42Z")
My “Smart TV”/Monitor 2 started acting up on me the other night. No audio on TV mode, but ok audio as a monitor. Also as a TV it kept repeating the same commercial during ONE commercial break. Which if left unattended would result in infinite repeats of the same commercial and NEVER returning to the program I wanted to watch. So recalling all my Electronics Technical training and experiences I applied what I call “Occam’s Razor Troubleshooting”. There are at this point 3 subs of ORT. ORT 1. It works better if you plug it in. .ORT B. It works better if you turn it on. ORT III. Unplug it, count to 5, apply ORT 1 and then ORT B. ORT III took care of this incident. I’m hoping for 2 more subs for ORT because I want to work my way up to ORT 0101 because I like 5 in base 2. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/2 "2026-01-06T13:07:34Z")
Hit it with a hammer? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/3 "2026-01-06T13:14:19Z")
ORT ???: If all else fails, read the manual. _(shudders)_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/4 "2026-01-06T13:48:03Z")
I thought ORT was an airport. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/5 "2026-01-06T14:42:32Z")
You mean “Percussive Maintenance”? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/6 "2026-01-06T14:43:57Z")
Hmmm… ORT 4th. Read the manual. Could be. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/7 "2026-01-06T14:45:40Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > ORT 4th. Read the manual. Naw. The hammer always comes before the manual. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/8 "2026-01-06T14:48:30Z")
The manual is usually the last resort. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/9 "2026-01-06T15:24:34Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Naw. The hammer always comes before the manual. Right. After the hammer, you don’t need the manual anyhow, one way or another… ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/10 "2026-01-06T15:30:12Z")
I miss when the manual could be used as the hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/11 "2026-01-06T15:39:03Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > ORT 1. It works better if you plug it in. The ol’ “high-impedance air gap.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/12 "2026-01-06T15:40:59Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2msdXdmxtT8/hqdefault.jpg "How to Tunnel Out of Prison") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2msdXdmxtT8) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/13 "2026-01-06T15:58:36Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I miss when the manual could be used as the hammer. Yes, all you get nowadays is a flimsy sheet of paper, translated inaccurately from a foreign language. The _real_ manual, if it exists, is only online. And you can’t bash something with a .pdf ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/14 "2026-01-06T16:16:18Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > And you can’t bash something with a .pdf You lack imagination - if the PDF is printed and attached to a sledgehammer - you can bash all you want. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/15 "2026-01-06T16:20:30Z")
> [@simster](#): > > You lack imagination - if the PDF is printed and attached to a sledgehammer - you can bash all you want. Ah. Philosophy with a hammer, to quote Nietzsche…. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/16 "2026-01-06T21:11:04Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > > > ORT 4th. Read the manual. > > Naw. The hammer always comes before the manual. No, first comes the fist, _then_ comes the hammer. Worked perfectly well for olden CRT TVs and monitors. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/17 "2026-01-06T23:30:00Z")
We had 180 KW LORAN transmitters with some overload relays. Sure, we could have taken the relays out, taken some emery paper strips to the contacts, and reinstalled the relays but it was faster to just hit the transmitter in the correct spot. Later when I was an instructor in LORAN A school, we showed that to the students. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occams-razor-troubleshooting/1026396/18 "2026-01-19T06:10:48Z")
There was an equipment failure tonight in my bedroom. I could not turn on the bedside tower fan with the bedside remote. I pushed the button on the tower and it worked, therefore proving ORT B was not the cure. So I applied my long atrophied troubleshooting skills and corrected the problem. Okay, so now ORT has 6, count’em, 6 subs. This is the hereby official list of Occam’s Razor Troubleshooting: ORT 1. It works better if you plug it in. ORT B. It works better if you turn it on. ORT III. Unplug it, count to 5, apply ORT 1 and then ORT B. ORT 4th. Percussive Maintenance ORT 0101. Consult the manual ORT ||||| |. Replace the batteries.