My Laptop Got Altitude Illness

This week I flew to La Paz (Bolivia) to give consulting services to one of our customers.

 

 

As you may know, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world (almost 12.000 ft / 3600 m). It’s a wonderful city but if you live in a city at the sea level (like me) you will likely get altitude illness.

 

 

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) represents the body's intolerance of the hypoxic (low oxygen) environment at one's current elevation. In the context of a recent ascent, a headache, with any one or more of the following symptoms above 2500 meters (8000 feet) qualifies you for the diagnosis of AMS: Loss of appetite, nausea, or vomiting, Fatigue or weakness (got this), Dizziness or light-headedness (this one too), Difficulty sleeping (two days of this one), Confusion.

 

 

Despite my own AMS symptoms, a very weird thing happened to my laptop and was related to the altitude. The first day working here in La Paz, with a very large VS solution (above 70 projects) and when the machine was working very hard trying to compile this beast, the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” (BSD) appeared. This was the first time I saw a BSD on my XP (in fact on any XP). I did some more tries with the same results. After talking to my partner who lives in Bolivia, he told me that this thing is produced by the altitude and some disks present random failures under heavy stress conditions. So I decided to turn off the swap file and guess what! The BSD disappeared!!! :o.  (I wish I could do the same with my AMS!!) 

 

 

Not all disc drives will have this problem but if you should know that things like this may happen if you carry your notebook with you. And don’t forget to prepare for the altitude.

 

 

You will find some advice here and here.

 

 

Published Thursday, July 08, 2004 3:13 AM by HernanDL
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