Is the MOT system down

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Tue 25 Apr 2006 18:14
Is the MOT system down - Rats
Just rang the garage who is doing the MOT test on my car and they have said that they couldn't do it as the system is down, has anyone else experienced this problem today??
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 19:00
Is the MOT system down - Screwloose
Rats

Yes; it crashed this morning, came back on early afternoon and then went off again. Last I saw, it was showing "Fatal Error" on the screen - we can only hope!

So that's another day of sweeping the MOT bay for thousands of garages; if Siemens had to pay for all the lost time and irate customers these failures cause, maybe they'd make it work a bit better!
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 19:07
Is the MOT system down - bell boy
my mot station opened the secret pack today and carried on testing as normal..........ish but they felt strange using a blunt instrument to record the data rather than a keyboard they said.
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 19:16
Is the MOT system down - blue_haddock
Yep it's pretty much been down all day today.
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 21:05
Is the MOT system down - Mondaywoe
I had my MOT done at 8.56 on Monday morning - no probs. Guess it was me wot did the system!

Apologies for any inconvenience folks......

Graeme
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 21:23
Is the MOT system down - Welliesorter
I had my car MOTed last week and it was delayed for two or three hours by what the garage called a 'glitch' with its computer. I was told that the whole system had been down a week or two earlier.

I was given the impression that it's not possible even to perform the test if the system is unavailable. Is this the case, or does a problem with the system just delay recording results and issuing certifcates?
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Tue 25 Apr 2006 22:26
Is the MOT system down - Doc
From the VOSA site:


What happens when the mainframe crashes?

There are in actual fact two computers, one being a "back up" situated in a different location.
If the first breaks down the second one, under disaster recovery procedures, would cut in almost immediately and you are unlikely to even know about it. It would need something very exceptional to knock out both computers at exactly the same moment.
In the extremely unlikely event that such a catastrophic failure occurred, then VOSA may invoke Emergency Testing procedures.


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Wed 26 Apr 2006 00:43
Is the MOT system down - Aprilia
If the computer system fails then the testing station can perform good old fashioned 'manual tests' (or what VOSA calls Emergency Testing Procedures).
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Wed 26 Apr 2006 21:16
Is the MOT system down - Screwloose

It wasn't much better today; first it wouldn't let testers log-off after finishing a test, then it crashed completely and was still off at KOT. BBC News says that only half the normal number were entered today:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4948224.stm

Given the number of emergency tests done yesterday that should also have been logged-in today; it looks like it wasn't on for very long. Getting through on the helpline [to get authorization to use emergency procedures] was just a waste of time trying.

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Thu 4 May 2006 10:11
Is the MOT system down - jc2
Testers were not pleased;yes,they can issue old-type MOT's but when the system comes back up,they have to transfer all the info to the computerised system;similarly,if they gave you a hand-written MOT you can go back and ask for a copy of the computerised one.
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