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[TheVgirl]

My house had this old phone jack on the baseboard in our playroom.  My brother disconnected it to pull up the baseboard.  He reconnected it just like it was when he took it loose.  Neither one of us thought much about it.  Four or five hours later, he picked up the phone to use it and the display said "phone in use."  We checked every phone and there was not a phone off the hook.  I came upstairs to use the internet and no DSL.  I figured out it must be that phone jack.  He took it apart and changed the wiring and now the internet works but still no dial tone.  I googled "1542A wiring diagram" and found the following article.  http://www.funhouse.com/jfw/rfitel_att.txt

Read the whole dadgum thing and tried wiring it like the schematic and get nothing!  I always wondered why every phone jack in the house had been replaced but that one.  It's cursed!  Also did not find it amusing that the article is a Bell Lab guide to reducing radio interference when I've called BellSouth at least a dozen times because I can hear the nearby radio station better on my phone than I can the radio!!!!!

HELP!!!!

[SPIDERMAN]

Not what you want to hear I know, but my advice is to disconnect the jack, yank out the wire to where it disappears into the wall and forget about it. I've tried what your trying more times than I can count and always ended doing what I'm saying above in frustration and anger and had to fix some paint and / or woodwork after. Plan to do it and you won't at least find yourself in that position.

[hard10]

V, what colors are the wires? Is it 2 or 4? Is it a pin connection or RJ-45 (plug in) type?

[hard10]

Can you post a picture?

[Tros]

You need a DSL filter on that jack too for the DSL to work properly.  Did you try disconnecting the phone from it?  Cordless phone base units tend to screw up DSL too.  

[cigarmike]

It depends on which hick phone guy installed the thing, generally only 2 wires are needed, the green and red, but that doesnt mean they didnt use the yellow and black instead. try any combination of only 2 untill you get a dial tone.  But , without being there, I cant be 100% sure wth is the solution. Changing your header on this thread to read "RACY PICS INSIDE" MUST SEE" will result in  many more readers seeing this thread first, and therefore, a faster solution?, Actually posting racy pics will result in you getting voted 'Most Popular CVO member"

Red/Green,
red/black
red/yellow
Green/yellow
green/black
Yellow/Black

If that doesnt do it, then I cant help you. You will need Spiderman......GL

[hard10]

depends on which hick phone guy installed the thing, generally only 2 wires are needed, the green and red, but that doesnt mean they didnt use the yellow and black instead. try any combination of only 2 untill you get a dial tone.

Red/Green,
red/black
red/yellow
Green/yellow
green/black
Yellow/Black

If that doesnt do it, then I cant help you. You will need Spiderman......GL

Hey! Are we getting a little personal here? 

[cigarmike]

Hey! Are we getting a little personal here? 

My apoligies, I meant to say 'Hillbilly"

[TheVgirl]

Can you post a picture?

Dang, this is getting weirder by the minute.  I just went downstairs to take a photo and my brother is about to pull his hair out.  the phone still doesn't work but as long as the yellow and black wires are touching anything the internet works.  If you disconnect them, nothing works.

Anyway, I'll post a pic as soon as I receive it from my phone message I just sent myself.  There are four wires - yellow and black naked wires and red and green with pin connectors or something on the end.  The yellow was originally connected to the G and the black connected to the R.  The phone cord with 4 wires had the red and green connected to the R and the black and grey connected to the G.  The jack did work in the past because there was a phone connected to it at one time.

My DSL has always worked.  My phone worked but with radio interference.  We only disconnected the jack because it was screwed into the base board which we are replacing.  My brother is normally really good at this type of stuff and reconnected it exactly like he found it.  He's so pissed about it that he just went to bed without eating because he's so frustrated.

[TheVgirl]

Sorry the picture is so blurry.  Best I can do with a camera phone.  By the way, the Bell/AT&T document that is a troubleshooting guide for radio interference is from 1974 so that means that the jack is at least that old!  It's a 1542A I think.

[TheVgirl]

Ok, here's your racy pics!  Will that help?  These are the Rome Hooters Girl on Career Day or Halloween.  Not sure which, I'll have to ask Frenchy to clarify, but they obviously don't mind showing their butt so I took the liberty to share it here.

Anything to help solve the problem.  I feel terrible.  I've stressed out my brother and my father in the past several days.  I've stressed DCFiremann out for at least the last month!  I've called and woke him up a half-dozen times trying to figure this out.  I'm glad he's in Maryland and I'm in Georgia at the moment!  He might strangle me otherwise!  So I'm trying not to drive anyone else to drinking....LOL!

Hillbilly, hick, redneck, idiot!  At this point, you can call them what you want!  I'll call you a genius if you can tell me how to fix it.  To try the different combination of pairs, is it ok if I strip the ends off?

[hard10]

Ok V, looking at the picture you can see there are jumpers on the two posts. This is obviously an older jack. The solder may have broken over the years or there is a break in the wire. It is probably solid copper. Try cutting the yellow and black wires 1/4" back and stripping. Then reattach them to the two posts (screws) closest to the jack. The red & green are not used. Looking at the yellow it appears to have a 'kink' in it. Try cutting that piece out and reattach. We'll wait.

[hard10]

Try this

[TheVgirl]

No go!  But the internet still works!  OK, I am giving up.  I have not sit down since breakfast and still haven't had dinner.  Maybe it will all make sense in the morning.  If not, I'll pay BellSouth $85 an hour to fix it!  Or better yet, just go ahead and disconnect the house phone and internet and let the new owners deal with it!!!   

Thanks hard10 and Mike L for the help.  I am sure that in the morning, I'll walk down there and it will work on the first try just because it's Murphy's law and we've spent several hours on it tonight and it hasn't worked!

Thanks,
V

P.S.  I was worried about those long-term effects on my brother too.  He might have came unglued! 

[hard10]

What you didn't tell us was what the other wires are for? What do they connect to? And if you're selling the house, don't worry about it!

AJ