machine stop once more occurs then there is a very high degree of probability that a number of warp threads 2a are clinging together what is certain is that there are no fallen drop wires 9a otherwise they would have been detected by the drop wire locator furthermore stopping and restarting the machine rules out the possibility of the stop having been caused by jiggling of the drop wires 9 the only remaining possibility is the presence of a 34 strap 34 in the method of the invention the second warp stop signal is therefore used to indicate that a number of warp threads are clinging together in a second variant of the method of the invention when a machine stop occurs a check is first made for a fallen drop wire 9a if no fallen drop wire 9a is detected or observed the machine is restarted if immediately after the restart a machine stop once more occurs a second check for a fallen drop wire is carried out by means of the drop wire detector 14 if no fallen drop wire is detected or observed as a result of this second check then according to the invention this datum is used to indicate that a number of warp threads 2a are very probably clinging together in a variation of the method just described after the second check for a fallen drop wire 9a the machine can be restarted for a second time if a machine stop occurs again immediately after this restart then according to the invention this datum is used to signal that a number of warp threads are clinging together in a third variant of the method of the invention when a machine stop occurs a check.