On Sat, 30 Apr 2016 17:13:40 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

The OP is long gone. He has figured out it is not his problem. The DSL
works and there is no dial tone at that spot. That means the wiring is
working. If it was shorted, it would ring busy and if it was open, the
DSL would not work.

I suggested a PARTIAL short or open, that passes some frequencies but
not others. It responds differently to phone (up to about 3KHz) and DSL
(10KHz and up).

POTS is a pretty robust technology. A partial short will put a hum on
the line or take it off hook, depending on how "short" it is.
If it is off hook, it will show busy when you call. He said it has a
ring tone.