We are completely finished with re-installing windows on the student laptops. The next phase of this project will be installing Xubuntu on a portion of the laptops. In order to do that, we need an image to use. This phase will be completed after the holiday break. In the meantime, I am burning an exuberant amount of Dell Boot disks for the Information Technology department here at the Arlington Career Center. This process is simple:
- Insert burnable disk into disk drive
- select image desired
- click burn image
- wait for disk to complete
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Latitude D630
Over the last few days we have been installing Windows XP for Students on the batch of Latitude D630s'. We were unable to coordinate it so that we could mass install it from the server because there were software compatibility issues. So we ended up having to manually disk install approximately 45 laptops with Windows XP. We are about 2/3 of the way complete with this task.
We were originally under the impression that we would be installing Xubuntu; however that plan does not appear to be occurring. Now it appears that we are waiting for a copy of Xubuntu to install on some of the laptops. We expect to find out the next step in this process sometime after the Winter break has ended.
We were originally under the impression that we would be installing Xubuntu; however that plan does not appear to be occurring. Now it appears that we are waiting for a copy of Xubuntu to install on some of the laptops. We expect to find out the next step in this process sometime after the Winter break has ended.
Friday, December 14, 2012
OLPC Meltdown
This week we have been making progress with the OLPCs. One out of the three updated correctly and without any issues; however, the other two have encountered some issues. One required administrative privileges that we could not obtain. In addition, this OLPC has screen damage so we concluded that it would be better to scrap it and to use it for parts seeing as it can not be fixed. The other OLPC continuously reports "not enough disk space." It has been concluded that it needs to be flashed. So the plan is to conduct some more research today, and next week to flash the XO and update it that way. This is the best plan because it will remove any and all information previously stored on the machine, correcting the "not enough disk space" error.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Still Updating
Currently, I am still in the process of updates. The Toshiba laptop finished installing overnight and is now ready to go with the correct keyboard mapping.
Because the USB update images were not downloading correctly, I opted to update online using the tool that I discovered yesterday; however, I had forgotten to account for the fact that the internet in this lab is connected to an experimental server and gets turned off at the end of every day. As a result, the update on the XO 1.5 machine did not finish overnight as had been originally expected.
In addition, I began updating the images on the two XO-1 OLPC's and discovered an issue: I do not have administrative access and therefore the console will not update until I have entered correct login information. This is an issue because the OLPC's do not have the option to launch in recovery mode like regular computers running a form of Linux do.I have researched the issue; however the solutions I have found require that the terminal be running and then typing additional commands to bypass restrictions to non-admins. Unfortunately, in this situation it will not even allow me to launch the terminal without verifying administrator access. Hopefully this issue can be resolved soon.
Because the USB update images were not downloading correctly, I opted to update online using the tool that I discovered yesterday; however, I had forgotten to account for the fact that the internet in this lab is connected to an experimental server and gets turned off at the end of every day. As a result, the update on the XO 1.5 machine did not finish overnight as had been originally expected.
In addition, I began updating the images on the two XO-1 OLPC's and discovered an issue: I do not have administrative access and therefore the console will not update until I have entered correct login information. This is an issue because the OLPC's do not have the option to launch in recovery mode like regular computers running a form of Linux do.I have researched the issue; however the solutions I have found require that the terminal be running and then typing additional commands to bypass restrictions to non-admins. Unfortunately, in this situation it will not even allow me to launch the terminal without verifying administrator access. Hopefully this issue can be resolved soon.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Sugar
Today, I continued re-installing xubuntu on the administrator computer for the school in Senegal. I finally found where it is that it asks for the keyboard layout and have selected the correct keyboard map: English (USA). Unforunately, this laptop can't possibly be any slower and it is taking up a considerable amount of time. Once I am sure that it is installing correctly, I will begin updating the OLPC's with their latest images of Sugar. The images finally downloaded onto the USB stick!
At this point in time I am not entirely sure how to update the OS on an OLPC. I have only established that it must be done via USB because the traditional commands are not working in the terminal.
I moved to begin updating the OS on the OLPCs only to discover the update images had in fact not downloaded correctly. I then began to research how to update it wirelessly once again. I discovered a way of opening not Terminal Activity, but a console. This is done by pressing ctrl, alt, and F2 simultaneously; however, these keyboards do not include an F2 key. So instead you press the home network key (the key that is a black circle with three smaller white circles inside it). This key functions as the F2 key and allows you to open the console.
At this point in time I am not entirely sure how to update the OS on an OLPC. I have only established that it must be done via USB because the traditional commands are not working in the terminal.
I moved to begin updating the OS on the OLPCs only to discover the update images had in fact not downloaded correctly. I then began to research how to update it wirelessly once again. I discovered a way of opening not Terminal Activity, but a console. This is done by pressing ctrl, alt, and F2 simultaneously; however, these keyboards do not include an F2 key. So instead you press the home network key (the key that is a black circle with three smaller white circles inside it). This key functions as the F2 key and allows you to open the console.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Keyboard Conundrum
I was able to successfully install Xubuntu/Sugar on an administrative laptop for the school in Senegal; however, I installed in French. Although installing in French is not a problem, I neglected to account for the fact that the keyboard maps for English and French are DIFFERENT. As such, there was no solution to the issue other than to re-install the operating system and make sure I select US keyboard map.
In addition, the images for the OLPC's we were instructed to update are taking far longer than expected to download so that we may use them to update with. As a result, I have not been able to begin updating the OLPC's but hope to be able to do so in the next couple of days.
We were also assigned another project:
We were asked to burn approximately 20 copies of a kase boot disk. Why, you may ask? I do not know. A kase boot disk is the imaging disk that is used for Dell.
In addition, the images for the OLPC's we were instructed to update are taking far longer than expected to download so that we may use them to update with. As a result, I have not been able to begin updating the OLPC's but hope to be able to do so in the next couple of days.
We were also assigned another project:
We were asked to burn approximately 20 copies of a kase boot disk. Why, you may ask? I do not know. A kase boot disk is the imaging disk that is used for Dell.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
So Begins The Adventures...
...and so begins our adventure as dell laptop repairmen.
Our latest assignment can be described as quite a large feat. We were given approximately 45 '06 model Dell laptop computers that are essentially given out to Career Center students who need them. These laptops have been returned to the instructional technology inventory keeper with various issues that include but are not limited to: missing hardware, broken hardware (i.e. cracked screen), or have software issues (i.e. will not boot Windows). It is our task to ensure that these laptops are fixed to the point that they run functionally in both the hardware and software side of things.
Issues encountered:
- missing/broken keys
- missing hard drive
- missing battery
- broken screen
- battery does not hold a charge
Resolutions:
The solutions to the problems previously listed include salvaging parts from computers that have been deemed "no longer functional in their entirety." However, some of the laptops with minor issues that we could not resolve on our own still need to have things such as keys replaced, or batteries replaced. Below are the costs of replacing the keyboards, the battery, hard drive, CD drive, and the screen with comparisons to the price of a fully functional used Dell Latitude D630.
Cost of Battery: $116
Cost of Hard Drive: $55.99
Cost of CD Drive: $29.99
Cost of Keyboard: $24.99
Cost of LCD Screen: $124.99
Cost of functional used Latitude D630: $144.99
Based on the above research, it is cost effective to replace the keyboards on these laptops or the CD drive; however, for laptops with further issues, it is not cost effective to have items such as the screen or the battery replaced.
Our latest assignment can be described as quite a large feat. We were given approximately 45 '06 model Dell laptop computers that are essentially given out to Career Center students who need them. These laptops have been returned to the instructional technology inventory keeper with various issues that include but are not limited to: missing hardware, broken hardware (i.e. cracked screen), or have software issues (i.e. will not boot Windows). It is our task to ensure that these laptops are fixed to the point that they run functionally in both the hardware and software side of things.
Issues encountered:
- missing/broken keys
- missing hard drive
- missing battery
- broken screen
- battery does not hold a charge
Resolutions:
The solutions to the problems previously listed include salvaging parts from computers that have been deemed "no longer functional in their entirety." However, some of the laptops with minor issues that we could not resolve on our own still need to have things such as keys replaced, or batteries replaced. Below are the costs of replacing the keyboards, the battery, hard drive, CD drive, and the screen with comparisons to the price of a fully functional used Dell Latitude D630.
Cost of Battery: $116
Cost of Hard Drive: $55.99
Cost of CD Drive: $29.99
Cost of Keyboard: $24.99
Cost of LCD Screen: $124.99
Cost of functional used Latitude D630: $144.99
Based on the above research, it is cost effective to replace the keyboards on these laptops or the CD drive; however, for laptops with further issues, it is not cost effective to have items such as the screen or the battery replaced.
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