Monday - took the Etherscope to Fouke. Their network looked pretty good! They had some IPX traffic (printers) that we got under control and our walkthrough of the wireless network found a mobile hotspot and a Nintendo handheld device.
Tuesday - Took the Etherscope to Hope Schools. We found several issues - some duplicate IPs, some IPX traffic (mostly printers), a few others. Spent the day working on those plus some other issues and topics - iPads, New Tech school, new administration, various Mac OS apps, etc.
Showing posts with label fouke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fouke. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Week of January 27 UPDATE
Wednesday - Traveled to Bradley to help troubleshoot several issues and run a cable in one of their labs. We had to install DyKnow monitoring software, which turned out to be much more involved than we had anticipated. In fact, we ended up removing the installation at least once (I think maybe twice) before we got it right. Let me just say that I miss the days when thousand-dollar software came with a PRINTED manual. We had to locate and replace a wire that was causing a video issue in the distance learning lab. We also looked at several other technical issues as well.
Thursday - I drove to Fouke to help troubleshoot network issues. The tech and I looked at their backup configuration and made sure that it was backing up everything it was supposed to be. We went through the Middle School trying to find a possible network loopback, but did not find one. There is something going on, and I let the tech know that the co-op would be getting an Etherscope soon and that I would bring it to troubleshoot as soon as it arrived. in the meantime, I offered suggestions for manually hunting down the problem. The "old school" method is to unplug cables one at a time until things settle down. If EVERYTHING is unplugged before the network settles, then plug things back in one at a time and monitor the situation. It is long, tedious work with a lot of network connections to go through.
They have Xirrus wireless and one array keeps rebooting itself, but does not log the boot loop in its diagnostics. I can only assume that the system is rebooting before the diags can be recorded.
The tech asked me to research the following: 1) Cloud-based backup for Netware, 2) Multi-sheet document scanner for record keeping, 3) Info regarding migration from Groupwise to Google Apps for Education. I will have those to them next week.
Friday - Went to Blevins to help troubleshoot network issues and other problems. They had a lightning strike take out one of their T1s. The telco replaced the line, but the internet connection was no where near up to speed (running about 26k/sec). We had DIS on the line and Warren helped us narrow down a couple issues. One issue surfaced in the form of the video LAN and the Data LAN being on the same physical network. After a LOT of sneakernet, we found the problem (a wire plugged into the wrong place) and fixed that. As for internet connectivity, it turns out the line was not provisioned correctly on the telco end. Aonce both of those were resolved, the district was running at near 3-meg capacity.
Additionally, I had a list of things the techs wanted me to look over, so I did. A MacBook had a CD stuck in the drive and it would not eject. The system was "hosed" and would not boot beyond the spinning grey circle. Holding the EJECT button whole booting did not work. Holding COMMAND-OPTION-F-O never put me in Firmware Mode, so that was no good. I finally took a stiff piece of cardboard and stuck it in the drive. When the system tried to boot, the CD was held in place by the cardboard. The system tried to read the disc 3-4 times. After that, the CD eventually ejected from the system.
I helped set the password expiration period to 90 days (it had been set to 42 days).
I helped set up two printers as DHCP reservations.
I showed the tech how to DENY requests for IP addresses in the DHCP server module. I love that feature of Server 2008 R2! Wahoo! They had a LOT of iPhone, iPod, Android, etc users snagging up IP addresses.
We worked on a couple other issues, then I headed to the office.
At the office, I worked on updating the Operations Guide for the Conference Room - added a cheat sheet for multiple screen scenarios. I posted the 2012-2013 DL Calendar to the ARDL portal, answered phone calls, emails, voicemails, etc.
Thursday - I drove to Fouke to help troubleshoot network issues. The tech and I looked at their backup configuration and made sure that it was backing up everything it was supposed to be. We went through the Middle School trying to find a possible network loopback, but did not find one. There is something going on, and I let the tech know that the co-op would be getting an Etherscope soon and that I would bring it to troubleshoot as soon as it arrived. in the meantime, I offered suggestions for manually hunting down the problem. The "old school" method is to unplug cables one at a time until things settle down. If EVERYTHING is unplugged before the network settles, then plug things back in one at a time and monitor the situation. It is long, tedious work with a lot of network connections to go through.
They have Xirrus wireless and one array keeps rebooting itself, but does not log the boot loop in its diagnostics. I can only assume that the system is rebooting before the diags can be recorded.
The tech asked me to research the following: 1) Cloud-based backup for Netware, 2) Multi-sheet document scanner for record keeping, 3) Info regarding migration from Groupwise to Google Apps for Education. I will have those to them next week.
Friday - Went to Blevins to help troubleshoot network issues and other problems. They had a lightning strike take out one of their T1s. The telco replaced the line, but the internet connection was no where near up to speed (running about 26k/sec). We had DIS on the line and Warren helped us narrow down a couple issues. One issue surfaced in the form of the video LAN and the Data LAN being on the same physical network. After a LOT of sneakernet, we found the problem (a wire plugged into the wrong place) and fixed that. As for internet connectivity, it turns out the line was not provisioned correctly on the telco end. Aonce both of those were resolved, the district was running at near 3-meg capacity.
Additionally, I had a list of things the techs wanted me to look over, so I did. A MacBook had a CD stuck in the drive and it would not eject. The system was "hosed" and would not boot beyond the spinning grey circle. Holding the EJECT button whole booting did not work. Holding COMMAND-OPTION-F-O never put me in Firmware Mode, so that was no good. I finally took a stiff piece of cardboard and stuck it in the drive. When the system tried to boot, the CD was held in place by the cardboard. The system tried to read the disc 3-4 times. After that, the CD eventually ejected from the system.
I helped set the password expiration period to 90 days (it had been set to 42 days).
I helped set up two printers as DHCP reservations.
I showed the tech how to DENY requests for IP addresses in the DHCP server module. I love that feature of Server 2008 R2! Wahoo! They had a LOT of iPhone, iPod, Android, etc users snagging up IP addresses.
We worked on a couple other issues, then I headed to the office.
At the office, I worked on updating the Operations Guide for the Conference Room - added a cheat sheet for multiple screen scenarios. I posted the 2012-2013 DL Calendar to the ARDL portal, answered phone calls, emails, voicemails, etc.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday
When I arrived, I started working on building a report for target testing data. The data was sent in Excel, which I imported into Access, created a count query and a report to go with it, then converted the report to pdf for distribution to appropriate personnel.
Drove to Fouke with the Distance Learning Coordinator to look at a couple of tech issues in the DL lab.
We installed a HDMI cable to connect a 2nd TV to the codec. The image appears the same on both monitors. This is not normally what happens. After quite a bit of experimenting, there was no way to get the image to show in-class on one screen and incoming on the other. There must be a setting somewhere I am missing. I will check out a similar system at another campus, take notes and revisit the system at Fouke.
We installed a document camera on the codec. For some reason, when selecting "presentation," the system switches to a dual-screen mode showing the far site and near site but does not switch to the document camera. Using the remote, however, the facilitator can switch to the document camera manually. While not ideal, this will serve to meet the needs until we get the remote/configuration figured out.
Talked briefly with the Technology Coordinator and Ass't TC regarding tech plans, e-rate, A-Plus learning, and connecting Macs into the Active Directory.
Visited with the Supt and other staff before we left campus.
At the office, I worked on grant evaluation procedures, e-rate, and addressed/replied to work-related emails.
Drove to Fouke with the Distance Learning Coordinator to look at a couple of tech issues in the DL lab.
We installed a HDMI cable to connect a 2nd TV to the codec. The image appears the same on both monitors. This is not normally what happens. After quite a bit of experimenting, there was no way to get the image to show in-class on one screen and incoming on the other. There must be a setting somewhere I am missing. I will check out a similar system at another campus, take notes and revisit the system at Fouke.
We installed a document camera on the codec. For some reason, when selecting "presentation," the system switches to a dual-screen mode showing the far site and near site but does not switch to the document camera. Using the remote, however, the facilitator can switch to the document camera manually. While not ideal, this will serve to meet the needs until we get the remote/configuration figured out.
Talked briefly with the Technology Coordinator and Ass't TC regarding tech plans, e-rate, A-Plus learning, and connecting Macs into the Active Directory.
Visited with the Supt and other staff before we left campus.
At the office, I worked on grant evaluation procedures, e-rate, and addressed/replied to work-related emails.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Recapping... 10/19-10/26 and 10/31-11/13
In addition to daily duties, these are the highlights of days gone by:
*Note: At various times during this period, I was out sick. I have emails confirming this, as well as emails detailing some tasks not specifically outlined here. i will happily share any of that information with personnel in authority as needed/requested.
10/19 - Participated in the Prescott Schools Technology Committee Meeting.
10/24 - Worked with Blevins to get printers working at the district. Turned out to be an issue with wireless access points handing out "bad" addresses on the network. Resolved all but one a/p issue, but that a/p could not actually be physically located. Resolved issue in software, rebooted workstations. Set up reservations in dhcp. Then traveled to Fouke to work on various Server 2008 issues, tech plan items, and other issues.
10/31 - out sick
11/02 - Went to Txk ECH to work on laptop. Ended up bringing laptop back for complete factory restore.
11/03 - Lewisville ECH and Bradley Schools - Went to Lewisville to troubleshoot computer problems. Resolved settings in Adobe in order to make SEAS work via web browser. Also installed/set-up SmartBoard. From there, went to Bradley in order to resolve connectivity issues. Like Blevins (above), we found wireless access points handing out "bad" ip addresses. Evidently, a power surge over the previous night had reset the access points to hand out ip addresses. in one case, we resolved an ongoing issue (thought it had been an infected machine, but turned out to be an access point handing out ips). We also looked at other server issues, worked on e-rate (specifically BEAR form info), and took care of local work orders.
11/04 - Returned the Txk ECH laptop to the classroom, reinstalled the printer and tested everything. Looks great.
11/08 - Talked with Paul Glen, CEO of LeadingGeeks regarding communication differences between "techies" and "non-techies" for a book he is writing with a partner. The interview/conversation lasted about an hour. I also evaluated Xirrus and AeroHive for enterprise wireless solutions in our main building. Evaluated a couple quotes for Crestron installation of a control panel system for our conference rooms.
11/09 - Met with Lindy and Phoebe regarding several tech issues and topics. Ultimately decided to table the Crestron/automation project and move forward with AeroHive.
11/10 - Monthly Board meeting. Presented "app of the month." Covered FlipBoard and "This Day in History."
11/11 - Met with Lindy, Phoebe and Trish regarding TIE schedules and meeting agendas. Installed CWT on iPad and iPod for workshop. Worked on Operations Guides for various presentation rooms at co-op. Ordered parts to help clean up the wiring in the main conference center.
*Note: At various times during this period, I was out sick. I have emails confirming this, as well as emails detailing some tasks not specifically outlined here. i will happily share any of that information with personnel in authority as needed/requested.
10/19 - Participated in the Prescott Schools Technology Committee Meeting.
10/24 - Worked with Blevins to get printers working at the district. Turned out to be an issue with wireless access points handing out "bad" addresses on the network. Resolved all but one a/p issue, but that a/p could not actually be physically located. Resolved issue in software, rebooted workstations. Set up reservations in dhcp. Then traveled to Fouke to work on various Server 2008 issues, tech plan items, and other issues.
10/31 - out sick
11/02 - Went to Txk ECH to work on laptop. Ended up bringing laptop back for complete factory restore.
11/03 - Lewisville ECH and Bradley Schools - Went to Lewisville to troubleshoot computer problems. Resolved settings in Adobe in order to make SEAS work via web browser. Also installed/set-up SmartBoard. From there, went to Bradley in order to resolve connectivity issues. Like Blevins (above), we found wireless access points handing out "bad" ip addresses. Evidently, a power surge over the previous night had reset the access points to hand out ip addresses. in one case, we resolved an ongoing issue (thought it had been an infected machine, but turned out to be an access point handing out ips). We also looked at other server issues, worked on e-rate (specifically BEAR form info), and took care of local work orders.
11/04 - Returned the Txk ECH laptop to the classroom, reinstalled the printer and tested everything. Looks great.
11/08 - Talked with Paul Glen, CEO of LeadingGeeks regarding communication differences between "techies" and "non-techies" for a book he is writing with a partner. The interview/conversation lasted about an hour. I also evaluated Xirrus and AeroHive for enterprise wireless solutions in our main building. Evaluated a couple quotes for Crestron installation of a control panel system for our conference rooms.
11/09 - Met with Lindy and Phoebe regarding several tech issues and topics. Ultimately decided to table the Crestron/automation project and move forward with AeroHive.
11/10 - Monthly Board meeting. Presented "app of the month." Covered FlipBoard and "This Day in History."
11/11 - Met with Lindy, Phoebe and Trish regarding TIE schedules and meeting agendas. Installed CWT on iPad and iPod for workshop. Worked on Operations Guides for various presentation rooms at co-op. Ordered parts to help clean up the wiring in the main conference center.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
10/27/2011
I will catch up with missed days in another post.
Today, I took a laptop and wireless printer to one of our early childhood programs, installed them. I also created a user account on one of the ech computers in that same facility.
After that, I went to Fouke Schools. We worked on users, groups, shared folders, permissions, a little bit of group policy. I also helped them with questions regarding subnets and expansion of their commodity internet.
Following that, we worked on permissions issues on the mac server. Turned out to be a problem between the user and their home folder. When deleting a user on a mac server, be sure to also delete/rename that user's home folder before attempting to create another user account with the same name.
Talked on phone with Bradley regarding ERate.
Once back at the office, I worked on E-Rate (BEAR forms etc) until end of day.
Today, I took a laptop and wireless printer to one of our early childhood programs, installed them. I also created a user account on one of the ech computers in that same facility.
After that, I went to Fouke Schools. We worked on users, groups, shared folders, permissions, a little bit of group policy. I also helped them with questions regarding subnets and expansion of their commodity internet.
Following that, we worked on permissions issues on the mac server. Turned out to be a problem between the user and their home folder. When deleting a user on a mac server, be sure to also delete/rename that user's home folder before attempting to create another user account with the same name.
Talked on phone with Bradley regarding ERate.
Once back at the office, I worked on E-Rate (BEAR forms etc) until end of day.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, Wednesday, and breaking through
Tuesday, Trish and I traveled to Fouke to meet with the SKC installer. When we arrived, he had already assembled most of the equipment. While he was finishing up, I started dismantling the old system - pulling wires out of the ceiling, etc. We employed some of the football players to pull the large screen TV off the table. The maintenance guy helped with some of the ceiling cabling work.
The system needed a ceiling mic adapter and the one that was sent to the school was a 'do-it-yourself' soldering job. Not happening. In the meantime, we ran into the same problem that we had in Bradley: no go on connectivity. I had DIS on the phone and they tried all kinds of troubleshooting. In the end, we hooked up the old system to get classes going again. Frustration levels were getting higher.
Back at the office, I worked on our firewall issues, and had to delete and recreated our Sharepoint Central Administration site. I'm not sure what happened there. As best I can figure, there was a SQL glitch preventing the site from actually displaying. A few command line entries and a server reboot later, it was back and happy!
Wednesday, met SKC and DIS at Genoa. We spent much of the morning troubleshooting connectivity issues when trying to add the new system into the mix. Turned out to be a bad switch. In the meantime, this new system had the same problems already seen: no connectivity. Luckily, Max with DIS brought a system with him - same model but running older software. He connected his system and it fired right up! So, Chris (SKC) downloaded a downgrade and pushed it out to the video unit. I am SEVERELY condensing time here, but once the new (er, old) software was dropped into place, the system fired up. Well, they also had to UNPAIR the touch panel from the codec. In any case, we had both systems up and running by about 1:30pm or so. Chris and I headed to Fouke. The software was installed and that system worked great! Also, Chris had received the correct cabling for the microphone and we connected it during class. The teacher said everything sounded fine and we left at the end of the day, knowing what we needed to do to the Bradley system. I will take care of that on Friday.
The system needed a ceiling mic adapter and the one that was sent to the school was a 'do-it-yourself' soldering job. Not happening. In the meantime, we ran into the same problem that we had in Bradley: no go on connectivity. I had DIS on the phone and they tried all kinds of troubleshooting. In the end, we hooked up the old system to get classes going again. Frustration levels were getting higher.
Back at the office, I worked on our firewall issues, and had to delete and recreated our Sharepoint Central Administration site. I'm not sure what happened there. As best I can figure, there was a SQL glitch preventing the site from actually displaying. A few command line entries and a server reboot later, it was back and happy!
Wednesday, met SKC and DIS at Genoa. We spent much of the morning troubleshooting connectivity issues when trying to add the new system into the mix. Turned out to be a bad switch. In the meantime, this new system had the same problems already seen: no connectivity. Luckily, Max with DIS brought a system with him - same model but running older software. He connected his system and it fired right up! So, Chris (SKC) downloaded a downgrade and pushed it out to the video unit. I am SEVERELY condensing time here, but once the new (er, old) software was dropped into place, the system fired up. Well, they also had to UNPAIR the touch panel from the codec. In any case, we had both systems up and running by about 1:30pm or so. Chris and I headed to Fouke. The software was installed and that system worked great! Also, Chris had received the correct cabling for the microphone and we connected it during class. The teacher said everything sounded fine and we left at the end of the day, knowing what we needed to do to the Bradley system. I will take care of that on Friday.
Monday, September 19, 2011
9/14-9/16 2011
Wednesday - Met with the Board of Directors regarding CIPA, Internet Safety, RUS Grant CIV system installs, monthly tech meetings, Website requirements, Disaster recovery training.
After the meeting, I went to Blevins to help with various network related issues. We also tried to hunt down a rogue wireless device, but by then school was out. I believe the device is a 'hockey puck' portable wifi spot that someone brought and plugged in to the network. We will try again another day.
Thursday - Met with Jeff Madlock of Hope Schools regarding disaster recovery testing, policy, Apple Lion server and other tech-related issues.
Also met with representatives from Howard Technology regarding a touch panel control unit for our conference rooms. They will put together a quote and get back to me. In the meantime, I will call in 2 or 3 other vendors for quotes as well.
Had some issues in the computer lab, so I spent the bulk of the afternoon ironing those out. For the most part, Parallels would not print. Installed correct network printer drivers on the machines and took other measures to help keep the lab up and running. Mostly, I disabled some software updates and changed a few settings to help make the virtual environment more stable and efficient (memory settings, full-screen options, etc)
Friday - Spent the day in Fouke. We installed Server 2008 on two servers, created a secondary Domain Controller, and did some troubleshooting in a lab. We had to make a few changes to the DHCP settings, and they will need to make some more as well, as the pool has filled up. It is amazing how many devices they have! Talk about tech in schools! We also took care of some other network issues (DNS, subnets, etc)
After the meeting, I went to Blevins to help with various network related issues. We also tried to hunt down a rogue wireless device, but by then school was out. I believe the device is a 'hockey puck' portable wifi spot that someone brought and plugged in to the network. We will try again another day.
Thursday - Met with Jeff Madlock of Hope Schools regarding disaster recovery testing, policy, Apple Lion server and other tech-related issues.
Also met with representatives from Howard Technology regarding a touch panel control unit for our conference rooms. They will put together a quote and get back to me. In the meantime, I will call in 2 or 3 other vendors for quotes as well.
Had some issues in the computer lab, so I spent the bulk of the afternoon ironing those out. For the most part, Parallels would not print. Installed correct network printer drivers on the machines and took other measures to help keep the lab up and running. Mostly, I disabled some software updates and changed a few settings to help make the virtual environment more stable and efficient (memory settings, full-screen options, etc)
Friday - Spent the day in Fouke. We installed Server 2008 on two servers, created a secondary Domain Controller, and did some troubleshooting in a lab. We had to make a few changes to the DHCP settings, and they will need to make some more as well, as the pool has filled up. It is amazing how many devices they have! Talk about tech in schools! We also took care of some other network issues (DNS, subnets, etc)
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday - Early Childhood Visits
On Thursday, I had to run to the office to kick-start the mail server. After I took care of a few other issues in-house, I headed down to Fouke and to Texarkana for some troubleshooting. In Fouke, one of the student machines got infected with the "Windows Repair" drive-by fake spyware program. I sincerely *HATE* these stupid fake spyware programs. They pretend to scan your machine and report all kinds of problems, when in fact the program itself is causing the problem! In this case, Windows Repair "scans" the computer, but what it is really doing is resetting all the attributes to HIDDEN and READ-ONLY for every single file it can get its hands on. Naturally, this produces all kinds of "drive errors" because the system cannot write to read-only files! It is brilliant in its simplicity. It is also a bugger to get rid of! I tried to run Malwarebytes, but that was futile. Even in Safe Mode it was worthless because of the attributes, plus the program was outdated. So, time for the "hard way:" I deleted the following files from Safe Mode: Documents and Settings\All users\Application Data\(random gibberish filename).exe Documents and Settings\infected-username\Application Data\(random gibberish filename).exe Unregistered and Removed this: Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\(random gibberish filename).dll Then removed these:
Documents and Settings\UserName\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Repair\Uninstall Windows Repair.lnk
Documents and Settings\User Name\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Repair\Windows Repair.lnk
Documents and Settings\UserName\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Repair
Documents and Settings\UserName\Desktop\Windows Repair.lnk
Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].dll
Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe
Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\[RANDOM CHARACTERS]
I right-clicked on each folder in C:\ then chose Properties. in there, UNCHECK the "Read Only" box and UNCHECK the "hidden" box. I realize this is overkill and may actually serve to subject Windows to other issues at some point, but I needed the system up and running.
Once the attributes were changed, I rebooted and logged in as an Administrator. I updated Malwarebytes. I also disabled System Restore and deleted all the Temporary Internet Files (manually through a command prompt).
I scanned the machine and found three infections, which Malwarebytes cleaned up.
I rebooted and everything appeared normal.
After that, I headed to the Supt's office, but he was out of town.
I went to Texarkana to work on their computers.
I had to install new A/V software on two machines. I set up a user password on one machine. That went smoothly, except on my way back to the office, the teacher called to tell me her computer was now runnig VERY slowly. I will be back there to check that out.
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