Showing posts with label installation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label installation. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
08/03/2011
Spent the day helping run wires, terminate ends, and do some compressed interactive video network troubleshooting at Bradley. Whew! My area schools know how to keep me busy. I love em!
08/01/2011
Monday - Worked at Blevins, helping them start upgrading machines to Windows 7 and getting computers joined to the new domain.
Monday, July 25, 2011
07/21/2011
Last Thursday, I taught a session on Internet Ethics in the morning and a session on Social Networking for the Classroom in the afternoon.
After the workshops, I hooked up digital pocket cameras for a workshop on Monday. The cameras needed to be charged and the software needed to be installed on the Macs for use in the workshop the next week.
After the workshops, I hooked up digital pocket cameras for a workshop on Monday. The cameras needed to be charged and the software needed to be installed on the Macs for use in the workshop the next week.
07/25/2011
Drove straight to McRae Middle School to deliver several boxes of binders and books for a workshop taking place there today.
At the office, I talked with the presenter for a pocket camera workshop and we needed to update the software on the cameras being used. So, me and the DL coordinator and the presenter fired up Windows in Parallels and installed the correct software.
After that, Trish (DL Coordinator) and I headed to Bradley. in Bradley, we connected a new swicth and media converters to the video network in preparation for new equipment coming through an RUS grant. Once that was done, we went to the closet where the fiber terminated to install another media converter and switch. This allows for the video system to come online and for 24 computers to be installed in the new dl room.
After that, we went to an extsing dl room in order to disassemble a video system in order to reconfigure the hardware arrangement. The remote for the system would not work because the equipment had been installed backward in the podium. We fixed that, ran a couple test calls, and tied up loose wires, etc.
In the next dl room, we tied up loose wires and verified that things were working. The touch panel is having issues and we may need to update the software in both the codec and the touch panel this year.
There were three netbooks giving the local tech fits, so I helped get those situated and joined them to the domain.
I am scheduled to return on Tuesday with a Windows 7 DVD to reinstall software on a laptop and to run cabling for the new dl room.
At the office, I talked with the presenter for a pocket camera workshop and we needed to update the software on the cameras being used. So, me and the DL coordinator and the presenter fired up Windows in Parallels and installed the correct software.
After that, Trish (DL Coordinator) and I headed to Bradley. in Bradley, we connected a new swicth and media converters to the video network in preparation for new equipment coming through an RUS grant. Once that was done, we went to the closet where the fiber terminated to install another media converter and switch. This allows for the video system to come online and for 24 computers to be installed in the new dl room.
After that, we went to an extsing dl room in order to disassemble a video system in order to reconfigure the hardware arrangement. The remote for the system would not work because the equipment had been installed backward in the podium. We fixed that, ran a couple test calls, and tied up loose wires, etc.
In the next dl room, we tied up loose wires and verified that things were working. The touch panel is having issues and we may need to update the software in both the codec and the touch panel this year.
There were three netbooks giving the local tech fits, so I helped get those situated and joined them to the domain.
I am scheduled to return on Tuesday with a Windows 7 DVD to reinstall software on a laptop and to run cabling for the new dl room.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Starting a New Year
This is the first post of my new work year. Hopefully, keeping up with my daily activities will go better this fiscal year than last.
We were out Monday for the 4th of July holiday.
Tuesday (up to 11:35am) - Swapped out core switches in upstairs closet. Downstairs closet will be completed once I receive the missing rack mounts from the manufacturer. After that, I began work on a laptop that has Windows 7 Home Premium installed. I tried to update to KMS code we have for the co-op. That did not work at all.
I purchased a Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade from Microsoft. The license number works, but the upgrade itself failed several times with no helpful error at all (just says failed). I decided to download/install any outstanding updates to see if that has any bearing on the update at all. once of the updates is Win7SP1, and I have a feeling that might be a prerequisite for the upgrade. Who knows.
During this, I have been talking with our early childhood director about moving a smart board from one school location to another district.
12:15pm - Update on Win7 Upgrade: The Service Pack 1 install seems to have done the trick. Following the SP1 install, I tried the Anytime Upgrade and it eventually siad, "downloading 2 updates" which it had never said before failing before this. After all that was said and done, the machine rebooted a couple times as it installed/updated various files, etc. After that, though, Windows 7 welcomed me with the "Windows 7 Professional" script at the bottom of the logon screen! Tip: Make sure you are at Win7 SP1 before trying to Upgrade!
I met with a couple techs from Prescott for lunch. After lunch, I spent the afternoon running COMBOFIX on every computer in the distance learning lab and in the APSCN lab. Some machines had infections, most did not.
I am still having a VERY frustrating issue with my network jumping from 3Mbps down to 28k then back up again. So far, I can't find any rhyme or reason for it, but according to DIS, the problem is local. I'm not sure that's true. I cannot help but think this is a telco connectivity issue. Until I can prove it, though, I have to keep plugging away.
We were out Monday for the 4th of July holiday.
Tuesday (up to 11:35am) - Swapped out core switches in upstairs closet. Downstairs closet will be completed once I receive the missing rack mounts from the manufacturer. After that, I began work on a laptop that has Windows 7 Home Premium installed. I tried to update to KMS code we have for the co-op. That did not work at all.
I purchased a Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade from Microsoft. The license number works, but the upgrade itself failed several times with no helpful error at all (just says failed). I decided to download/install any outstanding updates to see if that has any bearing on the update at all. once of the updates is Win7SP1, and I have a feeling that might be a prerequisite for the upgrade. Who knows.
During this, I have been talking with our early childhood director about moving a smart board from one school location to another district.
12:15pm - Update on Win7 Upgrade: The Service Pack 1 install seems to have done the trick. Following the SP1 install, I tried the Anytime Upgrade and it eventually siad, "downloading 2 updates" which it had never said before failing before this. After all that was said and done, the machine rebooted a couple times as it installed/updated various files, etc. After that, though, Windows 7 welcomed me with the "Windows 7 Professional" script at the bottom of the logon screen! Tip: Make sure you are at Win7 SP1 before trying to Upgrade!
I met with a couple techs from Prescott for lunch. After lunch, I spent the afternoon running COMBOFIX on every computer in the distance learning lab and in the APSCN lab. Some machines had infections, most did not.
I am still having a VERY frustrating issue with my network jumping from 3Mbps down to 28k then back up again. So far, I can't find any rhyme or reason for it, but according to DIS, the problem is local. I'm not sure that's true. I cannot help but think this is a telco connectivity issue. Until I can prove it, though, I have to keep plugging away.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Catching up...
Other than daily routine, here are some of the things I have been doing lately:
On january 6, 2011, the state techs met at The Ranch in Little Rock.
On the 10-11, our offices were closed to due the massive snow storm that hit our area. On the 12th, I took a personal day off because the offices were opened but I could not get my car out of the yard in order to get to work - still was snowed in!
On the 18th, I installed a new computer for the Prescott Early Childhood program. While there, I set up a local printer to print to a student computer they have. After that, I went to the office, set up the Bradley Early Childhood computer and then delivered that computer to Bradley. While at Bradley, I helped the teacher install various software programs on the student computers. I also had to fix the resolution of one of the monitors. The monitor and the video card were out of refresh-rate sync, so I eventually got them to talk to each other by using the advanced settings for the graphics adapter.
On the 19th, I worked with Blevins schools: We installed shared printers to various laptops (using the path-name method - \\computername\printer\ ) When installing a shared printer onto another computer, you'll know if something isn't working correctly because as soon as you type "\\computername\" the name of the shared printer should automagically fill in. If it doesn't, the most likely reason is that the computername has been mistyped. Double-check spelling to be sure. The other reason is the name of the workgroup or domain being used. be sure they match on both computers.
Blevins also had a SmartBoard with the "psychadelic" color wheel problem. After a bit, we figured out how to access the bulb (on the 455, er I think that is the model number), the access panel is on the bottom (that is, facing the floor) and you simply pull it off. Once that's done, use a small screwdrive to loosen the two BLACK screws. Lift the U-clamp and drop the lamp out of the socket (not onto the floor! Just slowly pull the lamp out). Use canned air to blow out the bulb and the entire cavity, making sure to blow off the fan at the back and the color wheel up inside. Put everything back together and fire it up!
We also talked about installing some video cameras for a basketball tournament they have coming up. Ultimately, we decided on two cameras to be routed outside to another building for viewing. I will get pricing for a couple different setups and let them pick the one they want based on features and pricing.
On the 20th, I went to Genoa to help them set up a VPN on one of their switches. As it turns out, we were talking about two different kinds of VPN. I was thinking segregated netowrks; she was thinking remote access. haha.. Well, once that was out of the way, we explored different ideas and ultimately decided to try one of the 'free for non-commerical use' programs to see how they like it.
On january 6, 2011, the state techs met at The Ranch in Little Rock.
On the 10-11, our offices were closed to due the massive snow storm that hit our area. On the 12th, I took a personal day off because the offices were opened but I could not get my car out of the yard in order to get to work - still was snowed in!
On the 18th, I installed a new computer for the Prescott Early Childhood program. While there, I set up a local printer to print to a student computer they have. After that, I went to the office, set up the Bradley Early Childhood computer and then delivered that computer to Bradley. While at Bradley, I helped the teacher install various software programs on the student computers. I also had to fix the resolution of one of the monitors. The monitor and the video card were out of refresh-rate sync, so I eventually got them to talk to each other by using the advanced settings for the graphics adapter.
On the 19th, I worked with Blevins schools: We installed shared printers to various laptops (using the path-name method - \\computername\printer\ ) When installing a shared printer onto another computer, you'll know if something isn't working correctly because as soon as you type "\\computername\" the name of the shared printer should automagically fill in. If it doesn't, the most likely reason is that the computername has been mistyped. Double-check spelling to be sure. The other reason is the name of the workgroup or domain being used. be sure they match on both computers.
Blevins also had a SmartBoard with the "psychadelic" color wheel problem. After a bit, we figured out how to access the bulb (on the 455, er I think that is the model number), the access panel is on the bottom (that is, facing the floor) and you simply pull it off. Once that's done, use a small screwdrive to loosen the two BLACK screws. Lift the U-clamp and drop the lamp out of the socket (not onto the floor! Just slowly pull the lamp out). Use canned air to blow out the bulb and the entire cavity, making sure to blow off the fan at the back and the color wheel up inside. Put everything back together and fire it up!
We also talked about installing some video cameras for a basketball tournament they have coming up. Ultimately, we decided on two cameras to be routed outside to another building for viewing. I will get pricing for a couple different setups and let them pick the one they want based on features and pricing.
On the 20th, I went to Genoa to help them set up a VPN on one of their switches. As it turns out, we were talking about two different kinds of VPN. I was thinking segregated netowrks; she was thinking remote access. haha.. Well, once that was out of the way, we explored different ideas and ultimately decided to try one of the 'free for non-commerical use' programs to see how they like it.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Back to work!
It's back to work after a two-week break!
I got to the office, grabbed the Math Resources hard drive and headed to Fouke. There, I trained about 15-20 users on how to access the information (over 4GBs!) and then I let them explore the drive on their own.
After I got back to the office, I worked with Trish Brown (DL Coordinator) to get a CIV scheduled for Tuesday.
I also installed a new MFP for my boss, among other general duties.
I got to the office, grabbed the Math Resources hard drive and headed to Fouke. There, I trained about 15-20 users on how to access the information (over 4GBs!) and then I let them explore the drive on their own.
After I got back to the office, I worked with Trish Brown (DL Coordinator) to get a CIV scheduled for Tuesday.
I also installed a new MFP for my boss, among other general duties.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday and Thursday
Wednesday, I had to duplicate 24 usb-hard drives with the TIA Math resources application. That program is 5GB of incredible math resources discovered by various folks around the state and then culminated into a user-friendly format for (mostly) offline use - just plug in the drive and go! Very cool.
While doing that (I can copy two master drives to five empty drives in just over an hour or so), I took time to add a phone to the APSCN Mini Lab, as per a work order request. I also booted all the Dell computers in the lab and updated/scanned them for malware etc.
Other regular office activites took place as well. Oh, I also did some extensive troubleshooting on one of the locks to an outside door. It would lock, but then not let anyone back in! Sure, that's great for security, but not so great for folks standing in the cold and rain trying to get in.
I also created a one-stop resource page for my area techs, thanks to Christy Trantina's sharing of HER page. I tailored mine for my folks: http://etsp.k12.ar.us/technology/
On Thursday, the state techs met with Dr. Bobbie Davis regarding budgeting, E-rate, and school web site requirements.
We then met with Debbie Coffman regarding Common Core Standards and other related topics.
After a lunch break, we met with Cathi Swan regarding various distance learning issues and then conducted our regular monthly meeting.
The official notes for the day will be made available once they are approved by the state technology coordinators.
Handouts and notes will be shared with my area techs at our next meeting.
While doing that (I can copy two master drives to five empty drives in just over an hour or so), I took time to add a phone to the APSCN Mini Lab, as per a work order request. I also booted all the Dell computers in the lab and updated/scanned them for malware etc.
Other regular office activites took place as well. Oh, I also did some extensive troubleshooting on one of the locks to an outside door. It would lock, but then not let anyone back in! Sure, that's great for security, but not so great for folks standing in the cold and rain trying to get in.
I also created a one-stop resource page for my area techs, thanks to Christy Trantina's sharing of HER page. I tailored mine for my folks: http://etsp.k12.ar.us/technology/
On Thursday, the state techs met with Dr. Bobbie Davis regarding budgeting, E-rate, and school web site requirements.
We then met with Debbie Coffman regarding Common Core Standards and other related topics.
After a lunch break, we met with Cathi Swan regarding various distance learning issues and then conducted our regular monthly meeting.
The official notes for the day will be made available once they are approved by the state technology coordinators.
Handouts and notes will be shared with my area techs at our next meeting.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday
Started the day by going to Prescott to swap out the ECH computer there. I tried simply moving the hard drive from the dead computer to another one, but got the BSOD. Yay me. Set up the new (temporary) computer - installed printer, Vineland II, etc.
Got to the office around 1030a. Went to Teacher Center to work on several issues. The first one was related to Publisher 2007 and copy/paste. For whatever reason, the clipbook service had been disabled, so I opened the Services.msc and enabled Network DDE and Network DDE DSDM which allowed me to enable Clipbook. Once Clipbook was started, I modified the "Log On" tab to include "Allow service to interact with desktop." I then restarted the Clipbook service, closed Publisher then relaunched it. At that point, I could copy/paste from the clipboard to the Publisher document.
I also worked on a video camera, which turned out to have the settings such that it was looking for an external memory card (the unit has 16GB built-in). Once I found my way through the menus, I set it to use internal memory and the camera then allowed for 4+ hours of HQ recording. Awesome!
I spent part of Friday working on email notifications for the camera system (security). That was, er, fun. After much poking around in the DVR software, our Exchange set-up and in ISA (firewall), I finally got it going...and going, and going and going. There is no way that I have figured out yet to set a time limit on the emails. Thus, as long as the cameras are set to record, email goes out everytime something moves on any of the cameras. My mailbox is going to fill up quick during regular working hours! But, the advantage is that I will get noticed if people (or anything) is moving around inside the building AFTER hours. After the Thanksgiving break, I'll work on scheduling... maybe.
Got to the office around 1030a. Went to Teacher Center to work on several issues. The first one was related to Publisher 2007 and copy/paste. For whatever reason, the clipbook service had been disabled, so I opened the Services.msc and enabled Network DDE and Network DDE DSDM which allowed me to enable Clipbook. Once Clipbook was started, I modified the "Log On" tab to include "Allow service to interact with desktop." I then restarted the Clipbook service, closed Publisher then relaunched it. At that point, I could copy/paste from the clipboard to the Publisher document.
I also worked on a video camera, which turned out to have the settings such that it was looking for an external memory card (the unit has 16GB built-in). Once I found my way through the menus, I set it to use internal memory and the camera then allowed for 4+ hours of HQ recording. Awesome!
I spent part of Friday working on email notifications for the camera system (security). That was, er, fun. After much poking around in the DVR software, our Exchange set-up and in ISA (firewall), I finally got it going...and going, and going and going. There is no way that I have figured out yet to set a time limit on the emails. Thus, as long as the cameras are set to record, email goes out everytime something moves on any of the cameras. My mailbox is going to fill up quick during regular working hours! But, the advantage is that I will get noticed if people (or anything) is moving around inside the building AFTER hours. After the Thanksgiving break, I'll work on scheduling... maybe.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday
Busy day so far today. It is roughly 10:00 am, and I've had two conference calls and a CIV test. I met with the Early Childhood Coordinator regarding the installation of cameras and Skype for her teachers. The plan is to use Skype for parent meetings in order to avoid the driving from our main office to the school sites when face-to-face is not necessarily imperative. It looks VERY promising! I also made the appropriate modifications to the bosses' bookcases in order to hook up their LCD TVs. Once the TVs were hooked up, I fielded a call from Blevins regarding a non-deleting icon. That was an interesting adventure.
Evidently, the user dragged a message from Groupwise onto the desktop, thinking it wuold save a copy of the message. Instead, it created a .GWI file that would do nothing. When the user tried to delete it, it wuld not delete and instead get caught in an infinite "deleting" loop.
After a bit of research, and trial and error, I came across a post about a program I had forgotten about: Unlocker. Unlocker is a great tool that will show you what process(es) are holding the selected file(s) and then give you options to rename, remove, etc. You can find it here: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
Once Unlocker was installed, we selected "Delete" from the drop-down and then played it safe with the least intrusive option (I cannot recall the exact wording). Ultimately, though, they got the same inifinte loop until they clicked the "Kill Process" button. As soon as they did, the icon disappeared and the process stopped! Excellent!
I had used unlocker before, though I cannot remember what the circumstance was. Now, I've used it twice with great success!
Let's see what the rest of the day holds.
Talked with the local cable company regarding pricing and installation. They will send a letter of proposal and we can decide from there whether or not we want the service.
I am also looking into using a dish-based service.
Received a call from Prescott's early childhood program - her main computer died. It seems all of these out-of-warranty Dells that the ECH programs have are dying lately. Not good! I'll be heading there Friday to swap out computers.
Fielded calls from Blevins regarding USB issues on several computers and regarding sites blocked by the state content filtering system.
Took care of general office duties as usual.
Near the end of the day, I decided to try and set up the security camera system for email notifications (that is, notify me when an 'event' happens). Still working on that one.
Evidently, the user dragged a message from Groupwise onto the desktop, thinking it wuold save a copy of the message. Instead, it created a .GWI file that would do nothing. When the user tried to delete it, it wuld not delete and instead get caught in an infinite "deleting" loop.
After a bit of research, and trial and error, I came across a post about a program I had forgotten about: Unlocker. Unlocker is a great tool that will show you what process(es) are holding the selected file(s) and then give you options to rename, remove, etc. You can find it here: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
Once Unlocker was installed, we selected "Delete" from the drop-down and then played it safe with the least intrusive option (I cannot recall the exact wording). Ultimately, though, they got the same inifinte loop until they clicked the "Kill Process" button. As soon as they did, the icon disappeared and the process stopped! Excellent!
I had used unlocker before, though I cannot remember what the circumstance was. Now, I've used it twice with great success!
Let's see what the rest of the day holds.
Talked with the local cable company regarding pricing and installation. They will send a letter of proposal and we can decide from there whether or not we want the service.
I am also looking into using a dish-based service.
Received a call from Prescott's early childhood program - her main computer died. It seems all of these out-of-warranty Dells that the ECH programs have are dying lately. Not good! I'll be heading there Friday to swap out computers.
Fielded calls from Blevins regarding USB issues on several computers and regarding sites blocked by the state content filtering system.
Took care of general office duties as usual.
Near the end of the day, I decided to try and set up the security camera system for email notifications (that is, notify me when an 'event' happens). Still working on that one.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Time Flies!
Whew! Keeping up with this everyday is harder than I imagined! But, I will try to rebuild some of what has taken place outside of regular daily duties (ex: fixing computers, printers, etc).
During the past week, in addition to regular daily activites, I have done the following:
Installed camera control cable in conference room to rear camera.
Spent Tuesday still fighting internet connectivity issues. With the help of DIS, we narrowed it down to a local issue (not sure what just yet) and on Tuesday, we jumped from 500k usage to 2.86Mb usage almost exactly at 8:45am. Turns out, that is almost exactly when we turned all the Macs on in the computer lab. At lunch, I disabled updates on both the Mac OS and in the Windows running on Parallels on the Macs. Not sure what difference that has made yet. Today (Friday), our connectivity seems to be stable between 2-3 Mb, even with a video conference going on. That is good. Now, I will fire up all the Macs next Tuesday and see what happens, since the problem is mainly on Tuesdays.
Wednesday, I worked at Blevins schools troubleshooting several issues - one of which was another scenario where someone had plugged a loose end into the same switch it had come out of. Since this unit was up on a shelf, it would take a deliberate effort to pull that off. We're starting to suspect a mystery plugger-inner! ;-) Steve and I also walked through a few fiber runs and a new cat-5 run to be done, trying to determine where the wires went, where they originated, and how to patch things together for the relocation of the administration offices. So far, we have at least two runs that don't seem to line up. In my experience, this usually means there is an inbetween stop that we have not yet discovered.
Thursday - Met with other state techs in Conway at Video-Relaity for a demonstration of the SAFARI Montage program/appliance. We also met with Beck Rains and Debbie Coffman. The notes from that meeting (if I can remember) will be posted once they are officially adopted/approved.
Friday - ran fiber between floors for data, hoping to resolve connectivity issues. That will be a metter of time before I know for sure. Worked with Phoebe and Lindy on the outside light issue for our new building (the timer is, well, wonky). We also discussed the alarm system and I used the surveillance camera software to review a situation from earlier.
I am hoping to run the wiring for computer/dl labs today (Friday) and beef up security even more. Frankly, I'm liking the security we have in place. Very nice!
During the past week, in addition to regular daily activites, I have done the following:
Installed camera control cable in conference room to rear camera.
Spent Tuesday still fighting internet connectivity issues. With the help of DIS, we narrowed it down to a local issue (not sure what just yet) and on Tuesday, we jumped from 500k usage to 2.86Mb usage almost exactly at 8:45am. Turns out, that is almost exactly when we turned all the Macs on in the computer lab. At lunch, I disabled updates on both the Mac OS and in the Windows running on Parallels on the Macs. Not sure what difference that has made yet. Today (Friday), our connectivity seems to be stable between 2-3 Mb, even with a video conference going on. That is good. Now, I will fire up all the Macs next Tuesday and see what happens, since the problem is mainly on Tuesdays.
Wednesday, I worked at Blevins schools troubleshooting several issues - one of which was another scenario where someone had plugged a loose end into the same switch it had come out of. Since this unit was up on a shelf, it would take a deliberate effort to pull that off. We're starting to suspect a mystery plugger-inner! ;-) Steve and I also walked through a few fiber runs and a new cat-5 run to be done, trying to determine where the wires went, where they originated, and how to patch things together for the relocation of the administration offices. So far, we have at least two runs that don't seem to line up. In my experience, this usually means there is an inbetween stop that we have not yet discovered.
Thursday - Met with other state techs in Conway at Video-Relaity for a demonstration of the SAFARI Montage program/appliance. We also met with Beck Rains and Debbie Coffman. The notes from that meeting (if I can remember) will be posted once they are officially adopted/approved.
Friday - ran fiber between floors for data, hoping to resolve connectivity issues. That will be a metter of time before I know for sure. Worked with Phoebe and Lindy on the outside light issue for our new building (the timer is, well, wonky). We also discussed the alarm system and I used the surveillance camera software to review a situation from earlier.
I am hoping to run the wiring for computer/dl labs today (Friday) and beef up security even more. Frankly, I'm liking the security we have in place. Very nice!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, Tuesday, and most of Wednesday
Monday - I spent most of the day at Blevins School District. I used my Fox-and-Hound to help located a few network wires that seemed to go "nowhere fast." Turned out they really did go somewhere, but they weren't plugged in to anything. We remedied that. I also worked on some wireless issue they were having in one of the buildings. Turns out the wireless router was defective (most likely after a recent storm).
While working on the wireless, I spent time talking with/working with the Instructional Technology Specialist about her new job, duties, etc.
After I returned to the Co-op, I answered phone calls and emails from vendors and techs until quitting time, at which point I went with my boss to her house to try and get her home network set up so she could work from home. This had been working in the past, but for some reason quit working. After several hours, we decided to call it quits, take a break and approach it again on Wednesday.
Tuesday - I spent the day at Bradley schools troubleshooting several issues, ranging from the switchover from server-based Renaissance Learning tools to the web-based version, several laptop/networking issues, connectivity issues in several classrooms (and HS library). The tech and I checked out several projectors with apparent color wheel problems (a known issue) and one projector that seems to have a bad extra-long VGA cable. I will return to the district to help narrow that problem down at a later date.
I also worked in the Early Childhood room, setting up a new computer for the students to use, troubleshooting viruses/malware, and setting up one of the student computers for printing.
Before heading to Bradley Tuesday morning, I helped get the lab set up for Neil Gibson to host a data workshop.
Wednesday - Helped set up the conference room for a presenter (a/v system, internet, dvd playback, etc). Worked on several server-related issues (trying to get ISA server to route traffice to certain web front-ends). At lunch, I went to the boss' house and was able to fix the connectivity issue so she can now work from home.
At 2:00, I got a call from the Hope early childhood program about a database issue in regards to Batelle Reporting. Headed out to see what I could do to help fix it.
While working on the wireless, I spent time talking with/working with the Instructional Technology Specialist about her new job, duties, etc.
After I returned to the Co-op, I answered phone calls and emails from vendors and techs until quitting time, at which point I went with my boss to her house to try and get her home network set up so she could work from home. This had been working in the past, but for some reason quit working. After several hours, we decided to call it quits, take a break and approach it again on Wednesday.
Tuesday - I spent the day at Bradley schools troubleshooting several issues, ranging from the switchover from server-based Renaissance Learning tools to the web-based version, several laptop/networking issues, connectivity issues in several classrooms (and HS library). The tech and I checked out several projectors with apparent color wheel problems (a known issue) and one projector that seems to have a bad extra-long VGA cable. I will return to the district to help narrow that problem down at a later date.
I also worked in the Early Childhood room, setting up a new computer for the students to use, troubleshooting viruses/malware, and setting up one of the student computers for printing.
Before heading to Bradley Tuesday morning, I helped get the lab set up for Neil Gibson to host a data workshop.
Wednesday - Helped set up the conference room for a presenter (a/v system, internet, dvd playback, etc). Worked on several server-related issues (trying to get ISA server to route traffice to certain web front-ends). At lunch, I went to the boss' house and was able to fix the connectivity issue so she can now work from home.
At 2:00, I got a call from the Hope early childhood program about a database issue in regards to Batelle Reporting. Headed out to see what I could do to help fix it.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, Monday, Monday!
After spending the weekend feeling as if I had been run over by a monster truck or two (read, sick!), I got to work this morning, checked in for the layout of the day, then headed to Texarkana for a supply run.
I never really thought buying some "knick-knack" shelves (for video cameras) and a few cables would be such an adventure. I started the trip at Home Depot. Did you know Home Depot does not carry anything shorter than 23.5" in the way of shelves? I didn't. In fact, I think they used to. Oh, well. I figured I would try another store.
I went to Best Buy to look for an S-Video extension cable, a couple of VGA extensions, and to see if *they* happened to have shelving for speakers (that I could use for video cameras). They did not have an S-Video extension. In fact, they only had a 6-foot standard one. So, I bought two VGA extensions I needed and a small switch for the Sympodium cabinet (way too many network connections wrapped up in one unit for me!).
After Best Buy, I drove over to Lowe's to look for shelving. I actually found a two-pack for $20 that had two black shelves with hardware for mounting it "bracketlessly" to the wall. Very slick! I picked up two of those and headed for Radio Shack.
I arrived before Radio Shack opened, so I checked my phone messages and had one from an area tech. I returned the call and he was having trouble getting some users to log in to his Novell network. He said users could log in to "Workstation Only (WSO)" mode. I suggested that he have one of the WSO users login in using the Novell system tray icon once they were logged in to WSO mode. It worked - the users could read mapped drives and get to Groupwise. Now that we had a way for users to function, the next step was to isolate the problem. I said that I thought the problem was either in a login script or was happening as part of the login process. He told me that some users had received an anti-virus message that a couple files on the server were infected. It's important to note that not all users were having trouble logging in. Because the users could login through WSO (which runs scripts as part of logging in), I had eliminated the login scripts as the culprit. The tech said he would call me back later.
Though Radio Shack did not have an S-Video extension cable, they did have an S-Video coupler, which would serve the same purpose.
I got back to the co-op and worked with Josh to install the shelves in the Conference room, do some cable management and get wires ready for the Panduit I have coming. After that, we worked on the Distance Learning room. From there, I began moving telephone lines around in the telco closet. We've been having trouble with the fire alarm/security system and the elevator not playing nicely with each other. So, like a teacher in a classroom, I separated everyone. The elevator is now on its own line and the security system is on two completely different lines than it used to be. I had never used a 66-block punchdown tool before. It's not quite the same as a 110-punch. I kept getting the wire turned sideways, so it wouldn't cut. I finally showed it who was in charge. It wasn't me. Just kidding.
I spent the rest of the day checking email and answering phone calls (which amounted to about 30 minutes total. It was a full day!)
I never really thought buying some "knick-knack" shelves (for video cameras) and a few cables would be such an adventure. I started the trip at Home Depot. Did you know Home Depot does not carry anything shorter than 23.5" in the way of shelves? I didn't. In fact, I think they used to. Oh, well. I figured I would try another store.
I went to Best Buy to look for an S-Video extension cable, a couple of VGA extensions, and to see if *they* happened to have shelving for speakers (that I could use for video cameras). They did not have an S-Video extension. In fact, they only had a 6-foot standard one. So, I bought two VGA extensions I needed and a small switch for the Sympodium cabinet (way too many network connections wrapped up in one unit for me!).
After Best Buy, I drove over to Lowe's to look for shelving. I actually found a two-pack for $20 that had two black shelves with hardware for mounting it "bracketlessly" to the wall. Very slick! I picked up two of those and headed for Radio Shack.
I arrived before Radio Shack opened, so I checked my phone messages and had one from an area tech. I returned the call and he was having trouble getting some users to log in to his Novell network. He said users could log in to "Workstation Only (WSO)" mode. I suggested that he have one of the WSO users login in using the Novell system tray icon once they were logged in to WSO mode. It worked - the users could read mapped drives and get to Groupwise. Now that we had a way for users to function, the next step was to isolate the problem. I said that I thought the problem was either in a login script or was happening as part of the login process. He told me that some users had received an anti-virus message that a couple files on the server were infected. It's important to note that not all users were having trouble logging in. Because the users could login through WSO (which runs scripts as part of logging in), I had eliminated the login scripts as the culprit. The tech said he would call me back later.
Though Radio Shack did not have an S-Video extension cable, they did have an S-Video coupler, which would serve the same purpose.
I got back to the co-op and worked with Josh to install the shelves in the Conference room, do some cable management and get wires ready for the Panduit I have coming. After that, we worked on the Distance Learning room. From there, I began moving telephone lines around in the telco closet. We've been having trouble with the fire alarm/security system and the elevator not playing nicely with each other. So, like a teacher in a classroom, I separated everyone. The elevator is now on its own line and the security system is on two completely different lines than it used to be. I had never used a 66-block punchdown tool before. It's not quite the same as a 110-punch. I kept getting the wire turned sideways, so it wouldn't cut. I finally showed it who was in charge. It wasn't me. Just kidding.
I spent the rest of the day checking email and answering phone calls (which amounted to about 30 minutes total. It was a full day!)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
08/14/2010
7a-7p - Moved items from old location to new.
On Saturday, the 14th, a TON of folks showed up at the co-op (both sites) to help get things moved. We started at 7am and worked all day with a pizza break for lunch (Thank you, Lindy and Phoebe!) and then at 3pm, everyone was released to head for the house. I stayed on in order to work with BCS (phones). Though my plan was to patch in phone and data, things took a little longer than I had anticipated, so by 7pm, I simply ran out of steam.
By far and away, the hardest part of Saturday (for me) was dismantling the equipment in the old Conference Room. We have an original Smart Sympodium cart. It has been around so long, I can't even find an accurate picture of one online! I need to take picture for posterity. It is big and bulky and weighs a TON! Okay, maybe not a ton, but a good could hundred pounds. Good thing it is on casters. The cabinet not only houses the electronics for the Sympodium (a Smart Board in a lectern, basically) but it also houses the distance learning equipment for the conference room. The weight of the thing doesn't compare to the sheer number and bulk of the wiring attached to it. And all those wires (cameras, power, video, sound, data, etc) ran through the ceiling grid. Over the years, other wires had also been strung up there, so everything was "a hot mess," as some folks say. With my assistant's help, though, we eventually got everything we needed (for the most part. I plan to have our Smart rep move some of the other equipment).
There is still lots to do, but I cannot believe how quickly the majority of the equipment, furniture, and "stuff" got moved. Amazing.
On Saturday, the 14th, a TON of folks showed up at the co-op (both sites) to help get things moved. We started at 7am and worked all day with a pizza break for lunch (Thank you, Lindy and Phoebe!) and then at 3pm, everyone was released to head for the house. I stayed on in order to work with BCS (phones). Though my plan was to patch in phone and data, things took a little longer than I had anticipated, so by 7pm, I simply ran out of steam.
By far and away, the hardest part of Saturday (for me) was dismantling the equipment in the old Conference Room. We have an original Smart Sympodium cart. It has been around so long, I can't even find an accurate picture of one online! I need to take picture for posterity. It is big and bulky and weighs a TON! Okay, maybe not a ton, but a good could hundred pounds. Good thing it is on casters. The cabinet not only houses the electronics for the Sympodium (a Smart Board in a lectern, basically) but it also houses the distance learning equipment for the conference room. The weight of the thing doesn't compare to the sheer number and bulk of the wiring attached to it. And all those wires (cameras, power, video, sound, data, etc) ran through the ceiling grid. Over the years, other wires had also been strung up there, so everything was "a hot mess," as some folks say. With my assistant's help, though, we eventually got everything we needed (for the most part. I plan to have our Smart rep move some of the other equipment).
There is still lots to do, but I cannot believe how quickly the majority of the equipment, furniture, and "stuff" got moved. Amazing.
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