HOWTO: Integrate eeePC into existing Windows Network

[SimpleSi]

Following the great enthusiasim and backing shown by the old farts running this place , I've gone against the flow and started this section in the Wiki on getting this bit of kit up and running in schools.

 

Hopefully, you *nix experts will come by and point out what an idiot I am and how I've done it all wrong and how much better it will be to do it another way.

 

If so, please post here and I'll do the donkey work on the wiki

 

I personally don't need Kerryboss/AD/PAM/etc authentication configuration information as a priority - I just want to save to a shared folder and print to HP2600n/Business Inkjet printers

 

But feel free to post that sort of stuff - it'll still be useful.

 

 

regards

 

Simon

[DMcCoy]

Kerberos

[StewartKnight]

@ DMcCoy He knows that!

 

Hi Simon, I've just ordered a(n) Eeepc, so I'll let you know how I get on!

Is the HP2600n/Business Inkjet on a share?

[Ric_]

I've gone against the flow and started this section in the Wiki on getting this bit of kit up and running in schools.

 

As you attempt to rebel Si, it turns out that you are actually using the site like we want you to!

[SimpleSi]

@Stewart

I didn't know you had Linux geek creds

 

The HP1200 Business Inkjet is on an HP Jet thingy but I can print to it fine via the server - I just haven't got round to saying that yet on the wiki.

 

The HP2600n is also on a share as well but although the eeeOS seems to have a driver for it - and it seems to send the job to the print queue - and it says its printed - nothing appears out of the printer

 

There's real real geeky stuff on web about getting a working HP2600n but as you go down the path of doing it - you find you need to enable a proxy for wget - so you have to work out how to do that - then you have to compile -then you find out make isn't enabled by default - then you have to try to get that working..............

 

Thats why we need the drips under pressure on the job doing something useful for end users (e.g. pupils trying to learn) instead of just being clever and geeky (Just realised - I'm probably in the wrong place )

 

And then we can write it up and produce an image that does what we want and need

 

@ric

I don't think its a rebellion yet - there's only me (and Cybernerd I think - at least one person said it was a good idea!) in the rebellion so far (3 once Stewart gets his )

 

@DMcCoy

Hey - I can't even spell it - I just see Geoff throwing the word around every now and again - how about you tell us how to do it (Big smile and stick out tongue as run out of smilies)

 

( I know Geoff would help but Mighty Grey Eagle would have to change his AI algorithm for the task (sticks out tongue as run out of smilies)

 

regards

 

Simon

[SimpleSi]

I've borrowed and mangled a few scripts to get eeeOS to automount a network share

 

http://www.edugeek.net/wiki/index.php/EeePC_-_Linux_OS

 

I've tested it myself on a virgin machine and it seems to work but would like to know if it works for others as well.

 

Obviously, this approach is only suitable for primaries with open shared folders but hopefully if I can find a simple GUI app to ask for username/password then it could be used to mount protected user folders as well.

 

regards

 

Simon

[SimpleSi]

As they say - no plan survives the actual battlefield

 

Although my initial scripts seemed to work fine (they mounted windows share seemingly OK) OpenOffice (Writer at least - didn't test others) exhibited some very strange issues -20 seconds to save an .odt file - if not actual errors and.or complete lockup when trying to re-save a .doc file

 

So this weekend, I've been soing some de-bugging and come up with a revised way of doing it

EeePC - Linux OS - EduGeek.net Wiki

 

The main changes are

1 - use smbfs instead of cifs - seems to eliminate the 20 sec save issue.

2 - add every conceivable parameter to the mount command to allow full R/W permissions to any files in the share.

3 - create the mount points each in the home user directory and this is what Xandros seems to do if you auto-mount shares using File Manager

( I attempt to re-create them every re-boot - just old style simple, defensive programming )

 

If someone would care to try it out I'd be very grateful - I'll be trying it out again back in schools next week myself

 

regards

 

Simon

[JJonas]

Thanks, I had been having problems with the EEEPC trying to map the network share before the network is up for quite a while. Edited April 2, 2008 by JJonas
Answered my own question

[SimpleSi]

Just a small update - I changed the file_mode to 0666 in the mount command as that's what a auto file manager mounted share looks like in /etc/mtab - no idea what dif it will make but I've done it anyway.

 

regards

 

Simon

[SimpleSi]

Well it seems that my little mods/scripts have worked fine - I went into my school that has 24 of the little things and I asked the ICT Co-ord how they were working.

 

He said they work fine - they just switch them on load/save files - browse and print and they just work

 

So, having sussed out the basics I'd like to move on a bit by getting pupils just to access their home directories (or in my simple case, just their own subfolder in the global school share)

 

So what I think we need is some form of login dialog to come up and ask for user name and password and then use these credentials to map a directory on the eeePC in /user/home to their appropriate home folder on a server.

 

Whats the way forward in achieving this and can anyone offer some help in doing it?

 

regards

 

Simon