Gongalong

Hi folks, We’ve got a couple of reasonably powerful Sharp MFDs – 2640N and 2630N. Although the former is older it prints much more slowly than the latter. Both are connected at 1Gb, confirmed in the printer interface, yet specifically when I watch the job stream from the print server to the MFD it’s markedly slower. The print server is Server 2019, and the clients are Win 10. Any ideas what it could be or how to troubleshoot further? The slow MFD has been rebooted, just in case it was partly crashed. I have logged it with Sharp support, but my experience with them isn’t that great for anything moderately complicated. Thanks

Hi All, The difficulty we're facing with using OneDrive to replace network drives is that if a staff member becomes a repository for files, if they leave then it's a faff to download it all, reupload it, and reshare it. Is there anything equivalent to a OneDrive that's not user account specific, or is the answer to create a dummy account and share from that? Thanks

Hi folks, I spotted that O365 on a laptop has updated to 1904, yet on my desktop and another laptop it's still 1901. Both are "monthly channel (targeted)". Is there any logic as to when Office updates, or does it just happen over a few weeks and it's pot luck as to when you get it? Is there a way to force office to update, short of just running setup again with the XML file? Thanks

Hi folks, Am I right in thinking that the semi-annual channel version of Server is core/non-GUI only? That's what the Wiki page seems to be saying. Thanks

Hi folks, I've been asked by our Science department to rig up a laptop and webcam to record some chicks hatching. Previously I used Timer Shot with a Win XP laptop, but I'm pretty sure this app no longer works on newer versions of Windows. Just after a recommendation for something more modern? From previous experience it needs to be really stable, so it doesn't crash in the middle of a crucial egg hatch! Thanks

Hi folks, Just after recommendation for the best balance of cheap and rugged headphones? Like all schools I'm sure, we work our way through plenty! Thanks

Ninite's fab, particularly the Pro version. It's expensive, but no plans to leave it yet. Thanks! It would be great to have something enterprise-y that gives reports back to a console, although probably an even bigger ask.

Hi folks, Can anyone recommend a product that automatically updates drivers on Windows machines? I'm thinking something like Ninite Pro, but for drivers. Possibly a big ask, but it would save us a lot of time. Thanks

Haha! Yes, I'm waiting for the student who brings in wire snips...

Actually our school is pretty good, I hate to think what it's like in some of the rougher schools! These cases are super minimal, but we can always tie the back of the cable to the group of cables at the back of the machine, which would make them impossible to steal.

These would get ripped off eventually, but we could always replace. In our school at least we'd need to have the stainless steel tie as well otherwise the cables would go walkies (even though they'd be of little use to the student!).

Stainless steel cable ties are what we use to stop mice going missing - we secure all cables at the back of the PC, aside from power, with a single tie. A little more difficult with a headphone cable, but we could probably manage it if tied tight enough. An extension cable's not particularly attractive, so I do like this sacrificial desk mounted block, although all our PCs are desktop sized and above the desk.

We do have some stainless steel cable ties, so with the USB option we could cable tie them in, and then use a sticky pad or something to mount them on the side of the case. We could do similar with extension leads, but as we can't colour co-ordinate them it could be tricky... although we could use coloured electrical type to identify the mic socket.

We have bought some in bulk, but it's the faff of changing them, and then seeing the students destroy them all again There are these on Farnell, but I can see them all disappearing https://uk.farnell.com/pro-signal/ps000127/adapter-r-a-stereo-3-5mm-plug/dp/2910972

@DaveAshworth Sadly no blanking plates. These are custom machines from Very PC, so pretty minimal, but they do have front header sockets. I wonder if it's possible to buy almost like a passthrough adapter, that just goes from a 3.5mm plug to socket, although they'd probably all end up going walkies... @Mimir Success!

I did spot TRRS type sockets. It means we'd need to buy new headphones and mics, but based on the cost of replacing header boards it might still be worth it. At least there's more variety to choose from.

Hi folks, We're finding that the front headphone and microphone socket are wearing out on our PCs. Rather than go to the time and expense of replacing the header boards, and before the motherboard equivalents at the back wear out, I was thinking we could attach something disposable at the back of the PC. We need both mic and headphone because the mic socket is used for recording in some Computing lessons. Ideas so far: 1. Red and green extension cables, only problem being the Amazon seller only seems to have one in stock. Green https://www.amazon.co.uk/kokiya-Stereo-Headphone-Headset-Extension-Green/dp/B07MRKX9LK Red https://www.amazon.co.uk/kokiya-Stereo-Headphone-Headset-Extension-Green/dp/B07MPBW4RM 2. USB extension cable, although the cable itself is a bit short. https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Headphone-Microphone-Raspberry-Ultrabook/dp/B01N905VOY Any better ideas than this? I guess the ideal would be a 1m extension in both green and red that's glued together. Thanks

Win 10

Hi folks, So Steinberg say that Cubase cannot be network deployed, even the latest version. Are there any network deployable alternatives to Cubase? Thanks

Yes, the linked YouTube video's advice is speed should never be below 1 over the focal length of the lens as a rule of thumb for shake free photos. First time I've heard this, but if it works... I've got a couple of cheap softboxes and flashes, so will try the setup recommended in the video and see how I go.

@k-strider With Microsoft pushing people towards O365PP, and the fact it's kept updated, it seems the better choice over 2019. I do have 2019 with ADBA setup, it's a shame licensing of O365PP isn't so straightforward. @jmak We already use it to image PCs, and it has a deployment tool specifically for O365 built-in.

Yes, I started to get flash sync issues when I switched to manual and thought the camera had broken!

I am rebuilding the PCs with an SCCM task sequence, and have dabbled once (and already forgotten) using the O365PP wizard in SCCM. How do I setup device based activation though, do Microsoft provide an ADBA key for O365PP?

@TriggerHappyUK Ooh that looks ideal, will give it a watch. Thanks!

Hi folks, Any O365 Pro Plus deployment gurus here? I'm confused by Shared Computer Activation, and whether it will help us. We have O365 A1, and have licenses of ProPlus. We use RM Unify which is federated with O365. When we create user accounts on our local DC it syncs using an RM product to Unify in the cloud, which then creates accounts in O365 via the federation. I would like to deploy O365 ProPlus over the Summer hols, as part of our Win 10 rebuild. At the moment we have very few users with O365 PP, and when we do we assign them a license manually, and they have to login to O365 PP first with their account email address and password, which grants them the license. It obviously would not be practical for students to have to do this over and over as they move between machines for lessons, so I would like to license O365 PP in some sort of perpetual fashion, like Office 2019 etc. Does Shared Computer Activation allow me to do that, or is there some sort of ADBA/KMS key for O365 PP, or can users only use O365 PP by logging into it every time? Thanks