Chris_Cook

We don't run it at every start up because the data we show doesn't change that often, and we wan't to keep our logon times as quick as possible. We run it from our Altiris Deployment Solution whenever we rename or move a pc. You could probably use a group policy startup script, although I've not actually tested it.

Have you checked the preferences for the connection (in one of the RDP menus on your mac). Particularly the resolution and color depth - try it with 1024x768 and thousands of colours rather than millions. You need to close, save and reopen the connection for these to take effect. Can you connect from a windows PC when it doesnt work from your mac?

It would be much better if they just let us run OSX on any Intel server hardware either as a virtual or physical server. The servers from HP and others are considerably better than the ones from Apple. Cheaper, more reliable and higher quality. The Mac Mini Server is pretty pants. There is very little cooling or ventilation on them. Apple seem to be getting worse at cooling their Macs down, as well as sealing them up so its hard to repair them.

Wot he said. Students should be learning stuff in school, not constantly being graded on stuff that they haven't had a chance to learn yet.

Its partially permissions, and partially windows 7 being different. I managed to use the information in this thread to get it working on windows 7: Can we get a new BGInfo for Windows 7? - Sysinternals Forums - Page 1 Look about halfway down for a post by "hauerwas".

As opposed to mildly hurt if you just stuck a screwdriver in one of them??

We used to let them save to their home folder on the mac, but had regular issues with large videos using all the space. We now have portable hard drives attached to each mac. They are secured to the mac with a kensington-type laptop cable. its not ideal as they arn't backed up, but its the best we can do at the moment. I think part of the solution is educating users about file sizes and project lengths. But thats a lot easier said than done.

Thats fair enough, if thats the requirement then a different solution is required - our media dept gets full multi input amps for exactly this reason. However most of our staff play stuff through a desktop pc. They all have dvd drives now, so cds/dvds arn't a problem. I think most of our vcrs are hooked up to mobile tvs but we don't tend to get asked about these. Different classrooms will have different needs. I don't think using the line in on a pc is a good idea, the quality wont be consistent, and its probably going to be unreliable. A switcher or small mixer would work well. There are a number of amps available that take multiple inputs, including the vision module which has two on the back and a mini-jack on the front that switches over from input 1 when you plug something in.

Yes, the switch is on the back, but they plug into a normal 13amp socket. If you need them to be turned off, then just use the switch on the socket instead. If you set the volume knob on the speaker to a sensible level they shouldn't need to adjust it. There is always the windows volume control. Personally I quite like this, as it means most staff and students won't fiddle with them. Most of them anyway, theres always one... I have recently put in a few sets of the pulse speakers, and one of the vision amps, and was happy with both, the install was very easy. I was impressed with the audio quality of the pulse speakers. I thought the vision amp was very neat and tidy. It was replacing a bigger amp that sat on the teachers desk, so it really reduces the amount of clutter. I wasn't overly impressed with the volume level, but it was paired with a small and fairly old set of speakers which might have had something to do with it. It was plenty loud enough though, and with a classroom right next door, we didn't really want something that goes up to 11. One thing I didn't like about the pulse speakers was that the bracket holds them too close to the wall, so that a normal iec kettle lead wont fit. The power cable they included is probably long enough for most situations though, and you could always run an extension lead to somewhere near the speaker. I haven't managed to find long iec cables with right-angled connectors, which was a bit annoying for one room.

What sort of power cable does the monitor use? Try replacing it. If it uses a figure of 8 connector, then try plugging the small end in the other way round. If there is an external power supply on the monitor, try changing it for another. Also, are the monitor and computer plugged into the same socket?

Sorry, this is probably way to late, but if you deploy mrbs on a windows iis server, you can use 'none' for authentication and 'nt' for the session scheme in mrbs and use the Integrated windows authentication (ntlm) in iis. This should give you single sign on for you windows domain users. Anyone using other browsers will be prompted for there domain logon. You may find you need to enable digest authentication for some clients as well. This should all be in the mrbs documentation.

I love the way working at heights is treated as this dark mysterious art. I wonder on average how many people it takes to change a light bulb in a school? Especially once you include those who do the H&S paper work, order the bulbs, sort out financing, insurance, training etc.

Do you have any similar systems in your library/lrc for the books? Maybe that could be extended to the main exits of the school. Also there is prey - Open source anti-theft solution for Mac, PCs & Phones – Prey - I dont think this is quite what your looking for, but might be helpful. Could you just make teachers/staff responsible for counting them back in at the end of the lesson? Or do you loan them to individual students rather than whole classes?

You need to make sure you have the following in your config.inc.php // The list of administrators (can modify other peoples settings). // // This list is not needed when using the 'db' authentication scheme EXCEPT // when upgrading from a pre-MRBS 1.4.2 system that used db authentication. // Pre-1.4.2 the 'db' authentication scheme did need this list. When running // edit_users.php for the first time in a 1.4.2 system or later, with an existing // users list in the database, the system will automatically add a field to // the table for access rights and give admin rights to those users in the database // for whom admin rights are defined here. After that this list is ignored. unset($auth["admin"]); // Include this when copying to config.inc.php $auth["admin"][] = "127.0.0.1"; // localhost IP address. Useful with IP sessions. $auth["admin"][] = "administrator"; // A user name from the user list. Useful // with most other session schemes. Just after this, add the following line, but change "administrator" to the username of your ldap admin user. The $auth["admin"][] = "administrator"; That should hopefully give you admin rights with that user. In future it is best to start a new thread if you are not having the same problem and symptoms as described in the first post. This makes it easier for people to follow posts on the forum. Hope you are enjoying your holidays.

Keep at it. It can take a few years to get where you want to be. Keep going with the voluntary it work, as it will build up your experience. Looking for other work in the mean time is also good, but sell yourself properly - if you give them the impression that your just doing it until you get something better, they probably wont be interested unless its mc donald's. It helps to pick jobs in a field your slightly interested in at least - charity work perhaps. I knew of an IT consulatant who worked as a shelf stacker at sainsbury's because he couldn't find work. Sometimes you wont be able to do what you want, but you have to push yourself to get there. I did some IT qualifications like yours, and have found them useful in teaching how things should be done, but often you need to understand how things are actually done in the real world, hence why they don't always get the respect you would like them to. Thats not to say they are bad, but lots of smart people pass them without having some of the basic IT skills, like using google, being inquisitive, or experimenting and trying things. Do you use the job centre for looking for work? I know when i was looking a few years ago, i didn't think much of it to start with, but there are (or were at least) plenty of good jobs there, and they seemed to have better expectations for someone starting out in a career. Also they can put you in contact with people for CV and interview advice. I would really recommend looking into it if you haven't already. I believe its still all free. One suggestion I got from them was to start your cv with a short list (about 5) of key relevant skills that you have that may not be obvious from your qualifications/work experience. For most jobs, you need to grab the employers attention within the first quarter or half page of you cv. Add the long boring list of jobs and qualifications at the end, put the most relevant info at the start (in this case its probably your training and volentary experience.) You need to be able to back up every thing you put in a job application, or you will look an idiot. Its far, far better to say you dont have some skill but you want to learn than trying to blag it. Also, show off what you learnt on the courses, but in a way that an non IT specialist would understand - match it to the job description. Pick out the key words, as the person sorting through the applications may not understand what skills are transferable. Does your Cisco qualifications mean that you can configure a HP switch for example? A techie would have a better idea about that than the HR dept. You mention I-Pro and being a fully qualified profesional. That would need better explanation. What does level 3 mean? Can you fix computers? Can you find a loop in a network? Can you work miracles? All required skills in schools (especially the last ). I can't think of any it person who would describe themselves as 'fully qualified'. Its all relevant to the job in question though. There is always something new to learn. Thats why I love it so much - I never really know what I'm going to do from one day to the next. With the voluntary stuff, sell what you did, make it clear that you weren't just a tea boy/box-shifter. If you were given responsibility for things then let them know. When someone reads your cv/application they wont have the benefit of your own knowledge of the jobs. Don't just use job titles, use the description. 'IT technician' doesn't say much. 'Undertook maintenance and repairs of 50 PCs' says more about what you really did. Get others to look at your CV, it can be an enlightening experience. If you applied for a job and didn't get it, try to ask why. You might get some interesting answers. Don't take them personally, just try to learn from it. There is plenty of advice for job hunting available both online and offline, even the non-IT stuff is relevant.

Maybe on its own, but: 1. I don't want to get caught with my pants down when someone makes an effective one. There are a few viruses for mac and unix, its not particularly difficult to write one, just difficult to find a way to propagate one. There are probably many holes that could be exploited. 2. The macs where I work (and I would guess in many other schools) are connected to the Windows network and to various network shares (personal, departmental and public). I want to stop any malware asap. I definitely don't want it getting as far as a network share on a server.

Do the school have their own internal proxy/web filter as well? Could be an issue with that. If so, can they add an exception for your site? Presumably your website uses some sort of authentification, what does it use?(NTLM/Digest/etc)

I have an osx 10.5 server running under virtual box that I used for testing some stuff, 10.6 server might work as well, but I don't have a copy at the moment.

Can you not bind the imacs to the AD domain? Then users can use the same username/password as on your pcs. On 10.6 you can use Directory Utility to do this, which is in Mac HD>System>Library>CoreServices. Might save some work next year when the new users come.

Which mrbs versions are you going from and to? Can you look at the table in question using the mysql command line client or phpmyadmin and see if the columns are already added. Also, are you using Mysql, or PostgresSQL?

Because no ones ever lied whilst trying to sell something have they? Given the number of adverts these days which have small print, I take manufacturers adverts with a large pinch of salt. Especially when someone says that a competitors product is "feature poor", and then lists a load of "missing features" that our school is, at least as far as I'm aware, actually using on that very same product.

I would have thought you would need something fairly big and fairly nearby to cause problems with magnetic interference. Is there any large transformers/substations nearby? Or any other large industrial-type stuff? Lift machinery, large electric motors? TV/Radio transmitters? The disk itself will be inside a metal box, inside anther metal box, so it would take a lot for interference to get through. If it were to affect the electronics on the drive, I would have thought you would be getting other failures/random crashes as well. Does anything else go wrong in that room? Seeing how there are problems with several servers, it would point to something in the room rather than specific hardware. How well does the air circulate around the room? Are there any heat hot-spots near the servers/HDs? Does the air flow in the room work with or against the servers own cooling mechanism? Some other thoughts: * Does anyone else have access to the room (cleaners/caretakers etc)? * How are the servers situated within the room (in a rack, on the floor, on tables?) * Is there any problem with dust building up in the room/inside the servers? * Is the room carpeted? What is the floor made out of? * What is the power supply like in that room? Do you get any spikes/brownouts? * Have you tried wiping the drives and reusing them? Or is it a permanent failure? Can you access the data on another computer/server? * How many UPS's and servers do you have? what capacity are the UPSs? * Does the room have any problems with damp? Does it feel excessively dry or humid? * Do the failures happen at regular intervals or after any other events? Can you describe the room a bit more, maybe show some pictures? Perhaps the area around the room as well.

Is there anything else that could be providing ip addresses via dhcp? (router/switch etc), what IP addresses/netmasks are you using? are you pinging via a hostname, or an ip address?

Have you checked on the zone director for any obvious problems (like the AP being in mesh mode for example)? Also, do you have many other wifi networks nearby? perhaps check with insidder on a laptop - http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

I think when I did this a while ago with xp, I used the MS Keyboard Layout Creator: The Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator IIRC, you make the right layout, and then add it into windows on all the other macs. You may need to remove any cached/local user profiles that were created before the layout was installed, or else they get the old layout. It doesn't say it works with win 7, but it might be worth a try.