Linux Graduate Machine Install

NOTE: this document does not provide usernames and passwords. Please ask any member of the shop volunteer staff for that information.

• 4.0_notes

• Open the computer case
• Mount the cloned drive into the hard drive bay
• Attach power and ribbon cable
• Close case
• Boot computer

Note, the cloned drive has the graphics driver set to VESA, which is a generic default driver. It may or may not work, depending on which graphics card is installed in a computer. In any case, better graphics performance will be obtained by installing the appropriate driver for a computer's specific graphics card. To do this:

• If you are not already at the login for a Virtual Terminal, switch to a Virtual Terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1
• Login in as root
• Run the following command:

# ~/bworks/bin/bworks.xorg-reconfigure


Steps in dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg (note you may have to press the tab key to navigate to the answer field):



 Attempt to autodetect video hardware? (yes)

 X server driver – one will be selected from the list (ok)

 Identifier for your video card –accept whatever is in the field (ok)

 explanation of BusID (ok)

 Video card's bus identifier – accept whatever is in the field (ok)

 Amount of memory (kB) to be used by the video card – usually left blank, but see note about Intel i810 onboard graphics chipset below (ok)

 User kernel framebuffer device interface? (no)

 Autodetect keyboard layout? (no)

 Keyboard layout – will be set to 'us' (ok)

 XKB rule set to use – will be set to 'xorg' (ok)

 explanation of keyboard model (ok)

 Keyboard model – will be set to 'pc104' (ok)

 explanation of keybaord variant (ok)

 Keyboard variant – will be left blank (ok)

 explanation of keyboard options (ok)

 Keyboard options – will be left blank (ok)

 explanation of mouse characteristics (ok)

 Mouse port – will be set to /dev/input/mice (ok)

 Mouse protocol – will be set to ImPS2 (ok)

 Emulate a 3-button mouse? (yes)

 explanation of server modules (ok)

 X.org server modules that should be loaded by default – various ones will be selected, make no changes (ok)

 Write default Files section to configuration file? (yes)

 Attempt monitor autodetection? (no)

 Identifier for the monitor – accept whatever is in the field (ok)

 Video modes to be used by the X server – accept whatever options are specified (ok)

 explanation of monitor characteristics (ok)

 Method for selecting the monitor characteristics – select medium (ok)

 Monitor's best video mode – should already be set to 1024 x 768 @ 60 mHZ (ok)

 Write monitor sync ranges to the configuration file? (yes)

 Desired default color depth in bits – should most likely be set to 24, except on very old cards which might require a lower number (ok)





The X server will automatically restart.  If it succeeds, the gdm screen will display.  Otherwise, an error dialog window will appear.  In the case of an error, simply rerun the script and try adjusting some of the options.  Good options to adjust are to downsize the color depth from 24 to 8, for example.  Another option to try is to reserve video ram for the card.  This is especially true for the i810 cards (see below).



 note: Although the xfree86 xserver had no problems with the Intel i810 graphics chip, xorg does.  To correct the problem, specify the amount of memory to use (try 64MB, or 64000kB) during dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg.

• Boot up the computer with a CAT5 Ethernet cable plugged into the Ethernet port.
• Click on the Ice Weasel web browser icon to start the browser (by default, the home directory is the BWorks web site).
• Navigate to any site. If this does not work, and there are no problems with networking service in the shop, then replace the Ethernet card.

• Plug in speakers into the sound out jack in the back of the computer.
• Boot up the computer. If you hear the KDE startup sound when student is logged in, then sound works fine, and you are finished with this step.
• If you don't hear the startup sound, but do not see any error messages, then check to make sure that sound is not muted. From the K Menu, select Multimedia, then try either the KMix Sound Mixer, or the Volume Control. Make sure the speaker is not muted, and that the sound volume is higher than zero.
• If the KDE ARTS Message comes up, saying no /dev/dsp device exists, you will need to configure the sound driver, or possibly you will need to install a different sound card.
  • Determine whether the device is recognized:
    • open a terminal
    • type in lspci and look for multimedia audio controllers
  • Determine whether the sound module for the device is loaded:
    • open a terminal
    • type in lsmod (for example, if it's a soundblaster card, is 'sb' listed?)
  • To load a driver:
    • open a terminal
    • become root
    • use the modprobe command (for example, modprobe sb will load the soundblaster driver)
  • If there are no erors, add the module to /etc/modules so it will load on boot:
    • open a terminal
    • become root
    • navigate to /etc/
    • make a backup copy of modules with this command: cp modules modules.bak (so if things get broken, you can restore the original modules file, using this command: mv modules.bak modules)
    • edit the file called modules, adding the appropriate sound module
    • save your changes to modules
• If the computer has a PCI or ISA sound card, and also an onboard sound chip, then be sure to check BIOS, to make sure the onboard sound is disabled. If there are two sound devices, the operating system will not know which one to use, so neither will work.
• If the computer has an onboard sound chip rather than a PCI or ISA sound card, physically examine the chip, google the ID number to determine the chipset, and then try to find a solution to getting that chipset working under Debian (for example, a Compaq Deskpro machine had an onboard ESS1869f sound chip – the solution there was to update ALSA, which also added support for additional sound chips, including ES18xx).
• If onboard sound won't work or is not recognized, try a PCI sound card (remember to disable onboard sound in BIOS).
• If the sound card is ISA, it may require installing (apt-get install) isapnptools and running pnpdump to create /etc/isapnp.conf; that can then be configured to specify the IRQ and IO port settings; then load the driver as listed above.
• If none of this works, go to http://www.tldp.org and read up on sound under linux.
• If the sound driver loads, and media files seem to play, but no sound is heard, test sound output devices. Are the speakers working, and plugged into the correct socket? Is the sound cable from the CD-ROM to the sound card plugged in, and a good cable? Test with headphones. Check the volume with KMix Sound Mixer, or the Volume Control, make sure sound is unmuted.
• If still having troubles, look into ALSA, try running alsaconf

• If you are not already at the login for a Virtual Terminal, switch to a Virtual Terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1
• Login in as root
• Run the following command:

# ~/bworks/bin/bworks.update

 Logout

 You can return to graphics mode with Ctrl+Alt+F7 or reboot with Ctrl+Alt+Del

• Student name, address, phone
• As much computer info as possible (processor, speed, RAM, HD size, OS, etc)
• Take inventory number from sheet, write it on the information sheet taped to the top of the computer

We should probably put this information in the /root/bworks folder.

• Is the system clock right?
• Do the correct icons appear on the toolbar?
• Does the OS behave in expected ways?
• Is the machine customized for a particular student? (information sheet taped to the top of the case)
• Is the machine labeled with the student’s name?
• Is the machine logged into the binder used to keep track of all graduate machines, and assigned a unique ID?