[IAEP] tradition of summarizing responses? etc Re: "Grannie" Needs Help!

[DancesWithCars]

There is a tradition on technical lists
to summarize the responses
and show how it was solved,
so if "Grannies" or others
are asking for technical
help, then maybe learning
the tradition would help in creating
documentation and answers
to FAQ?

Otherwise it is too easy to get
into a mode of just asking for help,
asking for help,
asking for help,
and not even considering / reading
the responses and acknowledging
efforts people put into pleas for help...

btw, there is a newer release of XS
software, but I would not call even
the wiki.laptop.org documentation
nor XS server process easy
for teachers and non technical,
much less technical people,
and I seem to recall the ClassActs
book sprint needing a School Server
introduction page/ paragraph...


On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 5:46 PM, Yamandu Ploskonka <yamaplos at gmail.com> wrote:
> Bottom line, Caryl, you may not need an access point, but maybe that makes
> all the difference as to how far they can be and still connect to each
> other.
>
> So I tested things, coincidentially with 10 XOs on build 802, and a Sam's
> Club vanilla cheapest  Linksys WRT54g2 V1
>
> First, without even an access point all the machines but one could see each
> other.
> When testing different builds yesterday some could see only those with their
> own build, and some were sort of random as to what other they could see.  My
> lab notes somewhere :-)
>
> When I plugged in the Access Point and logged them to it, they only could
> see those who were already logged in already.  They lost "sight" of those
> that were not connected.  Note that the Access point was not connected to
> the Internet, just plugged to the wall, to act as a repeater.
>
> I didn't test collaboration, just if they could "see" one another.  They
> were all pretty close together, except one.  Not all machines could see that
> one, about 15 feet away, and only after noticing that "ghost"
> that showed up inconsistently I remembered it in the hallway charging and on
> since yesterday, so I didn't get to test fully this matter of distance.  One
> of these days I will test them at different distances.
>
> Only two could see Access Points outside of the house, and as I mentioned,
> one could see nothing, even after rebooting, so I guess its radio is no
> good.   Out of 10,  2 better than average, one radio dead seem consistent
> with numbers I had been given informally at 1CC.  I am curious about other
> people's experiences.
>
> All in all it is not clear whether to use the access point would have made a
> difference, as they could "see" each other on F1 (neighborhood view) even
> without the access point turned on.  But that might make all the difference
> when it comes to distance.
>
> Yama
>
>
>
>
>
>
> John Watlington wrote:
>
> Caryl,
>    There are two easy solutions that jump to mind.
> The decision is independent of a school server, you
> are really choosing how to interface the laptops to
> a network.
>
> If the school will allow a Wifi network, add a small
> cheap WiFi (802.11b/g) access point, configured
> as a transparent access point.  The laptops will have
> to select this AP once in the neighborhood, then
> "everything" will work.
>
> If the school insists on a wired network, then you can
> use USB/ethernet dongles to connect the laptops to
> the network.   Several dongles are known to work
> (is there a list for F9 somewhere ?).
> If they are supported their use is automatic if plugged in.
>
> In either case, you might consider a school server
> to interface between the laptop network and the internet.
> For ten laptops in a school, however, it is definitely
> not required.
>
> Cheers,
> wad
>
> On Oct 8, 2009, at 1:01 AM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> I need to help the Audubon Middle School project get their 10 XOs
> on the net. Their school evidently has high speed internet, but it
> is all by ethernet cables... no wifi.  So, I need info on how to
> set up something that will work with the XOs... a school server, I
> guess.  I looked at the info on the OLPC wiki, but I don't
> understand enough about it to set it up or tell them how to do it.
>
> I assume they need a computer to do this. Do they have to install
> Linux before installing server software?  Is there any place on the
> wiki that tells how to do this? Should they just find someone to
> fund a decicated school server? Where can they get one? What is the
> most reliable, inexpensive way for them to do this?  Maybe just an
> inexpensive router? The school probably has some sort of firewall,
> what will they have to do to log on?
>
> Caroline... have you dealt with this at all?
>
> Is there a Grannie's Guide to doing this anywhere? Links appreciated!
>
> Caryl (aka "Grannie")
>
> P.S. I haven't actually seen their set up, but will go visit them
> next week.
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>
> _______________________________________________
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> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
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-- 
DancesWithCars
leave the wolves behind ;-)