Mount Airy Learning Tree's Computer Volunteer Group
Summary of Discussion and Activities of the MALT CVG Session held on May 14, 2003
Class Discussion Period - Layout considerations for the mixed wired & wireless network at Mt. Airy Presbyterian.
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The discussion centered on the setting up and laying out network and the security concerns of the wireless. Mr. Jenkins reminded the group that the wireless device would soon be relocated to the church's sanctuary. The group will continue the use of hub and switches to connect the networks and will experiment with wireless in the future. There are multiple ways to arrange the routers, hubs and wireless switches. Mr. Jenkins wants to use the ports on the internet router to configure separate networks for the lab, MAPC wireless device and the wireless bridges that we are going to setup.
Project Period
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The group divided into three teams and began projects on three stations.
The first team project was to work on a computer, which required the installation of device drivers to enable the expansion cards: video, sound, modem and network interface cards to function properly. Device drivers are software that tells the operating system how to use the hardware. The group was instructed to look for the manufacturer and the model of each card in order of their importance; that is, video, sound, modem and network interface cards accordingly; Mr. Wayne gave the group clues to locate the cards in the computer: the video card is always connected to the monitor. The sound card connection is located at the speakers ports and the modem card can be found at the TAD(telephone audio device) connections.
The objective was to find the require information and not to change things around thus the group was advised to leave the case open so as not to misplace or confuse the part that were being taken out. Mr. Wayne also advised the group to take note of the buses/slots in which the cards are installed. The two common types were the ISA and PCI slots. The PCI slot is shorter than the ISA and is an improved design.
The expansion cards were located and the model and manufacturers names were found on/near the largest chip that was etched onto them. Mr. Wayne was kind to allow group access to his account at win drive where the drivers could be downloaded. The group was advised to download all drivers that seem close to the desire drivers. If more than one was found, the group should use the two recent models or the most improved version. The drivers for the video card and the sound cards were found. These were place in a new folder and place on the desktop of the computer for easy reference. The device driver for the modem will be found at a later date. There was no network card found in the computer.
The second group project was re-imaging. Mr. Jenkins assisted this group and the re-imaging was completed on the station 5. Office 2000 and Anti-Virus software need to be installed.
The third group continued a project from last week - Station 12 would still not recognize the hard drive on boot up.
Several things were tried including:
1. Checking the jumpers on the CD-ROM and Hard drive.
2. Changing the drive cables.
3. Removing the tray for removal Hard drives.
Mr. Jenkins then reminded the group to assess the cost and benefit of continuing this project. If the Hard drive controller that is built into the motherboard has gone bad, then the machine will have to be stripped for parts. That decision will be made next week.
Family Forum Project
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The project went very well. Four machines are completed and a fifth is ready for software installation. Lunch was provided by the family forum.
Organizational/Schedule
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A team was needed to work on four IBM computers for the Mental Retarded Family Forum Volunteers.
The project team consists of: Ian, Ken, West, Vendy and Kofa.
The group agreed to meet this Saturday, May 17 at 8:00 a.m. In the MAPC lab.
Wes and Vendy were selected to purchase the parts needed to be used to upgrade the computers on Saturday.
The items needed were three modem and three CD ROM Drives.
The session on June 18, 2003 must be relocated because of another group using the lab.
We will probably meet at the Women's Y on that day.
Pearline will contact Pleasant Playground and notify us about their progress with an internet connection and arrange a visit to complete the Network & Shared internet access.
Next Meeting: May 21, 2003
The lab will be open at 7:00, but Mr. Jenkins will not arrive until 7:30 p.m. The group will commence on projects first and discussion last.
Gregory W. Jenkins
Instructor/Coordinator
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