[K12OSN] RE: Serial Mouse on Clients

Mon Mar 8 15:34:04 UTC 2004

Tim,

I wouldn't be "exceptionally" concerned about the system just 'going down' (At least with 3.1.2).  Once K12LTSP is set up and working, it really tends to just stay that way.  I did implement the purge users script that Eric put together since otherwise the servers would start having problems with logins after a month or so (failed Mozilla sessions, unclean logouts, zombie processes).  Also, I have a script that looks for core files (mostly created when NCS teachers just kill rdesktop, I think, possibly other packages) which runs each night via cron to clean up these files (which use ~50Mb each!) in home directories prior to my rsync backup running.

At NCS, the only OS-specific issues that have come up are with the performance of the Windows Terminal Server, not the Linux systems.  A bigger issue is the 'How do I do this in Linux when in Windows it was ....' which does seem to come up much more often.  I have had several issues with word documents not opening with the exact format that they formatted in MS Word.  Also, the lack of a Macromedia shockwave player is an issue I haven't resolved.  CrossOver plugin didn't work when I installed the demo/evaluation copy and I haven't had any luck getting tech support from them.

If you get ssh access to the servers (I can't get this to NCS's, state/DOE firewall regs), things should be golden.  I am only able to get to the school on Friday's (parent volunteer) and things have moved along rather well, although alot of the stuff that would be neat to implement hasn't occurred yet (need more time, or less sleep).

Sincerely,
Dave Hopkins
Newark Charter School
Newark Delaware

> Thankyou Jim and Sudev for the help on this. It turns out that the mouse was
> the problem. That will teach me to double check items from the scrap bin. I
> also had to change the X_MOUSE_PROTOCOL = "Microsoft" to get smooth mouse
> movements.
> 
> I will be spending some time with the teachers at the school to train them
> on the system now. I have always been hesitant about installing Linux
> because the nearest professional tech support is an hour away, but hopefully
> this will prove to be smooth and stable. Even if the system goes down once
> or twice a year we will be ahead on support cost, time and effort.
> 
> 
> Tim Kaldahl
> Maplewood Academy
> I.T. Coordinator
> 
> 
> >Message: 8
> >Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 00:06:40 -0500 (EST)
> >From: jam at mcquil.com
> >To: k12osn at redhat.com
> >Subject: Re: [K12OSN] RE: Serial Mouse on Clients
> >Reply-To: k12osn at redhat.com
> >
> >Tim,
> >
> >First of all, the server mouse and the workstation mouse are
> >completely independant.  It really doesn't matter what kind of
> >mouse the server has, or even if it has a mouse at all.
> >
> >For the workstation, you are correct in setting the mouse
> >port to /dev/ttyS0.  But, there's a couple of things to
> >check:
> >
> >1) Make sure you set the port correctly.  ttyS0 is com1, ttyS1 is com2.
> >   Try both, in case you've got it plugged into the other port.
> >
> >2) Make sure your workstation is actually picking up the settings that
> >   you think.
> >
> >   If you are specifying the X_MOUSE_DEVICE setting on a per-workstation
> >   basis, make sure the workstation knows it's own hostname.  OR,
> >   use the MAC address in the brackets, ie:  [00:04:50:00:01:23]
> >   instead of the hostname.
> >
> >   Or, if all of the workstations have serial mice, you can set it
> >   in the [Default] section.
> >
> >3) Make sure you get the mouse protocol set correctly.  X_MOUSE_PROTOCOL
> >   you can try values like 'Microsoft', 'Logitech', 'MouseMan' and
> >   there's a bunch of others.  The XFree86.org website has a listing
> >   at:
> >
> >       http://www.xfree86.org/4.3.0/mouse.4.html
> >
> >4) To make sure the workstation is picking up the proper settings,
> >   try setting 'SCREEN_01 = shell' in the lts.conf file.  Then boot
> >   the client.  You should get a shell prompt.  At the prompt,
> >   try typing:
> >
> >      getltscfg -a
> >
> >   It should show all of the settings that the workstation will use.
> >   Make sure it shows what you expect it to show.
> >
> >5) Try popping into the IRC channel.  #ltsp at irc.freenode.net
> >
> >
> >Hope that helps,
> >
> >Jim McQuillan
> >jam at Ltsp.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >On Sun, 7 Mar 2004, Tim Kaldahl wrote:
> >
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I have been lurking in this list for about a year and have just been
> playing
> >> with k12ltsp more or less as a novelty. I am in the process of setting up
> a
> >> server (3.12) with 5 terminals at my son's school. (Very poor private
> >> christian school) My problem is that the server has a ps2 mouse, but the
> >> terminals all use serial mice. The terminals connect, but the mouse won't
> >> work. I tried editing lts.conf by changing X_MOUSE_DEVICE = "/dev/ttyS0"
> >> instead of "/dev/psaux" but that did not change anything. This project is
> my
> >> proving ground for future technology plans at my school, so I really want
> to
> >> make it fly.
> >>
> >> I have learned an incredible amount from this list, and look forward to
> the
> >> help I know is forthcoming. I am dreaming of a future with no Windows.
> >>
> >> Tim Kaldahl
> >> I.T. Coordinator
> >> Maplewood Academy
> >> Hutchinson, MN
> >>
> >> P.S. If any of you out there belong to Linux Users Group closer to me
> than
> >> Mankato (about one hour away), I would love to here about it. I am an
> hour
> >> west of Minneapolis. If there isn't one and you would like to start one I
> am
> >> up for that.
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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