Tablet Information for Students

Revision as of 05:02, 1 November 2005

Frequently Asked Questions

General Tablet Questions

How can I Access Doppler from off Campus?

The easiest way is to use SSH tunneling or the VPN client, you can obtain the VPN Client from CSM Computing or you can setup a tunnel by running the following at a command line (for systems with SSH):

ssh -N -f -L 8080:doppler.mines.edu:80 <username>@voodoo.mines.edu

remembering to replace <username> with your Voodoo username. You will be asked for your Voodoo Linux-side password, once you've entered that in you can access doppler by going to http://localhost:8080/ in your web browser.

Can we make changes to the software on the tablets? Do we have Administrative privileges?

Yes, however you are not permitted to remove software pre-installed on the tablets without explicit permission from TICC. To obtain administrative privileges on Linux you can type

sudo su

at a console window in order to obtain administrative privileges -- you are not, however, permitted to change the root password. Under Windows you are logged in as an Administrator by default and may make any changes you wish. Be warned that Administrive privileges can ruin your tablet's configuration, asking us for help in these circumstances will result in the committee Reimaging your tablet.

What does the PXE DHCP MAC address thing mean at boot?

When the tablets first bootup they attempt to use a PXE boot image on the network before booting to the local hard-drive. To skip this message press the escape key on the keyboard or on the Reduced Input Interface.

Questions related to Windows

How do I print to PDF in Windows?

Printing to PDF in Windows is a two step process that uses windows printer and Ghost Script.

Set up the PostScript Printer

First, you must set up a PostScript printer in Windows by going to the "Printers and Faxes" folder in the control panel. Select "Add a printer" from the printer tasks pane at left and follow the steps below

• Click next when the add printer wizard opens to begin printer selection.
• Select the "Local Printer attached to this Computer" bullet at the top of the page and deselect the checkbox that says "Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play Printer" then click next.
• Select the "Use the following port" bullet from the top of the screen and choose "FILE: (Print to File)" from the drop box. Click Next.
• Now you can add any PostScript Printer from the list of drivers (denoted by PS in the driver name) to convert the document into PostScript. I used the "HP Business Inkjet 2250 (PS)" under the HP manufacturer field. Click Next.
• Rename the Printer to "PostScript Printer" or something similar to differentiate it from other mounted printers. Click next.

It is not necessary to print the test page for the printer to function but it is useful to describe how the printer works. A field will appear asking where you want to place the file. You must place the full path destination, filename, and extention .ps (to make things easier) in this field. For the test page, we will place the file in the root C:\ directory under the name test with the file extention .ps. The full path for this file will be:

c:\test.ps

Browse to the C:\ drive and double click on the new .ps file to open it in GSview. You should then see the test page if all went well. Leave the window open to help demonstrate how to write to pdf in the next section.

How to Convert PostScript (PS) Files To Portable Document Format (PDF) Files

Open a .ps file with GSview (default viewer for .ps files anyway) and go to "File > Convert" (the hotkey for this is f). You can select the advanced options for the PDF creation in this window and select OK when finished. Select a location to save your file and then save it. Now you can go nuts with PDF; for tips on creating PDF files see an online refrence for all things *ps.

One last note

When in doubt: embed your fonts in you PDF files so that everyone can read them. This option is available in the properties section of the convert tool. Select "EmbedAllFonts" in the property field and set its value to true. Your readers will appreciate it.

How do I add software to Cygwin?

Packages can be added to Cygwin and updated through the package manager labeled as "setup" in the Cygwin start menu folder. This method is the easiest way to add software but you can also compile programs from source if a desired program is not available. The example run through here will install Grace (not included by default) and show how packages can be easily installed and removed by using Cygwin's setup.

Open setup in the Cygwin folder through the programs list in the Windows start menu. Select install from Internet and click next till the installed prompts for a mirror. Choose a mirror to download your packages from (mirrors.kernel.org is usually fast). Click the "view" button until "Not Installed" appears on the top of the screen. Sort through the alphabetical list of packages till you find "Grace" and left click on the two arrows in the "new" column till the lastest (highest) version is selected. Click next to download and install the update. Do not be alarmed if more packages are installed than you selected because these are the dependencies of the selected packages.

How do I add packages to the LaTeX compiler in Windows (MikTeX)?

How do I run X11 programs under Windows?

You can access X11 programs by using Cygwin, this can be done by selecting Cygwin from the start menu and executing the following in the shell window that appears:

cd /usr/X11R6/bin
startx

You cannot execute grace and other programs from the X11 window that comes up.

How do I access my Voodoo account from Windows?

One method is as follows :

• Open My Computer
• In the address bar at the top type the following:

\\voodoo

It will ask for your user name and password; enter these. This should bring up voodoo, displaying all the physics printers and a folder with your user name. This is your home space.

• Right click on it and selet "Map Network Drive." Follow the prompts. I suggest assigning the letter 'V' to the drive to make it easier to remember and so that it won't conflict with removeable storage.

Now your voodoo folder will show up as if it were a drive, just like C:/ and D:/.

How can I print to Physics Department printers from Windows?

This is somewhat of a temporary solution, but it works for now. In order for this to work you need to be on the campus network and you need to have already logged onto Voodoo. Following the steps to map your voodoo space to a hard drive will accomplish this.

• Open the start menu
• Select "Printers and Faxes"
• In this new window choose (on the left side near the top) "Add a Printer"
• Follow the steps to add a network printer
• When it asks for an address use: \\voodoo\blossom

Questions Related to Linux

How do I rotate the screen on the tc1100?

At a console (not as root), enter

xsetwacom set "stylus" Rotate CCW
xrandr -o left

to rotate the screen side-ways and enter

xsetwacom set "stylus" Rotate None
xrandr -o normal

to rotate the screen back. Once we've got the tablet hotkey buttons working these commands will be integrated into a script for you. Until then you can take advantage of these handy-dandy scripts by downloading them and adding them to your GNOME/KDE panel (please right click and use "Save File As"):

• RotateSideways.sh
• RotateNormal.sh

If you have downloaded the Modified Wacom Pen Driver then you can take advantage of the following script to automatically rotate the display on the tc1100 (place in /usr/custom/bin/):

• rotate.sh

I'm having trouble making first-time connections to wireless networks under Linux, what should I do?

There appears to be a problem with the wifi-radar software in that it cannot connect to wireless networks that you have not connected to before. While the wifi-radar software is in the "working" stage open up a console and type

sudo su
ifdown eth1
ifup eth1
kill `ps -A | grep wifi-radar`

in order to reset the wireless network connection. If you continue to have problems please leave a message on the Forum.

How can I setup my tablet to connect to a WPA-enabled network under Linux?

You need to edit the "/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf" file to contain:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

network={
       ssid="<your_network_name>"
       scan_ssid=1
       proto=WPA
       key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
       psk="<your_secret_key>"
}

See Amilo 1425 Linux for details.

How do I change my password under Linux?

In order to change your password under linux you should open up a console window and type

sudo su
passwd student

and follow the directions (make sure to place "student" after passwd so you do not change the root password). It is recommended that you change your password (so it isn't blank), failure to do so may result in an inability to restore your session when the display gets locked. The display will lock if you close the tablet while Linux is running so you will need to change your password before this happens.