What's New for Fall 2010!

If you've used Linux at HWS in the past, you will notice several changes. First of all, we have 12 brand new wide screen iMac computers in the lab! No more fighting over the big screens (they're all big!). There is a new default GUI (the Gnome "desktop"), updates to familiar programs, many new programs, working sound, and reliable vnc. There is still a choice of desktop window managers to choose from when you log in, but you might see a much different desktop when you log in and wonder what's going on...

Gnome Desktop

To some of you, the most noticable change will be the desktop. If you used KDE last year and you never changed your settings from "default" at the login screen, then when you log in the first time this year, you will probably be greeted with a very odd looking desktop with a menu and panel at the top of the screen and a second panel at the bottom. Don't panic, this is just the Gnome Desktop and it is the new "Default" for all of the Linux machines. If you want to get back to your trusty old KDE, just log out, and then log back in, but before you hit the enter key, click on the down arrow and select KDE. You won't have to do this every time. The system will remember what you used last time and will start that desktop the next time.

Enabling Sound

Yes, sound works on the Lansing lab machines (be kind to your neighbors though). If you are not getting any sound, open a command line shell and type:
alsamixer
You should see a screen with several vertical "mixer" bars indicating the sound level of various components of the sound system. You need to adjust the "Front Speaker". Use your right arrow key to move over to select it, and the the up arrow key to increase the volume (100% is not completely necessary). You can close the shell and sound should work now. More importantly, the volume control keys on F11 and F12 now work too (use them - especially F11).

Broken Icons

Broken Icons (and Starting Over): Because of the upgrade, you may have some "broken" icons on your desktop and on your panel. You can remove these one at a time by right-clicking and then "trashing" or "removing"; you can then re-drag the desired programs to the desktop or panel. However, if you want to start with a completely fresh desktop, you can delete your hidden .kde or .gnome2 subdirectory, then log out and log back in (you will still need to drag your favorite programs into place.) Note: Don't trash these folders if you use KDE or Gnome specific email programs and have a fully populated address book!

VNC - New and Improved

Remote access via VNC works much better now. You can still vnc to the csfac0 to csfac7 machines by name from anywhere on campus and these should be available 24 hours a day. However, now you can also vnc to the other cslab machines. To do this you will need to use the cslab machines' IP addresses instead of names. For example, instead of saying cslab4.hws.edu:2, you will need to use 172.30.217.104:2. The cslab machines have IP addresses in the range of 172.30.217.100 (cslab0) to 172.30.217.111 (cslab11). See the VNC page for complete details and software to access the vnc machines.

Dual Boot Machines

The machines in Gulick 208 and the Library Multimedia are still dual boot, but the boot menu will look a bit different. When the Windows 7 boot manager screen appears, just press the down arrow, hit enter, and wait for linux to boot. Don't forget to select "Restart" when you finish your session.

Everything Else

Please explore the new system and the new programs (incuding games) and contact me if you find things that don't work or if your favorite program seems to be missing. You can email me at the address in the menu to the left.

Enjoy! And have a great year!