Maintenance

I've resolved the USB problem and replace the .cert files on the SW, but the console still does not recognize the SW. Something for Monday.

I've discovered the problem with the mysteriously rebooting machines. I had a complete build working perfectly with USB sticks, then I installed the Ghost client as the last step. Instantly recreated the problem with the first insertion of a thumb drive. I found references, and tracked down a Symantec support doc here which offers a new version of ghmon.sys, which I've zipped and uploaded (couldn't upload a .sys file) here.

Will have spent ENTIRE day working on solving two ridiculous problems.

The new lab machines inexplicably restart when a USB thumb drive gets inserted in a USB port. No warning, nothing. Ehsan and Sinisa have no such problems with their identical machines, and they are using the same USB drivers. Jeremy from the computer store had no suggestions either.

This is obviously a big problem so I've spent the whole day rebuilding a machine from scratch, and I'm still not done! I have had to restart the machine more than 15 times to get this far, what with Windows updates and AntiVirus install etc. The problem has not resurfaced so I'm currently at a loss to explain it.

DVD playback is still not available in WMP11 so I researched some freebies and settled on the K-Lite codec pack. It seems to be pretty good so far, offering DVD MPEG-2, H.264 (AVC), OGG and others. I'll also install it on the teacher stations when I get through this build.

This config seems to be OK so far - much more testing to be done, though.
Specifically, I need to test telephone conversations, teacher-as-source and cassette-as-source.
===== Duo.cfg =====
[RECORD VOLUME]
LINEIN=5000
MIC=90000
CD=56071
AUX=0
WAVEOUT=0
DIGITAL=58339
ANALOG=58339

[PLAY VOLUME]
LINEIN=15000
MIC=5000
CD=26025
MAIN=21000
WAVEOUT=20000
AUX=0

[PLAY MUTE]
LINEIN=0
MIC=0
CD=0
WAVEOUT=0
AUX=0
MAIN=0

[REC MUTE]
LINEIN=0
MIC=0
CD=0
WAVEOUT=0
AUX=0

[REC SELECT]
LINEIN=0
MIC=0
CD=1
ANALOG=0
AUX=-1
DIGITAL=0

[ADVANCED]
MICBOOST=1

[CD]
DIGITAL=0

With a bunch of help I have the labs in a nearly-complete state.
Really bad monitors in Lab B have been swapped for the CASStoffs and I've cached 8 or 9 for later replacement when the remaining KDS monitors go. The remaining KDS monitors look OK right now, but as they get IDed as flaky I'll swap them.
Most keyboard/mouse combos have been replaced too, though there are a handful left which I'll do as time permits.
I've received one of the new machines, without a drive - which I expected (I have a bunch of spares) - but without a second IDE channel to plug it in to - which I did not expect. I'll need to find an extra-long IDE cable and plug both optical and HD drives in to the same channel (master-slave the two). Otherwise I'll have to buy two SATA drives. I realize that SATA is preferable in terms of performance and long-term reliability but I have all those extra drives...

I now have stations 1-15 in Lab C set up.
Aside from stations 16-24 being set up I still have to:
Get rid of the old stuff.
Deploy and test the new audio settings (probably easier to do this manually because of next item)
Delete and rebuild Ghost Console DB so that new machines are the only residents of DB.

We only got 46 CASStoffs so I need to buy two new machines. One will be in tomorrow apparently, and I have another PR in for the second machine, which should arrive next week sometime.

1. Close Ghost Console.
2. Stop the Ghost service:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
   2. Type:
      
      C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\ngserver.exe -stop
      
      and click OK. The drive letter and path might be different on your computer. This stops the Ghost Console Services.
3. Find the SymantecGhost.db or NortonGhost.db file and copy it to a safe location.
   • The database file for Symantec Ghost 6.5 Enterprise Edition and later is SymantecGhost.db. The default location for this file is the \Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\db folder.
   • The database file for Norton Ghost 6.0 Enterprise Edition NortonGhost.db
   • Norton Ghost 6.0 Standard Edition does not use a database file.
4. Rename the file SymantecGhost.db or NortonGhost.db or delete it from the hard disk.
5. If you have Symantec Ghost 7.5 or 8.0, copy the following blank database file to the Ghost Console computer:
   download this
6. Restart the Ghost Service with either of the following methods:
   • Restart the computer.
   • Install the service:
     1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
     2. Type:
        
        C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\Ngserver -install
        
        and click OK, and click OK again. The drive letter and path might be different on your computer. This installs and loads the Ghost services, NGServer, and NGDB. You do not need to restart the computer.
7. Open Ghost Console. The Console no longer displays configuration information. If the Ghost Console still shows configuration information such as Tasks and Image Definitions, restart the computer and then open the Console.
8. Determine whether the problem is resolved. To find out, you might need to add configuration information, such as new Tasks or Machine Groups. When you add configuration information, Ghost 7.0 and earlier create a new database file. Ghost 7.5 and 8.0 add the configuration information to the blank database file that you copied to this computer in step 5.
   • If the problem is resolved, the cause is likely due to corruption of the database file. Recreate the configuration information. See the section "To rebuild the database."
   • If the problem is not resolved, then the problem is not due to corruption of the database file. In that case, replace the new copy of the database file with the backup you created in Step 2.

1. Follow the steps in the procedure "To test whether the database file is corrupt." That procedure creates a new database.
2. Click on Help and reregister the Ghost Console. Use the same information that you used when you did the original registration.
3. Recreate the configuration information.
4. Recreate the Tasks.

* Spec'd and purchased one new machine for labs (we got 46 or 47 from CASS). If we don't get a 47th from CASS we'll buy a second new box.
* I have 7 of the "new" machines in Lab C.
* The audio problem seems to have semi-resolved itself - more on Monday when I have a chance to look at it more carefully.
* Ghost console will not recognize any more clients. Bummer. I'll have to go through the documentation (like here) and maybe here to find out how to remove a client from the console. Looks relatively simple.
FTFA:
If, for instance, you replace fifteen outdated computers with fifteen new computers, LAU continues to report the outdated computers even though they are no longer in the domain. LAU reports fifteen more computers running the Ghost Client that you have in the domain.

To resolve this problem, delete the file Ladbase.dat, create a new, empty file called Ladbase.dat, and run LAU again at each client computer. You can run LAU from the client computer's log-in scripts.

With Martin's help (and Thái from Thorvin) I've been trying to set up the new lab machine's sound cards, now with some urgency after Eric G's report.

In Lab B it appeared as though I would need to make jumper adjustments on the audio network hub on each student station, but repeating the setup in Lab C I achieved similar results without changing the jumper...(?)

I have an email in to Thái right now regarding some remaining questions and will update this post when I know more.

The remaining issues revolve around the Sanako Duo recording streamed transfers. One concern is that it records to both channels during a stream from the teachers station (as in cassette, teacher-as-source and cd audio being transferred directly). Watching the transfer in "graph" mode on the SW I see that it goes to both student and program channels. If the student plays it back immediately after re-gaining control of the player they get a "echo-ey" effect - like pseudo stereo - that interferes with their ability to record their own voice.

Another issue is that each of the "transfer" streams ends up at the SW with a different recording level. Cassettes sound OK, but teacher-as-source is way too loud and CD audio is rather quiet. The recording level on the student microphone is also boosted when these transfers take place - almost as if there is some instruction coming from the TS that overrides the SW settings.