Category Archives: Devices

Activation Required Prompts and Microsoft Software

Posted on by • Posted in Microsoft 365 Software, Windows Devices • Tagged , , , , , , , , •

iSchool owned Windows computers are set up to periodically check-in with a license server on campus to verify the activation of Windows (the operating system itself).

If your computer has been off campus for quite some time and your computer has not connected to the Husky OnNet VPN for quite some time (at least once every 180 days), you can expect to see a prompt or message telling you that you are required to activate Microsoft Windows or your license will expire soon.

If you see a message about needing to activate Windows, connect to the Husky OnNet VPN, then wait. You may continue working. Your computer will automatically “check in” with the on-campus license server, activate Microsoft Windows, the “activation required” message will disappear, and you can disconnect or exit the Husky OnNet VPN application.

More about how activating Microsoft products works at the UW, can be found on UW-IT’s website:

https://itconnect.uw.edu/wares/msinf/software/activating-microsoft-products/

All about iSchool backup (what, who, when, where, how, why)

Posted on by • Posted in Apple Devices, Windows Devices • Tagged , , , , •

The goal of backups performed by iSchool IT is to allow you to recover from a hardware disaster or transfer to a different computer easily and not to provide archival backups. We currently only backup iSchool-issued computers.

HOW

Files are backed up using an application named Code42/CrashPlan.

WHAT

All the default Windows and macOS user folders are backed up. This means:

on Windows, every file and folder under:

C:\Users\your UW NetID

and on Mac, every file and folder under:

/Users/your UW NetID

is getting backed up.

Sidenote – Although Code42/CrashPlan does backup Firefox and Chrome bookmarks modern web browsers provide a way to backup/synchronize bookmarks across different devices/computers . If you use Firefox or Chrome, we recommend you sign into the browser itself, using your UW email address and use the browser’s built-in sync feature to save all your bookmarks to the cloud:

set up Firefox sync
set up Chrome sync

WHO

All permanent iSchool faculty, staff, and PhD students that have been issued an iSchool computer will have said computer backed up via Code42/CrashPlan.

It is standard operating procedure to backup one computer per person.

If you are not a permanent employee and/or you are using a checkout or loaner computer your machine will not be backed up via Code42/CrashPlan. Please take appropriate actions to safeguard your data.

WHEN

The Code42/CrashPlan application will check for changes and make backups every fifteen (15) minutes.

For the Code42/CrashPlan application to work, your computer needs to be:

a) powered on (not in Sleep Mode)
b) connected to the Internet

WHERE

The Code42/CrashPlan application works whether your computer is on or off campus.

All files are copied/uploaded to a server accessible only by the iSchool IT team.

All files are stored on disk and none are copied to tape.

WHY

The goal of backups performed by iSchool IT via the Code42/CrashPlan application is to allow you to recover from a hardware disaster or transfer to a different computer easily.

Code42/CrashPlan does support some file versioning history by default.

RESTORE / RECOVER FILES

Basic instructions for recovering files from Code42/CrashPlan can be found here. Contact the iSchool IT Help Desk with questions.

UW-IT DOCUMENTATION

UW-IT Code42/CrashPlan documentation

Apple macOS device enrollment

Apple macOS device enrollment

Posted on by • Posted in Apple Devices •

All iSchool-purchased Apple devices (faculty, staff, computer-classroom computers, iPads, Apple TVs) are “enrolled” in The iSchool’s Apple Mobile Device Management (MDM) tool, “Jamf Pro”. It is possible, infrequently, that you may be prompted to renew or update your device’s enrollment. Follow the steps below.

1) Click the “Device Enrollment” notification if it appears.

2) An “Update Device Enrollment” message in System Preferences -> Profiles should open. Click “Update.”

3) Enter your UW NetID credentials, click “Connect”.

4) After a few seconds you should see wording about the device being “…supervised and managed by University Of Washington.” This is expected and the desired result. You may quit out of System Preferences.

BitLocker

Posted on by • Posted in Windows Devices • Tagged , , , •

The iSchool has BitLocker configured on all faculty, staff, and PhD student Windows computers. BitLocker is a Microsoft disk encryption technology. Once BitLocker is turned on, your UW NetID credentials will continue to allow you to sign into the computer; you should see no noticeable change in behavior.

If you are ever prompted for a BitLocker Recovery Key, please contact the iSchool IT Help Desk.

More about BitLocker can be found at the websites below:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/device-security/bitlocker/bitlocker-overview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitLocker

 

 

Deep Freeze/Administrative rights on lab computers security model

Posted on by • Posted in Apple Devices, Windows Devices • Tagged , , , , , •

In order to give students at the iSchool the greatest possible flexibility in achieving their academic work, everyone who uses an iSchool lab computer is automatically logged in to that computer as a local administrator. This allows the user to have full permission to install software and to make any number of configuration changes to the computer’s operating system.

While The iSchool believes in providing an open learning environment, it also wants to give its lab users secure, reliable machines. For this reason, it has chosen to run Deep Freeze on all lab machines.

Deep Freeze is a program that restores a computer to a “fresh state” after each system reboot. Consequently, if you install a program on an iSchool lab machine and then reboot the machine, the program will no longer be installed when the machine restarts. Deep Freeze returns the computer to its original pristine state, so if you ever experience any problems with a lab computer they can be fixed by rebooting.

Using Deep Freeze ensures that our machines stay up and running with the least amount of interruptions due to accidental configuration changes, software bugs, spyware, malware, and viruses.

Driver, BIOS, and firmware updates

Driver, BIOS, and firmware updates

Posted on by • Posted in Windows Devices • Tagged , , , •

If a specific hardware part of your computer is not working correctly, updating “drivers”, “BIOS”, or “firmware” is worth trying to attempt to fix the problem.

Before proceeding with the instructions, save whatever documents you are working on. You will likely need to restart your computer to install updates.

My computer is a:

iSchool issued Lenovo

update drivers on an iSchool issued Lenovo

1) Click the lower Windows icon to bring up the Start menu.

 

2) Start typing the words “system update.” Click the System Update icon to start the application.

search_for_system_update

3) Click Next, the application will search for updates applicable to your computer. If there is an update available for the Lenovo System Update application itself, follow the on-screen instructions to apply the update.

system_update_next

4) Once search results appear, for the “Critical updates” and “Recommended updates” sections, select only the items that have the words “Thunderbolt” or “Driver” or “BIOS” or “Firmware” in the title. Click Next.

note: The picture below is an example. The updates that appear for your specific computer will likely be different from what is pictured below. Select only the items that have the words “Thunderbolt” or “Driver” or “BIOS” or “Firmware” in the title.

driver_bios_updates

5) Click Download.

download_selected_drivers

6) The selected items will be downloaded and installed. Follow any specific on-screen instructions presented.

download_and_install_progress

7) When the installation is finished, you may be prompted to restart the computer. Follow the specific on-screen instructions.

restart_if_needed

GNU/Linux applications alternatives and workarounds

Posted on by • Posted in Collaboration Software, Devices, Microsoft 365 Software, Misc Productivity Software, OneDrive, Other Devices, Outlook, SharePoint, Software, Teams, Utility Software, Zoom •

Introduction

As you may understand, Microsoft 365 tools are not natively available on Linux.

Many people as of time of writing are leaving Windows for GNU/Linux (for a variety of reasons, often being privacy, dissatisfaction increasing bloat, recall/AI spyware, etc…), but some believe they cannot (despite that they would like to) because they need to use tools like Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Word.

However, there are free and open source alternatives that can integrate just fine. This is mainly a list of applications, methods, and alternatives to Windows software that can be used on Linux. This often takes the form of free and open source (FOSS) alternatives.

Using OneDrive and SharePoint

Although Linux does not have an official OneDrive client, a free open source fully functional command line interface with an optional GUI can be found here. It can be used to interface with OneDrive systems, with full functionality.

The repository and installation instructions can be found here:

https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive

Using Microsoft 365 Tools/Email

Microsoft 365 tools like Word are not available natively on Linux, because Microsoft would rather you stay in their ecosystem, because they make money that way.

However there are multiple ways to use these products regardless.

Webapps

All Microsoft 365 tools are available as platform agnostic web apps, that fully integrate with other Microsoft 365 services. All you need is a web browser of choice, and to login with your MS account.

You can even use things like Microsoft Outlook this way, allowing you to access your inbox and emails without needing an application.

Compatible Native via WINE

You can try to run software like Microsoft Word through a Windows-Linux compatibility layer such as WINE, though this is not recommended and often has issues.

Alternatives

Some popular alternatives to the Microsoft application suite include LibreOffice, for example. Unlike Microsoft’s paid subscriptions, many of these are free and open source. They can fully read and write all types of Microsoft documents, and when integrated with the previously mentioned OneDrive client can be used very similarly to how you would on Windows, enabling you to edit documents and even push them to the cloud.

For Email Clients, Mozilla Thunderbird is a popular alternative to Microsoft Outlook, and for good reason. You can even forward your UW Outlook Email to it if you so desire.

Graphic Design & Digital Drawing/Art

A lot of people like Adobe Photoshop for some reason. Of course, because Adobe is motivated by profit, they do not have a Linux native version. Again, you could try to run it via compatibility layers, but ideally you want something native.

GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a good alternative for more image editing related tasks and is FOSS software.

If you are more into digital drawing/animation or like a more intuitive interface (GIMP has a bit of a learning curve), Krita is a solid choice, and also FOSS software.

If you need to work with scalable vector graphics (SVG) things, Inkscape is ideal for this kind of work.s

3D Rendering/Modeling/Animation/Art

A lot of proprietary 3D Modeling and Rendering software is not available on Linux. There are some outliers that have Linux native versions, but those are less common. You may want to run a majority of these with WINE if possible.

However there is one outlier, that being Blender, which you have most likely at least heard of. Blender is a FOSS 3D modeling and rendering tool, and is sometimes regarded as better than it’s proprietary alternatives. It is the main choice for Linux users and is very versatile. You may know it for creating movies such as Flow.

In fact, Blender was originally developed for Linux operating systems, and only ported to other operating systems later. It runs significantly better on Linux operating systems as a result.

CAD

As with 3D Modeling and Rendering, a lot of proprietary CAD software is only available for Windows natively (because companies are profit driven, there is no intensive for them to provide Linux options or improve the software). You can again run these with WINE if possible, but this is not a perfect solution and can have issues. Some people may opt for a virtual machine.

As for Linux native options (native options are always ideal for performance reasons, and why would you use a software that refuses to support your operating system of choice), a popular choice is FreeCAD, which is FOSS software for aforementioned CAD. From the writer of this article’s experience, it works very well.

 

Video Calling/Chat

Most video call or chat applications are webapps, and for those that are not there is usually a Linux version (Discord, matrix.org, etc).

A popular option for video calling in professional spaces, Zoom, has packages for major distributions available on their website.

 

This article is incomplete and could use more detail. Unfortunately the original writer does not have much time. If you are knowledgeable in these topics and have the ability to, please improve this (albeit do not remove my existing suggestions even if you think you know better alternatives, just list both please. we don’t need softwarewars as a bootleg of stupid distrowars here).

Group Policy update (gpupdate /force)

Group Policy update (gpupdate /force)

Posted on by • Posted in Windows Devices • Tagged , •

Occasionally iSchool IT will ask you to perform the following steps to troubleshoot a setting or solve a problem with your Windows computer. The steps below reapply any “Group Policies” set to apply to your computer:

1) Save any files you may be working on. Quit unnecessary, open applications. The process may require restarting the computer.

2) If you and your computer are off campus, connect to the UW Husky OnNet VPN.

3) Right-click the lower-left Windows icon, click Windows PowerShell (Admin).

4) Click Yes when prompted with the “Do you want to allow this app…” question.

5) In the “Windows PowerShell” window that opens, type:

gpupdate /force

Press Enter on your keyboard.

6) You will see wording like “Updating policy…”. The process could take a few minutes. You should see wording that the process completed successfully. You may be asked to restart your computer, if so, restart your computer.

7) If a computer restart is not needed, close the Windows PowerShell window by clicking the top-right “X”.

Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Mic System – User Guide

Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Mic System – User Guide

Posted on by • Posted in Other Devices •

The Lark M2 wireless microphone system is designed for straightforward operation. Remove the Transmitter(s) and Receiver from its case, attach the magnetic lapel clip to the Transmitter(s), wait till they pair with each other and have a solid blue or green LED, connect the Receiver to a computer and go.

Powering On/Off:

  • Automatic Power: Removing the transmitters (TX) and receiver (RX) from the charging case powers them on automatically. Placing them back turns them off.
  • Manual Power: Press and hold the yellow button on the TX or the upper power button on the RX for 3 seconds to turn them on or off.

NOTE: When removed from the box or manually powered on, the TX and RX will flash blue while waiting for the other to be powered and paired. When they are solid blue, they are paired and ready for use.

LED Indicators:

  • Flashing Blue: Device is on but not yet paired.
  • Solid Blue: Device is paired and ready for use.
  • Solid Green: Noise cancellation is active.
  • Flashing Red: Low battery warning.
  • Solid Amber Charging in progress.
  • Solid Green (while charging): Fully charged.

Connecting to Devices:

  • Computer:
    1. Connect the RX to your computer using the standard USB port. No drivers are needed for installation.
    2. Ensure the TX and RX are paired (solid blue/green indicator) before use.
    3. Open your computer’s audio settings and select the Lark M2 as the audio input source.
  • Mobile Devices: Plug the RX into your phone’s USB-C or Lightning port.
  • Video Cameras:
    1. Attach the RX to the camera’s hot shoe or cold shoe using the back clip.
    2. Connect the RX’s 3.5mm audio output to the camera’s 3.5mm audio input using a TRS to TRS cable.
    3. Set the camera’s recording volume to the minimum level and the RX’s output volume to medium for optimal recording quality.

Noise Cancellation

After the TX and RX have paired and the LED on both units are solid blue or green:

To enable noise cancellation – press the yellow button on the TX . The status indicator will turn solid green when noise cancellation is active for that channel.

To disable noise cancellation – press the yellow button again on the  TX. The indicator will revert to its standard blue color.

Charging:

  • Transmitters and Receiver: Place them in the charging case. The LEDs will turn amber (charging) and green when fully charged.
  • Charging Case: Use a USB-C cable to charge the case.

Battery Life:

  • Transmitters (TX):  Approximately 10 hours of operation per charge.
  • Receiver (RX): Approximately 9 hours of operation per charge.
  • Charging Case: Provides more than two full charges for two transmitters simultaneously.

Charging Times:

  • Transmitters (TX):  About 1.5 hours to fully charge.
  • Receiver (RX):  About 1.5 hours to fully charge.
  • Charging Case:  Less than 1.5 hours to fully charge.

Pairing Devices:

The devices come pre-paired from the factory and should be paired when checked out.

  1. Transmitter (TX):  With the TX off, press and hold the yellow button for 6 seconds until the blue light flashes rapidly.
  2. Receiver (RX):  With the RX on, hold the lower pairing button for 3 seconds until the blue light flashes rapidly.

Additional Features:

  • Video Recording Control: While shooting with your phone, double-press the button on the TX to start or stop video recording. This function works when the camera app supports control via the volume key

For more detailed information, refer to the Lark M2 User Manual.