[Ltsp] Configuring 3Com PXE NICs; Wed. installation

[Michael Murray]

David Grant and I spent some time Monday configuring his terminal 
server and getting one terminal booting. We found that computers with 
the same model designation could differ widely in their network 
configuration, and few were usable as thin clients without 
modificaiton.

I've since been researching network booting using PXE code on floppy 
disks, CDs, EPROMs and PXE-equipped cards, concluding that the last are 
the way to go. I found this site that sells plenty NICs and provides a 
convenient chart showing which are PXE equipped:

http://www.bootix.com/adapters/adapters_en.html#3com

To my surprise, I found that a half dozen 3Com 3C905C-TXM cards in my 
own inventory were PXE-ready, only needing to be configured with 3Com's 
utility:

http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/mba.htm

After some fuss and bother getting an old computer set up and running 
Windows (I should mention that I've been primarily a Mac user since 
1985 and have scant Windows experience), I flashed four cards with the 
latest ROM code, configured and installed them into old Micron P1s that 
now work just fine as thin clients.

I find these NICs going on eBay for as little as $2.50 each in 
quantity. Man, what a deal. Think I'll bid in a batch.

Since we now have four clients and a server available, I called Mel 
Dressel of St. Joseph Catholic School in Ponchatoula (I promised her a 
setup months ago) and we scheduled an installation for Wednesday at 
11:00. Sabrina Duhe of Trafton Academy in Hammond has volunteered to 
assist, and we expect a relatively painless installation. Anyone 
wishing to help with the job, please contact me for directions. Of 
course, the real work is post-install configuring, which I must leave 
to you who actually know something about Linux.

This will be our second school installation of K12LTSP Linux.

David Grant tells me he has a couple of schools in Baton Rouge 
interested, so we are looking for a couple of members to assist and 
support with installation and configuration. Contact David if you can 
make a commitment. Please.

Our project has been moving far too slowly so far, but we have been 
learning quite a lot and expect business to pick up....

Michael Murray