CTP Skill Center

Today Alex shared an intriguing problem he had when he re-imaged 6 computers at the Scott classroom. 3 computer was imaged correctly but the remaining 3 others had a blank screen. On these problem computers the caps lock turned on but with a delay and was obviously doing something in the background. So we did a troubleshooting simulation offering different suggestion of what most likely caused the problem. The solution was not straightforward and Alex revealed that when he compared the BIOS settings of a working to a non-working computer he noticed that one was set to legacy and the other was set to auto and most likely choose UEFI. A setting overlooked can cause a big problem which can be falsely diagnosed as something else.

Alex added another criteria on the Network Assignment by connecting a wired network printer via DHCP and also via static assignment. We were able to do both and tomorrow we will try ping, nslookup and trace route on the network we made.

Today we discussed the problems we had yesterday in setting up our network. There were a number of issues with resetting the router and having interfering routers with the same SSID. However, the crucial information that Alex clarified was to check the IP address of the computers we were using if they were using the previous configurations they had and making sure they belong to the same network. Making sure that the the computers are getting their IP address from the DHCP server instead of what it was before is a critical step. Using ipconfig, ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew in the command line is useful in this task. The assignment was modified to use a dynamic and static IP and also using a different network such as 10.10.10.0 aside from 192.168.1.0 which is the default in the router.

Today we did a review of networking with Omar a new student at CTT. Our ticket for today was to build a network using the basic building block as a template. The network will be composed of a Wireless router, 2 PCs and a laptop. We have to do a hardware reset on the router and configure both wireless and wired connectivity. We had a slow start with a router that was acting weird so we had to change it. We were able to connect the PCs to the router but did not have internet on the laptop. However, we were able to connect using other wireless devices.

Today at Employment Services each of one shared our overall experience in the recently concluded Career Fair. It seems everyone observed the same things that I did such as the venue being too small, the number of applicants, companies that were not there, etc. It was an opportunity to experience and be better prepared the next time around knowing what to expect in these kinds of events. It was a chance to develop networking skills and practice our spiels akin to the interview sessions we did in class.

I edited a few items in my LinkedIn profile and hopefully the changes are okay. Aubrey checked in with everyone and I was up to date on my tasks. The last part of the class is showing our LinkedIn profile. One final thing to do for the day is reaching out to the contacts I made in the Career Fair.

Today I worked Frank with the Hardware Rehab. Elizabeth, Jimmy and Jose also worked in this hardware project. I must admit that going through the different computers and testing each one is somewhat tiring. We were encountering different problems such as unresponsive systems or peculiar behavior like being unable to boot from USB but able to boot from the hard drive or DVD ROM. Some system that have on board video cards that were not working and made operational by adding a video card in an expansion slot. A few were completely dead. We also noticed uneven RAM capacities 12 GB (2+2+4+4) and 14 GB (4+4+4+2) with an assortment of brands. We were able to finish all the computers in the stack.

Today I went to the Job fair in Oakland. I was there just a little bit after 10 AM and the line was already long. However, I was able to go in a few minutes later. The venue was quite small for the number of people coming in to seek employment opportunities. Going around I was only able to submit my resume to 2 booths. Most were not entertaining inquiries about IT opportunities in their companies and just referred me to apply through the corporate portal.

At class Alex gave a lecture on some troubleshooting methodologies that a technician should wisely emulate. Having a mindset and a set of protocols to follow helps saves time and eliminate redundant actions in solving a particular IT problem.

We were offered to do do either a project on SSD replacement/imaging or the Hardware Rehab. I opted to do the rehab with Jimmy and we managed to do 4 more desktops today.

Today I worked with Eli on the Computer Rehab project we started yesterday. Using the guide that Alex provided we were able to assess and make a determination as to the system status of 4 Desktop computers. We worked on a HP Compaq dc5800 and Lenovo Think Centres model E75, M92P and M91P respectively. Time does run fast when you are doing this kind of work. You have to use troubleshooting and analysis skills to figure out if a system is salvageable and worth the time to fix. A system can be made operational however it may be not up to the task performance wise. In the end we had 3 disassemble and 1 project computer.  

We have a couple of guests at CTT class today. Elizabeth and Greg are taking a hybrid class integrating PRO and some CTT classes. To help them get into the mix of things, Alex asked us to do a project with them which involved the assessment of desktop computers to find out which can be classified as either can’t be fixed, project or classroom computers. Frank and I worked as a team and found a Lenovo that can’t be fixed which intermittently went into BIOS. It was not a dependable performance. Next we worked on a Dell desktop which worked and ran Kali Linux and passed Memtest on Easy2Boot. However, it was only a dual core computer and was good for a project computer.

Today we continued our diagnosing and SSD upgrade of other T430 laptops as classroom laptops. So we did the same procedure that we did on the first upgrade. Afterwards Alex asked us to provision the IP phones because of a server error. There was something peculiar with provisioning the Polycom IP 335. It would not accept the default password ‘456’ to reset to factory defaults. Alex and I even tried entering the MAC address as the password which also did not work.We still need to provision 2 more IP phones for the Scott room.

Today Alex showed us how to look at the device manager and look for missing drivers in a computer. Windows can update the driver for you automatically. However, if it can’t it is always best to look for the driver it requires in the manufacturers’ site which in the case of our classroom computers is Lenovo. Fortunately, the image we use for the classroom computers comes with the Lenovo System Update already installed. One can use the recommended update or choose an update that is required in the list that the software provides after diagnosis. We also discussed what a 32bit and 64bit means which is the memory address that a system can handle.

We continued our lab assignment for the week and Alex reiterated the steps that we missed to complete.