Use Laptop Carts and Classroom Macs
 | This page summarizes how to use a managed Mac at Riverdale Country School. |
|---|---|
 | Intended for Employees and Students |
 | Categorized under RCS Software and Services |
 | Maintained by Jeremy Martinez |
 | in need of review. |
Cart or Lab Mac
- These Macs are designed to be used while on RCS Campus for quick, stable access to the internet and your files for academic purposes.
The Login Screen
At the Login Screen simply enter your username and passphrase, and either press Return or click the arrow next to your passphrase to submit your credentials and log in.
The Dock
- The Dock gives you quick access to most common used Apps, all other Apps can be found in the Applications Folder
- Along with Applications the Dock has 3 Folders for quick access.
- Documents
- Applications
- Network Home Folder
The Local Storage Partition
- When using a MacBooks, in the Local Storage partition will only be available from that Mac, and can be accessed by anyone else using that machine.
- Any files that you wish to store in your private network storage should be saved in your personal network account home folder. Your personal network account home folder will mount of the desktop upon login.
- Movies and Music folder are stored here and must be backed up to an external source if you would like to keep it. Otherwise, anyone who logs into the mac will have access to edit/delete it from the Local Storage partition.
- When you are finished using the laptops you must Log Out in order to protect the privacy of your sessions on the file server and the Internet. When you log out the computer will automatically shut down. Do not put the computer to sleep and do not close the lid of the computer until it is completely shut down.
Printing
- Network printers are available from all RCS laptops/labs. RCS_Copiers and H_Printers are assigned per cart/lab and their proximity to the network printers.
- The default printer will be the last printer used on that laptop/iMac, so you must pay attention to which printer you are printing to, and change it if necessary.
Troubleshooting
When laptops are put away in the carts while sleeping and not shutdown, the batteries can become discharged and various system settings revert to default settings. The most deleterious default is a reset of the system clock back to some time in 1976. Because network connections and user logins rely on a system clock being within 2 minutes of the servers they are connecting to, this can cause problems. In addition, all laptop carts must be connected to an AC source at all times when stationary, and all laptops must be shutdown and connected to the power supply cables within. Laptop cable connectors will glow orange when charging, and will show green when the laptop battery is fully charged.
If a User Cannot Log in it is possible there is a Network Error in which case a Reboot of the System should occur and then the User may attempt to log in again.
If a user logins in and does not see desktop item, please reboot the machine and log in again.