Yesterday and today were work days for me at Lake Tanganyika College. Yesterday we installed the five new Thin Client PC’s along with two new regular PC’s. Bon reported that there were five other thin clients that we had brought in the past that were not functioning. I checked them out and found that they post the familiar Dell logo on start up, but then would not continue to boot up. We put those aside for the moment as I wanted to contact the supplier I use in the USA (Vecmar.com) discuss the problem with their tech support department. I had to wait until the evening since the supplier is 7 time zones behind where we are. When I did get a hold of Vecmar tech support, they were very helpful. I got instructions on how I could reload the thin client operating system using a USB Flash drive.
Today we went to purchase additional keyboards and mice. Even though there is less dust in the air these days in Kasulu as there was when I first visited Kasulu in 2005, there is still enough to eventually cause the keyboards to malfunction. Fortunately we could purchase these in Kasulu. When we got back to the college, Bonface, the lead computer system admin for LTC went to work on replacing the keyboards while I set to work on fixing those five thin clients that were not booting. Following the procedure that the Vecmar technician gave me, I was able to fix all five thin clients. I was grateful that we could fix them on site rather than having to bring them back to the USA to repair. My hat is off to the folks at Vecmar. Their support team is one of the best I’ve encountered in the industry.
Having fixed the thin client issue, we moved on to some other minor issues and backup procedures for maintaining the server systems. All in all, it was a productive two days so far at LTC’s Computer Center. Tomorrow I’m hoping to get the wireless network working better so they can get network connection in the office area and some of the class rooms.
Of course while Bon and I were working on the computer systems, there was lots of activity going on around the college. And there was plenty of activity going on in the computer center as well. I’ve posted the picture so you can see how much the systems are being used. There are people working with the computers and receiving training in computer applications all day long. I’m looking forward to when they get the new computer center construction completed, hopefully by the time we travel back here next year. “The new computer center you say, Bill?”. Yes, there is a new center being built. They have had some issues that stalled and delayed construction during the past couple of years, but they are looking to move forward with completing it soon. I’ll write a bit more about this later in the week. I believe Cathy and I will be involved in a small ceremony to lay the foundation stone on Thursday.
That’s it for now. Check back in a couple of days. Blessings to you all!