PC Remote Build User Page

This documents describes the usage and basic concepts behind using PC Remote Build from a client computer.

Definition

PC Remote Build is a collection of applications (Install & Restore) that will build a user device with the appropriate software. PC Remote Build uses the Web server to rebuild a client machine. PC Remote Build is used to:

restore will completely rebuild the machine including all initialization files. restore will bring over from the server all the packages in the configuration files. restore is comprehensive. It will re-initialize all configuration and initialization files. This means that any modifications - bookmarks on client software, will be lost. restore should be used to rebuild a new machine or to repair a non-functioning user device.

Note: restore will not delete any local applications - word processors, printshops, games, ..., but these applications will not be accessible from windows after running restore. You will need to re-install the word processor application after running restore. This is because the initialization files, program groups and associated support files have been eliminated from the computer.

Usage

To run restore on a user device that has previously been configured for pcrb by the Technical Staff, follow these instructions:

  1. Reboot the machine.
  2. When asked to select between Windows for Workgroups and Conventional Memory please select Conventional Memory.
  3. At the C:> prompt, type \sys\packet
  4. At the C:> prompt, type restore.
  5. After the process is complete, reboot. If the user devices has not been previously configured to run restore, or if restore fails to run, contact trouble@ckp.edu.

Technical Description

Components of PC Remote Build

If running restore or refresh, and you get an error message, you may need to first run the Install program. The Install will replace any missing component. Each site will have their own Install and nicsetup (network interface card setup) disks.

Component DescriptionLocation on server
gethttp.exegrabs the packets off the web server\bin
packet.bat loads the packet drivers\sys
reactor.batgrabs the list of the files that are supposed to be on the client machine from the server, checks to see if these files exist on the client machine, and places them on the client if not there\sys
reconfig.batinitializes and configures all packages the need it\sys
refresh.batbrings over all the packages, but doesn't update the initialization and configuration files\cave
restore.batbrings over all the packages\cave

The Configuration Files

There are 3 configuration files that tell PC Remote what packages should be on the client machine. They are all found in the \sys directory.

Configuration FileDescription Location on server
local.cfgsets the hardware packages for each client machine (example Ethernet Card, Video Card, Sound Card, ...)/sys
(sitename).cfg contains all the networking parameters constant at a site (Broadcast values, DNS server, printers, ...) /sys
standard.cfgcontains all the packages with regards to client software that are common to all the sites (hgopher, Netscape, Telnet, ...) /sys

Installing restore and refresh

  1. Reboot the machine
  2. Select Conventional Memory
  3. At C:> prompt, type cd \sys
  4. At C:>\sys type dir
  5. Look at the local.cfg file To do this at C:>\sys type type local.cfg
  6. Make a list of the options in the local.cfg file (Use the local.cfg template to record this information) Note: If this configuration needs to be changed, refer to the Network Interface Card directions.
  7. Insert the Install disk, change drives and run type a: at the a:> type install
  8. Install will ask a set of about 15 questions. The questions are included in the section below. You will need the options from the local.cfg file.
  9. The Install program creates a new local.cfg file on that machine
  10. To have the new info reflected you must reboot the machine.
  11. When it reboots, it will automatically go to Conventional Memory.
  12. At the C:> prompt, type RESTORE
  13. You should see a new Program Manager with the following Program groups:

Information You Will be Asked for When Running Install

This is an accurate example of the questions you will be asked and the choices you have when you run install. Items that appear italicized are notes and not part of the install routine.

List of Site Files:

1)woolslai.cfg
2)shenley.cfg

Enter NUMBER choice of site file
e.g. if you are installing at the Woolslair
you would enter 1.

List of Package Config Files:

1)highend.cfg

Enter NUMBER choice of package file or ENTER if
there is no package configuration file.

Please enter NODE value:
(Enter last two digits of the PC's IP address)

Please enter NAME value:
(Most machines do not have a name therefore hit ENTER.)

List of PACKAGE choices for section OS:

1)dos.622
2)dos.621
3)dos.62

Choose DOS version as shown in local.cfg file

List of PACKAGE choices for section VIDEO:

1)s3.224
2)s3trio.310
3)s3-864.11
4)sspro.106
5)viper.20
6)vga

Choose the video card that is listed in local.cfg file

List of RES choices for section VIDEO:

1)800x600
2)1024x768
3)640x480

Chose the RES (resolution) that was listed
in the local.cfg file. This setting will determine
how much your monitor can display at once.

List of DEPTH choices for section VIDEO:

1)16
2)8
3)4

Choose the DEPTH as listed in your local.cfg file.
DEPTH refers to the bit-depth of each pixel. The higher
the pixel depth the more colors your computer can display.
However, more colors means your computer has to do more work.

List of FONT choices for section VIDEO:

1)small
2)large

Choose the font as listed in your local.cfg file.
This will be the default size of the font Windows uses.

List of PACKAGE choices for section NIC:

1)ewrk3.10
2)smc-wd.10
3)depca.10
4)exp16.10
5)ne2000.10
6)none

Choose the PACKAGE as listed in your local.cfg file.
NIC (Network Interface Card) refers to the type
of network card that is in the computer.

List of IRQ choices for section NIC:

1)10
2)5

Choose the IRQ as listed in your local.cfg file.

List of I0 choices for section NIC:

1)0x280
2)0x300

Choose the NUMBER for the value listed in your local.cfg file

List of RAM choices for section NIC:

1)0XD000
2)0XCC00

Choose the NUMBER for the value listed in your local.cfg file

List of PACKAGE choices for section AUDIO:

1)none
2)sb.20
3)sbpro.10

Enter (1) none if no AUDIO card is on the machine.
Only high-end machine have AUDIO cards.

List of PACKAGE choices for section CONTROLLER:

1)none
2)buslogic.311
3)nec-ide.17

Enter (1) none if no SCSI card (e.g. BusLogic SCSI)
is installed on the machine.

List of PACKAGE choices for section CD-ROM:

1)none
2)mscdex.223

Enter (1) none if no CD-ROM player is on the machine.

Install finished...

Reconfig run under RESTORE done: Please RE-BOOT computer
and type "restore" to complete software installation!

Network Interface Card

This section will explain how to change options in local.cfg file to reflect the settings for the Network Interface Card

There are two different programs for changing local.cfg options. Which one you will use depends on the type of computer you are using. If you are using a Zeos run ezstart. If it is a DEC you need to run nicsetup.

To run the programs:

  1. Reboot machine and choose Conventional Memory
  2. At C:> change tot he A: drive and put in nicsetup disk
  3. Look for ezstart (for Zeos computers) in the smc directory
  4. Look for nicsetup (for DEC computers) in the ewrk3 directory
  5. Run the appropriate program. A new screen will come up with directions listed on the bottom.
  6. The following listed settings are the suggested settings. These are true for any 16 bit network interface card. All CK:P sites with PCs have 16 bit cards the exception being McCleary, which has 8 bit cards.
  7. Reboot

Examples for local.cfg

This section describes the format and contents of the local.cfg file. It is a good idea to have all of this information available prior to starting the re-installation process. To see what the local.cfg contents are for your site:

  1. CD into the C:/sys> directory
  2. enter type local.cfg

You will get the following information (blanks are information specific to the computer and site): 

include standard 
include______ 
tcpip node=______ 
dos.______ order= ______ 
______ res=_______ depth=______ font=______ order=______ devicetype= video ______ 
______vector=______ irq=______ ram=______ order=______ devicetype= nic

Example of a typical local.cfg file Footnotes are indicated by a * and the footnote number. *1 would therefore indicate footnote 1.

include standard 
include woolslai*1
tcpip node="11"*2
dos.622 order="45"*3
sspro.106*4 res="800x600*5" depth="16*6" font="small*7" order="75" devicetype="video" 
ewrk.10*8 vector="0x65" irq="10*9" ram-0xD000*10 order="75" devicetype="nic"

*1 This value will be your school's name. woolslai, schenley, etc.
*2 This value will be the last two digits of the PC's IP address listed on the case in bold.
*3 This value will be the version DOS installed.
*4 This value will be the installed video card type.
*5 This value is the PC's video resolution.
*6 This is the depth of colors.
*7 This will be the font value from the PC's local.cfg file. small or large
*8 This will the PC's network interface card type.
*9 This is the network card interrupt.
*10 This is network card's location in ram. D000 or CC00

 

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Revision 1.2:July 16, 1996:CJR