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Another piece of the puzzle [2013-05-25]

Thirty Reneal IEO computers and monitors are now in a cargo ship somewhere in the Atlantic on their way to two secondary schools in Tanzania.  This used equipment was purchased from the World Computer Exchange (www.worldcomputerexchange.org), and we requested that one of these machines be shipped to us immediately for pre-trip checkout. The computer (a Pentium III) and monitor together cost $55 plus shipping.

Back when we first started using the thin client approach with Pentium I and Pentium II computers, success was often hard-won.  I got to relearn all of the nuances of BIOS beep codes and the RAM alphabet soup for those older machines, and there was endless tinkering and swapping to get everything up to 64Mb.  Of course, every case came apart differently.  Neal struggled in particular with video problems.  We eventually got most of the computers working as thin clients but it sure took a lot of coaxing (and magic) on Neal’s part.

Life today is much easier.  Most recent machines have a network boot option, and they have sufficient memory and processor power to work immediately.  But there is an intermediate vintage of machines that is unpredictable – hence our concern about the WCE Pentium III computers that we had just purchased.  While Neal can get anything to work eventually, we had visions of a real struggle.  Neal had the computer unpacked in a flash and plugged into the network.  What a thrill to see the “Xubuntu 12.04” come up right away, and then our familiar log-in screen!  While more testing is needed, initial results are exceedingly promising.

We have also closed the loop with WCE on off-loading the Reneal IEO computers in Dar es Salaam before the remainder of the container goes to Rulenge.  Our contact in Tanzania (African Malaika) will help to coordinate that, and then work with her connections to get the equipment moved to the Arusha schools before August.

In short, we are importantly closer to successful installation of IT labs for the students and teachers of Mukulat and Mlangarini Secondary Schools.  For information on how to support this and other projects, please see http://reneal.org/content/how-help.