The Program
Steps
The laptop program requires a great deal of PC hardware experience, so it is expected that all students have gone through the build program before moving into laptops. Additionally, volunteers are required to take the command line class.
Primarily for data security reasons, but also for educational purposes, an instructor must be present to work on laptops.
From here, we have some familiar steps:
- Laptop Evaluation - Determine if the incoming pizza boxes are full of tasty, fresh goodness or dried and rotting crap.
- Laptop Specs - Guidelines for Evaluators on the specs and what needs to be removed or included as systems move through Evaluation.
- Laptop Build Checklist - Get your hands dirty with questionably functional laptops. Side effects of this step may include frustration, yelling, belief in demonic forces at work within laptops, and learning all sorts of exciting new things.
- Laptop QC Checklist - Double-check the builder's work, keep things clean and standardized, and prepping laptops for their final destination.
Recycling
Laptops that don't make the cut are recycled in the Laptop Build area by Laptop volunteers. Recycling laptops is often the first task new Laptop volunteers have. By recycling laptops, new volunteers are able to learn where laptop components are located, what they look like, and how to remove them. Since the laptops will not be rebuilt, it doesn't matter if the laptop gets broken in the recycling process (also a plus for new volunteers).
Recycling a laptop involves these steps:
- Remove Reuseful Parts
- * Hard Drive (and caddy + adaptor, if applicable - ask your instructor)
- * RAM
- * CD-RW and/or DVD-RW
- * Wireless Cards (onboard and/or PCMCIA)
- Reassemble laptop as best as possible
- Affix Hard Drive Removed sticker to lid
- Put laptop (and remaining parts) in the bins on the recycling cart. Whole laptops go on the top shelf and leftover bits and pieces on the bottom shelf.
Supervisors keep track of the number or recycled FG-PDX systems and enter them into FGDB.
Other tasks
In addition, there are some tasks that can be done throughout your time in laptops:
- OS installation - A workstation dedicated to loading 2.5" hard drives is available in the Laptop Build area. Drives which have been successfully erased are loaded, one at a time, at that station.
- RAM sorting
- Shelf organizing
Classes
- Tuesday AM: Gateway Team
- Tuesday PM: Dell Team and Others Team
- Wednesday AM: HP/Compaq Team
- Wednesday PM: Sony Team
- Thursday AM: Dell Team
- Thursday PM: IBM Thinkpad Team
- Friday AM: Dell Team
- Friday PM: Toshiba Team
- Saturday AM: Toshiba Team and HP/Compaq Team
- Saturday PM: No Class Yet
What to Bring
- If you don't want to use ours, label yours. There are some Tool Sources around town.
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Info
Here's the howtos and information we need to accomplish our tasks.
Links
These are mostly pages full of links to other places:
OS
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