Laptop Build Checklist

Build Checklist

Work through every step as well as you can, and ask if you have questions. Try and learn the reason for each of the steps: this knowledge will come in handy later when, inevitably, things aren't going as smoothly. Your instructor will be able to answer questions and check your work. Never overlook the help that the builder to your right or left might be able to lend. Check with your instructor to find out what type of box to build, then work your way down this checklist.

Note: You can start Bat Check at any time during the Build process, as long as the battery is fully charged!

Steps	Notes/Detailed Instructions
Check For Broken or Damaged Parts	Visually inspect laptop for broken screen, missing keys, etc. If you find one, check with your instructor.
Look at the Keeper Label	If there isn't a Keeper label already on the laptop, please affix one and fill out what you know (i.e. Processor info, RAM amount, Laptop Make and Model). Also look to make sure nothing looks out of line, e.g. there's only 256 MB of RAM.
Get a Power Supply	Grab appropriate power supply from the labeled boxes (the box labels are color-coded by brand for easy locating). Not sure how to determine which power supply the laptop wants? Ask your instructor and he/she will show you how to find this info out.
Install imaged hard drive	To do this: Look at the whiteboard to see what size hard drive is appropriate for the laptop and ask your instructor where you can get one. Attach any necessary adapter and/or caddy. Install in laptop.
Install appropriate optical drive (if missing)	Check the whiteboard to see what kind of optical drive to install.
Enter BIOS	If you see an error message which reads something like "checksum error, defaults loaded" then your CMOS battery is dead. Ask your instructor what to do about it.
Check the RAM	To check the RAM, check in BIOS or use Memtest if the BIOS doesn't tell you. Is there at least 512 MB of RAM? If not, add RAM. If the laptop is High End, then it should have more than 512 MB of RAM.
Set boot order in BIOS	There will be a number items that can boot listed the preferred order is as follows : CD-ROM boots first; Hard drive boots somewhere between CD-ROM and Network; Network boots last.Get as close as possible, depending on the BIOS, but make sure the Network boot isn't before the hard drive.
Save and exit BIOS	Continue on to boot to the hard drive. Log in as "oem" (password: freegeek).
Get wireless working.	If there isn't already a wireless card installed, then install, configure and test a wifi card (to determine if wireless card is already present and working, try and access a website like Google). Internal (mini-PCI) is best, but PCMCIA is an acceptable second option. For wireless advice, try the Wireless Tips page.
Set freegeek.org as homepage	In Firefox, go to freegeek.org Then set this page as the home page under Edit > Preferences > Main. Alternately, you can drag the Free Geek icon (on the left of the address bar) and drop it on the "Home" icon (immediately to the left of the address bar).
Run basiccheck	You will need to be connected to the wired or wireless network to test networking step. If you encounter any errors, check with your instructor.
Test optical drive - data, sound, and DVD.	For each drive: Use a music disc to test sound. Test-read a data CD (if any data shows up in the file browser that opens, test passes). If there is a DVD-Rom, use the "Free Geek DVD" to check whether a movie will play Don't forget to remove discs!
Test CD/DVD writing	Write to a CD and a DVD, if DVD-RW is present. You can use Brasero Disc Burning or, if this fails, install and use K3B. Put a blank disk in and drag and drop a few files from /home/oem/examples to the CD/DVD writing folder that appears. Click "Burn". When each disk is done, verify that they contain the files you wrote to them.
Blank the CD/DVD	Using Brasero Disc Burning, select Tools > Erase. Using K3B, select Tools > Erase CD-RW
Test all USB ports	Using a USB mouse, make sure that the cursor moves and can interact with things. Do this on all the USB ports. If any of the ports don't work, check in with your instructor.
Test Cardbus/PCMCIA slots	Put a wifi card in each slot -> if it lights up, then it's good.
Run "printme", from terminal	This will give you a System ID number You must be on the wired network From a terminal, type "printme" Answer the questions printme asks, NOTE: Always select Laptop for system type. Make sure to include something in the notes section which specifies whether the laptop is Covered or Uncovered A webpage will open with info about the system. Click "Print." Choose "Print to file." Choose the PDF checkbox and save the file to the Desktop (name the file something with the word build in it, e.g. "Build Printme" or "BUILD"
Test the battery	Make sure battery is fully charged up (if the battery icon is missing from the top panel, this means that the battery is fully charged). Put in a music CD and select "Repeat." Start playing the CD, then open a terminal and run bat_check Pull power plug and place the laptop on the waiting rack. Don't forget to note on the Keeper label that you've started Bat Check. If you want to see for how many minutes bat check has run, open up another terminal and type watch wc bat_time
Clean up and check in with Build Instructor.	Ask what to do with the Laptop