New Laptop Docs: Laptop Eval glossery

Laptop Categories

Keeper

Criteria

• Within Keeper spec range
• In usuable or repairable condition (determined by Instructor)

Output

• Hardware Grants
• Thrift Store

As-Is

Criteria

• It does POST, within As-Is spec OR
• It does POST, but has an issue we can't fix

Output

• Thrift Store
• Online Sales

Scraptop

Criteria

• Is a Mid-grade or Highend system
• It does not POST, or has an issue we can't fix
• Is not needed for Parts

Output

• Thrift Store
• Online Sales
• Warehouse

Parts machine

Criteria

• Has an outstanding issue we can't fix
• Is a commonly built model in Keeper spec range (determined by Instructor)

Output

• Online Sales
• Warehouse

Recycler

Criteria

• Does not POST, isn't useful for parts OR
• Is not within Keeper spec range OR
• Extensive physical damage

Output

• Warehouse

Laptop Labels

Uncovered Electronic Device

• Donations from businesses or organizations with 10 or more employees
• Marked with an Uncovered Electronic Device sticker
• If recycled, sorted into Uncovered recycling bins

FG-PDX

• Donations received from the City of Portland
• Marked with a FG-PDX sticker
• If recycled, sorted into Uncovered recycling bins
• All Keepers are sent to Hardware Grants

Hard Drive Removed

• Applied to the following categories:
  • Scraptops
  • Recyclers
• Must be initialed by an instructor

As-Is

• Applied to As-Is systems
• Must be initialed by an instructor

Parts Machine

• Applied to Parts Machines, and Scraptops designated for Online Sales (determined by Instructor)

Types of Storage

Hard Drives

IDE

The older of the two most common Hard Drive/disk interfaces. Characterized by two rows of exposed pins.

SATA

The newer of the two most common HDD interfaces. Characterized by two rows of pins set in seperate plastic tabs.

2.5"

The form factor for smaller, laptop size hard drives.

3.5"

The form factor for larger hard drives for desktops.

Imaged

A hard drive that has a OS and is ready for use.

Unimaged

A hard drive that does not have an OS. It may have nothing on it, or if it hasn't been wiped clean yet, could have personal data on it.

RAM Types

SD RAM

The oldest variety of RAM one could expect, it has a notch that is ~3.8cm from the side, when measured from the side closer to the notch. It is orginized by clock speed, such as PC100 (100MHz) or PC133 (133MHz)

DDR 1

The first version of DDR RAM, still common at Free Geek. Orginized by it's data transfer rate such as DDR-200 or DDR-333. It has a notch at 15mm from the shoter side. With laptops, the full name is SO-DIMM DDR.

DDR 2

The second member of the DDR family, it has a notch that is 16mm from the closer side.

DDR 2

The third member of the DDR family, 24.5mm

Tools

Net(work) boot

Getting an OS from over Free Geek's internal network.

Mem(ory) test

Used to test that RAM is free of defects or errors, used via netboot or from an imaged hard drive.

Hardware ID tool/Hardware Detection tool

Used to acquire information about various hardware componets, used via netboot.

Basic Check

Used during the build process to check that hardware and software componets are working correctly, run from the command line with the command 'basiccheck'.

Stickers

Asset Tag

Stickers placed on a laptop by a previous owner to indicate ownership, such as a name or inventory barcode. Common with corprate donations

MS Sticker

Sticker from Microsoft that have software license keys.

As-Is stickers

Label for the store to indicate a laptop is being sold As-Is, includes processor type, speed, and if an AC adapter is included or not.

HDD Removed stickers

Affixed to Recyclers to indicate the Hard Drive has been removed.

Keeper Label

Affixed to laptops that will be kept and built. Includes system specs and how far along it is.

Parts Machine sticker

Affixed to parts machines, includes notes about why it became a parts machine and what componets have been removed.

Charts and steps

Laptop Evaluation checklist

• Instruction for assesing an incoming laptop, and determining if it should be built.

As-Is Checklist

• Instructions for preparing a laptop to be sold as an As-Is.

Laptop Recycling checklist

• Instructions for striping bare a laptop destined for recycling.

Laptop Build checklist

• Instructions for building up a keeper laptop.

Misc

Screen Swap

• Replacing a non-working screen with a working one. Can involve the screen, the bezel, and the inverter.