[K12OSN] I need to make a choice

[Liam Marshall]

I have run a Linux only lab now for for the entire school year so far.  1
server K12LTSP 4.1 and 30+ workstations.  (some teachers connect to server
using Windoze via Samba but they don't count)

 

Kindergarten to Grade 12 with the elementary students using the educational
games that came with K12LTSP as well as web sites and ktouch

 

Junior and High School students using StarOffice Applications, web sites,
ktouch and various programming languages.  Java via NetBeans, Python, etc

 

Most everything worked great.

 

I wish I had better bandwidth, but that might be solved if and when I can
convince the powers that be to spring for the switches necessary for a gig
backbone to a gig router/switch that all other switches would be attached
to, including the two lines from the server

 

What I would really love is to get the sound working on the workstations.
25 out of the 30+ workstations are identical IBM 300PLs with onboard lans,
onboard video, and onboard sound.  When I loaded up one of these machines
with Windows 98, it auto-detected sound and functioned without speakers or
headphones.  These workstations have audio jacks and volume controls out the
front.  Crank it up and the audio plays through the system speaker

 

But no matter what I try, and I have tried, I cannot get sound working.  It
must have something to do with the soundcard itself  Crystal 3248? I think.
The sound card on the server works fine, but that's useless as it is not
used as a workstation.

 

The elementary teachers have been really good about a complete switch to
Linux, not that they had a choice.  I teach all the computer classes Grade 7
and up and have not really felt the need for sound but the elementary
teachers only real complaint is the lack of sound on the educational games
and websites.

 

I would like to give it to them

 

It seems to me that other distros of Linux seem to handle sound better than
Fedora.  I plan to try putting a harddrive into one of the workstations and
then load a regular distro of say Mandrake or Suse to see if they can detect
and use the sound card.  If it can I would assume that loading the terminal
server with that distro and then LTSP on top then the workstations would
have sound.  I don't really want to do that as the K12LTSP that I have been
using is brain dead easy to install and configure.  Literally follow the
bouncing ball and then accept defaults for almost everything.  Then tweek
later.

 

I really like that.  I really really want Fedora to start supporting that
workstation and its sound card

 

Advice.  Opinions.  Ideas.  Welcome and thank you

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/k12osn/attachments/20050503/244b1fc3/attachment.htm>