Operating Instructions

From LittleFe

Contents 1 How to Use LittleFe 1.1 Connecting the Cables 1.2 Powering On LittleFe 1.3 Using the Liberated BCCD

How to Use LittleFe

These instructions assume that you have a liberated LittleFe. If you do not have one, or do not know what it means to be liberated, check out the liberation page.

• In the works: a picture with descriptions and arrows.

Connecting the Cables

Take the LittleFe cluster out of the Penguin box and place it on a flat and stable surface.

1. There are six “dedicated” ethernet cables on the LittleFe cluster. These should already be connected to the switch at one end of the cluster, and perhaps tie-wrapped to the metal frame. Connect the ethernet cords to each machine in accordance with the numbering on the wires. The zero wire connects to the node next to the CD-ROM drive and so on.
   • If you're worried, make sure the other ends of the cords are secure in the ports of the switch.
2. The "head" node, lf0 (L-F-ZERO), has an extra ethernet card. If you would like to connect LittleFe to the Internet, plug in an appropriate cord here. LittleFe will expect to be assigned an IP address via DHCP on this port.
3. Connect the keyboard to the PS/2 port on lf0. (Purple is the color of “keyboard” in this context.)
4. Connect the mouse to the PS/2 or a USB port (depending on what type of mouse you have) on lf0.
5. If you would like to have visual interaction directly with LittleFe, connect a monitor to lf0 via the VGA connector.
6. Each LittleFe node gets power from barrel-connectors that are attached to the power supply. Look along the bottom and make sure that each node has a barrel connector firmly in place.
7. One end of LittleFe has a black power plug and switch. Make sure that the ‘0’ is depressed on the switch. ‘0’ means 0 as in the binary number “zero,” or off.
8. Connect the black power cord to the plug on the end of LittleFe.

Powering On LittleFe

1. Flip the switch at the end of LittleFe from ‘0’ to ‘1’. In other words, turn it on.
2. Wait a couple of seconds for the power supply to start giving power to the nodes.
3. The first node, lf0, and the network switch should turn on automatically at this point. If lf0 does not come on, push its silver-colored power button.
   • All of the boards look first to boot from the network. Before the first node has booted, there is no other node to give booting information. Thus, if you have a monitor connected to lf0, you can hit the escape key to cancel network booting (and speed up its boot process).
4. When the lf0 has completely booted, you can indiscriminately turn on the other nodes by pushing their silver buttons. (Note that if the nodes do not have an ethernet connection to lf0, they will not boot as they do not have harddisks.)

Using the Liberated BCCD

When the nodes boot, they do not, by default, start up X, the graphical environment. To start X, login as the user you will use (bccd or lambccd). Their passwords are bccd. Type startx at the command prompt and hit return:

lf0 login: bccd
Password: bccd ← note that the password will not display.
                 Just type it and hit enter.

[bccd@lf0]>startx

OR

lf0 login: lambccd
Password: bccd ← note that the password will not display.
                 Just type it and hit enter.

[lambccd@lf0]>startx

For help or suggestions with the different curriculum-modules, take a look at Paul Gray’s BCCD wiki.