When you log in, you will have 2 extra "drives" automatically mapped. Double Click on "My Computer" in the upper-left-hand corner of the desktop and you should see an X: drive with your username on it and a W: drive shared as "net". You should be able to copy files back and forth as you normally would to another drive.

You probably have a drive leter mapped to a network drive or share that is no longer there. If you have drive letters above G: other than: W: or X:, make sure the shares are still valid by opening them. If a share is invalid, such as \users or \blunt, then right click the drive and select Disconnect. This will release the drive letter, and Windows won't go looking for it anymore.

1. Open the "Network" section in "Computer".
2. Open the DMA network tree and you should see a list of computer names. Find the computer that you wish to copy the files TO (i.e. if you are using computer "Blue304" and want to transfer to computer "Blue402" then find "Blue402")
3. Open the computer you wish to transfer file to. You should see a shared "Scratch" folder on this computer.
4. Drag and drop the files you wish to transfer from the local computer to the shared folder on the other computer. It is recommended to organize them in a folder so they are easier to find.
5. Once the files are done transferring double check them on the new computer (in this case "Blue402") to make sure they are not corrupt and transferred properly.

We also have an online tutorial for peer to peer filesharing.

This is generally due to people having large user profiles, often because they leave files on their desktop.
Administrative privileges are needed, so grab a helpdesk person and delete any old profiles (any profiles not touched for a week) with the exception of Administrator, Default User, and All Users.
Just to be safe, also run a search on C: for anything bigger than 5MB (make sure to include hidden files and search subdirectories in the options). If it finds a file that you know for a fact is deletable, delete it.
These problems can also be fixed by re-imaging.

Windows automatically adds this icon. In the lab machines it is safe to ignore it

From the menu use GO->Connect to server (or Command-K) and pick the "DMA" area. Search for the machine called "FILE" and click "connect". Enter your username and password for the desired share. If you cannot find "FILE" in the menu, you can go directly to your user share by typing: cifs://file/yourusername

You can either use the built-in command line sftp client (go to a terminal and type sftp to begin) or download a prettier (and easier to use) client like the ones available in our downloads area.
To connect to the server, use "ftp.dma.ucla.edu" and your username and password. The client should by default put you into your home directory. If it does not (you see things like /bin and /var) you will want to navigate to /home/users/yourusername.

Macintosh file systems are unique in that each file has 2 components: A "data" fork and a "resource" fork. The "data" fork is generally what most people associate with a file, whereas the "resource" fork stores icons, creator-information, and other such information. Windows uses "extensions" (like the .txt or .pdf) to accomplish the same thing.

NOTE: This mostly applies to older versions of Mac OS:
Chances are the resource fork (see other answer) got split off of the data fork. This can happen, for instance, if you tranfer files to a server using one method (like dragging and dropping on the lab machines) and the reopen it using a different method (like ftp). The main way to avoid this is to consistently use the same method to write files to the server from a Mac. Otherwise, add extensions to your filenames (like .txt for a text file or .jpg for a jpeg) to make it a more universaly recognized filetype.

Please email support[.a.t.]dma.ucla.edu and tell us your username.

This is almost certainly a loss of network connectivity. If other machines in the same labs can get out to the network, chances are that the network cable was unplugged from the back of this particular mac. If it is plugged in, you can try putting it in a different wall port. The mac will need to be rebooted.

UCLA's Electronic Communications Policy prohibits using systems on its network that are no longer maintained with security updates. For Apple products that's generally the current OS and the two previous versions. Check The Apple Security page for more info.

D|MA majors, D|MA faculty and staff, and anyone taking a class in the DMA labs who has an account may use the labs.

Not at all. We need to be able to update machines without getting permission from all potential users of that machine, especially if a situation such as a virus infection occurs. We will often re-image (wipe clean) a machine at night or off-hours to get it back to a working state or just to update the software on it. You can feel free to use the space on a machine but don't make that the only copy of anything you care about. The only storage that is backed up and will not be erased without notification resides on the server, in your class space and your home folder.

Check the following.

1. The network cable (make sure a light turns on where the cable is connected).
2. Make sure the CAPS lock is off.
3. If you are on a PC, have the help desk person login as admin and make sure that there is free space on C:\. Delete any extraneous accounts by going to C:\Documents and Settings and deleting any accouts EXCEPT for "All Users," "Default User," and "Administrator." Please note that this will delete any files that people left on their desktops.

Please remember that DMA requires at least one UPPER and one lower case letter as well as a number in your password. If you are sure you've used an account here before but can't remember your password you'll need to see the helpdesk during the day to have it reset.

If you are a Design | Media Arts student or are currently enrolled in a class here in the Design | Media Arts labs, you have an account -- all you need to do is set your password. If you are any other major and not enrolled, you need to fill out the Special Access Form. You may also obtain a paper form at the help desk. If for some reason you do not have an account and think you should, please see the helpdesk.

There are two main ways:

1. If you have never set a password you will need to set your initial password.
2. If you already have an account and know your password you can change it by first logging in and then using the online password change form.
3. If you have forgotten your password, please see the helpdesk.

That is really up to you. By setting it to be the same, you lose some security. Anyone who manages to know one password will know both. And even though it is easier for you to remmember, you must keep in mind that changing your password in one place will not change your password in the other. Also note that we allow passswords longer than 8 characters, and BOL does not.

no.

Please come to the D|MA helpdesk in Broad room 4251 to have your Bruin Card scanned. Door privileges depend on who you are and what you need

The "public_html" folder in your home directory is the root directory of your web space, and where you may create your personal website. It has been pre-configured with the correct permissions to allow file placed inside to be accessed online. A file called "foo.html" in that directory will be available online as: http://users.dma.ucla.edu/~yourusername/foo.html (note the tilde (~) -- you need that) The special file "index.html" or "index.php" is what is brought up automatically if you do not specify a filename at the end of your URL (eg: http://users.design.ucla.edu/~yourusername). PLEASE NOTE: if you do not have an index.html file and type the URL without a filename at the end, you will get an error message (access forbidden). This is for your own protection, as it prevents people from browsing through your directory when you are not ready for them to do so. NOTE1: Permissions File permissions matter. All files in the public_html directory should be world-readable in order to ensure their availability online. Similarly, all directories should be world readable and executable. Most clients will deposit the files in the correct manner, but there have been some reports that moving whole folders from other parts of your home directory to your web area may mess up permissions depending on your client. NOTE2: CAPITALIZATION MATTERS! That is to say, index.html and iNdex.html are NOT the same files. In order for your site to work properly, you must make sure that both the filenames and the HTML that refers to the filename use the same casing. Since many operating systems by default hide or pretty the actual cases of their filenames, I recommend either turning off those features (if you know how) or use an SFTP client that shows you how the files actually look when uploaded.

D|MA students should have two gigabytes of storage available in their home directory. Non design students enrolled in Design classes will have a smaller amount, depending on their class needs. Your home directory space is separate from your class space in quota considerations.

The share with your username is your own personal space. It contains links to your classes, your web directory (public_html) and anything else you put in there. Please search for web area for more information about the web folder.
The "net" area contains shared spaces such as class space, project areas, and the "temp" directory. Please keep in mind that the temp area is really temporary and may be deleted at any time (by anyone). Anything placed in directories under the "net" share will be viewable by other members of those groups.
Most shared areas have 3 subdirectories. The "admin" share is for administrators only to share files with each other. The "public" area is a place where group administrators may place files that others in the group may read, but not erase. The "drop" area is an area where any member of a group may read and write to.

It depends on which platform you are using. PCs should have drives mounted as X: and W: which represent your home directory and the net area respectively. Macs need to be connected manually with the "Connect to Server" action in the "Go" menu.

The best and easiest way is to use an SFTP client. SFTP is a secured version of FTP based on the SSH protocol. It allows you to transfer files to the server while keeping your username and password scrambled. We recommend using the FTP/SFTP clients available in our Downloads area. In addition, UCLA Software Central has an ftp site from which you can download the most current SSH/SFTP client for windows. NOTE: You will need to use either the proxy service or the vpn service in order to download this from home as it is covered under UCLA site licesnsing.
If you have OS/X (any version) you already have a command-line SSH/SFTP client that you can run from the terminal window if you prefer.
Once you have an SFTP client, you will need the following information to connect: The hostname is ftp.dma.ucla.edu. The default port, 22, is correct. Your username and password are the same as what you use to log in to the lab computers at D|MA. Most SFTP clients will, by default, open up your home directory. If they do not, your home directory is /home/users/yourusername and the "net" area can be found in /data/export PLEASE NOTE: The first time you use an SSH client to connect to a new machine it'll ask you to "save the host key". Just click OK.

Your server space is only valid for the time you are here. We make no guarantees on server space once you leave, for whatever reason. If you do graduate from the design department however, we have a [still] experimental server for alumni at alum.design.ucla.edu which will give you less space but (hopefully) a more permanent web presence.

sftp yourusername@ftp.dma.ucla.edu will connect you directly. The sftp command line is very user-unfriendly, so be warned

First you need to ask support to create you a mysql account. Then you can connect using PHP, Perl or any of a number of other server-side scripting languages we have installed, or just using the command-line mysql client. In addition we have a GUI interface available at https://users.dma.ucla.edu/phpmyadmin

D|MA servers allow remote connections from anywhere using the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). This protocol is closely associated with Secure Shell (SSH). In order to connect to the server you must have a client that supports SFTP. We have some free versions of these clients available for download from our support site for both Macs and PCs. There are also commercial products that you can purchase. Macs running OS/X also come with a free command-line client (sftp). Once you have an SFTP client installed you need the following information to connect: Enter ftp.dma.ucla.edu as the hostname. The default port, 22, is correct. Enter your username as user. You will get a warning when connecting the first time about host identification. This is normal. Your password is your D|MA password, the same one you would use to log in to computers in the lab. When you connect different clients will show you different folders. The most common folder to display is your home directory, which is /home/users/yourusername on the server. The myClasses subdirectory contains links to your class folders. The actual location of your class folders are /data/classes/term/classnumber such as /data/classes/Fall07/24

nothing

First of all, you must be the class Professor or TA as told to us by the registrar in order to be able to change the website. Every class has a website at: http://classes.dma.ucla.edu/{term}/{classnumber} for instance: http://classes.design.ucla.edu/Fall07/24 The root of a class' webtree is in the "web" folder under the class web folder (net->classes/Fall07/24/web in the above example). As with user directories, capitalization matters and all files must be set world-readable (your SFTP client should be able to change permissions). Creating a file with the special name "index.html" causes it to become the file displayed by default when there is a request for the website. Read the section on user websites for more information.

BOL offers a mailing list server for all UCLA faculty, staff, student, or student group to use for academic purposes. They have a page with information about the service and a page to actually set up your list. In addition we have begun setting up experimental mailing lists on our own server. Please come in and see Alan to set this up.

admin: read/write by faculty/ta only public: read/write by faculty/ta, read-only by students drop: read/write by anyone in class web: read/write for faculty/ta, read by anyone anywhere web/projects: read/write for anyone in class, read by anyone anywhere

Our laser printers are Xerox 7700GX models that can print double sided prints up to tabloid size.
They can handle papers from 8.5 x 11 letter size to 12 x 18 Tabloid Extra (check availability of stock). The printer is a Postscript and PCL four color laser (CMYK). It has built in color management capability. The printers are available to both the Macs and PCs.

We have two large format plotters, the first is a 24 inch wide Epson 7600, and the second is the 44 inch wide Epson 9600 We stock 24 inch and 44 inch rolls of paper, in enhanced matte, photo luster, doubleweight matter, semi-gloss and glossy book weight paper. Other stocks such as vinyl, canvas transparency and backlit film are available for order. The use of such paper will involve purchasing a roll of media, which can cost between $100 to $500 depending on type and length of the roll. If you want to try sheet fed paper, buy a sample and talk to Charles soops[.a.t.]ucla.edu about testing it. The printer prints at 720, 340x720 & 1440 dpi. 720 is usually sufficient for most prints. Images prepared for the plotter should be have a resolution of 150 - 300dpi at 100 % size. In other words, an image to be blown up to 24 x 36 should be scanned at 150 dpi where the resulting image is 24 x 36. NOTE: These plotters can print to the edge of the paper (full bleed).

We have two Epson 4800 sheet fed printers. We stock 13x19 Matte and Luster sheet paper. These printers cannot print full vertical bleed, only horizontal.

Put your picture/image face down on the scanner.
Press the large button on the front of the scanner with an arrow on it, or open the application "Image Capture".
If it is not already selected, select the scanner on the left side of the window.
To change the directory to scan to, select a destination from the dropdown menu in the bottom left section of the window.
For extra scan options such as color handling, resolution, image format, etc., click the "Show Details" button in the bottom right section of the window.
When you are ready, click the "Scan" button in the bottom right section of the window to scan your document to the selected directory.

Currently there is one flatbed Epson Perfection 1660 Photo scanner in labs 4240 and 4230, and one flatbed Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner in lab 4220. All scanners are connected to macs.

Prints from the laser are coming out smudged or smeared. what should I do? | Either 1.) The paper settings for the bypass or tray 1 are incorrect, or 2.) Some excess toner is caught on the rollers.

1. Make sure the paper settings are correct, by taking the paper out of the tray and then putting it pack in. This will trip the sensor, and on the screen it will ask you to confirm the paper settings. If you are using laser paper, make sure the tray is setting to laser paper. If it is card stock, then set it for card stock, etc.
   Next, run a few blank sheets (10 - 15) through the printer to clean up the smudge.
2. Open the printer front panel (above the paper trays), lower the long cross bar and remove the rollers one at a time. Look on the roller for a smear of ink and clean it off with something very soft and non-abrasive, like the cottom gloves we use for changing paper on the plotter. Once you have checked and replaced all the rollers, reset the cross bar and close up the printer.
   Next, run a few blank sheets (10 - 15) through the printer to clean up the smudge.

We prefer an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file, which has been flattened to one layer, all fonts are embedded and is rendered as an RGB file. If the image requires a set amount of white space, use a background white box with a white border beneath your image to create the necessary whitespace. Our RIP software can handle image formats (jpg, tiff, png, etc) and PDFs, but we prefer an EPS prepared as noted above. Image files should be between 150 & 300 dpi at 100% size. More dpi doesn't mean a better quality print, just a slower print. DPIs less than 150 will give you square pixel artifacts, so large format printing a web graphic is just not a good idea. The higher the lines screen and color depth, the better. Line screens of less than 100 and color depths of less than 24bit will give you blocky artifacts in the gradients, highlights and shadows of the image.

The easiest way is to put it in the Print_Drop folder which is available as the P: drive on PCs and on the desktop on macs. CDs, DVDs and USB keys (thumbdrives) all work very well as well. Email is not a good idea for files over 2mb. If you are connecting via ssh to the file server, you can put it in /data/export/temp and tell the consultant to pick it up there. We are (slowly!) working on a file submission tool here:

Prepare your print file, and give it to the consultant at the help desk. The consultant will ask the following questions: What dimensions? What type of paper? How many copies? Charge to BAR or dept recharge? If you would like, the consultant can print a test strip of the file to check for color consistency and quality.

Please read this article. For even more on paper sizes, see a full description of different international sizes.

Wireless networking basically uses a radio to replace the wire that generally connects computers to the network. Because they are radios, wireless networks suffer from problems of interference, range, and blockage just like normal radios do.

Wireless "ethernet", generally what is refered to as wireless networking, is defined by the IEEE 802.11 specifications and popularized under the moniker "Wi-Fi". Other technologies for "wireless" data exist, such as "IRdA" and "Bluetooth" which are designed mostly for things other than networking but can be used in that way, although not very efficiently. Cellular networks also offer wireless networking through an entirely different set of technologies. However, when most people including us here in the labs refer to wireless networking we are talking about 802.11 standards. There are 4 of these, confusingly called 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n. The oldest and most common of the standards is 802.11b (not "a", misleadingly enough). It operates on a frequency of 2.4GHz and has a maximum bandwidth of 11mb/s. Apple called this "Airport". 802.11a is an approved standard that operates at 5GHz and has a maximum bandwidth of 54mb/s. It is incompatible with either "b" or "g". 802.11g is a standard that operates at 2.4GHz and has a maximum bandwidth of 54mb/s. It is designed to be backwards-compatible with 802.11b. Apple has introduced this as "Airport Extreme". 802.11n is a draft standard that uses multiple antennas and spread-spectrum to get bandwidth over 100 MB/s. It is backwards compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b.

UCLA Communications Technology Services (now ITS) runs wireless on campus. Most access points use 802.11n or 802.11b technology. Any card/computer compatible with those standards should work.

Wireless networking is often not secure. It is a great way to surf the web outdoors or get access where it otherwise might not be available, but since all of your packets are by default sent in the clear and anyone can "sniff" them, it is best to not transmit usernames and passwords over wireless at all. There are two ways around this. One is to use encryption when connecting to an access point. Common schemes for this include WEP and WPA for personal use or 802.1x in an enterprise setting. Unfortunately most wireless encryption standards are weak -- only WPA2 has not yet been cracked for home use. The alternative is to you use end-to-end encryption technology such as VPN or connect through a secure tunnel such as an https web session or an SSH/SFTP connection. There packets are encrypted at your computer and sent to the remote computer securely, even over an insecure channel.

UCLA's vpn server is accessible at vpn.ucla.edu from anywhere on the internet, including all access points on campus. You must download client software for your computer in order to log in to the VPN and you must have a BOL account. BOL's wireless page has information about the VPN server as well a page that lets you download software for all sorts of platforms. Download the client and use your username and password to log in.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a way to "tunnel" encrypted traffic over an untrusted network such as the internet. It works on a client-server model, where a client, typically a notebook computer, connects through an open channel (often a "hole" punched in a firewall) to a server, usually on the inside of a secure network. All network traffic is encrypted at both ends, and the client receives a "virtual" address "inside" the secure network. UCLA's VPN server is not "typical" in the sense that UCLA's internal network is not a "secure" network and there is no firewall preventing access from the outside world. Nonetheless the VPN server does provide a value-add in the wireless realm as it encrypts data sent over a wireless transmission, generally a far less secure space than typical ethernet setups.

UCLA offers a few different wireless networks.

1. UCLA_WEB provides basic internet connectivity for accessing websites. No authentication is required and no encryption is enabled.
2. UCLA_WIFI provides a "captive portal" interface through which UCLA users can log in when they open a web browser. This is client-independent and gives you full access to the internet once authenticated but is not encrypted. You can also use this with a VPN client
3. eduroam provides encrypted authenticated wireless access at UCLA and other universities around the world. You must authenticate using 802.1x on your client in order to use this.

This is the type of broad question that does not tell us very much. Below are some of the ways the network might not work and what the problem can be.

DNS is the system that changes internet words (like www.yahoo.com) into numbers that computers use to talk to each other. Each computer in the DMA labs calls on a computer in the Arts Department office in order to do this translation. If this translation is broken, it will seem very much like the network is "down". You can diagnose immediately if something is a DNS error or not by opening up a web browser and typing in http://18.75.0.10. If it opens up the page for the MIT Center for Space Research, your internet connection is working fine. If you then type in http://space.mit.edu and nothing or an error appears, you know it is a DNS problem. Once you know it is a DNS problem, make sure the local computer has the right entries for its "DNS Server" parameters. In windows, open a command prompt and type "ipconfig /all" --- note the numbers for the DNS Servers. In the mac, open up the Network Settings and check to see what the DNS servers are. In Both cases the servers should say 128.97.17.196 and 128.97.17.176 (additional entries are ok). If there is nothing there or if it reads 169.something, reboot the machine. If more than one machine shows wrong information or if the reboot does not solve the issue, there may be a problem with our DHCP server. Contact support[.a.t.]dma.ucla.edu.

Yes, you have a couple of options. The first is to use the UCLA Proxy Server. This will configure your browser to route all requests through BOL and will make it appear as though you are coming from within UCLA. You'll need to use your BOL username and password for this.
The second option is to use the UCLA VPN server. This works a lot like the proxy server but is more secure in that it encrypts all of your network traffic. On the downside, however, you need to install special software to get it to work.