Connecting to the Student Village Ethernet - What do I need to do?
Joining your PC to the Murdoch UV network.
Murdoch UV provides all residents with access to the campus-wide student network, which entitles you to much the same abilities as you would have in the general and some divisional computing facilities. This includes access to the Murdoch Intranet, which contains information freely available on campus, PARNET, which includes the other West Australian universities and WAIX, which includes many of the Western Australian Internet Service Providers. As with the student labs, you will require your quota account to gain access to information outside these networks.
In order to gain access to this network, you will require the correct equipment and software. Most operating systems, like Windows or Macintosh OS will come with the drivers and software you require for this by default, but not every computer comes with the necessary hardware. In order to access the network you will require the following:
A Network Interface Card (NIC) and CAT-5 cable.
Software Drivers for your NIC.
A valid IP address.
The first thing you need to check is whether or not you have a NIC installed in your computer. It is important to note at this point in time that a NIC is nota modem. Physically, you can check if you have a NIC installed in your computer by looking at the back of the box and seeing if you have a port for plugging CAT-5 cable into – this looks like a phone port but is slightly larger. The picture opposite is a good example of what a NIC looks like. However, physically installing the NIC may not be all that is required, as often the Operating System requires you to make it aware of the new card.
Assuming the computer does not have a NIC installed, you will need to purchase one, which can be done through the staff in Student Village, or through your preferred computer store. (If you already have one, simply connect it to the port on the wall with your blue CAT-5 cable.) This cost should be in the area of $15-$80 for PC, depending on the brand you select or around $100 for Laptops and Macintoshes. You should ensure that the card supports both 10 and 100 megabits (10/100) or better. Once you have purchased the NIC, you will need to install it in your computer, which may require a Phillips head screwdriver – student village staff may be able to assist with the installation of this card.
To install your NIC into a standard IBM compatible PC, you should first ensure the computer is turned off and then open your case, to locate an available slot for the card. Most 10/100 cards on the market for PC are PCI and will only fit into such a slot. After inserting the card, close your case and connect your blue CAT-5 network cable from the NIC to the port on the wall before turning the computer on. It is likely you will now see the NIC appear at IRQ 10 in your interrupt listing, if your PC shows you this during boot up.
The procedure above is the same for both PC and Macintosh computers, although most iMacs and newer Apple computers will already have a network card installed. If you are installing a NIC into a laptop, it is most likely to be PCMCIA add-on card and should simply be inserted in the PCMCIA slots on the side of your laptop.
Now that you have the hardware inside your computer, you need to verify that your Operating System actually recognises it.
Windows: If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP there is a reasonable chance the Operating System will recognise the card and install it for you. Even still, there is the possibility that your card will not be in your Operating Systems HCL (Hardware Compatibly List) and you will have to install the drivers manually. To check if your card is installed correctly, follow these steps:
Right Click on “my Computer”
Select Properties (skip step 2 and 3 for Windows 95/98/ME/XP Home).
Select the hardware tab.
Select Device Manager.
If your network card is installed correctly and recognised then you can move on to the next section.
Assuming you need to install drivers at this stage, you would now double-click on the unknown PCI device in your hardware list. Windows will now tell you it does not have any device drivers installed for your card.
Click the button “(Re)Install Driver”
Click next to be asked where to look for the driver:
Select the check box “Specify a Location”
Provide the location of the manufactures drivers, possibly a CD-ROM, or floppy disk provided with the card;
The driver installation will now complete and you may need to restart your computer. If this process has been successful, you will no longer have the question mark in your hardware list.
At this point, you will now need to join the network. As student village uses DHCP to automatically hand out IP numbers, this process should run very smoothly. Windows attempts to use DHCP by default so theoretically, you should have to do nothing. However, let us assume that you have not gained an IP number at this stage.
Testing if you have an IP number:
Windows 95/98/ME/XP Home:
Select Start
Run
winipcfg
If you have a modem, make sure the PPP device is not selected. You should see and IP number beginning with “134.115”. If the number begins with 169… you do not have a valid IP number.
Windows 2000/XP Professional:
Select Start
Select Run
Type “cmd”, this loads the command prompt.
At this prompt, type “ipconfig”
You should see your IP address. This needs to start with “134.115”. If it does not, your IP assignment has not been successful.
If you have not been assigned an IP number, you should now follow these steps to be given one:
Right Click on My Network Places (may be called Network Neighbourhood – depending on your OS version).
Select Properties
If you are using Windows 2000 or XP Professional, now right click on Local Area Connection and select properties.
You should now see a list of clients, protocols and adapters for your network. There is no need for IPX/SPX, or NetBEUI to be installed so if they are there, you may remove them.
Double click on the TCP/IP protocol (If there are more than one, make sure it is the one relevant to your NIC, not your Modem).
You should ensure that you have selected to be automatically assigned your details via DHCP, eg
If you are using Windows 95/98 there will be four tabs at the top of this page and the “Obtain DNS information automatically” option is the last.
Once you have changed these settings, you may need to restart your computer.
You can now use the above tests again to see if your IP number has been assigned.
Naming Your Computer:
You now need to give your computer a name on the Network. It is essential that this name be unique on the network. As such, it is requested that all students use their student number as their computer name. This will help ensure your network functions as well as possible and will help us solve your problems faster.
Windows 2000 / XP:
Right Click on My Computer.
Select Properties.
Select the Network Identification Tab.
Select Properties.
Type your Computer name and workgroup (student).
Select Ok and restart the computer
Windows 95 / 98:
Right Click on Network Neighbourhood.
Select Properties.
Select the Identification Tab.
Type your computer name and workgroup (Student) and restart your computer.
Trouble Shooting:
If you have any troubles installing your network card, please don’t hesitate to contact the staff in student village for help.
Things to check:
Is the Network card correctly installed and visible in the hardware list? There should be no question marks or exclamation marks visible.
Are the network settings correctly configured in “Network Places / Neighbourhood”?
Is the network cable correctly plugged in?
Is there network activity at all? Check to see if there are any flashing LEDs on your NIC.
Connecting to Gateway, in Student Village, Murdoch University.
Microsoft Windows 9x, 2K, XP.
Step 1:
Create a shortcut on your desktop. This can be done by right clicking on your desktop background and creating a new shortcut.
Step 2:
Type the world “telnet” as the program you want to run. Windows will automatically find the location for you. It will then ask for a name for the shortcut, you may select anything you like, but “Quota” or “Gateway” are good start points.
Step 3:
Now you need to right click on the new shortcut you’ve just made and select “properties”. You should see a window like the one below. Simply add the highlighted text “134.115.4.4” after “telnet.exe” and say “OK”.
Step 4:
Now you just need to double-click your new shortcut to run it. Your login is your student number and your password is your MAIS PIN. You need to leave this window open while you wish to access the outside world, however you may minimise it.
You will need a telnet session open to “Quota” if you wish to access any sites outside WAIX (most sites in Western Australia are member of WAIX).