panosnethood
commented
6 years ago Brainstorming: it might be meaningful to include in a "top folder" of the toolkit image a config file that could be edited directly on the card, which could include the "default" SSID. In the same file there could be also a "password reset" option that would be useful if someone forgets one or more of the main passwords (ssh, admin, WiFi).
Given that this config file will be important to know for the reset operation it would make sense to be the first "task" of the group participants, to discover the file and edit it before they take out the card and insert it in the Raspberry.
Is there a way we could distinguish between multiple new installs being loaded by a group of learners at a hackathon?
Currently, if we hand out ten MAZI sd cards with fresh installs, they will all initially appear as "mazizone" when learners see what SSIDs are broadcasting.
This led to some confusion at our recent hackathon, Edinburgh DataFest18 ("which mazizone is my one?"). We solved the problem by asking the participants to set up the initial stages and change the SSID of their installation one at a time. This worked for a small number of people and with a good level of staff support but wouldn't work if you were at an event where more people were installing and you had less tutor support.
Can anybody think of a way we could hand out fresh MAZI installs and enable multiple set-ups to happen at once, without confusion over which broadcasting mazizone is associated with which SD card/ RaspberryPi?
It would need to be something that would be understood by new users who aren't necessarily technical experts (we can't assume they can use the command line).
Perhaps the simplest solution is for the tutors to carry out the initial installation steps and giving each MAZIzone a starting unique name for its SSID (e.g. mazizone01, mazizone02 ... ) and giving these to each participant in the workshop, having written a label on each SD card?
But I am wondering if there might be a more elegant solution that allows participants to experience the set up process from the beginning.
My biggest fear is that participants take the wrong SD card home - Participant A sits next to Participant B, they think they are working on the SD card in their Raspberry PI but actually they are working on the SD card in their neighbour's Pi, and they don't find out until they get home!
Ideas about how to manage this work process welcomed, and thoughts for how this might be resolved at a technical level (improvement).
Thanks!