Notes on VT-RACHEL ------------------ VT-RACHEL is a version of the VT SECN firmware designed to provide RACHEL content via the MP2 and similar devices. the RACHEL Project has assembled a large body of Internet content which can be freely used on local web servers. The RACHEL Project website is here: http://www.worldpossible.org/rachel/ There are several ways to deploy the RACHEL system, and the VT-RACHEL firmware does this using the MP2 and similar devices. The basic idea is that you can plug a USB memory device containing the RACHEL content into the MP2, and the MP2 will serve the content to laptops and other devices connected to the MP2 by WiFi. This will provide a stand alone facility that gives access to a wide range of material that the RACHEL project have assembled, including Wikipedia for Schools, Khan Academy, Medline and Hesperian health databases, Gutenberg book collection, CK-12 Textbooks, UNESCO IICBA teaching resource etc. You can use a 32GB USB / SD card provided by the RACHEL Project, or you can assemble your own. For example a USB with just the Wikipedia for Schools content needs to be only 8GB in size. If you have an Internet connection, you can connect it to the MP2 with Ethernet and the MP2 will share the connection to connected devices. You can also use the MP2 in conjunction with the RACHEL-Pi device. The RACHEL-Pi will provide a search engine and usage information, and the MP2 will provide a robust wifi access point as well as power for the RACHEL-Pi. Quick Start ----------- 1. Flash the MP2 or other device with the VT-RACHEL firmware in the normal way. 2. Install a suitable memory device (eg SD card) with the RACHEL content. 3. After restarting, the MP2 will appear as a WiFi Access Point called 'VT-RACHEL-1' with a password of 'password' 4. Connect your laptop or other device to the Access Point via wifi. 5. Point your web browser to 'http://vtrachel' and you should see the RACHEL table of contents. Setting up the RACHEL Content ----------------------------- There are several options for setting up the content on a suitable memory device. Note that Class 10 SD cards are recommended, although USB memory sticks may work in some devices. Note also that the content amounts to some 32GB of data which represents large downloads and copying times. It is recommended to obtain a pre-loaded memory device, or to download the various modules separately. Option 1. Get a VillageTelco Project memory device -------- Obtain a pre-loaded micro SD card and USB adapter from the Village Telco on-line store. The card will be preloaded with the content. Note that there may be several options for card content to choose from. Option 2. Get a RACHEL Project memory device -------- The World Possible RACHEL Project can provide 32GB USB and SD card memory devices pre-loaded with the content. These devices (as at the time of writing) will be detected by the VT-RACHEL firmware and operate correctly. However the data layout of these devices may change over time and so not be correctly detected. In any case, they should contain the content and you may have to copy it to a device that you create as below. Option 3. Create a USB Drive to contain the RACHEL content -------- In the download directory with the firmware is a file called 'VT-RACHEL-USB.zip' Download this file, unzip it and copy all the files and directories on to a suitable USB drive or micro SD/TF card formatted as FAT32. This will give you the home page including the table of contents. To add content, download or copy the required content directories and place them into the 'modules' directory on the USB drive. From the home page you will now be able to access the content in the modules. You can also add additional content by loading the appropriate files into the 'local' directory. You can load a range of files that can be handled by your web browser, including HTML, PDF, TXT, JPG, OGG, MP3, MP4, MOV etc. Download sites: A. http://dev.worldpossible.org/mods/ RACHEL Project content via rsync. B. http://jonathanfield.com/web/kaos/ Khan Academy On a Stick content via rsync. C. http://1drv.ms/1e268m2 MoToLi content via http. D. http://1drv.ms/1IwPsLu Wikipedia for Schools translations - Spanish, French, Portuguese Accessing the Internet ---------------------- If you have an Internet service, you can use the MP2 to share it with connected devices, as well as serving the RACHEL content. In this way you can reduce the amount of data that has to be downloaded from the Internet connection as the RACHEL content is served locally. To share an Internet connection, just connect to the WAN port on the MP2 with an Ethernet cable. The MP2 will obtain an IP address etc using DHCP from the upstream device. Client devices connected to the MP2 will then be able to access the Internet via the upstream device. Using a RACHEL-Pi with MP2 -------------------------- The VT-RACHEL firmware running on the MP2 will also act as a robust WiFi Access Point for a RACHEL-Pi device, and will also provide power for the RPi. To use the RPi, connect it to the USB port on the MP2 with a USB cable for power, and to the LAN port with an Ethernet cable for data. Switch the power on to the MP2 and wait a couple of minutes for the devices to fully start up. The MP2 will detect the RPi and assign a host name for it in the DHCP hosts. Connect to the MP2 wifi and point your browser to 'http://rachelpi' You will see the RACHEL home page and be able to browse and search the content. Administration -------------- There is a simplified administration web page available on the MP2. You will not normally have to change any configuration unless you are operating in a complex environment with multiple devices in use. To access the Admin page, point your browser to 'http://vtrachel/admin.html' and you will be prompted for a Username (admin) and password (rachel). VT RACHEL Settings ------------------ This section allows you to set up an individual identity for the MP2 in case you are using multiple devices at the same site. Simply set the VT RACHEL Number to a value between 1 and 99. This number is automatically included in the SSID for the wifi access point so that clients can connect to individual MP2 devices. It also changes the IP address range and the wifi channel used so as to provide some wifi separation between units. You can also change the main part of the wifi SSID name and the wifi password. When you have made the changes, click on the Save button at the bottom of the page. When the screen refreshes, check that the settings are correct and click on the Reboot button, or power cycle the device and it will restart with the new settings. System Settings --------------- In this section you can change the 'admin' account password by entering the new password twice and clicking on the Save Password button. You can set the maxium number of Access Point connections that the MP2 will accept. This is used to prevent overloading on the system. The default setting is 35 which should allow the MP2 to wrk well in a classroom. The WAN Port setting is Ethernet by default, which sets up the WAN port on the MP2 ready to connect to an upstream network eg for Internet access. Changing the setting to 'SECN' allows for manually setting up the router functions in the SECN configuration interface if required for advanced network arrangements. The MP2 will automatically set its internal clock from an upstream network with Internet access, and you set the local Timezone here. There are links to the Firmware Upgrade page and to the SECN Configuration page which may be used if required. To use settings from the SECN Configuration pages, you must set the WAN Port setting to "SECN Adv" and save beforehand. Otherwise the default VT-RACHEL settings will be used on restart.