Basic Troubleshooting in OIT Unity Labs

The Office of Information Technology supports the Unity computing labs, which are open to all NC State students, faculty and staff who have active Unity accounts. Even the most prepared lab user can run into problems. Before you leave in frustration, see if the solution to your problem is covered on this page.

If a problem is system-wide, you can learn more about it on the Sysnews Web page (http://sysnews.ncsu.edu).
If not, then use the following links to get more information:

• Can't access certain labs or resources?
• Can't access online courses?
• Can't get your email?
• Can't print?
• Can't save files?
• Additional help

Can't access certain labs or resources?
Access to certain labs or resources (such as MyPack) is limited to authorized people. For example, only those affiliated with the College of Engineering will be able to access the COE labs. To find out what resources you can access:

1. Go to (https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/user-lookup)
2. Look in the section labeled "Access Group Membership."

If you are a currently-enrolled student you should see a designation that is keyed to the current semester (e.g., "spring," "sum," "fall"). This gives you access to the Unity labs. If you are affiliated with a specific college or department you may also see designation such as "pams_spring" or "tx_staff," indicating your access to that college or department's labs and resources.

Can't access online courses?
You can access the online information from WolfWare, WebCT, WebAssign and other online course sites only if you are registered for a particular course.

1. Go to (https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/user-lookup)
2. Look in the section labeled "Current Class Schedule." This section lists all of the courses that the University thinks you are registered for.
3. If the course you're trying to access is not on the list, then you will not be able to get into the site.
4. To get officially registered for a course, go to MyPack or speak to the instructor.
   

Can't get your email?
This can occur for two reasons:

• You have requested email forwarding in the past. To check on this,
  1. Go to https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/user-lookup.
  2. Look in the section labeled "Email configuration" to see if your email is currently being forwarded.
• You may not have enough space in your IMAP account to save your new mail. To check on this,
  1. Go to https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/user-lookup.
  2. Look in the section labeled "IMAP Quota Information" to find out how much of your email storage space you are using.
  3. If your space is full (i.e., you are over your quota), then you will need to delete some old mail before you can read your new mail. See the procedure for recovering some of your space.
     

Can't print?
Usually this means that you don't have any print quota. To check on this,

1. Go to (https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-bin/user-lookup)
2. Look in the section labeled "Print Quota Information" to see how much you have.

For more information about print quota and printing see Printing at NC State.

Can't save files?
As a Unity account holder, you are allotted a certain amount of file storage space (disk quota). This space has several names, depending on the type of computer you are using:

• either the tilde symbol (~) or "Home" on a Unix workstation
• the K: drive on a Windows workstation
• "Home" on a Macintosh lab machine

When you run out of file storage space, you will be unable to save files. Also, when you log out, you may get errors about preference files not being saved.

See the page on file storage space to find out how you've currently divided up your space for personal files (AFS space), email, and preference files (for use in Unity labs). You can follow the step-by-step instructions on that page to re-allocate your space as needed.

Additional help

• Unity Lab locations and hours of operation
• Using workstations in Unity labs
  • Windows Workstation Tutorial
  • Unix Workstation Tutorial
  • Mac Lab Help
• College- and department-based computing labs
• Help desks for the individual colleges and departments
• Online Knowledgebase (http://help.ncsu.edu)
• NC State Help Desk
• NC State Computer Regulations and Rules

Last modified March 5, 2008 by cawalker