Sim Lock management

[Michael Reynolds]

I'm wondering how other instructors monitor, distribute sim (hasp) locks to their students? We use Mcam in quite a few classes in different locations, and they're a nightmare to keep track of.!

Thanks for your help!

Mike R.

[Rick Curtis EastechInc.]

I made up covers that were attatched from the inside of the machine. A small window for a visual check. And pray there parents raised them right.

[Reece L Gibson]

Net Hasp?

[Michael Reynolds]

I tried putting the sims inside the 'puters, but sometimes got the message "sim not found". I can't use nethasp because not all of our computer labs are on the same network.

Has anyone ever lost one?? What did ya do??

Thanks,

Mike R.

[P_Scott]

Nethasp has saved us a lot of hassles but that's because our training rarely travels. When we do go to a customer site, we always know ahead of time how many HASPs we will need and only take that many. I always take them off the computer at the end of each day and keep them with my laptop case. If you have a large class though, I wish you luck. You could probably rig a cable system and string it through the screw holes of the HASPs. Lock them to the computer case and that way they'd have to take the whole thing. It'd be pretty hard to learn the software without the computer. It would also be very noticeable.

My father was a teacher long ago where he loves to tell the story of a student who consistently didn't have note paper and always borrowed from others. My father one day asked if the student had paper and when the student replied "no", my father proceeded to supply him with a roll of TP. Back then it wasn't "Cottony Soft" either. The student never "forgot" his note paper again. Nothing to do with training Mastercam but I thought that would be a funny story to tell the Forum.

[Stephen]

Yea, I lost one...ahhh threw one out! When I first started teaching I didn't know what a SIM was. I threw out the out 386's with the SIM attached! When I went to update MC I then realized what I did. I had to get the administration to fill out a lost report for MC and pay several hundred $$$ to get a new one...Live and learn!

Steve

[Guest Duane Weidinger In-House Solutio]

In my travels I visited a school that had a metal box with a lock on it. The box held the sims and the instructor had the sims plugged into cables that ran out the side of the box through a hole. In this case the box was bolted to the table, however I can't see why you couldn't have a couple of boxes like this with 5 to 10 sims in each box and carry the boxes around from class to class.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

At our school, we hace 1' paralell cables attached to the port. The cables then loop around to an open slot and go inside. It also has a blank slot cover with a notch just big enough for the cable to go through.

Occasionally we run into a "SIM not found situation, in this case I have the students re-boot the computers and this always fixes it for us.

[P_Scott]

James,

How is the sim attached on the inside of the computer? Does it just flop around at the end of the cable? I would be afraid of shorts if the computer was ever moved and the sim ended up in contact with something on a board inside when it was turned back on. Do you have a custom "fan" cage inside where the sim is somehow attached? "Inquiring Minds want to know". Interesting setup all the same. It might be something we could consider if we have to go onsite for training.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

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How is the sim attached on the inside of the computer? Does it just flop around at the end of the cable?

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Yes it does "flop" around inside, BUT the computers are stationary, they are not just sitting on top of a desk. There's really not much danger of a short because 1 the computers don't move and 2 the case would need to come in contact with a positive lead on the SIM which is hardly likely.

[JD]

Until we got the nethasp I managed the hasps by requiring any student who wanted to use MCam to trade me their student card for a hasp - with the understanding that they were responsible for that hasp and returning it at the end of class. Required a little accounting on my part at the end of class - just a routine to get used to. However, nethasp has been a great asset - no more counting hasps!