Taking Screenshots on HP210 (silver) laptops

The Chromebook shortcut for screenshots is ctrl+F5, however in this particular laptop the F5 button only works if you also hold down the Fn key so it is ctrl+Fn+F5 for a full screen shot and ctrl+shift+Fn+F5 to grab just part of a screen. True: The PrntScrn button may also function for full screen shots.

Flash player Updates on CloudReady Computers

NOTE:  as of Sept. 2017 the process described below should no longer be necessary.

The Cloudready OS on our 11th and 12th grade laptops does not automatically update Flash, and Flash player can sometimes become corrupted when Chrome updates. This affects video playback and audio recording in Schoology and Middlebury Languages, The Americans online textbook and other sites/tools that rely on Flash Player may not function properly (symptom is an error message "cannot load plugin.")

If you have difficulty with plugins on these or other websites you can bring your computer to Helpdesk and they will fix it, OR students have permission to perform the following fix themselves. The follow steps must be followed precisely:

1. Make sure the Chromebook is updated (up-arrow in the lower right)
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+T. This opens a black screen (Terminal) with crosh> on the left
3. Type shell and push enter. The prompt on the left edge should now read chronos@localhost
4. Type cd /usr/share/oem/pepper and push enter (TIP: There is a space after "cd" and you can copy this command, but you need to use ctrl+SHIFT+V to paste it into Terminal)
5. Type sudo rm flash_installed, then enter
6. Type the password: chrome (you won't see this when you type, hit enter when done)
7. Shut down, then restart. 
8. Once restarted go to Chrome settings, look for Adobe Flash and click "install." Also install the Proprietary Codecs (to the right of Flash.)
9. Once Flash is installed, you will be prompted to restart again

NOTE: You may need to "allow and remember" access to your microphone after this update.

Web Streaming on CloudReady (Chrome) Computers

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime require extra plugins and do not automatically play in the Chromium browser on computers with CloudReady. These will work by enabling one built-in plugin called "WeDevine" and (for Netflix) installing and configuring the User Agent Switcher extension.

1. Go to Chrome://Settings, find Widevine Content Decryption Module and and click "Install" or "Check for Updates"
2. Install this extension
3. Right-click on the extension icon and choose "options"
4. In the custom user-agent list enter:
     Name: CloudReady Widevine
     String: (TIP: copy and paste this entire line!)
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/52.0.2709.0 Safari/537.36 

     Group: Chrome (should fill in automatically)
     Append: Replace

     Indicator Flag: IE

5. Once all of this is filled in, click "Add"

IMPORTANT: This extension may interfere with some websites (WeVideo in particular) resulting in an "incompatible browser" message. To make sure it is only active on the pages where it is necessary:

6. Click on "Permanent Spoof list" (on left)

7. Enter the domain you wish to use (eg. netflix.com) and "add" 

Feel free to contact Mr. Hall if you need assistance with this installation. 

Can I print at school from my personal laptop?

The short answer this year is... YES! School printers are now set up to use Google Cloud Print, which will work even when you are connected to the MMU_Guest wireless.

• You must be signed in to Chrome (not just Drive or gMail) with your CESU Google account.

• When you print, choose "Change" to change printers.

• Scroll down to the bottom to find printers set up for Google Cloud Print

Can I install a home printer on my school laptop?

Home printers may be installed on school Windows computers IF it can be done without installing the printer software package. Printer software often adds extra services (slowing down the computer) as well as changing the way the computer handles media files. You cannot install printers on Chromebooks, but here are options for home print with those.

For best results:

1) Plug the printer in with a USB cable. Windows will install most printers automatically.

OR

2) If it is a wireless printer, use "Add Printer" (in Devices & Printers) to search for the printer. Depending on the home network setup, this may or may not work correctly.

If a download is necessary, you should first check with HelpDesk or Mr. Hall to make sure you use the "Driver Only" installer and not the complete software package.

How can I adjust my Touchpad?

Touchpad features like "tap-to-click" and "pinch zoom" can cause problems for people who drag their fingers accidentally across the touchpad. Their experience might be that things open or change without warning, and they may not realize why this is happening!

Disabling these features and customizing your Touchpad can be done via the Mouse control Panel:

Why doesn't Java work for me?

The current challenges with Java are a result of increased security to prevent malicious activity through Java applets and scripts. Added to this challenge is the fact that Java installations come in two forms: a browser plugin (sufficient for most content) and an OS-based installation (required to run downloaded .jar or .jnlp files and for the system Control Panel.)

Here is information about making Java work properly for all sites.