Questions

How do I get help?

To request help or report a problem or suggestion, use the G.R.I.D. Lab management contact form.

Who may use the lab?

The G.R.I.D. Lab is for the individual use of students, faculty, and staff in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS) only. People from other departments are not allowed to use this lab, unless they are sponsored as guests by a faculty member or lab manager in the SDSS, who should send the authorization request via email to the G.R.I.D. lab management.

The G.R.I.D. Lab can never be reserved for courses - use the Mitchell A65 computer teaching lab for that purpose.

The lab door is locked. How do I get in?

The G.R.I.D. Lab is always open but the door has a combination lock.

Contact us to get the door code

To get into the lab, you first need access into the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building. This building is always open on weekdays from 8 am to 6 pm, except for holidays and sometimes during quarter breaks. At other times (for example, evenings, weekends, and holidays), the building's first-floor lobby doors are unlocked during the same hours that the Branner Library is open. You can check their hours at the Stanford Libraries Hours and Locations webpage (scroll down to find Branner Library). From the lobby, you have access to the elevator, which you can take down to the sub-basement "A" level.

Which computer is the best?

The four iMac computers in the GRID lab are identical. Their capabilities are described on the Equipment page.

One of the iMacs connects to a flatbed scanner.

How do I login to the computer?

You need a valid full-service SUNet ID and password to login to the G.R.I.D. lab computers. All regular students, faculty, and staff have a full-service SUNet ID.

A guest "base service" SUNet ID is not sufficient.

macOS

Provide your SUNet ID name and password in the Name: and Password: fields of the login screen and click the Log in button. Read the detailed login procedure for screenshots, including the logoff procedure.

Be sure to logoff when you are done with the computer. Otherwise, the next person can impersonate you and access your files or cause other mischief.

If you sit down in front of a computer and the screen shows the normal desktop with icons for programs that you can run, then someone left it logged in from a previous use. You should logoff that user, then login under your SUNet ID. You must be logged in under your own SUNet ID to access files you have saved on these computers.

Help. The computer won't accept my SUNet ID.

Only valid full-service SUNet IDs will work for login to the G.R.I.D. lab computers. If you have only a "base service" guest SUNet ID, or if you are a former student with an inactive SUNet ID, you cannot successfully login to these computers.

Assuming you have a normal full-service SUNet ID, first make sure you are following the correct login procedure. Remember that you must use your original SUNet ID username, not one of the email aliases you may have created at the StanfordYou or Accounts web sites!

Even if you follow the correct procedure, there are known problems with logins that may affect you.

First, are other users having problems logging in? If multiple users cannot login, there may be a problem with the campus authentication servers. This is rare but has happened.  If the authentication servers are not responding, you cannot login to macOS at all until the problem is resolved.

The next known problem may affect just a single user. SUNet IDs are defined in the campus kerberos servers. Account information is copied to the Windows Active Directory after every update to the kerberos servers.  macOS logins on the lab computers authenticate to the Active Directory.

Sometimes, copying the account information to Active Directory fails for a particular SUNet ID. In that case, the affected SUNet ID will not work for logins on these computers.

The solution for this problem is simple: reset your SUNet ID password. The process of resetting forces the information to be updated in the kerberos servers and in the Windows Active Directory. You can reset your SUNet ID password from this web site (for example, from a computer where someone else is logged in).

After resetting your SUNet ID password, quit the browser that you used or logoff from the computer (otherwise, someone else at that computer could change your settings). The Windows Active Directory should be updated with your reset password within five minutes.

Where can I save my own files?

You have three options for saving your own files, described in more detail below:

1. Save them to cloud file storage service where you have an account, another file server on campus, or to your own USB device.  The Google Drive application is installed on the computers and can be used for this purpose.
2. Save them on the Desktop or Documents folders.  Anything saved to these locations will only reside on this same computer.  Keep in mind this is not permanent storage and these computers can be erased at any time for maintenance.

Users can mount other network file servers to save or transfer files. Users can save files to their own external hard drives or USB devices.  A "SFTP" client program (read the Supported Software list) is also provided to transfer files to other computers on the network.

Do I have to use the same computer every time?

No. The three general use computers in the lab have identical software configurations.

If you saved your files on the local Desktop or Documents folders, then you must login to that same computer again to access those files.

How do I use the lab printers?

The printers in the G.R.I.D. Lab will only accept print jobs from the computers in the lab, which already have the correct print queues defined. Workstations in offices and personal laptops brought into the lab cannot connect to these printers.

The "gridproofer" printer in the lab is intended for proofing posters before sending them to the large format printers. Do not abuse this privilege by printing lots of general materials or a cumbersome charging system will be implemented.

How can I get help printing my poster?

The G.R.I.D. Lab is a self-service operation. You can find complete instructions for printing posters on the wide-format printers "Escher" and "Ptolemy" under the Making Posters tab.

Most problems are caused by failing to follow the specific instructions on this website when making and sending your poster.

The Common Problems web page also tells you how to recover from printer problems such as running out of paper or holding a job rather than printing it.

If none of the instructions on the website help with your poster printing problem, contact the G.R.I.D. Lab management.

May I print non-Doerr School of Sustainability or personal posters in the lab?

The short answer is no. We have a strict policy: poster printing in the Mitchell B21 G.R.I.D. Lab is only allowed for people connected to the Doerr School of Sustainability and sponsored guests in support of their research or teaching.

Please realize that poster printing in this lab is not a commercial service. There is a significant cost of paper and ink/toner - not any of the capital costs, system maintenance, or management time. Therefore, we need simple rules that don't require a lot of effort to administer.

The computer asked me to restart - can I ignore it?

The lab computers are setup to automatically download and install new critical security patches released by Apple for macOS.

A dialog box may appear while you are working that asks you to restart the computer in order to finish installing updates. You may continue working. When you are done, completely shutdown (or restart) the computer instead of just logging off. The install will finish when the next person starts up the computer.