Users can request help from the Support Team - in the first instance log your request via the IT Service Desk - or visiting our office (UG46/142).

Solving your problem

Many of the requests we get are already documented on the SupportWeb pages, or can be solved with a quick search of the Internet.

  • Try searching the SupportWeb:
  • Try searching the Internet, if you have an error message, copy and paste the message directly in - you might be surprised how often we use this technique to solve problems!:
  • Contact us - see below for details on sending requests to ensure you provide enough information

Office Hours

The Support Office (Room UG46) is open between 9:30am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. However, we are often called away from our desks and we cannot guarantee that someone will always be available.

Problems with machines

If you find that a machine is not working or has a faulty monitor/keyboard/mouse, please do let us know - we ocasioanally get complaints that a machine has been faulty for a long period of time - this is usually when no-one has let us know about the fault (if we know about the problem, we'll usually leave a note so you know we are aware of the problem).

All our machines should have stickers on the front with a unique name - when reporting a fault, its helpful if you can send the name of the machine and the room in which the machine is located.

Making a Support Requests

All Support Requests are handled via the IT Service Desk, please log all problems and requests via the web-system.

We can no-longer be contacted via email, so please use the web-form to contact us.

Users will receive an e-mail containing the job reference number once their request has been received and logged.

When submitting a support request please remember the following:

  1. If the problem is related to your Computer Science account or computers in the Computer Science building, please clearly mark this as being the case.
  2. Log in to the system using your IT Services username and password.
  3. If its a problem with your Computer Science password then we will require you to come to the support office with your ID card.
  4. Please do not send or address your request to individual members of the support team.
  5. A high proportion of the support requests we receive are for problems that can be resolved by the user. Before submitting a request, please try to solve the problem yourself by consulting our Online help, self-help newsgroups/mailing lists and resources available on the web.
  6. Try to provide us with as much information as possible to help us diagnose and solve your problem. For example:
    • The name and location of a faulty workstation or printer
    • The machine, operating system and software version number when a program fails to work correctly
    • Any error messages printed to the screen

A support request with insufficient information

Short Description: HELP!

I can't get the Java3D demo programs to work on the PCs in the lab.

Andy

The same support request providing all the required information

Short Description: Problem with Java3D under Linux

Dear Support,

I can't run the Java3D demo programs on the Linux PCs in the project Lab - e.g on pc cca-lg04-0901. I'm using JDK1.3 and I get the same error when I try to run any of the programs under /bham/java/packages/j2sdk1_3_0/demo/java3d
The programs crash with no error message and then I'm logged out.

Thanks,
Andy