Set up a reCore station

• A USB stick of 8 GB or more. Everything on it will be erased. One stick per bench or per technician.
• A Windows PC to write the stick, with Rufus (free). On a Mac or Linux PC there is no way yet to write the stick correctly; use a Windows PC.
• The machines you will process: 64-bit Intel or AMD, roughly 2010 or newer, with at least 2 GB of RAM (4 GB is better). Apple Macs are not covered by this guide.
• A network connection for the first setup: an Ethernet cable is easiest, Wi-Fi also works.
• Your reCore sign-in: your organisation code, username and password. Any technician in your organisation can set up a station.

1. 1Sign in to your dashboard and open Downloads.
2. 2Click Download reCore OS. You get one .iso file of about 1.8 GB.
3. 3Wait until the download has fully finished before you write it. A half-downloaded file makes a stick that will not boot.

You only need a new download when there is a new version of reCore OS. The station app on the stick updates itself (see Updates).

reCore keeps the station's sign-in, Wi-Fi password, saved results and logs on the stick itself. That only works if the stick has a normal, writable FAT32 area. Rufus makes one, but only with the settings below. Other settings make a stick that still boots and looks fine, but forgets everything each time the machine is switched off.

1. 1Plug the USB stick into the Windows PC and open Rufus.
2. 2Under Device, pick your USB stick. Check the name and size: the stick you pick is erased.
3. 3Under Boot selection, click SELECT and pick the reCore OS .iso you downloaded.
4. 4Set Partition scheme to MBR.
5. 5Set File system to FAT32. Leave every other option as it is.
6. 6Click START.
7. 7If Rufus asks how to write the image, choose Write in ISO Image mode (Recommended). Never DD Image mode.
8. 8If Rufus asks to download extra files, click Yes. Confirm that the stick will be erased.
9. 9Wait for the green READY bar, then close Rufus. Writing takes about 5 minutes.

On the same Windows PC, unplug the stick, plug it back in, and open it in File Explorer.

Eject the stick in Windows before you unplug it.

1. 1Switch the machine off. Plug the stick in. On a desktop, use a USB port on the back if you can.
2. 2Switch it on and straight away tap the boot menu key for that brand (table below) until a menu appears.
3. 3Pick your USB stick. If it shows twice, pick the entry that starts with UEFI.
4. 4The reCore menu appears and starts reCore OS by itself after 2 seconds.

Secure Boot can stay on. reCore OS boots with Secure Boot on or off, so you don't need to change BIOS settings on each machine.

The reCore menu also has Safe Mode, for machines whose screen stays black, and Boot from local disk, which starts the machine's own system instead.

While reCore starts, a text screen shows its progress: display, storage, network, then the app.

• Ethernet cable plugged in: it connects by itself. Nothing to do.
• No cable: a Wi-Fi list appears. Type the number of your network, press Enter, then type the password. The stick remembers it, so next time it connects by itself after 3 seconds. Press C to change network.
• No network at all: type 0 to skip (or S, where the screen offers it). A station that has been set up before still works offline and sends its results when it is next online. The very first setup needs a connection.

The first time a stick starts, the reCore app shows Set up this station.

1. 1Enter your Organization Code, Username and Password. This is your own reCore account.
2. 2The app asks Which bench is this computer at? Pick the bench and click Join this bench.
3. 3No benches in the list? An admin adds them in the dashboard under Authorized Clients. If you are an admin, you can also click Make this computer a new bench.

This is the test that catches a stick written the wrong way.

1. 1After you have set up the station, wait one minute. The station copies its data to the stick every 15 seconds.
2. 2Restart the machine from the stick.
3. 3When the app opens, look at the first screen.

A second check, from a Windows PC: a stick that saves has a recore_data folder next to EFI, boot and live after its first boot.

• The station often signs the last technician back in by itself. Otherwise technicians sign in with their username and a 4-digit PIN. A different technician clicks Switch user.
• Sign-in also works offline for a while after the last online sign-in. When that runs out the app says Offline lease expired: connect the station to the network and sign in again.
• The station copies its data to the stick every 15 seconds. Wait a moment after the last result before you switch a machine off or pull the stick.
• Lost a stick? In Authorized Clients, an admin opens the bench's Computers list and clicks End on that one. Only that stick stops working; the other computers on the bench carry on.

The reCore app updates itself. When a new version is out, the station downloads it in the background while you work and switches to it the next time it starts. You don't need to rewrite the stick for that.

The download has to finish in one session. If your machines are usually on for only a few minutes, leave one station on for about 20 minutes, then restart it. Updates only work on a stick that saves (step 7).

A new version of reCore OS itself means writing the stick again with the new download. That erases what the stick has saved, so first make sure the station has been online, so its results have reached the server. After rewriting, set the station up again (step 6).

Email [email protected]. Say which step you got to and what the screen showed; a phone photo of the screen helps most.

A stick that saves keeps the station's start-up logs in recore_data\logs. Plug it into a Windows PC, zip that logs folder and attach it. Send only that folder: the rest of recore_data holds the station's saved Wi-Fi password and its encrypted database.