Frequently Asked Questions

  • CSE computing system

    • Where can I get more information about the CSE computing system?

      Check the Facilities page on the CSE website.

    • How do I log onto the CSE computing system for the first time?

      See the First Login page on the CSE website.

    • What do I do if I've forgotten my CSE password?

      See the Reset Password page on the CSE website.

    • How do I change my CSE password?

      See the Account Portal page on the CSE website.

    • Can I recover a deleted file under my CSE account?

      See the User File Backups page on the CSE website.

  • Remote Access

    • How do I access my CSE account remotely?

      See the Remote Access page on the CSE 231 website.

    • Why can't I use samba when I'm off campus?

      Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) do not allow samba connections (some will allow it for a hefty fee).

  • Course Mechanics

    • Where do I find Coding Rooms?

      There is a link to Coding Rooms on D2L for the course.

    • I missed my weekly lab session. What do I do?

      If you miss a scheduled lab session due to illness or personal emergency, please contact your TA. If appropriate, your TA will permit you to make up the missed lab exercise within one week of the original due date.

    • I missed the due date for a computer project. What do I do?

      Automatically one-day late is a 50% penalty; after that, no credit. If you are unable to complete a computer project by the specified due date due to illness or personal emergency, please contact your lecture instructor. If appropriate, the assignment due date will be extended.

    • I have a question about the grading of my project. Who do I contact?

      Please contact your TA. If you are not able to resolve things with your TA, contact an instructor.

    • I missed an examination. What do I do?

      Please contact your instructor.

    • I have a question about the grading of my exam. Who do I contact?

      Please contact your instructor.

    • I need extra help.

      Help comes in many forms for this course:
      • TAs staff a help room in the same room as the CSE 231 lab (3320 Engineering). The schedule is found under the Consulting Hours link on the course web page.
      • TAs monitor Piazza.com where you can post questions. Piazza provides the fastest response of all options.
      • Contact your TA directly. Their email address is posted at the Lab Sessions link on the course web page
      • Contact your instructor -- see the syllabus.
      • Some students want a tutor. The department does not have the resources to screen and train tutors. Some students have had luck finding a tutor online through Craigslist, the department Facebook page and universitytutor.com. We encourage care when working with a private tutor, both for personal safety, e.g. only meet in public places such as a library, and a tutor without proper training may do more work for you as opposed to helping you.

  • Spyder

    • My shell and variable explorer windows have disappeared. How do I get them back?

      Use Consoles -> open an IPython Console for the kernel
      View -> Window Layouts -> Spyder Default Layouts
      Alternatively Tools -> Reset Spyder to Factory Defaults
      Use View -> Panes to open any window you want, including the variable explorer

    • Re-install did not solve my problems

      Try this: On Windows
      • open an anaconda powershell
      • run the command
        conda update anaconda
      • when successful, run the command
        conda install spyder=5.2.2
      Mac is similar except that you are working in a Terminal.
      If that or re-install did not fix your problems, you likely need to do a more complete un-install of the previous version. Anaconda's uninstall documentation: here.

  • Can I use a different IDE than Spyder

    • You can use any IDE, but we only support Anaconda+Spyder, i.e. you are on your own.

      The important thing is for the IDE to support graphics, e.g. pylab or matplotlib. Here is testing code that works on Spyder.
      import pylab
      L = [1,2,3,4,5,6]
      pylab.plot(L)

    • PyCharm

      Here is a note from a student who successfully installed PyCharm. My suggestion was to install Anaconda (Python) and then have PyCharm point to that. Here is what he said: "It doesn't seem terribly hard to install. I installed Anaconda, then PyCharm (didn't have it on this laptop), and created a new project and chose the "Conda interpreter" in the dropdown. Then I installed matplotlib from the project settings, imported it using a named import, and then added pylab.interactive(True) since supposedly that allows it to work inline on PyCharm, and was able to run it from the python console without issue." He tested plotting with the following code: import matplotlib.pylab as pylab
      pylab.interactive(True)
      L = [1,2,3,4,5,6]
      pylab.plot(L)

  • What do I do if I have a Chromebook?

    • Install DECS RDP client in your Chromebook and use Anaconda and Spyder remotely on the DECS servers (recommended)

      DECS maintains instructions online on connecting to the DECS Remote Servers: here.
      If you are having issues installing the DECS Remote Client, you can take your Chromebook to DECS Support and ask for help with the setup. DECS Support: here.
      Following the DECS Remote Client setup, you will simply have to login to EGR RDP using your EGR credentials to use the Anaconda+Spyder already installed there.
      Further hints: (1) use Firefox as your browser (2) don't search for D2L; rather enter the URL directly into Firefox: https://d2l.msu.edu/ The search forces a redirect and that redirect is causing problems (3) only access Mimir using the link within the CSE 231 D2L page

    • OR install miniConda on your Chromebook (not recommended)

      MiniConda installation steps are listed: here
      Also see: here