Harry_Small_ Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 Hi guys I have recently been trying to install an app emulator for MIT App Inventor 2. I am having issues with the emulator talking to the online program. Has anyone had any issues with this before and found a fix? It just seems to hang on "Launch the aiStarter program on your computer and then try again" even though the aiStarter is running.
Arreks Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 App Inventor is really quite horrid to set up properly for multiple devices, I had loads of problems with it (thankfully we aren't even using it anymore). Most common fixes are the Java version (update it fully) and browser choice (chrome works best).
bobt Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 I had hell of a time trying to get it to work. Just to check you must have the following in your proxy exceptions list (if you use a proxy that is): 127.0.0.1 localhost Otherwise it won't connect. Additionally, I found the software didn't install nicely on machines, so I ended up installing it on my machine and getting it working nicely, then Robocopying the software out to the clients.
Harry_Small_ Posted September 25, 2014 Author Posted September 25, 2014 We have got those as exceptions, and we have checked the filtering with no violations coming up!
bobt Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 I'm guessing you've tried disabling the local firewall on the PC?
Harry_Small_ Posted September 26, 2014 Author Posted September 26, 2014 I tried opening the port 8004 and then tried disabling with firewall all together. Both had no effect!
mulderite Posted October 1, 2014 Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) Greetings I've also been lumbered with this and I'm also having problems trying to get the online program talking to the emulator. Like yourself it just comes up with the message "Launch the aiStarter program on your computer and try again" when it's already running!! Please tell me you've found a fix for this? *grovel grovel* Edited October 1, 2014 by mulderite
BassTech Posted October 7, 2014 Posted October 7, 2014 We are having this issue too - app inventor just says "Checking companion app is open" and just gets stuck in a loop doing this, even though it is already open on the emulator!
Harry_Small_ Posted October 8, 2014 Author Posted October 8, 2014 I tried it on my laptop a few days ago and it worked fine. Went to try it again yesterday and it stuck on that same message. I think the program is just generally unstable.
BassTech Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 I'm stuck on "Launch the aiStarter program on your computer and try again" too. Works fine as admin accounts, just not students & staff. I'm currently troubleshooting, I've tried all suggestions here and what I can find online - still no good! RM CC4 btw
BassTech Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 I emailed OCR and asked them about app inventor, and this was their response: Thank you for your enquiry. You do indeed require access to App Inventor 2 to carry out one of the A452 controlled assessments. The software is used in centres across the entire country without incident so I am surprised you hold that it is unsuitable on a networked environment. The only issues I have come across is where a firewall is not letting the required Java calls through from the web app. I have asked a network manager at a local school to write a guide on how to get App Inventor working. Another option would be to use a standalone version of App Inventor: AiLiveComplete! | SourceForge.net Hopefully one of these two options should get you going! Many thanks, Robert Leeman Subject Specialist Computing Says it all really!
caffrey Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 We bought some cheap android phones and use those instead of trying to use the emulator
Arreks Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 I emailed OCR and asked them about app inventor, and this was their response: Says it all really! I can confirm that the standalone is 100x easier to use in an educational environment, a lot less problems.
rama1712 Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 Just tried this and it seems to do all we need to do why was this never mentioned be for.
mulderite Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 If anyone else is experiencing the "Launch the aiStarter program on your computer and try again" error, I found the way around it was to set Firefox to 'No Proxy' in settings instead of 'Automatically Detect Settings'.. worked a treat and now the program communicates with the emulator perfectly.
mthomas08 Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 Sorry for the bump but we are experiencing inconsistent issues with this. What alternative products are available or do we have to use this?
BassTech Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 Sorry for the bump but we are experiencing inconsistent issues with this. What alternative products are available or do we have to use this? Have you tried following this thread: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/139452-app-inventor-2-without-compromising-security-i-think.html ? This is how I got it working in the end.
mthomas08 Posted February 23, 2016 Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) Have you tried following this thread: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/139452-app-inventor-2-without-compromising-security-i-think.html ? This is how I got it working in the end. We are going to have a look at this. Although I don't think it will fix our problems due to the inconsistency. Our machines are imaged and are effectively the same yet one Student will be fine, another will have issues where it crashes (requires restart) and another will be alright then have problems. Some Students are having to reboot a dozen times. We have tried multiple PC suites from OKAY machines to really good spec equipment. Doesn't help when you get the ridiculous generic response from the creator or company "Must be your network". We got a response that they will ask a School to send us a type up on installing etc. As I said it's an inconsistent issue but because every Students App is not the same we think this has a major factor. It doesn't even give useful error messages when problems occur. Students have also resized images which has fixed some crash problems. Again the crashes don't tell you why it happens.. Edited February 23, 2016 by mthomas08
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now