Unable to get Activpen working and BSOD with driver

[vdao]

Hi,

 

We have many Activboards 78" 300 series, all of them are receiving BSOD at various times with the code being "IRQL not less or equal", I have realised it was the activ driver that was causing the issue. In addition this has caused my pen to not be recognised by the board

 

Currently all of my boards are stuck on Version 8.04 build 0 or 4. I am unable upgrade the version to the recommend v8.10.

 

Here are some forums links that I have followed but found no luck.

 

Windows 10 update 1903 - ActivInspire crashing - solution (axiedu.com)

My Windows 10 computer crashes when I connect my Promethean device (prometheanworld.com)

Firmware Updating – Promethean Community (prometheanworld.com)

 

Any assistance with this would be great because this is driving me up the wall.

 

There does not seem to be a clear fix to this.

 

Many thanks

Viet

[Mr.Ben]

There isn't a way to fix it now.

 

We had roughly 20 boards cause the error when we updated to 1909.

 

Spoke to Promethean about it and it's a firmware issue that can't be fixed/updated.

 

All of our boards were 15+ years old, so I have no complaints and it forced the school to update them.

[DangPro]

Hi Viet,

 

One of the first things that need to be checked is the version of ActivDriver you are using. The current version is V5.18.19. You can get it from the Promethean support site.

https://support.prometheanworld.com/s/article/1291?language=en_US

 

With this version of ActivDriver you will be able to update the firmware on the boards. You will also need to make sure you have a direct connection from the computer to the board with a USB cable that is less than 5m.

[SayLHP]

I've had the activpen fail across all my schools (looking after a collection of primaries by myself), came into school one Monday to find my emails exploding with every board pen failing across all the schools. Majority just needed the ActivDriver updating and then the Firmware to 8.10.

 

Any that aren't taking the firmware update or driver update, I've just reimaged the PC attached to it and then applied the new drivers/firmware via a clean Windows install.

[gerardsweeney]

Hi..

 

In case anyone is reading this

 

Promethean released an unsigned Beta driver 5.16 which seems to work correctly on all of our AB2 boards running 20H2.

The newest driver (5.19) doesn't work - we get the BSODs.

 

I've put together a silent install script which we use in our SCCM environment.

 

If anyone wants a copy, give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

Gerard

[Hybrid]

Hi..

 

In case anyone is reading this

 

Promethean released an unsigned Beta driver 5.16 which seems to work correctly on all of our AB2 boards running 20H2.

The newest driver (5.19) doesn't work - we get the BSODs.

 

I've put together a silent install script which we use in our SCCM environment.

 

If anyone wants a copy, give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

Gerard

 

PM sent - very interested in this as we have the same issue now.

[gerardsweeney]

PM sent - very interested in this as we have the same issue now.

 

PM sent - hope it helps.

 

I've put this in the PM, but for other people reading..

 

The drivers require that the PC be attached to the board via USB.

There's only been 1 driver which worked reliably with Win10 and serial (5.7), but it was causing BSODs for us.

[Hybrid]

We're not having much luck at all with our AB2s since changing workstations over summer. We're now getting constant BSODs.

 

We've tried a multitude of combinations that used to work no problem at all.

 

- Newer USB to serials

- Direct USB

- 5.18.16, 5.18.19, 5.7.25 you name it, they're now all producing BSODs.

 

We're trying to explain to staff that we are trying to get decades old hardware to work with newer hardware. It's never going to be pretty.

[gerardsweeney]

We're not having much luck at all with our AB2s since changing workstations over summer. We're now getting constant BSODs.

 

We've tried a multitude of combinations that used to work no problem at all.

 

- Newer USB to serials

- Direct USB

- 5.18.16, 5.18.19, 5.7.25 you name it, they're now all producing BSODs.

 

We're trying to explain to staff that we are trying to get decades old hardware to work with newer hardware. It's never going to be pretty.

 

 

I'm not looking forward to similar conversations.

We use HP pretty much exclusively.

Using EliteDesk 800 G2, G3, G4, G5, G6 on 20H2... AB2 boards are almost all on the unsigned 5.18.16.

 

21H2 and Win11 are on my radar, but I'm running under the "it's working, so...."

 

I've already told the Education department to expect serious problems as we move up Windows versions - Promethean's release of the unsigned 5.18.16 tells me they no longer have any interest in the thousands of people still using their older kit.

[3s-gtech]

Our ancient ABs have been, frankly, awesome. Tough, resilient, still just about working with Windows 10 despite being nearly 20 years old.

 

The writing is on the wall though. And they won’t be for long - I sent one to the recyclers today, and got another lined up to go along with some SB 580s (that never worked with 10).