silver Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 We have a smartboard which has been relocated (before I got here) and I am having trouble getting it to work. I just want to know that I have done everything that I can... The serial connector on the smartboard goes through trunking to a plate on the wall, which has both a usb and a serial connector. I spoke to Steljes and they told me that a 2004 500 series board would be serial to serial, and after a lot of heaving about of cables, they seem to be correct (mind you, the usb port is connected up too and I cannot see where that cable goes!) When I connect a laptop, the light on the smartboard does not come on at all. I think when I first looked at the board to work out which cables I needed, the light was possibly red, but now it is off whether there is a laptop connected or not. Is there anything I can do to test it further? I have tried 2 laptops now and various different cables.
MrPstv Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 Have you tried updating your drivers and software?
silver Posted February 11, 2009 Author Posted February 11, 2009 Laptops both have the latest notebook 10 and driver on - what else is there to update?
rad Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 The smartboard end should be serial, the PC end either Serial and PS2 or just USB. If its a problem, try changing the cable with another and see if that works.
SimpleSi Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 AFAIR the old serial cables required a PS2 adaptor to provide extra power - a standard serial cable won't do the job. regards Simon
Dom_ Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 Iirc the light is red when a computer is connected (so the board is getting power) and goes green when the software connects. I do remember seeing a few old serial cables with PS2 ports attached, so as Si says that is probably the issue. I'm sure the cables were pretty expensive too
silver Posted February 11, 2009 Author Posted February 11, 2009 There is no red, green or any other colour light! I have swapped out all the cables I can find - no dice Apparently the board is young enough not to need the ps2 port bit but I must admit I thought it should as I havent seen a serial one without. Where can I get an informed answer as Steljes have already said it doesnt?
SimpleSi Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 Try the board in another class to see if its the board. Try going direct into board from laptop and not via wiring. regards Simon PS Steljes support - best on the planet
witch Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 I must admit I thought it was prometheans that used the ps2 port thingy. I have just been googling around to see if i can see one and havent been able to. I would agree that connecting directly to the smartboard would be a good idea.
silver Posted February 12, 2009 Author Posted February 12, 2009 tried every cable and the thing still doesn't work The consensus is that it is broken Anyone any idea if it can be mended?
rjmcleod Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Silver, Have you tried posting your inquiry in the SMART Exchange Technical Support Forum (http://exchange.smarttech.com/forums/14.aspx)? You will have to create an account in order to post, but I would recommend trying that. Cheers, Rob 1
SimpleSi Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 OMG - Smart have decided to do technical support! Mind you - it is buried at the very bottom of the forum which is in keeping with the normal philosophy of keeping their heads down and their eyes and ears closed so they can't hear the reports of some of their products unreliability. Dare I join Simon
gshaw Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 We've got some 500 series boards and they're USB to serial USB at PC end, serial at board end and a lump on the cable at PC end (presumably the converter) Maybe you're seeing the serial at the board end and it's actually hooked into the USB connector on the plate, have you tried a USB lead with it?
silver Posted February 13, 2009 Author Posted February 13, 2009 We've got some 500 series boards and they're USB to serial USB at PC end, serial at board end and a lump on the cable at PC end (presumably the converter) Maybe you're seeing the serial at the board end and it's actually hooked into the USB connector on the plate, have you tried a USB lead with it? ~I did think this and so connected a USB but unfortunately there was still no power light. Asking around, no one here ever remembers it in use before it was moved so there is a chance that it never worked. I will try the support forum, thanks
krisd32 Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 some of the older smart boards i've seen at one of the primaries i go to requires an ac adapter plugged into the pc end of the serial cable to provide enough power to the board is there any sign of being able to plug anything into the cable?
silver Posted February 13, 2009 Author Posted February 13, 2009 no, absolutely nothing - looks like a normal serial to me but it might not be the original cable that came with the board
steven19852001 Posted February 13, 2009 Posted February 13, 2009 The 9 pin serial cable does come with a power supply which is 12V DC 0.6A. The serial-USB cable is powered by USB which is more common now and also saves up the plug sockets. Thanks Steven Hayes
TommyCooper Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 500-series SMARTboards can also be connected to your computer with a SMART USB-serial adaptor cable. The part number is USB-FRU, and you should be able to get hold of one either through your reseller or failing that direct from Steljes. That said - if the light isn't coming on at all then the controller board may be faulty. If you have another 500-series board that is working correctly then I'd suggest taking the potentially-faulty board off the wall (it should just lift up off its mounting rail) and trying it in the room with the working board.
silver Posted February 19, 2009 Author Posted February 19, 2009 We only have the one smartboard in the whole school - all the rest are prometheans so I have no options to swap out anything anywhere So Steven19852001 are you DEFINITELY telling me that I need a different cable for my 2004 500 series board? The tech support guy I spoke to at Steljes seemed to think I just needed a serial cable. My problem is that I don't want to go and buy another cable and the board STILL not work
steven19852001 Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Hi Silver. Like Tommy Cooper says there is a chance it could be the controller so I would suggest sending me the log file so i can determine if it is the cable or controller. Please feel free to contact me and ask for Steven Hayes.
silver Posted February 19, 2009 Author Posted February 19, 2009 What log file? Nothing works!! You didn't answer the question about whether I need a special cable or not?
rjmcleod Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Silver, I sent you 2 private messages; one with more information from our Tech Support Dept and another with a link to a technical doc which includes more information on the problem. Let me know if you don't get anything from me in which case give me an email I can get ahold of you at. Thanks, Rob
silver Posted February 23, 2009 Author Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) Thanks for all your help - the final consensus is that at the very least I need a cable that provides power - they don't make the old ones with the ps2 power connector so I have got to get an USB-FRU cable The problem I have is that it is nigh on £50 and there is a good chance that it won't work as no one remembers the board working before it was moved. Edited February 24, 2009 by silver
silver Posted February 24, 2009 Author Posted February 24, 2009 I managed to borrow a cable and IT WORKS!!!! Now I will happily buy one. Best thing of all is that I can tell the very arrogant guy who fitted it that it DOES work even though he came in last week and decided it didn't, hadn't and never would! Thank you very very much for all your help, especially rjmcleod who inspired me to try steljes support again even though one of their techs had already told me that the board only needed a normal serial cable.
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