Promethean ActivInspire

[Stuart_C]

Right so I've deployed AvtivInspire to my network and it's all installed OK. My problem is that it just runs REALLY bady on a number of machines. The computers are above the minimum specification though some have the minimum ammount of RAM but are 3GHz processors (min spec is 1GHz).

 

The problem tends to be using the eraiser it can take a while for it to activate when you click on the icon and then when you try and erase something it then pauses for a few seconds (with egg timer) before giving controll back. Also a couple of people have mentioned that it seems to stop when writing think, then wake up however if you have continued writing it puts a straight line between where the pen was when it started thinking and where the pen is now.

 

Has anyoine else had problems with it being slow and constantly stopping to think? These problems were not present with AS3 so I don't think it's a board problem directly.

[cmssbrie]

Hi,

 

What colour depth are you using? - Does it make any difference if you use 32bit colour?

 

Also, do you have any other applications running at the same time?

 

One final thing, what OS are you using?

[russdev]

If on mac I have heard that can be an issue. I found that seems bit more sluggish that version 3 what happens if install version 3 as well and run that on the same machine?

 

Russ

[HodgeHi]

If on mac I have heard that can be an issue.

 

I haven't come across this issue as of yet. I have tested on a mac mini with 2GB ram and a networked home dir, but on a smart board. I hope this isn't the case since we have just ordered a complete smart board replacement here. Really good deal for the boards.

 

I have seen issues with the activ Vote systems though.

[TRobinson]

ActivInspire and ActivStudio 3 will quite happily run side by side on your system

[HodgeHi]

Yes but activprimary 3 looks s**t

[Stuart_C]

Hi,

 

What colour depth are you using? - Does it make any difference if you use 32bit colour?

 

Also, do you have any other applications running at the same time?

 

One final thing, what OS are you using?

Will check Colout deapth but it does this with no applicaitons running on my XP clients.

[cmssbrie]

Will check Colout deapth but it does this with no applicaitons running on my XP clients.

 

Hi Stuart,

 

Just an update on this issue, our development team are looking into it further with the eraser tool.

 

One option as a 'workaround' you could use, would be to use the 'Magic Ink' tool instead.

Whilst it doesn't actually physically 'erase' annotations, it does 'draw' over the top of them with the background flipchart colour - giving the effect that it has been erased (probably best having a go with it to see what I mean!).

 

On the other issue you mentioned where the pen is having difficult 'catching up', and drawing straight lines, do you know what firmware is on the boards concerned?, and what connection is used (USB / Serial / USB w/Extenders / Serial w/ USB convertors)

[Stuart_C]

Actually I believe that those tha have complained about it catching up are TDS boards. which the software won't check for updates. I have been round using the control pannel and "checked for firmware updates". I'll double check this afternoon and get back to you.

 

The boards in question are USB and they go straight into the comptuer not throug an extranal hub.

 

Thanks for the magic ink advice though

[Stuart_C]

The 2 I have had the most complaints about are:

TDS ActivBoard T2.58 Build 0 firware on a USB Connection, 3Ghz P4 with 512Mb RAM - This one is the one I mentioned where it seems to stall

TDS ActivBoard T2.64 Build 0 firmware on a Serial connection 2.8GHz P4 processor with 1GB RAM - this one, apparently is slow all the time)

 

 

I have has a complaint about a second

TDS ActivBoard T2.58 Build 0 firware on a USB Connection, 3Ghz P4 with 512Mb RAM and

TDS ActivBoard T3.34 Build 0 frimware on a USB Connection 3Ghz P4 with 512Mb RAM (this is new TDS board and differnet to the rest)

 

Having said that I spent some time on a TDS board with the 2.64 firmware and appart from the eraser issue it seemed prety usable. And just having a look I do feel that a lot of complaints stem from the eraser problem. I have however had a few complaints about the time it takes to chage page. I have asked a couple of people if they will video it in action and E-mail me any presentations they have trouble with so I can have a look as at the minute, ignoring the eraser issue, it seems reasonably usable.

 

I think it tends to be when they have been working on a flipchart for a while...

Edited May 18, 2009 by Stuart_C

[cmssbrie]

Hi Stuart,

 

The TDS boards should be absolutely fine.

 

There are a few things you can still try - which I will PM you.

 

Steve

[6Foot2]

OK. We have ActivInspire installed and running on the station attached to the new Promethean IWB. I would like to know [and have asked this of Promethean] what is with the grey and the lighter grey pens?

 

I was told by Promethean that one is for a teacher and one is for the student.

 

I can't see any functional differences between the two pens [not being an IWB fan this is not surprising] however I would like to have an answer for all those members of staff who will be badgering me for an answer.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited August 21, 2009 by 6Foot2

[cmssbrie]

OK. We have ActivInspire installed and running on the station attached to the new Promethean IWB. I would like to know [and have asked this of Promethean] what is with the grey and the lighter grey pens?

 

I was told by Promethean that one is for a teacher and one is for the student.

 

I can't see any functional differences between the two pens [not being an IWB fan this is not surprising] however I would like to have an answer for all those members of staff who will be badgering me for an answer.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi,

 

The symbol with two pens is for ActivArena - or dual user - basically allowing you to have a student and a teacher work on the board at the same time (dual input).

 

For this to work, you need the Arena upgrade pack (which consists of 2 pens / Install CD (firmware update) for version 2 ActivBoards or, if you have just got one of the brand new ActivBoard 300 Pro Range, it is already enabled, and the pens will have been provided with the board will allow you to use it.

 

When enabled, and functioning, if you select it in Inspire, you will get two 'toolboxes', one student, one teacher - both users can use their pen at the same time on the board.

 

Theres loads of information about it on our main website if you need to know any more.

 

HTH

[plexer]

I have a pro activ 78 where the user reports it to be incredibly slow when turning pages on a flipchart.

[cmssbrie]

I have a pro activ 78 where the user reports it to be incredibly slow when turning pages on a flipchart.

 

Hi,

 

Yep, it will deffinately work with that board, but as I mentioned earlier, it is in the form of an 'Upgrade' to your board - just look on our main site for "ActivArena" for further info.

 

As to why the page turning is slow, it's not a known issue at our end - possibly something to do with hardware accelleration being taken down a few notches or something like that?

 

If it's causing a lot of problems for you, I'd suggest making sure that the latest build of Inspire is being used (You can check by opening it, clicking 'View' -> "Dashboard" -> "Configure" -> "Check for updates"), and then seeing if there is a 'lag' when turning pages with very little content on them, as well as checking that your hardware accelleration for the graphics card is set to "full".

 

If that doesn't make a difference, it might be worth getting in contact with the Tech Support guys for further advice.

 

HTH

[Stuart_C]

Hi,

 

Yep, it will deffinately work with that board, but as I mentioned earlier, it is in the form of an 'Upgrade' to your board - just look on our main site for "ActivArena" for further info.

 

As to why the page turning is slow, it's not a known issue at our end - possibly something to do with hardware accelleration being taken down a few notches or something like that?

 

If it's causing a lot of problems for you, I'd suggest making sure that the latest build of Inspire is being used (You can check by opening it, clicking 'View' -> "Dashboard" -> "Configure" -> "Check for updates"), and then seeing if there is a 'lag' when turning pages with very little content on them, as well as checking that your hardware accelleration for the graphics card is set to "full".

 

If that doesn't make a difference, it might be worth getting in contact with the Tech Support guys for further advice.

 

HTH

 

Apparently there is some things in V 1.2 that is meant to speed thigns up but I haven't seen anything that says when it's out.

 

We have the same problem (and with the rubber) and we are running the latest versions, we had no problem's before. I haven't really got anywhere with technical support but then being totally honest part of the problem is with my teaching staff who don't do anything when I give them a list of troubleshooting things to go through and then they don't bother and just complain it's still slow.

[cmssbrie]

Apparently there is some things in V 1.2 that is meant to speed thigns up but I haven't seen anything that says when it's out.

 

We have the same problem (and with the rubber) and we are running the latest versions, we had no problem's before. I haven't really got anywhere with technical support but then being totally honest part of the problem is with my teaching staff who don't do anything when I give them a list of troubleshooting things to go through and then they don't bother and just complain it's still slow.

 

Yeah, work has been done on 'speeding up' things in 1.2 - which may also helpo the page turn problem - as for a release date, all I can really advise is that it will be 'before September' (providing it gets through it's final tests) - so there isn't too long to wait on that front!

[plexer]

Hi,

 

Yep, it will deffinately work with that board, but as I mentioned earlier, it is in the form of an 'Upgrade' to your board - just look on our main site for "ActivArena" for further info.

 

As to why the page turning is slow, it's not a known issue at our end - possibly something to do with hardware accelleration being taken down a few notches or something like that?

 

If it's causing a lot of problems for you, I'd suggest making sure that the latest build of Inspire is being used (You can check by opening it, clicking 'View' -> "Dashboard" -> "Configure" -> "Check for updates"), and then seeing if there is a 'lag' when turning pages with very little content on them, as well as checking that your hardware accelleration for the graphics card is set to "full".

 

If that doesn't make a difference, it might be worth getting in contact with the Tech Support guys for further advice.

 

HTH

 

Sorry should have made myself clearer and also apologise for high jacking the thread but my page turning issue is with activstudio 3 I believe it is and not inspire.

 

The teacher in question has just about given up on using it atm.

 

Thanks.

 

Ben

[cmssbrie]

Sorry should have made myself clearer and also apologise for high jacking the thread but my page turning issue is with activstudio 3 I believe it is and not inspire.

 

The teacher in question has just about given up on using it atm.

 

Thanks.

 

Ben

 

Hmmm - thats odd - again, never really come accross it in Studio either, but may be worth...

 

a) cleaning the local temp directories (the software uses these to process the contents of the pages)

b) Changing colour depth to 16 bit (this was what the software was written for natively)

c) turning off any 'Page Turn' affects (right click on the 'Next Page' button - may also be that theyve set a certain 'speed' as well in here which will control 'how quick' the page turns)

 

The other stuff about ensuring latest version, and checking the 'Hardware Accelleration' may also apply - so could be worth checking those too.

 

Failing that, I think the best advice would be to see if it does the same in Inspire (which hopefully it wont :-) )

[kcalderw]

I know this thread is REALLY old but we're seeing the same issues. I had reports from a number of teachers today that said it took forever for ActivInspire to load and switching between tools takes forever. I have updated a few machines to the latest software/firmware but they are having the issue as well. Some machines are at the logo screen for a few minutes before the flames move up and load the program.

[GaRobbie]

There are quite a few variables here though I would recommend starting with a fresh instillation of Inspire if you have not already. Also, Inspire can be especially slow to open the first time it is launched on a system, just to confirm is this a consistent and reoccurring issue on these systems?

 

Have you tried clearing the local temp files?

 

Have you checked your system usage in Task manager. Slow load times / slow response can be related to a lack of available resources.

 

Did you redirect any of the Inspire directories at install or with an Admin.ini file?

 

I would also recommend testing one of the systems with a Newly created local user account (with full admin access) as the slowdown could be related to the user specific files or user rights.

[kcalderw]

I will check on the first few suggestions, but I can tell you about the last one.

 

I have a teacher that is in a test workgroup I created with no application restrictions, however he is not a full admin. None of the teachers will get full admin, but in his case he also had severe slowdown. I was told by a few of our teachers this has been going on for a few years. I just started here a few months ago but it seems to be an intermittent issue.

[psydii]

I will check on the first few suggestions, but I can tell you about the last one.

 

I have a teacher that is in a test workgroup I created with no application restrictions, however he is not a full admin. None of the teachers will get full admin, but in his case he also had severe slowdown. I was told by a few of our teachers this has been going on for a few years. I just started here a few months ago but it seems to be an intermittent issue.

 

I don't suppose you redirect app data do you?

[witch]

@Striker412

See my thread for information that might help

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/promethean-direct-support/123236-time-lag-when-choosing-new-pen-type.html

We do redirect appdata so I tried the fix but it didnt work for me

ActivInspire is very very slow to load here but that is because they have it in ActivPrimary look-alike mode - in ActivStudio it loads much more quickly

[kcalderw]

I guess I should add that we're all on Mac and most of the teachers with boards are on 10.6.8. I will be upgrading them all to ML over the next few weeks. I'm not sure if my predecessor setup app redirection.