mrwobbly Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 I have a Promethean board in a mobile classroom with laptops running Active Primary 2 and 3. It’s an outside wall and no power cables run behind it. Writing on the board and the text will suddenly disappear. Going to the next page and back to the first will sometimes bring it back but not always. Saving a flipchart usually omits the last page. I’ve tried so far from working classrooms. 4 laptops and lots of pens. Various drivers including the latest and several versions of Active Primary. Swapped out the power supply. Swapped out both power cables. Connected a USB cable direct from laptop to the board to rule out the av/usb wall socket and wiring in the trunking. Updated firmware on the first board. Swapped the two Active boards over. Everything has been changed and it still does the same thing. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
plexer Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 Where is the flip chart file being read from? any usb memory sticks plugged into machine if so remove them and try again. Ben
Jamman960 Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 If the text is getting to the software then the board is working as it should, I'd ditch active primary 2/3 entirely and switch to Inspire(free upgrade via the promethean website) anyway with or without this issue, I find it to be pretty stable and has far fewer quirks. Not quite sure what could be causing this in a specific room, I'd say look at the network connection in addition to plexer's suggestion although it should have no bearing what so ever 1
mrwobbly Posted June 16, 2011 Author Report Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) It happens on a new clean page. Just write random text and at some point on the page the text will disappear. Edited June 16, 2011 by mrwobbly
plexer Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 Any additional usb devices or specifically memory sticks inserted? Ben
mrwobbly Posted June 16, 2011 Author Report Posted June 16, 2011 Any additional usb devices or specifically memory sticks inserted? Ben Not at any stage of diagnostics. Nice thought but I,ve taken this down to the very basics.
CESIL Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 From the combination of devices you have swapped it sounds like electrical interference in the room or somewhere nearby...they don't have an ActivTablet or ActivSlate lying around somewhere do they? At this time of the year I doubt it is any sort of heating starting/stopping causing this. Since the text appears on the screen it has clearly been detected by the laptop(s) so for it to disappear something must be overriding the laptop software...that is why I wonder if there is an external device also linked to the board (the ActivTablet or ActivSlate will sync to the board without any addition hardware) that is cancelling the text... 1
plexer Posted June 16, 2011 Report Posted June 16, 2011 we had similar and other wierd issues with a board, turned out to be faulty usb stick. Does it do the same on another board? Ben 1
Jamman960 Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 If the text is sometimes returning when changing page and back then I'd say its a software glitch. Try using MS Paint instead of activ primary to test it or give inspire a go 1
TRobinson Posted June 17, 2011 Report Posted June 17, 2011 You say that you have tried 4 different laptops (known to work on other boards I assume) and even swapped the ActivBoard out with another and replaced cables, pens etc, which only leaves one thing - the projector?? Just wondering if it is something to do with the refresh of the projector - would be interesting to know if you mirror the displays, does the copy of ActivPrimary displayed on the laptop screen display the annotations but the projector doesn't? First thing I would try first though because it is easier, go into ActivPrimary's settings, select "Flipchart objects" and remove the tick from "Lines and Shapes" in the High Quality section - some Graphics cards can't cope with this setting and display similar issues to what you are seeing. 1
mrwobbly Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Posted June 23, 2011 I went to the school today and tested. The text disappears from the laptop screen at the same time as the board. I removed the tick from "Lines and Shapes" and the result is still the same. I've even disconnected the power lead to the laptop and run on battery to eliminate power problems. I'm at a complete loss as to what to try next.
TRobinson Posted June 24, 2011 Report Posted June 24, 2011 Hi, Theres something strange happening here, please can you check what versions of the software you are running and which OS? Also, did you confirm that the laptops work on other ActivBoards without issue?
mrwobbly Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Posted June 25, 2011 Hi, Theres something strange happening here, please can you check what versions of the software you are running and which OS? Also, did you confirm that the laptops work on other ActivBoards without issue? First laptop was the classroom laptop which has always worked with the board until the problems started. I tested with two other laptops taken from working classroom whiteboards which show the same symptoms in this class. Took back to the original classrooms and work fine. The fourth laptop was a clean install with the latest drivers downloaded the day I tested and latest Active Primary 3 as supplied by the Promethean helpline via email. They are XP SP3 with all updates. I can’t get version numbers until I am next in on Wednesday but given all the versions I have tried it’s not drivers or software I think.
TRobinson Posted June 28, 2011 Report Posted June 28, 2011 So the issue appears to remain in this room - did you confirm whether the issue occurs in MS Paint/ActivInspire as suggested earlier? The ultimate test is to exchange the board with a working one from another room to see if the issue follows the board - we need to isolate the issue if we can as at present there are too many variables.
mrwobbly Posted July 3, 2011 Author Report Posted July 3, 2011 So the issue appears to remain in this room - did you confirm whether the issue occurs in MS Paint/ActivInspire as suggested earlier? The ultimate test is to exchange the board with a working one from another room to see if the issue follows the board - we need to isolate the issue if we can as at present there are too many variables. I have swapped the board over already and the problem remained with the new board taken from a working classroom. I couldn't get to the laptop when I was in this week as the were using it and I have to move a classroom of computers when I'm in on Wednesday but I will try Inspire and Paint as soon as I can.
mrwobbly Posted July 3, 2011 Author Report Posted July 3, 2011 Exorcism? That may be my only hope. Swapped board. Tried two laptops from working classrooms. Tried new laptop with fresh install of Windows, latest driver and Active Primary. Class laptop works fine in other classrooms. Swapped power supply and all cables.
Rosi Posted October 24, 2011 Report Posted October 24, 2011 Some months later....I'm having the same problem....did anyone manage to find a solution?
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