Smart Board - Major Issues - Electrical Interference - Disconnecting itself - HELP

[noah]

We are currently having major issues with some of our Smart Boards, they just randomly diconnect themselves, We have updated all the Firmware and software to the latest versions.

 

It seems to be an Electrical interference issue, as when the teacher turns the lights on or off the smart board disconnects itself!!

 

Has anyone else had this or a simular problem - As we are keen to build a case, and need a result quickly on this is have a major impact on teaching and learning.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[plexer]

Get some ferrite chokes and put hte around the dc and usb leads.

 

Ben

[Abe]

Have you needed to extend the USB cable run beyond 5m? This would cause you problems unless you use active USB or passive Cat 5 extenders to exceed the standard distance limits. We have had good results in a couple of awkward classroom setups with passive extenders and Cat5e ethernet cables.

 

It is possible to buy USB cables which claim to have better shielding or to use shielded Cat 5 cables with an extender.

[noah]

Thank you for your reply's we have used the USB cables that came with the smart boards, and they are not extended.

 

Thanks again - Keep the suggestions coming :-)

[Abe]

I have seen a weird case once before where a small form factor desktop PC (powered by external brick) had problems with booting when connected to the Smartboard and appeared to struggle to drive it if it was plugged in after booting. The monitor used with this computer happened to have a built-in USB hub and feeding the Smartboard connection through this solved the problem. You could try putting a powered USB hub between your computer and Smartboard to see if this helps.

[noah]

Thank you for your suggestion, we have already tried powered USB hubs, with no success. Have noticed another simular post http://www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/35243-smartboard-alignment-problem-2.html Edited June 1, 2012 by noser