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BrightAuthor configures networked players to synchronize their internal clocks with the BrightSign time server (http://time.brightsignnetwork.com). During setup, players can also be configured to connect to any HTTP server to retrieve the time. This synchronization process is carried out using the HTTP Time Protocol (HTP).

Problems can occur if a home or small office router is being used as a switch and DHCP server, and not to provide Internet connectivity. Routers that are configured in this manner will likely have incorrect time settings because they cannot determine the correct time without an Internet connection. Routers built for enterprise operations will likely not be affected by this issue.

When routers do not have upstream connectivity, they often provide an error, configuration, or diagnostics page to any device that makes an HTTP request. A player attempting to retrieve the time from the remote server will instead retrieve the time from the router redirect page, which will have the incorrect time. This can cause a number of problems with schedules, events, and clock/date displays. Severe problems can occur if the router causes time to move backward on the internal player clock.

If you cannot change the switch/DHCP configuration of the local network, disable the time server requests using the player configuration process in BrightAuthor:

  1. Navigate to Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit.

  2. Locate the Time server field under Network Properties.

  3. Remove the URL entered in the Time server field so that it is blank.

  4. Specify other player settings in the BrightSign Unit Setup window as desired.

  5. Click Create Setup Files to publish the files to an SD card. You can then setup the player using the card.

The issue described above may also occur with some router models when they lose Internet connectivity, even if they are being used in a standard way and not as a network switch. You can prevent this issue by configuring the player to make NTP or HTTPS requests.

Why did my dynamic playlist upload fail?

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The “KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary” error can be caused by a corrupted UserPreferences.xml file, for example, an empty language setting or a missing localization language entry. Try uninstalling and re-installing BrightAuthor to fix this problem.

Why is my presentation “Unable to open” on one computer, but opens on another?

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BrightAuthor presentation files (.bpf files) created on one computer may fail to open on another computer due to the language that the operating system is set to. Verify the operating systems on both computers are set to the same language, change the language to English temporarily, then try to open the presentation file in BrightAuthor. For example:

Action

You attempt to cast a numeric string to a numeric data type, using code similar to the following:

Code Block
Dim strInput As String = "10"
Dim intResult As Integer = 0
Try
  intResult = Convert.ToInt16(strInput)
  Catch ex As Exception
  MessageBox.Show("Error: " & ex.Message)
End Try

Result

You receive a System.FormatException with "Input string was not in a correct format" and this stack trace:

Code Block
A first chance exception of type 'System.FormatException' occurred in mscorlib.dll
at System.Number.StringToNumber(String str, NumberStyles options, NumberBuffer& number, NumberFormatInfo info, Boolean parseDecimal)
at System.Number.ParseInt32(String s, NumberStyles style, NumberFormatInfo info)
at System.Int16.Parse(String s, NumberStyles style, NumberFormatInfo info)
at System.Convert.ToInt16(String value)
at TypeConversionTest.Form1.cmdConvert_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Source\TypeConversionTest\TypeConversionTest\Form1.vb:line 7

Cause

There is an incorrect value in the following value in the Windows registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\sPositiveSign

This value should be empty for most English Language settings. Note that when this error occurs, the value may appear empty visually, but may contain a space or unprintable character.

Resolution

While it is possible to directly edit the value for the problem key, the preferred method is to change the Regional Settings to a different Region/Language and then reset it to the desired setting:

  1. Open the Regional and Language Options applet from the Control Panel.

  2. Note the Current Format.

  3. Change the Current Format to "English (Australian)".

  4. Click Apply.

  5. Change the Current Format to the desired format (for example, "English (American)").

  6. Click Apply and then click OK.

This action resets every value under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International registry key.