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If the player suddenly goes into a reboot loop after publishing a new presentation, most likely something in the presentation is causing the crash:

  • The player firmware may be incompatible with your BrightAuthor/BA:connected version. Upgrade the player to at least the minimum compatible firmware version:

    • In BrightAuthor:connected, see BrightSignOS Update in the Advanced tab of the DWS

    • In BrightAuthor, do this in Device Setup via Specify Firmware Update, or when publishing the presentation schedule via Specify Firmware Update.

  • Make sure that the data feed is an actual RSS/MRSS or simple XML structure, not a HTML page, image, or some other kind of content

  • Make sure that your plugin (.brs) is not corrupt or invalid (you've downloaded the plaintext BrightScript .brs and not the HTML page). For Github downloads, you should be clicking the Raw link on the fancy source code view page.

  • Make sure your media conforms to the support supported video, audio, and image formats and types. Also pay attention to whether it's portrait or landscape resolution.

  • Note that when BrightAuthor presentations change screen resolutions (e.g. from 1280x720x60p to 1024x768x60p), the player will reboot.

To fix:

  • BrightSign Network or Simple File Networking/Web Folder: Publish a working presentation and either wait for the player to update or reboot it manually.

  • Standalone:

    1. Retrieve the player's storage device

    2. Publish a working presentation to it

    3. Replace the storage device in the player

    4. Reboot the player.

  • Local File Networking: Reapply player setup files to the player's storage to clear the player's presentation schedule so it won't run and crash the player again. If you cannot physically access the player, you can still recover as long as the Diagnostic Web Server is accessible.

    Keep trying to hit http://{{playerIPaddress}}/action.html?reboot=Reboot&disable=autorun (replace {{playerIPaddress}} with the player's LAN IP address) from a web browser until you get a response from the player. After you see the response, the player will reboot with the autorun disabled, then you can use the method described in the Publishing Setup Files via Diagnostic Web Server to create, package, and deliver a new set of player setup files. After the new setup is applied you should be able to publish to the player again.

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If scheduling one presentation to play all the time works but setting multiple presentations to play at different times of the day fails, the problem is likely caused by the date, time, or timezone setting on your player. To support day parting, the player needs to be connected to a network with a time server or needs to have a manually configured time:

  • See this FAQHow-to for details on changing the default time server. If the player still has the incorrect time when connected to the Internet, try the solutions outlined in this the “Why isn’t the player clock working?” FAQ.

  • Make sure the player is set to the correct timezone. See this FAQHow-to for more details on setting the player time zone.

  • If you can't connect the player to a network with a time server, you can manually configure the time on the player. See this FAQHow-to for more details.

The LS424 has a real-time clock (RTC) but does not have a supercapacitor to save the configured time after it power cycles. This player model must be able to communicate with a time server to play day-parted presentations reliably.

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If your Local File Networking publish fails, and the error indicates that the autoplay.xml file could not be published, this may be caused by a corrupted userpreferences.xml file. To fix this problem:

  • Clear your BrightAuthor user preferences by deleting all the userpreferences.xml files contained in the %localappdata%\BrightSign\BrightAuthor subfolders, then reopen BrightAuthor. You'll find the user preferences file in %localappdata%\BrightSign\BrightAuthor (type the address into the location/address bar). You may need to set your computer to show hidden files and folders to find this folder.

    • Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 example:
      C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Local\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\2.0.0.44

    • Windows XP example:
      C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Local Settings\Application Data\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\2.2.0.37

  • Uninstall and re-install BrightAuthor.

  • If this does not solve your issue, attempt to publish again and then exit BrightAuthor. Submit a support ticket with the BrightAuthor eventlog.txt file (see this the “Where is the BrightAuthor eventlog?” FAQ to find that file). Be sure to retrieve the log before relaunching, since the log is rewritten on each boot.

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If an RSS/MRSS feed works when you start up the unit or publish a new presentation, but fails to update at other times, the problem is most likely with the RSS update frequency setting.

Screenshot 2024-07-30 at 11.23.20 AM.png

Go to File > Presentation Properties > Data Feeds and check the Update Interval: It may be set to 12 hours, 24 hours, or even "Once". You can use the dropdown list to shorten the update interval to as little as 30 seconds.

My BSN status is red after downloading an updated schedule

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An empty schedule, out of date firmware, corrupt content, unsupported media, or a partially failed download can cause the BSN status to turn red after downloading a scheduled project:

You may have to force a player into Recovery Mode to get it working again (instructions are at the end of this FAQ).

  1. The player firmware must be compatible with your version of BrightAuthor. If you've updated to a new version of BrightAuthor recently, or are publishing to a new player, the player may require a firmware update to support new presentations. To fix this:

    1. Publish an updated project with a firmware update attached:

      1. Select Specify Firmware Update in the Publish > BrightSign Network menu

      2. Select the production or beta version of firmware.

    2. Force the player into Recovery Mode.

  2. A corrupt or improperly encoded video can cause the player to continuously reboot before its normal call-in period. To fix this:

    1. Upload the updated project.

    2. Enable recovery.

  3. Check for "failed to download sync list" or other errors under Manage > Status > Info. Occasionally, the player may fail to download the current-sync.xml file after the schedule has been updated. To fix this:

    1. Try uploading the BrightAuthor project to BSN again and republishing it. 

    2. If that fails, rename the project, upload it, and then publish it again.

    3. Also check if the subscription of the player has expired, leaving it in suspended status.

  4. Check under Download Progress for files that failed to download. If any files from the last download session failed to download successfully, the player's status will change to red. To fix this:

    1. Go to Manage > Status, right-click the player, and select Download Progress. This will display the current status of player content downloads.

    2. Remove the files from the project and upload the project to BSN again.

    3. Upload problem files again to BSN if those files fail to download repeatedly.

  5. Check the length of time images are set to play, even if there's only one file in the playlist. Images set to three seconds or less can cause a red status older BrightAuthor versions. To fix this:

    1. Under Edit > Preferences, set the default Image timer to four seconds or more (you can edit individual image timers for states in your BrightAuthor playlist).

    2. Publish the updated project.

    3. Enable recovery.

Forcing Recovery

If the player doesn't appear to be calling in or is in a reboot loop, you can force it to go through the recovery process the next time it boots up. There are two recovery modes: one will reformat the SD card and one will not. When the unit goes through recovery, it downloads the currently published project again, along with the updated schedule. If you choose "no reformat" recovery, then only new content files will be re-downloaded.

  1. Publish an updated BrightAuthor project (including a firmware update if needed).

  2. In BrightAuthor, go to the Tools > Advanced menu.

  3. Click the Control tab.

  4. Paste or type in the serial number of the player. This number can be found by navigating to Manage > Status, right-clicking the player, and selecting Info--the serial number is listed in the Unit ID field.

  5. In the Action drop down menu, select Recovery - reformat or Recovery - don't reformat.

  6. Click Add Action.

  7. Reboot the player:

    • Detach and reattach the power cable.

    • Use the Reboot command if you have the Diagnostic server enabled.

    • Wait for the unit to restart if it's in a reboot loop.

The player will check for the recovery flag when it powers up, before it tries to play the presentation on the SD card. 

Why did BrightAuthor fail to publish or save my project?

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This is usually caused by permissions issues. Saving or publishing fails if BrightAuthor can’t write to one or more files. 

  1. If you are publishing to an SD card, verify that it’s not write protected. For most SD cards, sliding the notched tab toward the top of the card will disabled copy protection.

  2. Verify that your computer login has administrator access: Try logging in as administrator or as a different user.

  3. Quit BrightAuthor and delete the UserPreferences.xml file. Then reopen BrightAuthor. See the note below to locate the file.

  4. Email support@brightsign.biz and attach the eventlog.txt file. See the note below to locate the file. 

The eventlog.txt and UserPreferences.xml file location for Windows Vista and Windows versions 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11 is %localappdata%\\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\version_number. For example:

  • C:\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\4.3.0.11

The eventlog.txt and UserPreferences.xml file location for Windows XP is: %appdata%\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\version_number. For example:

  • C:\Documents and Settings\John Doe\Local Settings\Application Data\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\3.7.0.11

You may need to set your computer to show hidden files and folders to see this folder. 

Why can’t I upload content via Local File Networking in BrightAuthor?

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A known bug affects the upload/transfer of content to the player while publishing a presentation via Local File Networking. This issue affects some users that enabled authentication by entering a password for the Local Web Server via the User name and Password options in Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit > Unit Configuration. Follow these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Clear the player registry as described on this page.

  2. Close BrightAuthor.

  3. Find and delete the BrightSignUnits.xml file for your BrightAuthor version. The path should be similar to this: C\Users\[User_Name]\AppData\Local\BrightSign\BrightAuthor\[BA_Version_Number]

  4. Open BrightAuthor.

  5. Go to Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit to create a new setup card without a password for the Diagnostic Web Server or Local Web Server.

  6. Insert the new setup card into the player.

  7. Connect the power cable (or Ethernet cable if using PoE).

  8. In BrightAuthor go to the Publish tab, Select New Unit, select the "+" icon to add the new player IP address, and select OK.

If you don't know the IP address of your player, see this page for help.