BrightAuthor General Troubleshooting FAQs

If the folder you selected has a large number of images and videos, the Media Library may take a few minutes to update.

The eventlog.txt 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 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

Try the following:

1. Update your graphics card driver to the latest version.

2. Try removing all files from the BrightAuthor Media Library folder. Then open BrightAuthor again. If it opens, this would indicate a codec problem when BrightAuthor tries to build thumbnails for the Media Library. 

3. If the files used in the project are stored on a networked drive or external drive, try opening them from a location on your local disk. 

4. Update to the latest version of BrightAuthor, which can be found on the Software Downloads page.

If these suggestions don’t work, post a description of the problem in the forums or email us at support@brightsign.biz and include:

• Steps to duplicate the problem (or indicate that you can’t duplicate it)

• Any error dialogs you saw, including text in the dialog

• The contents of your event log right after the crash (see https://brightsign.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOC/pages/edit-v2/2085126145#Where-is-the-BrightAuthor-eventlog%3F)

• A copy of the presentation project where you encountered the problem

BrightAuthor states, events, and commands are made available according to the capabilities of the BrightSign player model you select in the New Project window: For example, since the HD223 does not have an HDMI input or serial port, an HD223 project will not offer the corresponding Live Video state or Serial Input event.

If you don't see an event or state, check the top left of the window to determine whether the presentation is targeted for the correct model, as shown in the image below. If the model number is incorrect, you will need to create another presentation with the correct model number (i.e. the model number of an existing presentation cannot be altered).

These BrightAuthor states/events are commonly restricted by model type:

• HTML5: Not supported on LSx22, HDx20, HDx10

• Live Video: Supported on XT1143, 4K1142, XD1132, XD1230 only

• GPIO Input

• Serial Input

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.

This type of error can be caused by proxy server or firewall blocking BrightAuthor's access to the Internet. Even if you aren't using a BrightSign Network account, BrightAuthor contacts BSN servers to get the latest firmware versions for public and beta releases. See this page for more information.

Try to duplicate the problem, then exit BrightAuthor if it is open. Find the eventlog.txt file (see this FAQ for more info) and forward it to support@brightsign.biz with a description of the problem.

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.

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:

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:

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.