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Local Diagnostic Web Server

Local Diagnostic Web Server

Owned by BrightSign TechDocs
Last updated: Feb 14, 2025
7 min read

The Local Diagnostic Web Server (LDWS) allows you to view and modify various settings on a networked BrightSign player. The Local DWS is accessible over the local network with a web browser or the BrightSign shell, unlike the Remote DWS which is accessible over the Internet with BrightAuthor:connected or a web browser.

The Remote and Local DWS provide nearly the same functionality. more information about both is available in: Remote Diagnostic Web Server and Set up the Local Diagnostic Web Server

The Local DWS user interface consists of several tabs. This section details the information and settings offered by each tab.

Info

This page provides general information about the player and its current status:

  • Time: The current time as it is configured on the player. On the local DWS, you can select the  icon to configure the time on the player:

    • Automatically: Click Use Client to set the time of the player using the current time of the browser/application.

    • Manually: Enter a Time and Date to set on the player. These values will go into effect the moment you click the Set Time button. If you would like to interpret the date/time using the time zone of the player, check the Apply Timezone box. Otherwise, the date/time will be applied as a UTC value.

You cannot edit the time zone of the player from the DWS. To change the time zone, you will need to perform the player setup process again.

  • Name: The user-supplied name of the player

  • Description: An optional user-supplied description for the player

  • Model: The model number of the player

  • Unique ID: The serial number of the player

  • Ethernet/WiFi: The IP address(es) of the player and media access control (MAC) address of the player

  • Boot Version: The current version of the primary boot loader

  • BrightSignOS Version: The current OS version installed on the player

  • Video Mode: The current video output resolution. You can change the video resolution in the Video tab.

  • Uptime: The amount of time the player has been powered on and working correctly

  • Power Source: Displays the power source (for example, AC)

  • PoE: The status of the PoE interface (applicable to PoE capable models only)

Log

This page provides a log of system processes and events on the player. The output is similar to the information generated through a serial, Telnet, or SSH connection.

  • Refresh: Retrieve new log information from the player.

  • Download log: Download the current log.

Control

This page allows general control of the system processes of the player:

  • Set Password: Set a new password for DWS authentication on the local network.

  • Reboot Player: Reboot the player remotely.

  • Reboot with Crash Report: Reboot the player and save a crash-report file to the "brightsign-dumps" folder. BrightSign support may request the crash report when helping you troubleshoot the player.

  • Factory Reset: Reset the player to factory defaults, erasing all persistent registry settings for networking, security, and other applications.

  • Recovery URL: Set a new recovery URL, which is used by the player to retrieve setup information if there is an autorun-related failure.

SD (Storage)

This section provides information related to the storage device (microSD card, MSATA drive, USB drive) attached to the player.

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  • Storage Information: Select View to get more information about player storage.

  • Upload Files to …: Upload files to the player’s storage device. Files are uploaded to the currently selected directory. To upload files, click the Browse button to select one or more files, then click Upload Files. 

  • Listing of …: Provides a listing of all files on the storage device. Depending on the type of file, there will be several options:

    • Open folder: Click a folder (indicated by the folder icon) to view its contents.

    • Download: Click the  icon to download a file to your computer. File downloads are limited to 10MB on the Remote DWS.

    • File options: Click the  icon to view more options associated with the file:

      • About <filename>: Provides the file size and last modified date.

      • Rename: Provides various options for renaming the file. You can specify a custom name or choose from among a list of common filenames. Use caution if renaming a file to "autorun.brs". The system does not check the integrity of the new autorun file.

      • Analyze Media File: Performs media analysis of a video or audio file.

    • Delete: Click the trashcan icon to delete the file from the storage device.

Diagnostics

This page provides various network and system tools that are helpful for diagnosing problems and getting information about a player:

  • Network Configuration: View extensive information about network interface settings.

  • Network Diagnostics: Run network diagnostics. This process may take some time to complete, especially when certain tests fail.

  • DNS Lookup: Test the specified DNS address to check whether name resolution is working.

  • Ping: Ping a device with the specified IP address or DNS name.

  • Trace Route: Perform a standard traceroute diagnostic on the specified IP/DNS address. Check the Resolve IP Addresses box to resolve the specified DNS name.

  • Network Neighborhood: Display information on the current network neighborhood.

  • Network Packet Capture: Allows the capture and collection of live network packet data from the network interfaces connected to the BrightSign player.

  • Disable Autorun: Force the player to reboot and disable the autorun script when the device restarts. This allows the unit to display the OS version and IP address on screen (if the unit is connected to a local network). If the player has a serial port, you will be able to access the system shell over a null-modem serial cable.

  • Storage Formatting: Takes you to the Format Storage page, which allows you format storage devices attached to the player.

    • Storage: Select a storage device. You can only format storage devices that are currently unformatted; storage that already contains content files or autorun scripts cannot be reformatted.

    • File system: Select a supported file system to use when formatting the storage device.

  • Telnet/SSH: Allows you to enable Telnet and SSH for your player. This lets you access the BrightSign application console when serial port (the default I/O for the application console) is inaccessible. Not that we do not recommend enabling either Telnet or SSH in a production environment for security reasons. A Port Number can be set for Telnet, and a Port Number and SSH Password can be set for SSH as shown in the image below:

Snapshots

This page allows you to view remote snapshots of the visual output of the player.

Click the New Screenshot button to take a screenshot. Once the screenshot has been taken, you can click the thumbnail to view a full-size image of the screenshot.

As of BrightSignOS 8.5.31, screenshots are captured at resolution with a maximum size of HD. Select Return the snapshot at its original resolution (do not downscale to HD) to get the snapshot at a higher resolution.

Video

This page provides several diagnostic tools related to the video settings of the player:

  • HDMI Status: Whether each player HDMI® connection (indicated as HDMI-1, HDMI-2, etc.) is “Active” or “Inactive”

  • Current Video Mode: The video resolution currently being output on each HDMI connection (indicated as HDMI-1, HDMI-2, etc.). If the player is set to a 4K video mode, this field will also indicate whether the10-bit colorspace and/or HDR (high dynamic range) is currently being output.

  • Power Save: Disables HDMI output, the syncs for VGA output, and/or the DAC output for component video for each HDMI connection (indicated as HDMI-1, HDMI-2, etc.). The absence of a signal will cause some monitors to go into standby mode.

  • EDID Information: Displays the EDID data returned from one or more monitors attached to the player’s HDMI ports (indicated as HDMI-1, HDMI-2, etc.). This information can be copied and pasted into a text editor.

  • Change Video Mode: Changes the display mode/resolution of the player on all video outputs (HDMI®, VGA, and Component). The device will reboot and disable the current autorun script (similar to the Disable Autorun button in the Diagnostics tab). Otherwise, the autorun script will reset the video mode of the player by default.

Advanced

  • BrightSignOS Update: Instruct the player to download a .bsfw OS-update file from the specified URL. After the file has been downloaded, the player will reboot and update its BrightSignOS version.

  • Storage Location: Enter the storage location and select View to temporarily access the player storage location.

  • BrightSign OS Logs: Select the level of detail you prefer in the BrightSignOS logs and then select Set to apply that setting.

  • Property Lock: Allows you to decide if your presentation settings should be overwritten or not.

Registry

The Registry tab allows you to view and edit the registry:

  • Select View Registry Dump to view the player registry. You can copy the output to the clipboard or download it to a text file.

  • To submit registry commands, add registry entries, or delete registry entries, enter that information in the empty field under Command and then select Submit. You must reboot the player to see changes to the registry.