BrightAuthor Publishing Troubleshooting FAQs

If you're getting a blank screen after you publish your presentation and start up the player, you're most likely experiencing a problem either with your content or with the video resolution that the published project is set to.

1. Check the Screen resolution of your project in File > Presentation Properties > Main. Some resolutions only work over HDMI or over VGA. If, for example, you set the resolution to 1920x1080, but your player is connected using VGA, you will not see anything on the display.

2. Determine whether the Force Resolution option is enabled in File > Presentation Properties > Main (in BrightAuthor 4.3 and later). When the Force Resolution option is enabled, the display will be blank if it doesn't support the specified Screen resolution. When this option is disabled, the player will negotiate with the monitor to find a supported video mode if the monitor doesn't support the specified Screen resolution.

3. Check if the red error light is blinking. If it is, count the number of times it flashes. If the red error light flashes 10 times with your published project, it normally means that the published project tried to do something that the player doesn't support. See https://brightsign.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOC/pages/2109014049/Interpret+Flashing+LEDs+on+a+Player?search_id=0f2a2db0-add9-462d-bcaa-9bb79deda2defor a full description of error light codes.

4. Determine if your project requires an Internet connection. For example, if you publish a project that only displays an RSS feed, MRSS feed, or Signchannel, and the player is unable to connect to the Internet, then the screen will be blank.

5. If you are testing a synchronization or BrightWall project, and the master player does not have an Ethernet link, it may fail to start playback. Verify that the master player is connected via Ethernet and has a network connection. If you need to test the project without an Ethernet connection, publish a new copy without synchronization. 

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 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.

If you copy a presentation project from one computer to another, or move or rename files used in a project, BrightAuthor cannot find the files and will error when you try to publish. To resolve the error, you must remove the files from each zone’s playlist in the presentation and then add them again.

Try the following:

1. Publish to a local folder instead of an SD card or network location.

2. Try a different SD card to verify that the card isn’t write protected.

3. Confirm that the files in the media library are still present and haven’t been moved or renamed.

4. Erase all files from your flash card and publish again.

If the problem still exists, try to duplicate it and then exit BrightAuthor if it’s open. Locate the eventlog.txt file and forward it to support@brightsign.biz, along with a description of the problem.

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 FAQ 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 FAQ.

• Make sure the player is set to the correct timezone. See this FAQ 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 FAQ for more details.

When BrightAuthor reports Access to [ip address] denied (for example, "Access to 10.1.1.10 denied") in the Publish > Local Network tab, it is indicating that the username and password set on the player doesn't match what BrightAuthor used when trying to access the player. This could be because the device setup process occurred on a different computer or because the computer has been replaced or had a clean OS re-install.

To enter the correct username and password:

1. Right-click the "Access to [ip address] denied" item and select Specify Username and Password.

2. Enter the username and password used to set up the player.

3. If you don't know the username and password, reconfigure the player by performing the setup process again:

   1. Clean the registry settings as described on this page.

   2. Re-create the setup files for Local Networking under Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit. Don't enter User name and Password for the local web server (you should however enter a username and password for the diagnostic server - see the image below for settings).

   3. Save the setup files onto a blank SD card and insert the SD card into the player.

   4. Power up the player

   5. In BrightAuthor, go to the Publish tab, select Local Network, tick the Networked units radio button, press '+', and enter the IP address of the unit.

   6. If the problem persists, retrieve the eventlog.txt file and send it to us (see this FAQ if you are not sure where to find that file).

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 FAQ to find that file). Be sure to retrieve the log before relaunching, since the log is rewritten on each boot.

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.

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.

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:

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. 

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. 

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.