Omar

Nice intials. More details below: I was asked if the computers in both scenarios were "identical". I am talking about two separate systems consisting of a total of 5 dell computers. All of the Dell computers have the same configuration in terms of software and hardware. The only difference is that the production computers have a mouse, keyboard and usb midi device and do not boot Watchout automatically. The two seperate W/O systems that are not connected to each other in any way. Before the load-in, these machines were wiped, and installed with Watchout following the recommendations found on the tweak list (many thanks for that tweaklist by the way!). Then this image was copied to all of the computers, and then small modifications were made to each of the display computers. (ip addresses, network names, etc). I did not virus check the master, because I saw few chances of infection. I do have the ability to revert to the "original clone image" but I feel like, aside from eraseing the "shows" folder in the Watchout folders, I'm already there. There is a very small chance for viruses. This machines never connect to the internet and don't have any other use than to run Watchout. The display computers boot Watchout with the link in the Startup folder in the Start menu. No switches were used. No. If the production computer is not on. The display computer shows the splash screen with its ip address. Normal, in my experience. When this issue occurs, the display computer shows me its name, (as assigned by the production computer, with no ip address). I feel like the correct showfile is loaded. (Just a hunch.) As these machines are powered down each night after every show. And the displays are named differently per unique showfile (of which there are two). If you have a working Watchout system right now, you can see what I mean: If you are on a production computer and remote access one of your display computers, you'll see your diplay computer desktop with a minimized W/O window. In that window, there is splash screen, with the name of your display, but no ip address. This is the screen I am seeing on startup when the computer refuses to display the timeline content. And to reiterate, it only happens sometimes and seemingly at random, up until now, baffeling my operators. All firewalls are disabled. Is there a pool of IP ports that W/O pulls from dynamically? Anything port range I should be watching? Well, the old way of fixing this problem (Fix #1) was to go "Online" and "Offline" a few times. And to run through the timeline. Eventually the content would show up. But at unexplained intervals. So I know the showfile is there. Watchout Remote would be an interesting test, and I think you are right about that. Hmm, not sure what part of the system would be port blocking. I'll look into that. Triple-check the firewall settings. With no changes to the systems, sometimes they run well with no problems and other times this issue occurs. When it does, establishing a Remote Management connection fixes it. In a typical run, we never use Remote Management for anything else. This issue used to occur more frequently with my 1st Watchout scenario than the my 2nd. Now it rarely occurs to the 1st and is happening more often on my 2nd. I blame the Mayans.

1) No, not everytime. And I cannot reproduce the problem. It is very random and have changed one variable at a time in order to reproduce it. I have been unsuccessful. 2) I have not. I cannot for some showfiles because they have more than one display computer. And a test like this would be inconclusive as I need to power up/down multiple times to wait for an occurance of the issue. I will try swapping out the switch though. 3) Nope, no chance. Computers were wiped and loaded up with Watchout per the tweaklist. They have never been used for anything else. 4) The native resolutions and refresh rates match across the board, (displays, win7 settings, watchout). To reiterate, I DO get an image (W/O splashscreen), but I DO NOT get the content in the timeline. 5) Display computer is connected directly to display/projector. The Fix #2 seems to consistently correct this issue, so it has just become SOP when this happens. I'm no longer worried about it, just curious at this point.(vendetta?) Thank you all for your help, and if anyone has further suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

Hmm, that is odd. I assumed that since I saw the Display name instead of the ip address, it meant that the Display computer connected to the production computer, loaded the correct showfile and was waiting to go Online. Usually when I see the ip address on the splash screen it means the production computer is not powered on, or there is a network issue connecting to it. Wouldn't having a network issue prevent me from fixing the problem by activating remote management? Also, I power up these display computers using Watchout, wouldn't a network problem prevent me from doing that? I think what I am looking at is a Display computer that is connected to the Production computer, but in offline mode. (Just a theory here.) But going online/offline on the production computer is not affecting the display computer as it should. My switches are unmanaged. All systems are Win7 home premium. If I manually boot up the Display computer before the production computer, then I get the splash screen with the IP address. But regardless of booting up manually or remotely through Watchout, the issue comes up with about the same frequency. All but TCP/IPv4 are disabled. So far, activating remote management seems to fix it. I will try minimizing and maximizing WO on the production computer next time it happens.

Oh yes. This was done before the computers went into service. The strange part is that I don't get the normal WO spashscreen displaying the ip address waiting for a production computer. I'm getting the WO spashscreen with the Display Name. (As assigned in the showfile by the production computer.) I am not a novice user, but I understand sometimes it's the basic things that trip us up. Thank you all for your ideas and assistance.

I finally understood what Adela meant. Nope, only one network adapter was active. I deactivated them before putting the machines into the show. Each display computer only has one ip address assigned to it, and it is unique to the network. I don't think this is the problem. Thank you for this tip! I ran into that issue before where the playhead gets stuck. I've been closing WO and restarting it. This little tip will save me time next time it happens. I think this is unrelated to the issue I am having, but I will try it next time.

Yes, the display machines are identical. No, the display machine shows the Display Name and the Watchout Logo. Ahh, thank you for clarfying that. Yes, there is a wireless card in both machines, but they are disabled. There is, and has only ever been one active network device on the display computers.

If you mean the switches. These are two different shows, in two different theatres. They are not connected to the same network at all. Sorry if I misunderstood, but I think that's what you meant, Adela.

Using the tweaks as listed in the forums, yes. All the computers in use have those tweaks applied. Firewall, UAC and Windows Defender are off on all machines. And this is happening to two completely isolated networks consisting of: 1st (1 WO Prod computer, 1 WO display computer) 2nd (1 WO Prod computer, 2 WO display computers) Computers are tied into a 1GB network switch (one switch per network). There's no internet access. No other computers are on these networks. After applying one of the "fixes" above, there are no further issues until the next time the machines boot up. This problem occurs more frequently on the 1st network than on the 2nd network. But sometimes, they work just fine.

Hello, I'm running into an issue with Watchout 5.3.1 where the display computer boots up and shows me the Watchout spash screen but does not accept playback commands from the production computer. Two solutions I have found to get control back have been: Fix 1 Go Online/Offline several times and start running through cues. At some point during playback, the display computer responds and we are good for the rest of the night. Fix 2 After going Online/Offline doesn't work. Going into remote management on the display computer and then closing that, then going Online. This is happening with three different showfiles with two different production-display computer pairs. This happens more often on one showfile than the other two. The Production/Display combo are both on their own network with no other traffic. I turn on the Display computers remotely using the Watchout Production computer. The splash screen does not display any error message. I've tried booting manually, giving them more time between commands but that does not seem to have any effect on the outcome. The two solutions above seem to be the only procedures that seem to help. Does anyone have any advice on how I might fix this? Or provide me with some insight on what may be happening? Thanks in advance.