Rev Mars 2013 Smartsign 8 Installation
Table of content Smartsign 8... 1 Installation... 1 Table of content... 2 Smartsign Server 8... 6 Prerequisites... 6 System requirements... 6 Smartsign Media Server... 6 Note on Windows Server 2003... 6 New installation of Smartsign Server: Step by step... 7 Get the latest installer... 7 Express or Advanced install... 7 License agreement... 8 Installing Smartsign Server... 8 Installation complete... 9 Installing the web interface... 9 Admin account... 10 Installation Complete... 10 Login... 11 System summary... 11 License Wizard activation... 11 Pasting License Key... 12 Add Key... 12 Dealer and End User details... 12 Smartsign Server 7 Upgrade... 13 Prerequisite... 13 Backup Smartsign Server 7... 13 Do the upgrade... 14 Connecting Active Directory... 17 Two AD-modes... 17 Single Sign On... 17 AD Authentication... 17 Configuration Single Sign In... 18 Configuration of Active Directory... 18 Import groups from AD... 20 2
Manual Group Mapping... 20 AD Authentication without SSI... 21 AD Troubleshooting:... 21 Server Logs... 21 How to use Microsoft PowerPoint on the Server... 22 Smartsign Server how to... 23 Enable SSL encryption... 23 Buy and install certificate in IIS... 23 Player... 23 In Publisher Web, web.config... 23 Server... 23 Media Server... 24 Create new database... 24 Manually creating a new Admin user... 24 Manually installing IIS 6... 25 Manually installing IIS7... 25 Smartsign Player Overview... 27 System requirements... 27 Antivirus Software... 27 Recommended system setup... 27 Other requirements... 27 Choosing graphics card... 27 Microsoft Windows XP Embedded... 28 Microsoft Windows Terminal Server... 28 Computers are different... 28 Smartsign Player Installation... 29 Start the installer... 29 Installation folder... 29 Server Connection... 30 Install recommended software... 30 Tab Configuration... 31 Configuration settings... 32 Player Name... 32 Temp Directory... 32 Allow Screensaver... 32 Screensaver delay time... 32 Manage Display State... 32 Hide Taskbar... 32 3
Use Own Desktop... 32 Autostart... 32 Show load info... 32 Monitor Configuration... 33 Use all available monitors... 33 Maximized... 33 Fixed Resolution Width... 33 Fixed Resolution Height... 33 Fixed Resolution X Pos... 33 Fixed Resolution Y Pos... 33 Tab Server... 34 Viewers... 35 Adobe Flash... 37 Internet Explorer... 37 Advanced Options... 37 Supported Video Formats... 38 Power Options... 38 Disable Error reporting... 39 For windows XP / 2003... 39 Windows Vista / 2008... 40 Windows 7... 41 Disable Windows Message Popups... 41 Regular automatic reboot... 41 Windows auto login... 42 Auto-start Smartsign Player on Windows login... 42 Uninstall and removal... 43 Run as screensaver... 43 SMIL Hardware Player... 44 Overview... 44 Requirements... 44 Installation... 44 FAQ... 47 Can I set the display size when setting the content source?... 47 The screen is black... 47 I booked a webpage but it doesn t show... 47 Can I password protect the device?... 47 I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type?... 47 I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type =... 47 4
I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type /... 47 I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type :... 48 Supported SMIL Hardware... 48 Smartsign UPP Player (Android)... 49 Overview... 49 Requirements... 49 Installation... 49 Smartsign Screensaver... 50 Installation... 50 Supported media formats... 52 5
Smartsign Server 8 Prerequisites By default Smartsign Server 8 uses port 80 (TCP). Make sure no other application uses this port except IIS or other applications that allow port sharing. Smartsign Server will not start if it cannot allocate this port. It is possible to change port after the installation. It is recommended that you allow the Smartsign Installation Wizard to assist you with the IIS installation. If IIS is already installed the automatic installation might not succeed and some manual work might be required. Please consult with the person responsible for IT policy prior to installation. If you are installing on Windows Server 2003, please see section Note on Windows Server 2003 below. If you are already using IIS for other websites then you cannot run Express installation, you must run Advanced installation and be very careful where you install Smartsign Publisher Web. System requirements Intel Dual Core, 2 Ghz 2 GB RAM 30 GB free HD space. Disk space varies by usage. One of the following OS: o Windows Server 2003 o Windows Server 2008 o Windows Server 2010 o Windows 7/Windows 8 Microsoft.NET 3.5 with SP1 runtime environment. Smartsign 8 is currently 32bit. But Smartsign Server, Smartsign Media Server and Smartsign Player can be installed on 64bit OS. Smartsign Media Server Smartsign Media Server is now mandatory for all installations of Smartsign Server and included in the Server installation. Note on Windows Server 2003 When installing Smartsign Publisher Web. Windows 2003 will add a leading slash to the path. Make sure you do not get a double slash which will make the installation fail. If you see the text ChangeMe then change it to the correct virtual path for your IIS setup. 6
New installation of Smartsign Server: Step by step Follow these steps to install Smartsign Server 8. Get the latest installer Verify they you have the latest installer for Smartsign Server 8. Start the installer. Express or Advanced install The Express option will install all components to C:\Program Files (x86) and place the web interface in the root of the Default Website. If you need to adjust this select Advanced installation instead. 7
License agreement Select I agree to continue the installation. Installing Smartsign Server The installer will now start the actual installation of Smartsign Server. 8
Installation complete When the installer is done select the checkbox Launch Installation Wizard for assistance with completing the installation. Press the Close button to proceed. Installing the web interface The installer will now finish the installation of Smartsign Publisher 8. 9
Admin account The Installation Wizard will ask you to create the first administration user account. Save the information for this account as you will use it later to login to the system. What you type in the field Company will be used to create the first Site in the installation. Installation Complete The installer is now done. Press Finish to open your web browser to the login page. 10
Login Let the page load. Login with the user information you typed in the installation process. System summary The first time you login to the system you will be greeted with a status overview of the installation. Press Activate license at the bottom of the page. License Wizard activation If the server has an Internet connection you will have the option to use a small Wizard to assist you with your license activation. 11
Pasting License Key Supply your License Key in the appropriate field. Add Key Press Add Purchase Key to continue registration. Dealer and End User details Fill in the desired field for Dealer and End user. Press Finish when done. You have now completed the Smartsign Server 8 installation. Please see the section for Smartsign Player 8 for PC-clients or the section for Smartsign SMIL Hardware Player for non PC-based systems. 12
Smartsign Server 7 Upgrade Prerequisite To be able to upgrade Smartsign Server 7 to Smartsign Server 8, you need to have Smartsign Server 7 installed with at least version 7.4.19. If you re having an earlier version, then please upgrade Smartsign Server 7 before trying to upgrade to Smartsign Server 8. Backup Smartsign Server 7 We recommend you to test the upgrade on a virtual clone of the real production server before trying it for real. But if that s not possible then you need to at least backup our Smartsign Server 7 installation. Stop the service named Smartsign Server 7 by right-clicking on it and choose Stop from the drop-down menu. 13
Take a backup of the files and folders that belong to your database. You need to backup the the two folders media and fdbd in the directory where Smartsign Server 7 is installed. Do the upgrade Run the installation package for Smartsign Server8. When you start the setup wizard you will be asked for Express or Advanced setup. Choose Advanced and click on Next. Please take the time to read through the agreement before you agree to the terms in it. 14
Now it is time to choose which folder you want to use as program folder for Smartsign Server 8. Do NOT install Smartsign Server 8 to the same directory as Smartsign Server 7. 15
When the setup wizard is finished you will be presented with an Exit dialogue. Just click Close to exit the setup wizard and start the installation. After the first installation is completed you will need to complete the Installation Wizard too. When prompted with the question Migrate Smartsign Server 7 you should answer yes and select the directory for the installation. The migration can take many minutes or hours to complete so be patient. The installation wizard will uninstall Smartsign Server 7, Media Server 7 and Smartsign Publisher Web 7. All Smartsign Players will be automatically upgraded when they access the server. This can take a while since all Players need to download a large installation package. 16
Connecting Active Directory You can optionally connect your Smartsign system to Microsoft Active Directory for user authentication and group synchronization. Two AD-modes Smartsign supports two modes of active directory, Single Sign On and AD Authentication. Single Sign On When using single sign on, the user will not need to login to Smartsign Publisher. Instead, the current user of the computer will be used as credentials and sent to the server. AD Authentication In AD Authentication, the user of Smartsign Publisher will be prompted with a login screen asking for credentials. The username and password will be sent to the Smartsign Server and authenticated against the AD. 17
Configuration Single Sign In Configuration of Active Directory For Smartsign Server to support single sign-in the Active Directory Domain needs to be configured with the following steps: 1. Create a new AD-user that Smartsign Server will use to browse the active directory. The user needs at least read access to the active directory tree. Ex. SmartsignServerLogin 2. Create a new group for login access to Smartsign Publisher. Ex. SmartsignLoginGroup. 3. Create a new group for administration access to Smartsign Publisher. Ex. SmartsignAdminGroup. 4. All users that should have access to Smartsign should be a member of the login access group (SmartsignLoginGroup). And all administrators should also be a member of the administration access group (SmartsignAdminGroup) 5. Start the configuration tool for Smartsign Server 8. 6. Select the Active Directory -tab. 7. Check Single Sign In 8. Type your AD server dns name or IP in the field AD Server. Ex. smartsignserver 9. Type your AD server base dn in the field AD Base DN. If you for example have smartsign.local as your AD-domain you should type DC=smartsign,DC=local 18
10. Type in the name of the Smartsign AD-user you created in step 1, Ex. SmartsignServerLogin in the field Username. Note that the username is limited to 20 characters (pre Windows 2000 username should be used) 11. Type in the password of the Smartsign AD-user you created in step 1, in the field Password 12. Click the button Search next to Publisher Login Group and select the group you created in step 2. If you cannot find your group in your list you will need to change the filter. To do so, select the Advanced - tab and change the ADSearchBase to your base group. For example CN=MyBusiness. (Or set ADSearchBase to empty to not use any filter at all) 13. Repeat step 12 for Publisher Admin Group 14. Test your AD Settings 15. Now you need to change authentication mode for Publisher Web. To do so, find the directory where you installed the web application. For example c:\inetpub\wwwroot\. Open the file web.config in notepad. Find the following rows: <authentication mode="forms"> <forms loginurl="login.aspx" name="adauthcookie" timeout="1200" path="/"></forms> </authentication> <identity impersonate="true"/> Change it by adding the following in green: <!-- <authentication mode="forms"> <forms loginurl="login.aspx" name="adauthcookie" timeout="1200" path="/"></forms> </authentication> <identity impersonate="true"/> --> <authentication mode="windows"></authentication> 16. If you now use your webbrowser and navigate to Publisher Web you should be logged in automatically. (You might need to add Publisher Web as trusted site in IE) 19
Import groups from AD It is possible to import AD-groups to Smartsign. Do the following to import an AD-group to Smartsign: 1. Login to Publisher Web and select Admin and then Groups 2. Click Import from AD 3. Select the groups you want to import from the AD by clicking on the rows. You can use the search field to easier find your groups. If you cannot find your groups, please verify the AD groups filter in Smartsign Server Configuration. 4. After selecting the groups you should click Select 5. The groups will now be imported. 6. Now you can click Groups to refresh the view and you should see your newly imported groups in the list. 7. Now it s time to map these groups to layers and screens. For more information on how to do this, please read the Administration User Guide. 8. IMPORTANT: You do not need to manually add users to this group. Users membership in groups will be synchronized with the AD each time a user is logged in. So changes like adding/removing groups for a user in AD will be reflected in Smartsign automatically. Manual Group Mapping It is possible to manually map AD-groups to existing Smartsign groups. Follow these steps to do so: 1. Login to Publisher Web and select Admin and then Groups 2. Select the group you want to map to AD 3. Insert your LDAP name for the group in AD you want to map to this Smartsign group. 4. Save 5. You do not need to manually add users to this group. Users membership in groups will be synchronized with the AD each time a user is logged in. So changes like adding/removing groups for a user in Ad will be reflected in Smartsign automatically. 20
AD Authentication without SSI Do the same as with Single Sign On with the following exceptions: - Do not change anything in the web.config file. (step 15) AD Troubleshooting: 1. Users need to be placed directly in your AD-groups, not in nested groups. 2. Please verify that your AD settings are correct in Smartsign Server Configuration. 3. Make sure Windows Authentication is selected as a valid Authentication mode in IIS. Server Logs Smartsign Server 8logs can be found in the Logs folder in the installation folder. To enable debug logging, open the Configuration program and change INFO to DEBUG and save. For changes to take effect, Smartsign Server 8 must be restarted. 21
How to use Microsoft PowerPoint on the Server Default setting is to convert Powerpoint documents with a built-in component. This component is capable of simple PowerPoint presentations but may have problems with diagrams and effects. You can optionally use Microsoft PowerPoint for handling Powerpoint documents. This requires that Microsoft PowerPoint is installed on the Server computer and that you are holding a volume license of Microsoft Office that permits server use of Microsoft Office. If you are in doubt whether you have such a license check with your IT department or contact Microsoft. Smartsign disclaims all liability regarding the unauthorized use of this feature. To enable PowerPoint, start the Server Configuration program and go to the PowerPoint tab. Check the button Use Microsoft PowerPoint for conversion click Save. Restart Smartsign Server 8 for the change to take effect. Please note that only MS PowerPoint 2007 or later is supported. If you are running Smartsign Server on Microsoft Server 2008 you need to create one of the corresponding folders to make the feature work: Windows 2008 Server x64: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Desktop Windows 2008 Server x86: C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Desktop 22
Smartsign Server how to Enable SSL encryption NOTE: If you are already having Players accessing the server then start with them. Buy and install certificate in IIS Buy a trusted certificate and install it in IIS. Enable it on Publisher Web. This will encrypt data from publishers to IIS. Player Go to admin->players and for all players, change port to 443 and protocol to https. Save the player and click restart. They will now be offline until you finish all other steps. (Smartsign Player 8.0.1 or newer is needed) In Publisher Web, web.config Change security transport mode to Transport instead of None. Change client endpoint address (all of them) so they use https and port 443. Server Open Server configuration and change port to 443 and protocol to https. 23
Media Server All media servers need to be configured manually to use port 443 and protocol https. This can be done in the Media Server Configuration program. Create new database Browse to the folder FBDB in the server installation directory. Copy the file EmptyDatabase.fdb and rename it to Database8.fdb. This will give you a clean database. Manually creating a new Admin user To create a new admin user use the tool ServerManagerTool.exe found in the server installation directory. You need to add the following arguments: ServerManagerTool.exe /CreateAdminAccount dbpath username password Where you replace dbpath with the path to the database file (you can find the database named Database8.fdb in the FBDB folder in your server installation directory). Username and password need to match the administrative user you created in prior installation steps. Note down the username and password since it is not possible to recover if missing or forgotten. 24
Manually installing IIS 6 Please follow these instructions to manually install IIS6. 1. Open Add/Remove Windows Components 2. Check Application Server and click Details. 3. Check ASP.NET and IIS 4. Click OK and install it. Manually installing IIS7 If you have manually installed IIS7 you should verify that at least the following components are installed as well. 25
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Smartsign Player Overview System requirements For Player showing only simple media objects: x86 PC with 1 GHz CPU 512 MB RAM, 1 GB free HD space. More can be required depending on the media files published. Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows XP Home/Professional or Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 Microsoft.NET 3.5 runtime environment with SP1 (or later). Microsoft DirectX 8.1 or later. Actually, Smartsign Player can run on almost any computer provided that there is enough RAM memory. For example, if only jpg images will be shown the requirements are even lower than what has been specified above. However, we do not support other systems then those with at least minimum requirements fulfilled. Antivirus Software Smartsign Player might have performance problems with Anti Virus Software. To solve this, add the Player-temp folder to the exception list for real time scanning. Instructions to locate the temp-folder: 1. Run Smartsign Player 8 Configuration 2. Open the tab Configuration 3. Temp directory holds the path to the temp folder. To open it, select and copy the path, and paste it in the address bar of an explorer window. In this folder, Smartsign Player will create files and folders when running. And if realtime scanning is enabled, the slowdown can create flicker or black screens. It is recommended that you schedule a scan in this directory at a time when no-one sees the screen. Recommended system setup Requirements above with the following exceptions: x86 PC with at least 2 GHz CPU (playing HD content may require even more powerful CPU) 1 GB RAM Separate graphics card with HDMI output (not motherboard built in) Other requirements Local administrator rights required (during install). Choosing graphics card Smartsign Player don t usually require more graphics power than a modern integrated graphics card. 27
However, compared to motherboard built in graphics circuits, dedicated graphic cards generally produce a better picture quality. For that reason they can be considered. Also, if the screen is intended to be in portrait mode, the graphics card drivers must support this. Another reason to consider a dedicated graphics card is when high resolution video will be shown. Microsoft Windows XP Embedded Usually Smartsign Player runs on systems with Windows XP Embedded, even flash disk based systems. However, since the Windows configuration on those systems are left for the manufacturers and suppliers to decide we cannot guarantee that it will work. Therefore embedded systems are usually not supported but we are happy to give you advice. Microsoft Windows Terminal Server Although we do support running Smartsign Player on thin clients executing the Smartsign Player on a terminal server, we advice users to take into account that this kind of use can produce a very high load on the network. Computers are different We do extensive testing on different operating systems, different hardware platforms and multiple network setups. Since the number of different computers on the market are vast and the number of possible system configurations are almost endless we are unable to test every combination. Sometimes Smartsign Player just doesn t run or behaves strangely, even when the system requirements have been fulfilled. When this happens, please contact us and let us help you find a solution. 28
Smartsign Player Installation Start the installer Start the installation by double clicking the.msi-file and follow the instructions. Installation folder You can optionally choose another location for the application files. NOTE: you can change the location of the media files after the install by editing the config file. 29
Server Connection The last step in the installation is to setup the connection to your Smartsign Server. You probably only need to replace the IP address with the IPaddress or DNS-name of the computer running Smartsign Server. Always click verify connection before saving. Install recommended software After installing Smartsign Player, we recommend you to upgrade Adobe flash to latest version, and also upgrade Internet Explorer to version 9 (or later). 30
Smartsign Player Configuration After installation, you are recommended to start the Smartsign Player Configuration. Step through all sections, follow the instructions and perform each test. It is important that all viewers (you want to use) have been successfully tested. Tab Configuration The configuration view is split in two parts, one for general configuration and one for monitor configuration. All of this is set to default so you only need to make changes here if you want to customize the Player installation. 31
Configuration settings Player Name The name of this Smartsign Player. This is the name that will appear in Smartsign Publisher so it s recommended to use different names for the Players. Temp Directory The Smartsign Player will store temporary data in this directory. For example: media, logs and cache. Allow Screensaver Optional if the Smartsign Player should allow screensaver when there is no more media to show. Screensaver delay time Delay before the screensaver will start after last shown media. (if screensaver is activated) Manage Display State If true, Smartsign Player will control the display(s) sleep mode. If false, all power savings are left to the operating system. Hide Taskbar If true, Smartsign Player will hide the taskbar in Windows. (only viable if Use Own Desktop is not checked) (Recommended) Use Own Desktop If true, Smartsign Player will use its own Desktop in Windows. This feature is not recommended to use on low end hardware. Autostart Show load info If true, Smartsign Player will start automatically after logon. (Recommended) If true, Smartsign player will show a small status bar at the top left corner. It will show connection status and information regarding downloading playlists and media files. If Smartsign Player has no connection to 32
Smartsign Server the bar will be visible until connection is reestablished. In normal use the status bar will fade away after 7 seconds of inactivity. (Recommended on new installations) Monitor Configuration Use all available monitors Check this to make this Player use all available monitors on this computer. If there are multiple monitors connected, the Player will use them all as one large screen. Maximized If not using all available monitors this checkbox can be used to make the player use all available space on the PRIMARY monitor on this computer. Fixed Resolution Width The width in pixels of the display area used by this Player. Use the information to the right to set this. Fixed Resolution Height The height in pixels of the display area used by this Player. Use the information to the right to set this. Fixed Resolution X Pos The x position of the upper left corner of the display area used by this Player. The coordinate system is (0,0) in the upper left corner of the screen and increases down towards right. Fixed Resolution Y Pos The y position of the upper left corner of the display area used by this Player. The coordinate system is (0,0) in the upper left corner of the screen and increases down towards right. 33
Tab Server By default Smartsign Player will connect to Smartsign Cloud Server, with the url cloud.smartsign.se. Please change this to the correct IP Address if you have installed your own Smartsign Server. If you have installed Smartsign Server on the same computer as Smartsign Player, you should change IP Address to localhost or 127.0.0.1. Always verify the connection after changing the server connection settings but note that Smartsign Server has to be running to do this. Default username for the Player to access the server is mplayer with the password SmartSign. 34
Viewers Smartsign Player uses different Viewers to display media on the computer and each Viewer need a plugin to work. If a plugin is disabled or not working, that media type will not play if booked. Viewer Plugin Media type File extension Special computer requirement ContentPackage ContentPackage ContentPackage (ZWF).zwf Adobe Flash installed. (latest version recommended) Flash FlashPlugin Flash (selfstarting).swf Adobe Flash installed. (latest version recommended) Image ImagePlugin Images.jpg.png.gif PDF PDF PDF.pdf (will be displayed as images) Powerpoint PPTViewer MS PowerPoint Presentations.ppt.pptx (will be displayed as images) RSS RSSFlash Live RSS Feed A rss link (http://di.se/rss/) Adobe Flash installed. (latest version recommended) URL WebbrowserPlugin Web pages A webpage link (www.smartsign.se) IE6 or later installed. (IE8 recommended) Video VLCPlugin Video.mpg.mpeg.wmv.avi.vob.flv.mkv.mov.mp2.mp4.mpeg1.mpeg2.mpeg4 Adobe Flash recommended. Sound VLCPlugin Sound.aac.ac3.flac.mp3.ogg.wav.wma.xm If you are experiencing problems, it is recommended that you go through all plugins and test them all. If a test fails, first action is to test it again. 35
Image 1: This plugin is not yet tested. Test it by clicking the Test 1 button. All tests must be done before the plugin is verified to work. It s possible to disable the plugin by checking the upper right checkbox. Image 2: The test will run for about a minute. When done it should read "SUCCESS". 36
Adobe Flash Normally Adobe Flash Player is already installed. Smartsign recommend to get the latest Flash Player from http://www.adobe.com/flash NOTE: Always verify that Flash can play in Internet Explorer before trying it in Smartsign Player. Internet Explorer When installing a new version of IE or on new computer you have to run the setup (this is done by simple opening an Internet Explorer Window) for Internet Explorer before starting Smartsign Player. The setup will show a Welcome message and maybe ask for search provider settings. All this has to be done before Smartsign Player can utilize the browser. NOTE: Smartsign Player uses the installed version of Internet explorer to render html-pages. This will affect the look of some pages since no version of IE follows the web-standard. Internet Explorer 9 is currently recommended. Advanced Options The Smartsign logo is displayed when nothing else is scheduled to play. This can either be entirely disabled or replaced. To replace it, locate the file screensaver.png in C:\Program Files\Smartsign Player and put another.png file there with the same name. Smartsign Player always keeps a local copy of all files and schedules to make it start quicker and to be able to run even when the Smartsign server is not available. Clearing this cache will force the Smartsign Player to download all contents from the Smartsign Server again. You can manually clear this cache from config or by deleting all content in the following directory (if using default temp path): C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Smartsign AB\Smartsign Player 7 37
Supported Video Formats Smartsign Player uses Videolan VLC (version depends on Smartsign Player version) to display video. All video supported by VLC should work in Smartsign Player but these are the video formats we officially support: Flash Video - FLV1, 480p, 10 Mbps H264 MPEG4 AVC, 720p, 10 Mbps H264 MPEG4, 1080p, 20 Mbps MPEG-1/2, 480p, 5 Mbps MPEG-4 - XVID, 480p, 10 Mbps MPEG-4 Video, 480p, 10 Mbps WMA2, 720p, 20 Mbps WMV1, 720p, 20 Mbps WMV3, 720p, 20 Mbps WVC1, 1080p, 20 Mbps Note that playback quality depends on hardware. Power Options The computers power options are accessible from Start -> Control panel -> Power options It is recommended that both computer standby and hibernation are completely disabled. It is possible to take advantage of Windows ability to turn off the monitor when nothing is scheduled to be shown. When Smartsign Player is running and showing media it prevents the computer from activating any screensaver and also from entering any power save mode. However, when nothing is scheduled to be shown, Smartsign Player will let the computer s screensaver activate and will let the computer turn off the monitor if this has been configured. The above example will turn off the monitor after 15 minutes of Smartsign Player inactivity. NOTE! When Smartsign Player is installed as a screensaver this feature is not available. Smartsign Player will naturally never prevent the windows screensaver to activate. 38
Disable Error reporting Error reporting is used to inform the user of any failing program. For stability Smartsign Player uses external processes to run media content. If a corrupt media is started the running process may fail but not Smartsign Player. To avoid the standard Error reporting popup do the following. For windows XP / 2003 Open System Properties. Click advanced tab and then Error Reporting Disable Error Reporting. Click Ok. 39
Windows Vista / 2008 Open Control Panel Open Problem Reports & solutions Click Change Settings. Click Advanced Settings 40
Windows 7 To disable Error Reporting, open Local Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc in the Start Search and hit Enter. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Systems > Internet Communication Management > Internet Communication Settings from the left sidebar. Obviously you must have administrator privilege before making any changes. From the main window, select Turn Off Windows Error Reporting and Enable it. Disable Windows Message Popups To disable Windows from showing messages at the bottom right corner of the screen a registry key can be added that prevents this. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explo rer\advanced DWORD: EnableBalloonTips = 0 Regular automatic reboot It is recommended that a regular automatic reboot-job is configured that restarts the computer for example once per week. Do this using the built in Windows scheduler: Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks You can for example schedule the following example command every Sunday: C:\windows\system32\shutdown /r /f 41
Windows auto login Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 To make Windows automatically log in to the system without any user interaction, for example after a reboot, it has to be configured for this. In Windows XP the easiest way to achieve this is by using the command control userpasswords2 : Start -> Run (or press Windows + R) Type control userpasswords2 and press Enter. Deselect Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. Click on Ok and enter the Windows username and password for the user that automatically should log on. If the computer is a member of a Windows domain this setting has to be applied to the Windows server. Auto-start Smartsign Player on Windows login Check the following button to activate autostart on the player: 42
Uninstall and removal The software can be uninstalled by running the Windows Add/Remove Software application. For complete removal, complete the following tasks AFTER UNINSTALLATION: 1. Reboot the system. 2. Delete the c:\program Files\Smartsign Player 8 folder which will contain left over application files (configuration settings). 3. For each windows user account that has been running Smartsign Player, delete the folder: c:\documents and settings\[windows username]\application data\smartsign\player 4. Also delete (if found) the following folder (with configuration settings): C:\ProgramData\Smartsign AB\Smartsign Player 8 Run as screensaver Smartsign Player can be configured to run as a screensaver on the computer. The benefit of running Smartsign Player as a screensaver is for example security because you can configure the system to lock the computer if Smartsign Player is stopped. To use Smartsign Player as a screensaver the first step is to register it as a screensaver. 1. Open explorer and navigate to Smartsign Players installation folder, typical c:\program files\smartsign Player 8 2. Right click on Player.scr and choose install. 3. Choose appropriate settings for the screensaver and save the settings. When running as a screensaver Smartsign Player will listen to both keyboard activity and mouse activity. Smartsign Player will use the same settings as when running normal so use Player Configuration to set up the player correctly. 43
SMIL Hardware Player Overview Smartsign has support for SMIL Hardware Players. A family of Media Players using the open api SMIL (www.a-smil.org). SMIL is a standard for communicating playlists and by using this standard we make it easier for you to upgrade/maintain a large installation. A SMIL Player uses pull to get updates/playlists and media. This makes it easy to setup the network. The server does not need to know about IPaddresses to the Players. It s therefore ideal to use in a cloud. The SMIL Player can run until 11:59 pm without connection to Smartsign Mediator. At 11:50 pm each day, the playlist will always be updated by Smartsign Media Server. Requirements - A Smartsign Media Server that is installed and running. - USB-keyboard (English keyboard recommended, read FAQ for help how to use a Swedish keyboard) - The SMIL player must have network access to the Media Server Please verify this if you are NOT using Smartsign Cloud Server. You should have installed a Smartsign Media Server before doing this installation. If you have not done so, please read the manual Installation Media Server and follow those instructions before installing the SMIL Hardware Player. Installation Follow this simple guide to install your SMIL Hardware Player: 1) Connect the device to network and power. 2) Turn it on (some devices will auto start) 3) After fully starting up you will be greeted by the screen below 4) Plug-in an USB-keyboard 44
5) Wait a few seconds and BIOS will start 6) 7) Select Time setting and click Select 8) Select Time zone and click Change 9) Check your time zone by clicking space 10) Click OK 11) Click Done 45
12) Select Content source 13) Select Server URL and click Change 14) Type in the following url where you replace [IP_ADDRESS] with the IP address to your Media Server. Default port is 80 for Smartsign Media Server : http://[ip_address]/smil/register Optional: Read FAQ for instructions how to register screen size 15) Click OK 16) Optional: Change the player name 17) Click Done 18) Click Done 19) Answer yes on the question Save settings? 20) After saving, the device will restart 46
21) Next time it starts you should see the following screen. Installation is done. FAQ Can I set the display size when setting the content source? Yes you can, add?size=widthxheight to the server URL. For example: http://www.smartsign.se/smil/register?size=1920x1080 The screen is black Please verify that the time zone is correct and that you have published something on the player that should be shown on the screen according to date and time. If the screen is still black, try to use a VGA-cable instead of HDMI. I booked a webpage but it doesn t show There can be many reasons for a webpage to not show on the screen. First of all, it can take 30 seconds or more to sample the webpage. So please wait at least a minute before searching for errors. It s important that the computer with the Media server has access to the webpage you have booked, otherwise it will fail. Can I password protect the device? Yes, some devices can be password protected, please see the hardware device manual for more information. I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type? Many devices only work with English keyboards. To type? with a Swedish keyboard press SHIFT and underscore _. I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type = Many devices only work with English keyboards. To type = with a Swedish keyboard press apostrophe. I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type / Many devices only work with English keyboards. To type / with a Swedish keyboard press. 47
I have a Swedish keyboard and I cannot type : Many devices only work with English keyboards. To type : with a Swedish keyboard press SHIFT and ö. Supported SMIL Hardware Please check www.smartsign.se for a list of supported hardware. 48
Smartsign UPP Player (Android) Overview Smartsign has support for the android player Smartsign UPP. For more information about this player, please go to www.smartsign.se. The player uses pull to get updates/playlists and media. This makes it easy to setup the network. The server does not need to know about IP-addresses to the Players. It s therefore ideal to use in a cloud. Requirements - A Smartsign Media Server 8 that is installed and running. - A Smartsign UPP Player (or compatible device) - The player must have network access to the Media Server If you are not using Smartsign Cloud Server verify this. You should have installed a Smartsign Media Server before doing this installation. If you have not done so, please read Installation Media Server and follow those instructions before installing this player. Installation Follow this simple guide to install your Smartsign UPP Player: 1) Connect the device to power and a display. 2) Plugin the mouse transmitter into the UPP Player and put a battery in the mouse and turn it on. 3) Please wait for the device to start. 4) Some devices have Smartsign UPP already installed, if you cannot find it, then you need to install it from Google Play. Please login to Google Play and search for Smartsign UPP and install it. 5) Run Smartsign Configuration. 6) Set Server Address to the Ip-address or dns name of your Media Server. 7) Assign a name for this player, this name will be used to identify the screen in Smartsign Publisher, so we recommend a unique name for each screen. 8) Close config (use the right mouse button) and the player will start automatically and register to the server. 9) Your Smartsign UPP Player is now ready for use in Smartsign! 49
Smartsign Screensaver Smartsign Screensaver is a product that can be used for the booked media to appear in the screen saver on the employees' computers. This is a great way to spread information further within the company. Note: Please do not confuse this with the ability for Smartsign Player to run as a screensaver. Smartsign Screensaver does NOT require Smartsign Player to be installed. The following steps need to be done to install Smartsign Screensaver. Installation 1) Install Smartsign Server and Smartsign Media Server (if you don t already have them installed) 2) Add license key for Web Player 3) Create a Web player (Players->Web Players->Add). 50
4) Create it with a custom resolution that works on all computers the screen saver will be used on. For example 1280x720. 5) This new Web player will also create a screen in Smartsign. This screen can be booked on as a normal screen. Anything booked on the screen will be visible on all computers with the screen saver installed. 6) Notice the url for the webplayer, you will need this url later when installing the screen saver program on the employees computers. This url can sometimes have the wrong ip/dns name for external usage, please contact your server administrator for help if the url doesn t work from an external computer. 7) You are now done with the server configuration for the screensaver. Next step is to install Smartsign Screensaver program on all computers that should have the Screensaver. 51
8) Download the.src file from the download page on smartsign.se 9) Right click on the file and choose install. 10) After installing it you should open Screen Saver settings on the computer. 11) Select SmartsignScreensaver as your screensaver and an appropriate wait time. 12) Click Settings.. and enter the url to the web player you created earlier in this guide. 13) You can now test it by clicking preview. 14) Please repeat step 8-13 on all computers that should use the screen saver. 15) You are now done. Supported media formats Smartsign Screensaver can show the following media formats: Images PowerPoint (as images) Excel (as images) 52
Pdf (as images) Webpages (as images) Widgets (as images) Video (since Smartsign 8.2) 53