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Inhereted BS Install...need assistance.

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JOSH MORRIS
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OK so another tech setup a BS network (v3.5) with I think is the Simple Networking model, but I am not sure how to verify this.  My issues are thus:

1. After reading the 3.5 setup guide, I am still lost as to the differences between Simple File and LAN configuration.  There doesn't seem to be any technical info on how each works, other than the pre-configured URLs needing to be entered.

2. When selecting "Manage" from BrightAuthor, it is requesting a BrightSign Network Sign In, but I do not believe we are running these under the BSN setup.  

3. I cannot find any information on how to setup a server.  The documentation just assumes that a server is already running with directories created and such, but no information on getting started with exactly what needs to be setup and how.  

Any help is appreciated.  

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    ^UD\_$

    How many BS players are you trying to manage?

    If multiple, are they all in the same geographical location?

  • 0
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    JOSH MORRIS

    The only difference I see between the two is LAN mode pushes content while Simple mode polls a server (LAN or WAN) for content to download on intervals.  There is no information on how to check that config or how to change them.  Am I to assume in order to change them I have to go through the entire configuration steps by taking it offline and loading new config files?

    As to your question, we have roughly 30 media players in production in the same location.  It appears the previous tech setup a local web server, but again, I have no information on what is needed for this (ports, network protocols supported [HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, etc]).  

  • 0
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    ^UD\_$

    Hopefully, you will not need to reconfigure all 30 players, but you decide it is a good idea to do so...

    Start by describing what's on the screen, send a picture if not confidential.

    Is the content of permanent nature, or does it normally change often?

    If you took an SD card out of one of the players, zip its content, and sent us a dropbox link, we could tell a lot about the current configuration.

     

  • 0
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    JOSH MORRIS

    After further investigation, it appears that they are indeed setup as Simple mode.  I am not able to send info at this time. Is it possible to upload different config files to reconfigure these on the fly, or do they need to be taken offline and go through the initial setup to change modes?

  • 0
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    ^UD\_$

    Simplest way is to take them offline, formate the SD card, and load it with fresh setup files.

    If the model in use has USB port, you can prepare a USB drive with setup files, so you can save yourself some work.

    Handling SD cards, can be time consuming, as those may be protected with a plastic cover and a tiny screw that is easy to lose...

    Most likely, by the time you'd figure out how to distribute new setup files via simple network (if that is even possible) you'd be done configuring all 30 players one at a time.

    Also, files that are currently on SD cards, should contain the server's address, which may help you in avoiding the entire reconfiguration process.

    Things to consider at this point:

    If there is a plan to make extensive use of the signs, and update them regularly,

    If players are not going to show the same content everywhere

    If multiple people are going to be managing the signs, and each may be responsible for part of the sign

    If there is budget (roughly $3K per year)

    If security allows the players to access the internet

    Then you should seriously consider using BrightSign network (BSN)

    There is a self hosted version of BSN called Enterprise Edition or BSN EE, which could be more cost effective, and also will not require internet access, from the security aspect.

  • 0
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    Lyndon

     

    You can redo setup on a player by publishing an autorun.zip file that includes setup files. But, if all of the units are pointing at the same folder a little more work is necessary. we would need to modify the plugin so it uses a specific autorunzip based ont he serial # of the unit or the current name of the unit. I have a version that does mutliple zip files published. So, if you could provide a list of serials, you coudl use the steps below to create autorun1.zip, autorun2.zip, etc... And, you'd just need the other plugin to be able to pick the right zip file based on unit serial...

     

     

    Setup Unit Again

    1. Create a new set of setup files and save to a folder on your computer.
    2. Add this autozip.brs (included) to the toof to the folder with the setup files
    3. Zip up the contents of that setup folder into a file named autorun.zip. Empty folders will be skipped.
    4. Upload the autorun.zip to your sd card, delete the autorun.brs on the sd card, then click on the control tab, and hit reboot.

     

    When the unit reboots it will unpack the autorun.zip to the sd card and execute the new config information.

     

    Note: When you build the autorun.zip, the zip file should have just the published files inside. It shouldn't have a subfolder, that has the published files inside it. See attached autorun.zip image examples. Ignore setup plugin if you're not using the steps below to deploy
    the files to your BrightSign.

     

    https://www.brightsignnetwork.com/download/Tools/autozip.zip

     

    Publishing Setup Files with a BrightAuthor Project

    You can use the same process above but instead of using step 4 to upload file,
    you can publish the autorun zip attached to a BrightAuthor project file.

     

    New step 4:

     

    1. Attach autorun.zip to files tab in BrightAuthor project.
    2. Attach setup plugin to autorun file as a plugin ("setup" s the plugin name)
    3. Publish project to BrightSign unit over the network
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