Squiggly Lines

[Abby London]

I'm a new technology assistant at a school on Mac with quite a few SMART boards.  

One of our teachers has been having problems with his board for the last three years.  The most pervasive is that when trying to write he gets squiggly lines because he is unable to draw or write in certain places. More recently the board cannot keep it's orientation even if it has just been reset.  We've replaced almost everything including the board and he is still having problems with it.  We are working with SMART board, but at this point it's unresolved.  

I'm wondering if anyone else had has any problems like this with their board, and if anyone can offer any suggestions or solutions.

 

Thanks

[Jennifer Harper]

1)  Did you check to see if there was any metal behind the board--perhaps a metal pipe running through the wall?  You have to put a buffer in between the board and any metal otherwise it will cause squiggly lines.

 

2) This might help with lessening the number of times to orient.  I'm a Mac and it helped in my room.

 

You have to be plugged into the board.

1) Go to the "Control Panel" under "Smart Board Tools"

2) A window will open. Click on "Smart Hardware Settings"

3) In the center of the next window, click on the pop down menu that is labeled "Pen and Button Settings" and scroll to "Mouse and Gesture Settings"

4) On the left side of the screen is a window that has a yellow file folder and a bunch of green blocks that range in size. Take the Slider in this window and slide it to the left until it is itty bitty.

5) Then press "Apply"

 

You may find that you will lessen the number of times that you have to orient.

[Obe Hostetter]

Jennifer shared some great tips.  We put cardboard behind some of our boards to help stop the squiggly lines as well as put nylon washers between the screws and the board underneath the pen tray.  See more tips for MACs and SMART Boards posted at http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/resources/smartboard.htm#troublesho...

[Abby London]

Thanks for the tips guys.  Here's an update:

I tried to download this teachers computer to Notebook 10.7 and 10.7 drivers- no change

I replace the computer with a desktop machine running 10.8 with Notebook 10.7 and a mini DVI output-no change

I went back to the white uni body MacBook running Windows 7 ultimate in Boot Camp and the latest Notebook software- no change

We had a special VGA cable installed that was supposed to alleviate driver issues.

We have replaces the pen tray and the pen tray cable.

The SMART board is distanced from the wall. 

I also tried putting cardboard behind the SMART board.  

 

---Yesterday I went to troubleshoot one of out 5th grade teachers who had a speaker problem and she is having the same thing.  The SMART board refused to write in one specific corner.  She said she has had it like that for a while but was just working around it.  

 

Here are some videos of the issue:

Our 1st grade teacher's board-this is with Leopard 10.5 and Notebook 10.7

http://www.youtube.com/user/abbylondonmusic#p/u/6/kGeeBd_xttM

This is the same teacher's SMART board with Windows.

http://www.youtube.com/user/abbylondonmusic#p/u/5/l25Ur2huvYY

This is a different SMART board, a different type of computer and Snow Leopard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawtIPAczw8&feature=youtube_gdat...

 

Again, THANKS for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.  My next idea is to try DVI as opposed to VGA.

[Matt Granger]

But would the kind of video connection have anything to do with the connection between the board and the computer? That is either a USB connection or a bluetooth wireless connection. I don't think the video cable would have any affect on the system.

[Abby London]

You are totally right, that is just the image, it shouldn't have anything to do with the interface acting up.  Thanks, you just saved me time and energy trying something that wouldn't have made a difference.

 

[Obe Hostetter]

I would make sure you have no magnets or metal touching the board.  If the SMART Board shortens out then it causes squiggly lines.  Adding nylon washers before and after the screws that hold the board to the wall help as well as putting cardboard behind the whole board.  

 

Also, did you update the SMART Board firmware (Applications-SMART Product Drivers-Additional Tools-SMARTFirmwareUpdater)?  

 

I would also make sure you have your resolution set to 1024 X 768 for both the projector and the computer and then click detect displays.  Set your orientation points to 12 or 20.  

 

If none of the above work, I would replace the SC9 card or the SMART Board control panel that is located at the bottom right corner from another good one and see if that helps.  

 

[Abby London]

Yes we have tried all that, we are putting a different board put in right now.

[Abby London]

different board and still the squiggles.  Even tried it with a PC.  Feeling hopeless.  Tried it away from the wall and it still squiggled, just not as bad.  Haven't heard anything from our SMART distributor in about 2 months.  Waiting to hear back from SMART directly, sent e-mail last week with most current test results.

[Obe Hostetter]

Sorry, that is very frustrating.  Have you tried using the SMART Board in a different room to see if it works?  

I did have one SMART Board that refused to work.  We figured out the electrical cables near it might be messing it up.  We got an electrician to move the electrical cables and sure enough that fixed the SMART Board.  In another case, we just mounted the SMART Board on a different wall since it seemed something in the wall was interfering with the SMART Board.  

When you get the SMART Board finally working, please share what you learned or what fixed it.

[Abby London]

Frank- thank you soooooo much for your help.

[Theresa Pierce]

We have a teacher with a similar issue and are working with our vendor support. They have suggested plugging in the computer used with the board directly to a wall outlet and NOT using a powerstrip (it had been plugged in to a powerstrip) We are testing that now for a few days. It is a sporadic issue - we too have replaced the controller card, updated firmware, drivers, put cardboard behind board, moved all magnetics away (board does rest on blackboard but is not screwed to blackboard) and even replaced the computer. But wanted to mention the power strip thing. Our vendor also mentioned that in older buildings cinder block had metal in them and this can cause problems. So....we will see what happens :)

[Abby London]

I have an update on this problem.  Doesn't seem to be isolated to the one board, I've had at least 5 of the board have a certain spot where sometimes you can't draw a straight line, it squiggles.  I've got our distributors coming out next week to check it out some more.  It's quite strange, doesn't seem to matter which computer or OS, same squiggly mark.