Troubleshooting

This section highlights a few known problems, and offers solutions. Others will be added as they come to light.

Lots of information is also given in the Installation section.

Please note that we just don't have the resources to offer personal technical support, but we'll be happy to receive bug reports and solutions to problems.

1: Video footage splits in two with distorted colouring

Make sure screen display is set to 16 bit colour or 32 bit colour. Do not use 256 colours or 24 bit colour. You can normally do this from the Display section of your Control Panels.

2: Video picture missing withe message 'Compressor not available - vids:mp42'

This means that the file which handles video compression isn't installed correctly.

Make sure that:

3: When entering a new unit, the video doesn't display anything. A message appears saying: 'The media reference could not be found. Check the reference or file name.'

This means the software isn't sure where to find the video files it needs. It could be caused by something as simple as not inserting the CD, or not connecting to the right network drive, so check those simple options first.

If more investigation proves necessary, you may want to ask for technical help. Look at the file called vidplus.ini which must be kept in the 'Windows' directory: it states where the files the program needs are normally kept. Under the heading '[Video Plus German Files]' are two lines: 

	Local Drive=C:\Program Files\video plus\german
	CD or Network Drive=E:\german

For an explanation of what 'Local Drive' and 'CD or Network Drive' mean, see the installation guidelines. The drive specifications may well be different on your system; they won't necessarily be the same as those given here by way of example.

If the file is missing, you can create it using a text editor such as Notepad. If the file exists, but any of these three lines is missing, add whatever is necessary. Make sure that the ten video files are available together in one of the locations you give. (The Video Plus program vidplusG.exe and the file mpg4c32.dll should also be available, ideally in the same directory as the video files or the other stipulated drive.)

Running the setup procedures from the CD is another way of getting the vidplus.ini file back in the place it belongs with the right information — but if you're not the person technically responsible for the computer you're using, be sure to check with the person who is before doing so.

4: Sound doesn't turn off automatically in Exercise 10

As Exercise 10 uses pictures rather than spoken words to help you, the soundtrack normally turns itself off temporarily; at worst you should hear only a very brief noise when you click a button to see the clip.

However some versions of Windows do not follow the instruction to turn the sound off, with the result that the soundtrack plays and distracts you from concentrating solely on the picture.

At present we don't have a technical solution to this problem, so the best thing to do if you come across it is simply to turn your sound down while doing Exercise 10. You can do this using the controls on your speakers or headphones, the volume control for your PC, or the volume controls available for your sound card.

Technical Support

We simply do not have the resources to provide personal technical support, whether by email or phone or any other way, so please don't contact us expecting help. To solve any technical problems, please enlist the support of local experts, and use the information provided here. We will however maintain a web site which provides information about known problems and how to solve them, and to that end we'd welcome hearing about genuine bugs in the software, plus information about problems which arose and how you solved them.