Troubleshooting

This chapter is ordered by symptom. None of the procedures below cause data loss.

A device cannot reach the plot

1. Confirm the device is connected to the production network, not to another network such as venue guest Wi-Fi.
2. Use the numeric address listed in Settings, Connections instead of the name. Android devices always require the numeric address; QR codes are provided for each address.
3. If the host machine's firewall is enabled, allow incoming connections for Spotlight Maestro.
4. Confirm the application is running on the host: its icon is present and the host's own browser window responds.
5. If the network port has been changed from the default, every device must include the new port number in the address.

Connected, but not following the console

Check the toolbar status indicator first. Connected and receiving and connected but receiving nothing are different problems.

• Receiving nothing: the console's output is not reaching the application. Work through the connection checklist in chapter 3 for your console type: protocol settings, transport, ports, addresses and firewall.
• Receiving, but the plot does not move: messages are arriving and being rejected. Open the live monitor in Settings, Console Sync: messages marked filtered or skipped identify the responsible filter. If the toolbar reports the console is on a different cuelist, executor or sequence, the corresponding filter does not match the console.
• Moving, but to the wrong cues: the console cue references written in the plot do not match the console. Use Send Test Cue to inject cue numbers and observe where the plot resolves them.

The plot moved during editing

Console cues are suppressed while a cell is being edited and resume shortly after. If a device appears to move unexpectedly, check whether Follow is active: one account may be driving every screen. The toolbar names the account holding Follow, and any author-level account can end it.

A device shows outdated cues after sleeping

A device that sleeps reconnects automatically on waking, requests the current console position, and returns to the live cue within a few seconds. If a device remains out of date, reload the browser page, and confirm the device is connected to the intended host machine rather than a second copy of the application (see below).

Devices connect to the wrong machine

Two copies of the application on one network announce themselves to each other, and every connected device displays a warning. Operate one host per network: quit the second copy, or remove it from the production network. All other machines join the host through a browser.

Lost administrator credentials

Record the administrator username and password securely at purchase. If they are lost, contact support: a support pass, scoped to your production and recorded in your change log, can reset the licensed administrator's password. Chapter 11 describes the mechanism.

The application was force-quit, or the host restarted, during a performance

Start the application again. The show reopens at the state of the last completed edit; no data is lost, because every edit is written to disk when it is made. Operator devices remain signed in. Author accounts sign in again. The console connection re-establishes itself, and every device resynchronises on the next console cue.

Unexpected content in the plot

• The Log control lists the most recent two hundred changes, each with an account name and timestamp.
• Undo lists the last twenty changes in words; select the point to return to.
• For larger problems, restore the most recent backup (chapter 8). A restore writes a safety copy of the current show first, so it is itself reversible.