No Sound on Promethean IWBs
This tutorial describes some of the troubleshooting steps to take if your Promethean IWB does not have sound or it is sound is only coming from the speaker on the IWB computer itself.
Step 1 - Ensure the Promethean board is turned on
There are three components to a Promethean IWB at the College: (1) The projector, (2) the Promethean board itself, and (3) the Mac Mini computer wall mounted or attached to the back of board.
For sound to work, the Promethean board itself must be turned on. To check that the board is turned on, go to the left-hand side of the board (when facing it from the front) and ensure that the "ON / STANDBY" button is green (see above). If this button is red then press the button to turn on the board.
If the button is not lit at all, the board may be turned off at the power point or a circuit break may have tripped. If it is the latter, please log the problem in the Help Desk for investigation.
Step 2 - Ensure that the Volume button is not turned down or set to zero.
If the board is turned on then check that the volume control button on the left-hand side of the board (above the power switch) is turned on and to an adequate level (halfway should suffice).
Step 3 - Check the Sound settings on the Mac Mini
Following power outages or other temporary losses of connection to the Promethean board, the Mac Mini computer may revert to using the default sound output "Internal Speakers" rather than the "Promethean USB" output required by the speakers on the Promethean boards.
To check this, open the System Preferences app on the Mac Mini (Click the Apple symbol in the upper left hand corner of the screen and select "System Preferences"). Then, go to the "Sound" settings and ensure that the output settings have the "Promethean USB" output selected. See image above.
Step 4 - Ensure that the board is detected by the computer
The Promethean board software can be somewhat temperamental and is prone to losing connection to the board, particularly if it has been turned off for a lengthy time or after power outages. If the computer no longer detects the board, this can cause problems with pens and sound.
To determine whether your computer is connecting successfully to the Promethean board, see if the icon indicated in the picture above (the ActivBoard manager software) shows a red cross through it or not. If there is a red cross through this icon as can be seen in the picture above, then you will need to restart the computer to resolve this. When this software crashes we have not found a reliable way other than a restart to resolve it.
Step 5 - Call the Help Desk
If you are still not able to resolve the issue after following these steps, or are unsure how to complete some of these steps, please contact the Help Desk at [email protected] or call ext. 719 or 707.