Frequently asked questions

Players

Generic questions

How can I access my player?

Check the Get started with the player tutorial to see how to connect the cables. Then follow the on-screen wizard to configure your player using the Control Center. You can access the player using one of the player addresses in your browser.

What is Control Center?

Control Center is the player's configuration interface used for making configuration changes and for requesting information from the device.

I have lost my admin password, how do I recover it?

For security reasons, it is not possible to recover a lost admin password - you will need to reset the player to factory default settings using its blue button.

Can I connect via Wi-Fi?

Yes, the HMP400W has built-in support for Wi-Fi. For the other player models, you can use a Wi-Fi Ethernet adapter or a Wireless Access Point set in bridge mode. Note that the player does not support USB wireless adapters.

For more details, see the Wi-Fi page.

Does the HMP support POE?

Yes, the HMP400/HMP400W has built-in support for Power over Ethernet. The other player models don't natively support PoE - if you need this, you can employ a separate PoE splitter.

See Power over Ethernet page for more details on this subject.

Is the player TAA compliant?

Yes, the SpinetiX HMP400/W, HMP350, HMP300, and DiVA players are compliant with the Trade Agreement Act (TAA) since they are engineered in Switzerland and made in Germany.

HMP350 and HMP300

What server do I need to use with my HMP?

The HMP do not need any additional server. It comes with its own internal storage. You can use the built-in interface (or Fusion for HMP200/HMP130) to manage the content to be displayed, or the Windows-based Elementi software to create and publish content on any number of HMP devices.

Can I use a USB drive for content?

Yes, the HMP can play content directly from a USB drive plugged into its USB port. It is usually employed when the HMP is not connected to the network for the content to be pushed directly on its local storage.

See "Plug & play USB drive content" page for more details on this subject.

What can I tell my IT security manager about integrating HMPs in the network?

SpinetiX is very serious about security and you can find a lot of details on the Security page. The access to the player can and should always be password protected. Your network administrator may also be interested in the list of ports opened by the HMP.

Note that SpinetiX is regularly releasing firmware updates (see Firmware release notes) which, among others, include security patches and vulnerability fixes.

What is the HMP350 second Ethernet port useful for?

The HMP350 features an integrated network switch with two Ethernet ports, which can be used interchangeably to connect to a network or for daisy-chaining multiple HMP350 devices (for instance within a video wall setup). Note that the two ports cannot be configured differently for access to different networks.

Is the HMP compatible with Crestron or AMX controllers?

Yes - check the Crestron and AMX pages for more details on this subject.

DiVA

How can I access my DiVA?

Check the Get started with the player tutorial to see how to connect the cables to your DiVA player. Then follow the Configuration Wizard to configure your player. Once done, you are ready to Create Content.

How to create a content backup on DiVA?

To create a backup of the content existing on a DiVA player, click on CREATE, select the asset(s) you want to back up, and click on the "Backup" button.

Why the player cannot display content from Internet?

The RSS app and Weather app require access to Internet - if the player is connected to a network with Internet access, but the network status on the Control Center home page is not OK, then verify whether a proxy server is required for the Internet access; if so, enter its details under Network > HTTP Proxy.

HMP200, HMP130 and HMP100

How can I skip the HMP Control Center Wizard?

Since version 3.0, the HMP Wizard has been added to simplify the configuration of the HMP200, HMP130 and HMP100. To skip this wizard, select "Advanced" on the Operation Mode step, and then "Access HMP Control Center".

How do I open HMP Control Center when Fusion is enabled?

You can find a link to HMP Control Center on the home page of Fusion. Note that if you are already logged in, you need to log-off first to have the link.

Is there a manual for Fusion?

Yes, you can find the manual on the Fusion page.

Can I turn the screen on and off with DSOS players? Do SpinetiX players support CEC?

Players running DSOS can use various power saving mechanisms to turn on and off your screen (HDMI CEC, DVI-D style power management, DisplayPort power management, and RS232). Note that iBX440, iBX410, third-party players and legacy players (HMP200, HMP130 and HMP100) do not support HDMI CEC, however most displays support the other display power management protocols.

Firmware / DSOS

What is DSOS?

DSOS™ by SpinetiX™ is a lightweight, secured operating system designed for digital signage players. Native to the HMP400/HMP400W, DSOS also brings embedded system design to the Intel ecosystem.

Which is the latest firmware?

Check Firmware release notes to find out which is the latest firmware for your player.

How to update the player's firmware?

The incremental update from the SpinetiX update server is the easiest way to update the player firmware; the player is required to have an Internet connection to be able to reach the SpinetiX server.

If the player is not connected to the Internet, then use one of the alternative firmware update methods: from a USB drive or from a local server. All the firmware versions are available for download from SpinetiX server - for more details, see Firmware page).

Software

Elementi

How do I install Elementi on a new PC?

1. Download the software from http://www.spinetix.com/elementi/download
2. Either start the 30 day trial or enter your License key to activate Elementi. Note that Elementi needs to have access to Internet / our servers to perform this task, otherwise, you need to follow the manual activation procedure.
   • If the License Key has already been used to activate Elementi on another PC, you will need to release the license before doing this step.
   • It is highly recommended to register your license.

Which Elementi do I need?

Elementi software comes in three user editions: Elementi S, Elementi M, and Elementi X, each being specialized for a certain type of usage (single site, multi-site, custom), and with an increasing set of features comparing to the starter edition - for more details, see the comparison of the three Elementi user editions on the SpinetiX site.

The support for the HMP300 and HMP350 models have been added in Elementi 2015.

And the support for the HMP400/W models and their corresponding DSOS activation licenses have been added in Elementi 2020.

Is there a manual for Elementi?

Yes, you can find a manual under http://www.spinetix.com/documentation. More information can be found on the Support Wiki.

Can I install Elementi on a server?

Elementi has been designed to run on Windows workstations. Windows Server OS is not officially supported, mostly due to poor graphics performances. For the same reason, virtual machines are also strongly not recommended.

Is there a version of Elementi for MAC?

No, Elementi only runs of Windows (see Elementi system requirements), thus MAC users need to use Boot Camp (with or without Parallels Desktop). Otherwise, Fusion can be used.

How do I upgrade my Elementi ?

To upgrade to the latest version of Elementi, download the Elementi installer and execute it to install Elementi. Note that your current Elementi license must have a valid Update Plan associated with it.

Can I upgrade from Elementi S to Elementi M?

To upgrade from Elementi S to Elementi M, you need to

1. Buy a new Elementi M license.
2. Release the current Elementi S license.
3. Activate the Elementi M license on your PC.

See also the Elementi License section below.

Are Elementi software updates included in the price?

As specified in the End User License Agreement, SpinetiX will provide free of charge all updates it makes generally commercially available to its customers during the period of 12 months from the first activation of the Product.

After this period, benefiting from new software updates requires a valid Update Plan subscription that the Dealer can purchase through Cockpit service.

What is the price to upgrade an Elementi license?

That depends on the date you activated your Elementi license - register your Elementi license into Cockpit and find out the expiration date of the Update Plan associated with your license. If Cockpit shows that you have a valid Update Plan, then you are entitled to a free upgrade. Otherwise, you need to purchase an Update plan extension for your license. Please contact your Dealer or Distributor for the price of the extension.

How can I add my HMP device in Elementi if auto discovery does not work?

You need to add the HMP device manually. For this, you need to enter the device serial number and its IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) into the configuration box. These details can be displayed on the screen connected to the HMP, by briefly pressing the HMP blue button.

Note that you must be able to access its HMP Control Center from a browser, as this ensures that Elementi can also access the player.

How do I backup my Elementi projects?

You can backup any Elementi project by right-clicking on its icon and selecting the Archive option.

To import your project backup into another instance of Elementi, simply drag & drop the 7z file into the Browse panel under the "Projects" view.

How can I display my CSV file on the HMP?

To display data from a CSV file on the HMP you need the following:

• The CSV file itself; the file can either be imported as part of your Elementi project (if the file does not change often) or located on a web server (using services such as Box, Onedrive, etc. is also possible).
• A project based on the data-driven widgets to display the information in a formatted manner on the screen.

Note that special care must be taken to preserve the character encoding when exporting the CSV file from applications like Excel.

Can I use an UNC path (\\servername) to store my CSV file?

No, the HMP is not capable of retrieving data source from an UNC path such as \\servername, an HTTP Web server must be used instead.

I'm using a feed widget, but my data is updated only when I restart the player, why?

By default, when a Data feed widget is used, the refresh frequency is set to 'never'. Unless the feed is re-opened or is part of a Playlist, the data will never be refreshed. Set a duration into the refresh property (1h for instance) to ensure that your data is periodically refreshed.

How can I display a text ticker?

You can display a text ticker out of an RSS feed or a CSV file by using the "RSS Text Ticker" or "CSV Text Ticker" widgets included in Elementi Library > Feeds.

An inline text ticker is also available for downloaded from the Support Wiki.

What server do I need to use with my HMP?

If you need to use a server for storing the content, any web server can be used (Synology NAS, QNAP NAS, public WebDAV servers like myDrive, HTTP server with FTP for upload etc.).

Is there a CMS from SpinetiX for multi-user content management?

Yes, SpinetiX ARYA, our cloud-based visual communication solution, easy to use and accessible from anywhere from a browser from any device (PC, tablet, smartphone) and at any time.

Elementi License

Can I use my Elementi License on multiple PCs ?

The Elementi License can be active on a single physical computer at any given time. Nevertheless, the license can be released from one PC and activated on another PC, directly from Elementi (or from Cockpit, but limited).

Can a license be used by multiple users?

Yes, as long as they are all using the same PC. Note that each user must activate the license under his / her Windows account.

Why do I get "License Key already in use" when trying to activate my license key?

You get this error message because that license key has been activated on another PC. To be able to activate the license on your PC, you first need to release the license from the other one.

• If you can still access the previous installation of Elementi, you can use the release the license directly from Elementi.
• If you no longer have access to the previous installation, you need to use the emergency license release procedure. Note that this can only be done three times maximum.

Once you have released your license, you can activate it on the new PC.

Why does the Elementi license require to be checked periodically?

The Elementi license allows moving licenses from one PC to another upon user request; therefore, it is necessary to check periodically the license activation status on the server to avoid the license being used in parallel on multiple PCs.

The check of the license activation status is in general transparent to the user.

If Elementi has no access to the Internet or to SpinetiX servers, a manual check procedure must be performed by the user at regular intervals. In this case, we highly recommend to register your license into Cockpit, as this will reduce the frequency of Elementi's periodical check and improve the user experience.

Note:

The main reason for not being able to reach our servers when having Internet access is an incorrect or incomplete proxy configuration.

I have used the Elementi 30 day trial, how can I extend the trial?

It is not possible to extend the 30 day Elementi trial.

You can obtain another trial license by following a partner training, if available in your region.

Why do I get an error when trying to register my Elementi license key in Cockpit?

There are different reasons for that:

• Incorrect license key

  Double-check that the license key you entered is correct (look especially for similar characters like 0 and O, 1 and I, 5 and S, etc.).

• License already registered

  If the license key is already registered under another account, you need to ask the owner of the account to remove the license from his account. In case of problems contact your distributor or SpinetiX Support.

What is Elementi Update Plan ?

The Update Plan is a subscription period associated with an Elementi license wherein the customer has immediate access to the latest Elementi versions. See the Update Plan page for more details.

File and media formats

What file type are supported by the player?

See the file types supported by the SpinetiX players.

My video does not play on the player, what should I do?

See the "Video decoding" page for a complete list of codecs and video formats supported by your player model. Also, check the "Encoding guides" page for how to re-encode your video, and the "Streaming" page, in case you are using video streaming.

Why there is no sound from my video?

The most common reason is that the audio is not enabled on the player (default configuration) – see how to enable the audio output. Otherwise, check that the audio codec used within the video file is compatible with the player (check the player.log for errors) – if it's not the case, then the video file must be transcoded.

Can I display live TV using the player?

Yes, if the live TV channel is available on a web page or streamed over the network (you might need to use a dedicated hardware for this; see also this list of encoders and streamers known to be compatible with the player).

Is the player compatible with web streaming sources like YouTube?

Displaying video or streaming content from sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Ustream, etc, is possible on the HMP400/W, iBX410/W, iBX440 with DSOS KIOSK license using the Web Page layer. For instance, see here how to show YouTube videos in full-screen.

This method doesn't work though for HMP350 and HMP300 models because the WebKit process dealing with web content has limited resources allocated and lower priority - not enough for real-time rendering of that web page. A possible workaround is to download those video(s) locally (using browser add-ons, extension etc.) and then import the video into your Elementi project or upload it onto the player web interface.

Can PowerPoint presentations be displayed on the player?

Yes, but the PowerPoint presentation should first be exported as a video or as a collection of images from the PowerPoint application itself. Note also that the support for converting PowerPoint presentations into videos has been removed from Elementi 2015.

For more details, see the "PowerPoint content" page.

Can PDF content be displayed on the player?

Starting with Elementi 2021, rendering PDF files is supported within projects for HMP400/W, iBX410/W, and iBX440. PDF files with multiple pages are imported automatically as a playlist, thus allowing hiding pages, reordering pages, and/or adding a custom transition between pages.

Can a web page be displayed on the player?

All details about this subject can be found on the Web content page.

Special Features

Multiscreen

What kind of video wall shapes are supported by the HMP?

Elementi supports both standard grid-pattern layout and user-defined layout (which can be a mix of various screen sizes, orientation, or even screen overlaps) for multiscreen content. See more about how to create multiscreen content.

How many HMP devices do I need to build a 3x3 video wall?

To get the best resolution and quality, each screen should be driven by one HMP, therefore for a 3x3 video wall a total of 9 players should be used.

Note that there is no limit to the number of screens that can be used in a multiscreen project; Elementi can easily manage a multiscreen project with up 15 screens, but for larger ones, you might encounter content creation difficulties.

When creating video wall content, should I create separate content for each screen?

No, Elementi lets you manage multiscreen content the same as for a single screen. The only limitation is for videos and images - if they are larger than 1920x1080, they need to be split into N videos or images of maximum 1920x1080. Note that starting with Elementi 2015, the splitting is done automatically - see more about importing large videos.

How to synchronize my players in a video wall? Do I need extra cabling?

Multiple SpinetiX players can ensure seamless synchronization of content across multiple screens when they are time-synchronized, meaning that they have the same date/time information. This is achieved through the Network Time Protocol (NTP), so no need for extra cabling.

For more details, see how to synchronize multiple players.

Can I show text tickers over multiple synchronized screens?

Yes, it is possible to use data-driven widgets over multiple screens - for more details see data feed synchronization page.

Interactivity

What kind of interactivity can I do with the HMP? Do you have samples?

The HMP supports 3 different type of interactivity:

• Interactivity via USB: Touch screens, mouse, keyboards, ...
• Interactivity via Ethernet: Web pages, sockets, AMX and Crestron controllers, ...
• Interactivity via RS232: Queue management systems, GPS, dry contacts, ...

The Elementi widget library contains a set of interactive widgets to create interactive content in Elementi.

The Instant messaging project is a sample of interacting with the HMP using a web page. The RFID project shows how to control the content displayed by the player using an RFID reader. The jSignage Tutorials shows you how to write JavaScript for interactivity.

Can I use a touchscreen with the HMP?

Yes, the HMP supports virtually any touchscreen or touchscreen overlay which uses an HID compliant controller, is connected to the HMP via the USB port and works in single-touch mode. Please check the Supported touchscreen controllers and devices page for more details on this subject.

I have a new touchscreen, is it supported?

The HMP supports virtually any touchscreen or touchscreen overlay which uses an HID compliant controller, is connected to the HMP via the USB port and works in single-touch mode. Please check the Supported touchscreen controllers and devices page for more details on this subject.

Does the HMP support multi-touch?

Support for multi-touch touchscreens, including multi-touch handling in HTML layers has been added in firmware 4.7.0 for HMP400, HMP400W, and third-party players.

How to display a message on the screen without editing the content within Elementi?

You can use the Shared Variable framework and the data feed widgets to have messages displayed on the screen. See the instant messaging project for more information on this subject.

Elementi X

Can the HMP connect with 3rd party applications?

The HMP can retrieve data from any HTTP source and display it using the Data feed widgets.

• If the application is based on a REST API and is returning JSON or XML data then the example in the JSON data feed tutorial will help you get started with the integration.
• If the application relies on other technologies, a good understanding of tools available to Get and Post data and the Parsing functions from the HMP may be necessary for complete integration.

Is the HMP compatible with eDirectory (or any other web services)?

The HMP can retrieve data from any HTTP source and display it using the Data feed widgets. See more details right above.

Other

What is a Technology Preview Feature?

Technology Preview features provide early access to upcoming product innovations, enabling you to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

 

See full article on the Technology Preview Feature topic.