This chapter is a guide for troubleshooting MegaDots problems. It can be used by experienced MegaDots users troubleshooting for themselves, or helping other MegaDots users with their problems. Be aware that Duxbury staffs a technical support line for MegaDots. However, a MegaDots user facing technical problems can use this chapter to see how different problems are addressed, and what resources are available for assistance.
A major priority of each version of MegaDots is to eliminate issues that have caused customer support problems. If you are assisting someone else, the best solution may be an update to version 2.3.
When you call or e-mail for MegaDots technical support, it is important to give the version number and date of your MegaDots software and your MegaDots serial number (which we have sometimes called the user ID). You can find your MegaDots serial number by launching MegaDots and pressing Alt-Shift-R (to bring up the MegaDots release information). If MegaDots has already been released, a message with the serial number appears on the status line at the bottom of the screen. Pressing Shift-F10 ID <enter> gives the same result as pressing Alt-Shift-R. If Alt-Shift-R is intercepted by another program, then use the Shift-F10 command instead.
To get the date and version number of the MegaDots
software, launch MegaDots and press F10 H A (to bring up the About
MegaDots window). The version number and date are at the beginning of the
text. Another approach to getting the date is to type dir "\Program
Files\mega23\mega.exe" <Enter> at the DOS prompt.
A surprisingly large number of bugs, problems, and issues are solved by obtaining an update. There is a reason for this. Technical support issues are the highest priority for changes to the MegaDots software. Once the technical support team figures out that a problem exists, they want the solution built into the software.
Any MegaDots prior to version 2 is considered obsolete. If you have a friend with a MegaDots prior to version 2, tell them they need to update before they can ask you any questions. Where possible, we recommend any customer having problems use version 2.3. Check the Duxbury Systems web site for news about MegaDots updates.
When you install MegaDots, do not try to delete the prior software first. Just install the new software.
There are additional resources for technical support in the MegaDots documentation. In particular, the MegaDots Interface Guide (and the Embossit help file.) give information on using MegaDots with embossers, printers, access technology, and scanning systems. The Interface Guide is available from the menu of MegaDots documentation (Start Menu, Duxbury, MegaDots Documentation).
Whenever you need to learn how to do something in MegaDots, please consult the MegaDots Reference Manual. To consult it, press F12 from within MegaDots, and select the desired topic.
Launching MegaDots from the DOS prompt can be a useful tool for troubleshooting. Sometimes that enables you to see an error message that would otherwise flash quickly out of view.
To open a DOS window, go to Start menu and select Run. On a Windows 95 or 98 system, type COMMAND and push OK. On a Windows XP, 2000, or NT system, type CMD and push OK.
Once you have opened a DOS window, it is best to
switch to the MegaDots program directory for launching MegaDots. If you
are launching MegaDots 2.3, the program directory is probably
c:\program files\mega23 (or c:\progra~1\mega23
when "translated" to the restricted DOS naming system). So type:
This puts you in the proper place to use the batch files discussed below.
-- If MegaDots was working fine on your system, and
then had a crash and now does not work after restarting your computer, we
recommend deleting a file called restore.inf in the MegaDots program
folder. One way to do this it to run a batch file called megajump, to give
MegaDots a "jump start." At the MS-DOS prompt, as described in the section
above, type megajump <Enter>. The MEGAJUMP batch file
was added in the spring of 1999; it renames the file called
RESTORE.INF so that the next launch of MegaDots does not
bring back the problem that made it crash before. You can e-mail the file
called RESTORE.OLD to MegaDots technical support staff for
diagnosis.
-- If the thing you were doing when MegaDots crashed
was printing to an inkprint printer, and now you can't get into MegaDots
any more, then we recommend running the newprint batch file. At the MS-DOS
prompt or the Start Menu's Run dialog, type newprint
<Enter>. newprint is another batch file added in
the spring of 1999. It deletes the files SLATE.PDB and
FONTSTR.INF to clear out your inkprint printer information
(to be remade next time you launch MegaDots).
-- A crashing problem may come from other software
that begins running in the background whenever you start your system. If
you are using Windows 98, ME, or XP, a very useful tool called the
Microsoft System Configuration utility, or simply msconfig is
available to change the way your system starts up for troubleshooting
purposes. (If you are using Windows 2000, you can get a copy of the file
msconfig.exe from someone else to run on your system.)
From the Windows Start menu, select Run, and type
msconfig <Enter>. In the General tab, check the radio
button for "Diagnostic startup." Then push the Apply button, followed by
the OK button in Windows 98 or ME, or the Close button in Windows XP. This
gives a dialog box telling you to restart your computer. Push the button
to Restart.
If MegaDots launches without crashing after starting Windows with diagnostic startup, then you know that something in the ordinary Windows startup is interfering with MegaDots. You can contact the MegaDots technical support team with this information.
-- Sometimes users find that MegaDots was running fine
on their system but at a later time it no longer runs, without warning.
This is different from the restore.inf problem, where the
problem started with a crash during a MegaDots session. This kind of
problem probably comes from other changes on the system, changes in
Windows or other software installed on the system. You can look for clues
about this problem in the Windows journal. You can also try resetting
Windows to a restore point when MegaDots was working.
-- If MegaDots crashes immediately when launched from
Windows, it is often difficult to read any error message that might be
supplied. To find out what error message you might be missing, go to the
DOS prompt and run MegaDots by typing mega <Enter>. You
may get an error message that was not displayed when you clicked on the
MegaDots icon.
The message "intrinsic MegaDots error" means that you need to get the correct "MegaDots serialization file" on your system. Contact MegaDots technical support.
MegaDots also crashes immediately if a very long path
is set on your system. If this is the problem, you get a message about a
DOS4G error. To troubleshoot for this problem, at the MS-DOS
prompt, type path <Enter>. If the path that appears is
longer than 255 characters, then this is the problem. If so, the solution
is to set a shorter path in the process of launching MegaDots. The
MegaDots technical support team can help you with this.
If you go to the DOS prompt and type SET DEBUGINIT=1
<Enter> and then launch MegaDots by typing mega
<Enter>, MegaDots creates a file called TRACE in
the MegaDots directory from which the MegaDots programming staff can
figure out at what stage the crash occurred.
-- It is also possible for a problem in your MegaDots
preference settings to cause MegaDots to crash immediately, especially if
you just installed a major update and have an older preferences file. To
check for this kind of a problem, rename the preferences file from
ENVIRON.ENV to OLD.ENV; then MegaDots does not
use these preferences when you launch it again. If this fixes the problem,
then you can rebuild your preferences from scratch. If the problem
persists, then you can rename the preferences file back to
ENVIRON.ENV and try another strategy.
-- Sometimes a video card, or the driver for a video card, may cause MegaDots or another DOS application to crash immediately when you launch it as a full screen application. If you can run MegaDots as a window application (changing this under Properties - Screen) but not as a full screen application, then this is probably the issue. As a first step, you can try updating the driver for your video card.
-- In MegaDots versions prior to 2.3, a missing
autoexec.nt file in the system32 subfolder of your computer's
systemroot folder (usually c:\windows\system32 or
c:\winnt\system32) prevents MegaDots from launching. However,
there is usually a backup copy of this file in the repair
subfolder of the systemroot folder. So copy autoexec.nt from
the repair subfolder into the system32 subfolder. Again, this is not an
issue in MegaDots 2.3.
On some machines, launching MegaDots brings up a
normal-looking MegaDots screen, but it is frozen. This happens on machines
which have the IntelliKeys, IntelliTools, or IntelliTalk software
installed. To test for this, open an MS-DOS window, use the cd command to
get to the Megadots program folder and type: SET NOBKEYS=1
<Enter> mega <Enter>. If this fixes the problem, you
can make This setting more permanent in Control panel - System - Advanced
- Environment variables. Add a user variable called nobkeys with a value
of 1. This solution has the drawback of not allowing use of six keys as a
braillewriter keyboard. If the problem comes from having a product like
the IntelliTools software on your system, and you don't run it often, an
alternative solution is to make a change in the system.ini
file, disabling IntelliTools but allowing the use of MegaDots with 6-key
braille entry. In the [386ENH] section of system.ini, place a
semicolon at the start of the
linedevice=ikeysxfr.386
Best solution: get a new
computer (not
A source of frequent crashes may be virus protection software, or other software running in the background. All virus software makers want you to run your virus protection software all the time. Sometimes these programs foul up MegaDots. Turn your virus software off (briefly) to see if the MegaDots crashing issues go away.
You can also do some troubleshooting by using the
msconfig program to set your computer for startup with only
basic services. See the discussion of this above.
Sometimes MegaDots has problems with specific files. If the problem involves importing a file from another file format, then see the section below.
If MegaDots crashes, freezes, or makes mistakes while you are editing, translating, viewing the WYSIWYG screen, or printing, we recommend that you determine if the problem is due to something in the file that you are working on, or something more general. So bring in a chapter of the MegaDots User Manual--press F11 and select a chapter from the list. [If you make changes in the User Manual chapter, be careful not to save it with the same filename.] If you have similar problems in the User Manual chapter, then the difficulty does not have to do with your particular file, and we need to look elsewhere. But if you do not have similar problems, then we need to examine your particular file.
If your problem is specific to a particular file, we
recommend that you e-mail it to the MegaDots tech support team at
megadots@duxsys.com. If you want to tell us where in the file
the problem occurs, the very best way to do that is to create a "MegaDots
bookmark" at that place in the file. With your cursor at the place in
question, press Alt-J to bring up the bookmarks user list. Then press the
Insert key to add a new one, type a name for it, and press <Enter>.
Then save the file.
When MegaDots crashes, it tries to save the files that were open at the time. If it was successful, the next time you launch MegaDots, you are given an opportunity to bring up the documents that were open. We recommend that you answer Yes, press Alt-J to bring up the user list of bookmarks, and select "Exit position." This shows you where MegaDots was "processing material" when the error occurred.
A number of file-specific problems come from tables (columnar material). To test if the problem comes from tables, open the file and then press Alt-F9 notabs <Enter>, which eliminates tabular formatting. If the problem goes away after you have done this, then you know that tables were the culprit. Sometimes, especially with material that was scanned, tabular formatting was not appropriate in the first place. On the other hand, if you really do need to show tabular material, then you should report the problem to the MegaDots tech support team. You may be able to get better results in the shortrun by changing the table style.
Sometimes MegaDots crashes while importing a file. While we know that this is regrettable, we can recommend various procedures that enable you to import most of these stubborn files successfully.
If MegaDots fails to import a Word document or imports it poorly, we recommend that you open the document in Word and use the Save as option to save it as a Word 6.0/95 document; be sure to use a different filename to avoid overwriting the original file. Then use MegaDots to open the newly saved Word 6.0/95 document.
If the procedure above does not apply, use the Open/import command, and type the filename followed by <space> -spa <Enter> (for spacing same). If MegaDots opens the file, then press Alt-I to bring up the Interpret format screen and change the Style selection field from Spacing same to Normal. To do that arrow to Style selection, press F2 N <Enter>. Then press F10 to reimport the file and Escape to return to the Editor.
If this does not work, check if MegaDots correctly recognizes the file type. Try to open the file again, but this time type the filename, then space followed by -? before pressing Enter. Then choose the appropriate file type from the list. One "last resort" is to choose the file type "Unknown file with text" by pressing UNK <Enter> in the list.
If you want to change some aspects of how MegaDots imported a file, then before making any changes in the Editor, press Alt-I to bring up the Interpret Format window, and change the settings related to the issue. If you want to make some of these changes permanent, make those under Preferences - File import - Default. When you have finished making changes, press F10 twice and then S <Enter> to save your preferences.
The MegaDots Interface Guide and the Embossit help file give information on using MegaDots with embossers, printers, access technology, and scanning systems. The Interface Guide is available from the menu of MegaDots documentation.
The Embossit help file. has a very good troubleshooting guide that should fix just about every embosser problem.
It does not address MegaDots-specific problems. Do not try to output directly to a serial port on a Windows XP, Windows 2000, or NT systems. Instead use MegaPrn or Embossit to output to the serial port.
Embossing problem: many characters are missing or no output. The issue is probably that the computer's parallel port is set for "ECP" or some other "bidirectional" setting. Quite a few braille embossers skip a lot of characters when the parallel port is set for bidirectional communication. Set the computer's parallel port for SPP (standard parallel port). You can do this in the CMOS settings (holding down F1 or another key as specified by your vendor as you start your computer).
Embossing problem: no output. Here are some things to try in this situation:
Embossing problem: garbled output. If you are using a serial connection, go to the Windows Control Panel - System - Devices, to check the settings on the computer's serial port. In particular, check the baud rate, data bits, and parity, and make sure that they match the settings on your embosser.
Embossing problem: output stops before it is finished or is missing occasional characters. This may be a "handshaking problem."
If inkprint printing (including simulated braille)
stops prematurely after one page, then exit MegaDots and type
NEWPRINT <Enter>. This eliminates old printer
information, which is replaced the next time you enter MegaDots.
If there are problems with regular inkprint printing, try changing the starting type family.
If you are not getting any inkprint output, or it stops after a few lines, you may need to change your MegaDots preference setting for the default inkprint printer. Go to Preferences - Inkprint devices, and press Insert and then F2 to add a new printer set-up.
If you are having trouble with inkprint printing when telling MegaDots to print to a parallel port, try telling MegaDots to print to mprn. Then, when you press F10 to print, MegaDots sends you to a dialog box in which you select the appropriate Windows printer.
If translating a file from print to braille makes
MegaDots freeze or crash, it is best to send the file to the MegaDots tech
support team. You can e-mail it to megadots@duxsys.com. If
the MegaDots Editor preferences are set for WYSIWYG display, or if the
Advanced preferences have Transcriber view set to Yes, the problem may
actually arise when MegaDots tries to display the braille in WYSIWYG
format. You can check for this by pressing Alt-W (to get the message
WYSIWYG off) and setting Preferences - Advanced - Transcriber view to No
before translating to braille. If that works okay, then MegaDots probably
freezes or crashes when you press Alt-W again to turn on WYSIWYG display.
If this is the case, then the problem is with formatting. If there is any
tabular material in the document, that may be the cause of the problem. If
there is not supposed to be any tabular material in the document, then
press Alt-F9 notabs <Enter> (to remove tabular material) before
translating to braille.
In some releases of MegaDots version 2, the translator from print to braille might freeze in attempting to translate some web addresses. If this is the reason for hanging, get an update.
We have also learned that mistakenly entering certain
items from the Diacritics menu in a foreign language document set up for
grade one braille can cause the translator to hang. If you find that
MegaDots hangs when you try to translate a file containing Spanish or
another language, use the rules file fixforen before
translating into braille.
Another kind of translation problem is a "round trip
error," where translating from print to braille and then back to print
again makes some changes in the text. This is most common in documents
using the Nemeth style sheet. If you are using the Nemeth style sheet, we
recommend that you use the macro called Trans to view the material in
braille in a separate file, still leaving your print intact in the
original file. In addition, if you are using the Nemeth style sheet, we
recommend that you make a practice of saving the print file before
translating to braille. Then you'll be able to reopen the saved print file
in case the file translated back into print is corrupted. We also
recommend checking for this kind of problem before you translate to
braille: In the Editor press Alt-F5 to check for round trip errors. Each
time you press Alt-F5,
The braille keyboard (or Perkins keyboard) uses the keys SDF--JKL as keys on a braillewriter keyboard. For example, pressing down F and J simultaneously and then letting go enters the character for dots 1-4, which is the letter 'c'. If you have a top menu bar, you will notice a <6> in the upper right corner when Perkins keyboard mode is on.
In versions of MegaDots prior to 2.3, users often found that the braille keyboard driver was not installed, if they strayed from our installation instructions. Since the MegaDots 2.3 installation software takes care of this, we do not expect this to be an issue in MegaDots 2.3.
In order for the braille keyboard to work properly, without missing dots, your PC keyboard needs a feature called n-key rollover. If your keyboard does not have n-key rollover, then braille keyboard entry works for cells with one or two dots, but misses dots on other cells. If you cannot get the Perkins mode to work properly, try this simple test. Without loading the braille keyboard software (at the DOS prompt or in Word, press the keys SDFJKL all at once. Do you see these six letters (in a random order)? If not, you need a new keyboard.
With new keyboards, problems caused by lack of n-key
rollover have become more common. For information on which keyboards have
n-key rollover, you can consult the web site
http://www.braille-pokadot.com/indexkey.html.
On some laptop computers the screen for MegaDots is shrunken, with a large border (usually black) around it. To remedy this problem, you need to use your computer's BIOS settings menu to enable a feature called "Video expansion."
To enter the BIOS settings menu (sometimes also called the CMOS settings menu), you need to hold down a certain key when you start or restart your computer. This key varies from one computer to another. When you restart your computer, information about how to enter the BIOS settings menu flashes by quickly. If you can't read this quickly disappearing message, then look up BIOS settings menu (or CMOS settings menu) in the manual for your computer. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the menu for moving around the menu and making and saving changes, as the mouse is not functional within the BIOS menu.
On one sample computer with this problem, the setting that needed changing was called "Video expansion." By default Video expansion was set as Disabled, and the user needed to change it to Enabled. The documentation for the computer stated: "Video Expansion--When enabled, expands video image to cover entire LCD at lower resolutions. To expand everything, first decrease screen control size in Control Panel - Display - Settings, before expanding video. The computer user in this case did not end up keeping this change in Control panel - Display - Settings, because of the way that it affected everything else. After the change in the BIOS settings, the large black border that had surrounded the MegaDots screen was much smaller, and the MegaDots screen, while still not the full screen, was much larger.
Usually when this problem has occurred (particularly on Del computers), it has been fixed by adjusting a knob located on the monitor.
Using a MegaDots Braille view mode of Dots (not Big dots) does not work if you use MegaDots as a window application. If you want to view braille as Dots, make sure to use MegaDots as a full screen application rather than a window application. You can change this in the Windows properties for MegaDots.
If you have been using MegaDots with JAWS and JAWS suddenly "loses focus," you may have accidentally switched the data entry mode from Insert to Overwrite by pressing the Insert key. To check for this, press the Insert key. If JAWS says, "Insert on," then that was the problem and you have just fixed it. If JAWS says, "Insert off," then that wasn't the problem; press the Insert key again to turn it back on.
If JAWS has very sluggish speech with Eloquence in MegaDots on a Windows XP, 2000, or NT system, the problem is likely to come from the system setting for allocating system resources to "background services" or "application responses." To fix this problem, set this to Background services. For the details on making this change, see Chapter 13.