Storyline course crashing due to memory issue.
Sep 17, 2015
My storyline course is crashing, showing ‘Gray Circle with Exclamation Mark’. This is audio/video based course (100 video distributed in different slides).
After much investigation and review I reach the point where it seems to be memory issue of browser or flash player. While navigating through course the memory kept on increasing and after sometime course crash showing ‘Gray Circle with Exclamation Mark’.
I observed that storyline does not release the memory of previous slide on load of new slide which keep on adding and reaches the point where course crashed.
This is happing outside of LMS. I am sure the crash will be more frequent when viewing from LMS as server communication will also take memory.
Please suggest if there is any way to release the memory or to optimize the course to avoid such crash.
Appreciate any quick help.
22 Replies
Hi Pankaj,
We mostly saw users experiencing this issue in Internet Explorer, but as Matthew mentioned the most recent update of Storyline 2, Update 7 available here has a fix for the "grey circle of death".
Let us know if you need anything else after downloading the update.
Thanks Matthew, I am using IE 10 and 11 but the issue is replicating on other browsers too (Chrome and Firefox), even on iPad iOS 8.
Thanks Ashley, I will test the course using update 7 and will update you.
Thanks Pankaj, and please keep us posted once you're able to go through the update.
Hi Ashley, Unfortunately issue is replicating with update 7 too.
Please suggest what else I can do!
Hi Pankaj,
Ok, thanks for checking Update 7. We'll want to take a look at one of your .story files and where you've hosted it - so can you reach out to our Support team here to share a copy of the file?
Hi Ashley,
I can't share the course with original content due to proprietary concerns. Will send it after updating with dummy content.
Between. please confirm is there any better way to manage assets (videos) in Storyline Or any way to clear memory of previous screen.
Hi Pankaj,
Our support team can sign an NDA if needed.
I've heard of users not seeing a decrease in the total file size after removing a video or image, and then saving as - but this is because of the "Undo" button it's technically still accessible. What you'll want to do is save it, then close Storyline and reopen the file. That should update the file size to reflect the deleted video(s).
Hi Ashley
I will check it sending file with original content is possible. Thanks!
My question was for published course, is there any way to release/clear flash player or browser memory.
Hi Pankaj,
It's dependent on the browser for viewing the published courses - so the individual users would have to look at clearing the cache and history.
Hi Ashley
I am using IE10 and 11.
I can not ask users to clear browser cache to run course and this never happened before for lighter courses, courses with audio and images or with lesser videos. This course is having lots of video and to me, it is the cause of course crashing (browser or flash player).
Hi Pankaj,
As mentioned Update 7 did include some fixes associated with the playback and Internet Explorer memory issues - but since you're already publishing with Update 7, could you look next into where the course is being hosted? Perhaps that is also impacting the memory/loading behavior. You could use one of the sites in this article to upload to a different web server or if publishing for LMS you could use SCORM Cloud as it's an industry standard for testing LMS content.
A course with a lot more videos, media, slides, etc. will be a larger load and take up more memory within the browser. Could you look at linking to the videos on a website or as a web object vs. embedding them directly into the course?
Hi Ashley
After update course crash issue has been fixed to some extent. I am still facing following two issue.
1. On window 7, IE11, video playing not playing issue on slides with multiple videos.
2. Browser stops responding if user exit and resume course couple of times in LMS. This due to memory issue. how Storyline handles the flash memory.
Hi Pankaj,
Thanks for the additional information and update. For the two issues you've mentioned, I think we'll want to see the .story file so that we could look at testing it as well. You can share it here using the "add attachment" button or also send along to our team here.
Before uploading the file i just want to confirm two thing;
1. source file is/will secure.
2. any upload limit, size of my file is nearly 450 mb
Hi Pankaj,
If you upload it using that link it'll go to our team and it's confidential within our Support team and company and wont' be shared or posted publicly. You should be safe with a large upload file, but if it doesn't work on the upload page they'll also be able to give you another link where you could post your file.
Hi Ashley.
I have been working with Pankaj on this project, and update 7 has indeed solved our crashing issue.
The secondary issue, is on a particularly video-heavy slide. On the base layer, we have buttons to launch a secondary layer, where a video plays. It then returns to base layer. The play changes to replay. Clicking launches the secondary layer again, but the video never loads. Other assets on the layer do load. It seems to work okay on Windows 8, but not IE on Windows 7. The video can replay 2 or 3 times in Firefox and Chrome before failing. It even fails in preview mode in Storyline2.
The files do have proprietary information, so we can't attach it to this thread, but we're okay with sending it to Articulate Support directly.
Hi Tim,
I'm happy to hear update 7 helped out with the crashing issue.
Thanks for additional info on the second issue. If you've submitted the information to our team so that they can take a look at your file, can you share the case number here so that I can follow along as well?
Case 00658125
Thanks!
Thanks Tim for sharing here - and I'll keep an eye on it!
Hi Tim,
I'm just following up in regards to the video issue and it looks like Robert is still testing, as he's unable to recreate the behavior so far. He's asked for a screen recording of the behavior from your end, so hopefully that helps us ensure we're all testing the same way.
I am having this issue too (lots of videos, getting the gray circle with exclamation point, course crashing on LMS) in IE 11. Course was published from Storyline 2 with Update 12: 1705.520.
Do you have any other suggestions besides Update 7?
Hi Shyla,
Sorry to hear that you're experiencing a similar issue. This thread is quite dated, so I'd like to start new with you here.
Curious if the issue happens in any course you are working on or just this particular one?
If you cannot re-create the issue in a new course, I would advise to import the file into a new one and proceed.
If it's happening in any/all files, you should certainly conduct a repair of your software. Or if you'd like to update to the latest version, that will repair your software as well.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.