White Scrren with a grey exclamation mark
Jun 28, 2012
Hi Everybody,
I am curently making about my 5th Storyline module, but it is the first one where all screen capture is being done through Storyline.
Sadly it isn't going well. While making the module and previewing video tutorials I have made I have been getting a grey exclamation mark with a white background - like this:
It covers the whole training module sceen and not just where the video is to display. When in preview I can just close the preview and open it up again and most of the time it opens ok and plays properly. To be clear, in preview it only occurs when I click to view a video. This wasn't too big a deal, just frustrating so I carried on.
I have since published the module and uploaded it to the LMS. I am now getting the issue on the LMS, initially the same deal as with the preview option. I'd open a video tutorial and the screen shown above would appear. I would close down the training (only option since all navigation is gone) and re-open it. While very unreliable It was opening fine when re-opened but then the exclamation screen popped up and I did the close and open module I had been doing but now everytime I try to open the training module that screen pops up - and not just when I try to view a video tutorial it's all the time now making the training impossible to view.
Adobe would point to this being a problem with bad flash development. As I said this is the first module I am making with all Storyline screen/video capture and I am concerned this fault will keep occuring in future modules. Even if I can figure out how to get the training module to work again through the LMS it isn't reliable enough to pass onto a client.
Is anyone else getting this fault when using storyline to do their screen/video captures?
87 Replies
I have been having this same issue intermittently while previewing a non-screen capture course. So while I can't tell you what's causing it or how to fix it, I can tell you that it isn't unique to screen captures. I have not experienced the problem in a published course--just in preview mode.
James,
My research shows this may be an error from Flash if occurs in preview. Also see where it was noted to possibly be java related. On the Java issue it was believed to be LMS communication. My suggestion would be to confirm both are the newest version.
"If it really is a Java issue I would suggest bringing this to the attention of your LMS." JW
David.
Thanks for the responses - it is always nice to know your not the only one with a certain problem.
I tested the same training on our virtual enviroment (where all standard users work from) after I had IT check Flash Player wasthe latst version. I was deliberately trying to crash the training to make sure it was going to be reliable and I only managed to crash it once. When I did it restarted fine and I couldn't crash it again.
This is great news for deploying the course and I am going to have IT update my work laptop
on another forum - http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/9117/85659.aspx#85659
Linda suggests these settings which I will be checking with IT.
1) We upgraded our users to the latest Flash version.
2) We adjusted the settings in Flash to allow for unlimited storage from the LMS website
3) We made our network deployed updates keep settings for Flash persistent
(Edit: sadly this didn't fully correct the issue, but did make it a bit more stable and prevents flash from crashing totally on all applications until I restart my computer. It would seem the problem is not entirely with flash player).
I just posted this in another forum about crashing when in preview:
http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/13695/87021.aspx#87021
But will add it here too as I have found that the video crashing in preview is from the same training module that is getting this exclamation mark problem. I do not get this problem with any other videos/training modules except the one that has issue with previewing so I think it is relevant here.
"I have just had some module come back from UAT for a few minor fix ups and noticed that I am able to use the 'preview scene/slide' function fine on all parts. I can use the timeline preview fine as well (although it still does't update when you move things around and then press play).
This got me thinking so I went back to the module with the crashing issue and found that I can actually do all preview types on all the tutorials except the one I created last and that was crashing in the preview (all tutorials are made of several videos all recodred in Storyline). Even though updating flash has made this tutorial crash less... actually it crashes just as often but doesn't freeze Storyline when it does. Anyway I have come to decide that the problem is not with flash but is with one of the videos that makes up the tutorial.
Of particular note, the tutorial causing the problems has a lot of trimming done to the screen recording in video encoder. I did this to add a few parts to the screen recording that I had overlooked in the first recording. As this is only trimming and not cutting away the video (a feature I actually really like) all the combined videos would make for a very very large file size for the tutorial.
In conclusion I would suggest thet either a particular video has become corrupt for some unknown reason, or the file size is too large to play the preview correctly, or that with all the trimming Storline is getting stuck on the switch between videos.
Either way if you are getting this error I would suggest you update flash and re-record your screen capture with as little trimming and joins as possible."
Has there been any further exploration into this issue? One of our clients just opened a tool we built for them in Storyline 2 (update 3), and they're getting this same exclamation mark. Thanks!
Hi Nick,
did you have them check into the Flash version and browser? Storyline 2's system and viewing requirements are detailed here. Also, if the videos aren't playing - you may want to look into this article as well.
Hi Ashley,
That was my original thought, as well. However, I'm curious if that's the best practice for really large organizations. This particular company has several thousand people that will be viewing this course. If their IT department has their system locked down, do they simply lose the ability to view the published output?
Hi Nick,
If they're not able to access it through one of the browsers/Flash versions mentioned or the hosting server is blocking the associated MIME types as mentioned for the videos - then yes, they'll run into difficulty accessing the course.
The browsers mentioned are pretty standard - so I'd be curious to know what environment they were viewing it in that caused problems.
The client's machine meets all these requirements, and he's still seeing this.
Is it possible this exclamation mark could be related to the new version of flash that just came out (the same version that caused Articulate to need to provide SL2 update 3)?
Hi Nick,
The issue with Flash player 16 was just in terms of opening Articulate software, and it did not impact the published content and viewing it within a server or LMS. Are you able to replicate the issue with the exclamation mark on your own system? If not, what is different in terms of how you both are viewing it?
Ashley, it appears the client is getting this when viewing the course in W7/IE9 from HTML5 output. His IT department says there's no way they can update to a newer browser or to download a flash player for their environment.
I assume the fact that this is IE9 with HTML5 is the reason this is happening, but not 100% sure. Any further thoughts?
Thanks!
OK, nevermind. They're viewing on Windows 7, IE 9.0.8, Flash 15,0,0,167.
I'm viewing in IE11 and Chrome 39, and I don't have any issues. But the client's configuration shouldn't be causing problems, either.
Hi Nick,
You mentioned HTML5 - are you sending them the story_html5.html link? If so, that'll override showing them the Flash output - and Internet Explorer isn't one of the supported browsers for HTML5. I like to use a site such as html5test.com to see how different browsers behave.
You also mentioned they couldn't download Flash player - but then that they have Flash in that particular browser - so I'd just want to confirm.
Yes, sorry. They DO have flash player for IE9. They originally told me they were viewing in HTML5, but then I had them send me a screenshot of what they were seeing, and it was the normal HTML link from IE. So I sent them supportdetails.com and they do have Windows 7, IE 9.0.8, Flash 15,0,0,167.
Hi Nick,
Can you share a copy of the .story file with us or a link to it? I'd like to see how it behaves on my end in IE9 since you see everything working perfectly in IE11.
Thanks, Ashley. Just uploaded my file as a support case, number 00446301.
Thanks Nick - I'll grab your case and reply there and share any updates here as well.
Hi Nick,
I just sent you an email with a published link to your course that I tested in Chrome, Firefox (latest versions of each) and IE11 and IE9, and all played normally. Please let me know if you're able to test that as well.
Thanks, Ashley! I'm, going to try republishing and providing the client with a new link. Thinking that MIGHT help, but who knows. Thanks for your help and your time!
Yeah, your link will probably look better than mine as you have the font. :-)
Try it in a different hosting environment too and see if that makes a difference. Tempshare is good for temporary testing - and there are a few others here.
Hi Community,
I am having the same issue - receiving the exclamation mark during video screens. I have several screens, but everything worked fine until I installed the recent upgrade for Storyline 2.
I have seven topics on the menu, after going through 3 - when I run the 4th topic, first the screen flashes between green and the content and then the exclamation mark page appears.
We are currently using IE 8. But, when I run the course via Chrome, it works fine. Our company is migrating to IE11, but it is not complete as of now. Could using IE 8 be the problem?
Any help is appreciated.
Hi Johnnie Mae,
I'm sorry to hear about the issue you've been having with your courses, and you mentioned it only seems to have occurred with courses you've newly published using the latest update of Storyline 2? Do you have a link to the course we could test for you in IE11 and IE8?
Can you please send me instructions to provide a link?
Hello everyone,
I'm having the same problem as Johnnie Mae Jones since this morning when I upgraded Storyline 2. Everything was working perfectly before the last update. Did you find anything?
Thank you!
Hi Johnnie!
If you need to share the file privately, you can do so here.
Hi Fiona!
We are still in troubleshooting stages, you are welcome to share via link above as well if you wish.
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