Troubleshooting Tech Problems

1. Login early if possible – nothing too extraordinary, but 5 or 10 additional minutes will usually always be beneficial, even if this time is spent warming up, rehearsing materials, or testing technology before the recording or broadcast goes live.
   
2. Practice your slide cues/transitions with the Technical Director to determine how best to communicate that it’s time to move to the next slide. Everyone has a different style, pace, and course material to cover, and building up good coordination practices with your Technical Director will make the course move smoothly and look as professional as possible.
   
3. Have a clock that is easily visible nearby, or on your computer screen to keep track of time. It can be easy to lose track of time during a long lecture, a series of recordings back to back, or just in this new remote studio setting as opposed to a lecture hall.
   
4. Plan for any internet loss/technical outages. If you are recording lectures and become disconnected, how will you reach the Project Manager and Technical Director? Cellphone, email, etc.
   
   This is especially important if you are broadcasting a course live to students. How will you reconnect to the class in this situation, and who will be covering for you in the meantime?
   
   Being prepared is important in any situation.
   
5. Keep your cell phone handy – but silent – so the TA, Technical Director or Project Manager can get in touch quickly if needed.

1. Shut down and restart your computer. This is the fastest way to reset your computer’s RAM and memory cache. It will ensure your computer is running at top speed and performance.
   
2. After turning your computer on again, be sure to close out of all your applications that are not needed for the recording. Even the fastest and newest computers can get bogged down by too many applications being open at once.
   
3. Verify that your internet is plugged into Ethernet if possible, and that your network speed is at least 20mbps for download and 10mbps for upload. You can test here.
   
4. Make sure that all your needed equipment is plugged in, all of your computer settings are properly set (webcamera, audio input, audio output, doc cam, tablet, etc.)
   
5. Locate any materials you will be using and have them loaded on your laptop and/or tablet (PowerPoint sessions, websites, media files, etc.)

Connection problems can occur when connecting to the Rendezvous link. Here are a few likely fixes to solve this problem.

1. Verify that you are connecting to the proper URL link. If you are filming a series of videos over the course of days, weeks or months, it can be very easy to accidentally click on the wrong email link. Rendezvous links are generated daily, which means an old link will no longer work to connect you to our system.
   
2. Restart Google Chrome, and reload the link.
   
3. Clear the cache in Google Chrome. You can visit this guide to learn how depending on what device you are using.
   
4. Try loading the Rendezvous link in Mozilla Firefox. We do not usually recommend using Firefox due to potential problems with the browser when using Rendezvous, but it is a good step in troubleshooting the problem.
   
5. Contact your LAITS technical director and request they generate a new Rendezvous link, and email it to you. Repeat the above steps with the new link.
   
6. Restart your computer.

1. Make sure nobody is using heavy internet usage if they do not need to be doing so at the moment (Netflix, video games, etc.)
   
2. Verify that your internet is plugged into Ethernet if possible, and that your network speed is at least 20mbps for download and 10mbps for upload. You can test here.
   
3. Make sure your computer is not performing any background tasks like backing up files to iCloud, Dropbox, UT Box, or other cloud services. If so, stop those functions.
   
4. Unplug your Ethernet cable, or turn off your Wifi on your computer, wait 10 seconds, then plug the cable back in or turn Wifi back on.
   
5. If possible, unplug your router and modem, press the reset button for 10 seconds, wait 30 additional seconds, and plug the devices back in. This process typically takes 2 – 5 minutes for your internet to reconnect, so only perform this step if you have time to spare.
   
6. If the problem persists and a broadcast or recording cannot be postponed or rescheduled, use turn off the video camera and use audio-only transmission. This takes significantly less data than video transmissions, and should provide a stable connection.

1. Verify that the Logitech webcam is working in a different application, like Zoom or the Drift webcam test
   
2. If the video is present, but it looks choppy or otherwise problematic, try to update the camera’s firmware
   
3. If you need to zoom in, zoom out, or adjust the other camera settings, you can download the free Logitech Camera Settings program from this website.
   
4. If problems still persist, try using your computer’s built-in webcam as an alternate option.

1. Microphone or Earpiece not working – make sure sound is set properly both in your System Preferences for internal and external audio sources, as well as in Rendezvous.
   
2. If you are using Rendezvous along with an additional software, like Zoom, be sure that both programs are not trying to use the same audio sources. If they are, it can lead to sound problems. Check the various sources and change settings if necessary.
   
3. Try rebooting Rendezvous and any additional software.
   
4. If Rendezvous audio is still not working, try opening the URL link in Mozilla Firefox.
   
5. Finally, change your Rendezvous settings to use the default laptop microphone and headphone output to see if alternate sources are working properly. If this solves the problem, unplug the RØDE microphone and plug it back in. Restart Rendezvous and try again.

1. We have tested all of the RSS equipment on several computers, however it is still the case that some computers do not work well with certain hubs, cables or connectors.
   
   In general, the best practice is to plug as many devices directly into your computer as possible, and as few as possible into the hub.
   
2. If a particular device is not connecting, or connects and disconnects regularly, try to plug it into a different port on your computer, or use a different cable if possible.
   
3. If you have a hub at home that you typically use, try that one instead. Or, if you are using one of your own hubs, try using the hub provided in your RSS kit. While rare, it is possible that some hubs do not pass the proper power or data needed for the tech you are trying to use.

Depending on what tablet you are trying to use, and what computer you are plugging it into, there may be several possible issues happening, and tracking them down can be difficult.

We will provide best practice suggestions here, but sometimes Google is the fastest way to your specific problem.

1. If you are using a UT-issued laptop or desktop, there may be software on it preventing the connection to your tablet. Typically the best way around this is to plug your tablet directly into your computer with a USB cable, rather than rely on wireless connections.
   
2. Unplug your tablet, restart it, and then plug it back into your computer.
   
3. If you are having problems with a particular software (for instance, Zoom) not recognizing your tablet, try to connect to your computer using a different application instead. It is always a good idea to determine if you are having a problem with software (i.e. Zoom, PowerPoint, etc) or hardware (i.e. Macbook, iPad, Surface, etc.)