Managing the Windows Operating System on SignStick
The Discover Video SignStick digital signage player is a Windows-based computer that boots directly to the SignStick software without any Windows login process. Because it boots directly to the digital signage player software, it does not show a Windows shell with a run menu and system tray. There may be times, however, when it might be necessary to go into the Windows operating system settings to make changes to the device. This article will explain the process of shutting down the SignStick sofware and managing the device operating system manually.
Some potential reasons why you may need to go into the operating system include:
- Managing the date, time, or time zone of the device. The device date and time can be set in the SignStick user interface online, but the time zone cannot.
- Turning off Windows updates (recommended). The device should already be initially set up to prevent automatic Windows updates, but if something changes or the device was not set up properly upon installation, it may be necessary to perform this ask manually.
- Updating the operating system or other components as may become necessary.
- Reinstalling a corrupted SignStick software installation.
Step 1 - Shut down the SignStick service
The SignStick software is designed to run whenever the device is powered on. If the SignStick software crashes or runs into some other trouble, there is a Windows service called SignStickWinService that is designed to restart the software. If you kill the SignStick software process without stopping this service, the service will simply restart the software. Therefore, in order to prevent the software from starting back up, you must first stop the service.
To stop the SignStick Win Service, you will need to open the Services section of the Windows Control panel. The easiest way to do this is to open the Task Manager. If you are on the SignStick with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, you can open the Task Manager by clicking CTRL-ALT-DELETE simultaneously. If you are remoted into the SignStick via a remote desktop (RDP) connection, you may need to click CTRL-SHIFT-ESC instead. Once Task Manager is open, navigate to the Services tab as shown below.
Scroll down through the services and find the one called SignStickWinService. Right-click on the service and select Stop.
Step 2 - Stop the SignStick process
With the Task Manager still open, navigate to the Processes tab and find the SignStick v3 process. Select the process and click the End task button in the lower right corner of the Task Manager as shown below.
Step 3 - Open Windows Explorer or Control Panel as needed
Once the SignStick software is no longer running, you can open whatever Windows operating system controls you need to in order to manage the device settings. From the Task Manager file menu, you can open one of several controls to manage different aspects of the operating system. Simply click on File in the Task Manager menu and select Run new task. The tasks you can run from this menu include, but are not limited to the following (without the quotation marks):
- Command prompt - "cmd"
- Windows Explorer - "explorer"
- Control Panel - "control panel"
Step 4 - Restart the SignStick to restart the digital signage playback
Once you are done managing the Windows operating system, it is recommended that you reboot the device. The SignStick will then automatically restart the SignStick service and launch the software upon reboot. The easiest way to do this is from a command prompt. Open a command prompt as described in Step 3. Enter the following command in the command prompt and hit enter:
- shutdown /r /t 0
The device will immediately shutdown and reboot. The /r command tells the device to restart instead of simply shutting down. The /t command tells the device how long to wait before it shuts down based on the number after it. In this case, it will restart in 0 seconds.
Resetting the SignStick
If the SignStick software becomes corrupted in any way, or if a software updates does not install properly, it may be necessary to reinstall the software. If the device has an internet connection, this can often be done online without needing to return the device to Discover Video. This should only be necessary if the software or the website hosting the device's user interface are not working, and you cannot log in to the device online from its IP address.
In order to reset the software, follow the steps shown above and open Windows Explorer. Find the folder c:\signstick. In that folder, there is a file called version.txt. Open this file to edit it in notepad. Change the number in this file to the number 1. Save the file and close it. After several minutes, the device should go into update mode. This will cause the device to download the current version of the SignStick software and reinstall it.
If, for any reason, the reset does not work, it may be necessary to return the device to Discover Video to be restored. In this case, please contact Discover Video Support at support@discovervideo.com to obtain an RMA to return the device for repair.
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