Communication problems with pen and board

[mgwaltney]

I thought I had this issue solved when I replaced the nib in my pen last week. Wrong again. After upgrading to the Leopard version, the pen is "freaking" out as the kids would say it. Definition of "Freaking" - constantly right clicking when we are not even near the button or even at times the pen is on my desk. Also, pen and board freezes occasionally.

Any suggestions?

Melissa

[jepatton]

This may be a firmware issue with the board. I would contact Techncal Support and they can help you assess the situation.

[mgwaltney]

Thank you. It seems to communicate a little better when I disabled the right click button on the pen. But there are still issues.

Melissa

[gapr29]

Hi Melissa:

We have had some similar experiences. A few things we did to eliminate the issue for our cause. You may have the same cause;

After six months of firmware update, replacing pens, reinstalling software, and even replacing the board, we kept having similar problems to what you had in two or three classrooms in our hallway. What we found at the end when we almost gave up on the Promethean boards, was that is was not the boards, software, or pen at all. We found out that the board was getting "dirty" or "brown" power, that is inconsistent power supply to the board. Whenever the board received tiny surges, or not enough power, the pen would "spike" up and down while writing, or the menu would engage by itself without right clicking, very similar to the problems you described.

The way we got around this was to buy a combination battery and surge protector unit. When the board was plugged into the socket which provided battery AND surge protection (NOTE not just battery or surge protection) our problems disappeared. The board gets consistent power by getting power supplied from the battery, and of course the battery is being continously being charged by the electrical power. The battery is also surge protected.

If you choose this option, you will have to reinstall the firmware update, the latest driver, and the application AS again (Just reinstall over it). Remember, the board draws very little power, so any dirty or brown power will affect it tremendously.

Greg