Technical Support

Technology glitches for any reason can hurt implementation efforts and jeopardize outcomes (besides being frustrating as heck). Yet, sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, technology glitches will sometimes occur – even with Ripple Effects. Our goal is to help you prevent most of them BEFORE they occur, and solve the rest as quickly as possible.

The prevention part usually has to do with installation issues, so we have put that first. Then comes preventive maintenance and support, especially dealing with user accounts and passwords, as well as customizing content to meet changing needs. Finally, there are times when more involved problem-solving and trouble shooting is needed. Scroll down the Table of Contents below and click on a general topic in your area of need. You can download a printable PDF of this entire guide. Want more personal help? Call us toll free at 888-259-6618.

I. INSTALLATION

System requirements
Stand-alone disk installation
Installing in network mode for MAC
Installing in network mode for Windows PCs

II. MAINTAINANCE AND SUPPORT

Ongoing support and maintenance
Dealing with user accounts and passwords
IMPORTANT: Privacy issues
Administrative Features
Deleting and adding back topics 
Internet access 
Deleting student/user records 
Upgrades and Integrating Student Records

III. PROBLEM-SOLVING AND TROUBLE SHOOTING

Problems with launching
Problems with audio
Problems with video
Problems with student data

I. INSTALLATION

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Ripple Effects software is Mac and PC compatible, and will work on most computers. There are three requirements that are likely to make the difference in whether it works on a given computer or not. The computer must:

• Have enough storage space available on the hard drive
• Play sound. This requires a sound card and headphones (speakers optional)
• Play video. This requires both hardware and software (we provide the software). If these

three things are true, most of the other system requirements will likely be met as well.

Space System requirements:

• Windows XP,  Windows 7.
• MAC OS 10.X including 10.8
• 64 MB RAM
• 1.3 GB hard drive space for Teens, 700 MB for Kids, 1.0 GB for Staff
• SB16 Compatible sound card, speakers, headphones
• DVD drive (for disk based installation)
• Color monitor
• QuickTime 6 or higher (it will be installed if not on your computer already).

The software is delivered via DVD (one disk), flash drive, or electronically via download from a secure website.

STAND-ALONE DISK INSTALLATION

1. Put the DVD install disk in the CD/DVD drive.
   • PC Users: When prompted with the “What do you want Windows to do?” window, choose “Open folder to view files” or choose “Run…” from the “Start” menu.
   • Mac Users: Find the Ripple Effects icon on your desktop and open it.
2. Look for an icon (or file) called “Start here” and double click on it to install the software. The “Start Here” program makes sure that the folders are set up correctly, with the right names, and in the right relationship to each other. Once you’ve set up the program, DO NOT move, rename, or delete any files or folders.
3. Click on “Set-up”, choose “FULL” installation and follow the prompts.

Be sure to install Ripple Effects software onto the default location.

• On PC’s, the default location is: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop for Windows XP or
  Users\Program Files for Windows 7.
• On Macs, the default location is the “Applications” folder.

The install may take up to 10 minutes for Kids, 15 minutes for Teens, 15 minutes for Staff.

If you are having trouble installing the software, please contact your technology support person and give them this manual or call 888-259-6618 for toll free technical support.

Verify that it works
Once you have successfully installed the program, double check that it works. Launch it, and make sure you can create an account. After launching the program, click on the “topics button”, choose any topic, and then click on a lit up “Model” button you see along the bottom. A movie should play both sound and video.

If you have trouble creating an account, check the problem solving section under permissions.

If you have trouble with sound, check the problem solving section under audio.

If you have trouble playing movies, check the problem solving section under video.

INSTALLING IN NETWORK MODE FOR MAC

(OSX v10.8 or earlier)

Before you start

You must have administrative rights to the clients and server

You must be able to create a share on a server

You should be installing version 4.2 of a program

1. Install the Ripple Effects program to a client, by following the standard instructions (p. 4)

2. On the server, create a new share folder. On a Mac server, give all Ripple Effects users read and write permissions to the share, and make sure these permissions apply to enclosed items. On a Windows server, give users full control of the share, and make sure these permissions are inherited by all subfolders and files.

3. On the client, make sure that Ripple Effects users have access to the server share when they log in to the computer.

4. On the installation DVD, locate either the RE Teens Data, RE Kids Data, or RE Staff Data folder (depending on which program you’re installing). Copy this folder, with its two subfolders, STUDENTS and CONFIG, into the top level of server share.

5. On the client, open the Ripple Effects program folder you installed, then CopyToHD, and then the Main folder (for example, Ripple Effects For Teens:CopyToHD:Main).

6. Locate the text file NetWorkFlagOFF.txt. Rename this file NetWorkFlag.txt (don’t open the file, just drop “OFF” from the filename).

7. Locate the text file prefs.txt. Open this file and edit the file paths/URL from the server volume with the share to the STUDENTS and CONFIG folders inside the data folder on the server. For example, if you’re configuring Ripple Effects For Teens and created a share called REData on the server volume HSTechLab, the file paths in prefs.txt will be:

students,HSTechLab:REData:RE Teens Data:STUDENTS:

topics,HSTechLab:REData:RE Teens Data:CONFIG:

Make sure that the volume is mounted on the client’s desktop and that there is a colon at the end of each path and no extra spaces at the end of each line.

8. Launch the Ripple Effects program on the client, log in as a new user, and verify that a new user data file appears in the STUDENTS folder on the server.

INSTALL Ripple Effects for Teens (or Kids or Staff) on other clients by copying folders

NOTE: You do not need to install the program from disks and configure it by hand on every client. You can copy the Ripple Effects for Teens folder in Applications you configured on one client to the Applications folders of other clients via your sever or an external drive.

If you’ve already installed Ripple Effects for Teens on your other clients, change them to network mode by replacing just their copyToHD folders with the copyToHD folder from your configured client.

You can also copy the RE Teens Data folder in the client’s Users:Shared folder to other client machines. You should still verify permissions for the data folders on each client.

INSTALLING IN NETWORK MODE FOR Windows PCs
(With mapped drive to server share)

Before you start:

You must have administrative rights to the clients and server

You must be able to create a share on a server and map a client drive to that share

You should be installing version 4.2.1 of the particular program

1. Install the Ripple Effects program to a client computer. Follow the instructions above.

2. On the server, create a new share folder. Give all Ripple Effects users read, write and run of the share, and make sure these permissions are inherited by all subfolders and files.

3. On the client, map a drive to the server share you created.

4. On the installation DVD, locate either the RE Teens Data, RE Kids Data, or RE Staff Data folder (the one for the program you’re installing). Copy this data folder, with its two subfolders, STUDENTS and CONFIG, into the top level of server share.

5. On the client, look for the Main folder inside the Ripple Effects program and CopyToHD folders (for example, Ripple Effects For Teens\CopyToHD\Main).

6. Locate the text file “NetWorkFlagOFF.txt.” Rename this file “NetWorkFlag.txt.” Don’t open the file, just drop “OFF” from the filename.

7. Locate the text file “prefs.txt.” Open this file and edit the file paths from mapped drive letter to the STUDENTS and CONFIG folders inside the data folder on the server.  For example, if you’re configuring Ripple Effects For Teens and have mapped the server share to the R drive on the client, the file paths in prefs.txt will be:

students,R:\RE Teens Data\STUDENTS\

topics,R:\RE Teens Data\CONFIG\

Make sure there’s a backslash at the end of each path and no extra spaces at the end of each line. When using a URL just use it in place of the file path or mapped drive letter.

8. Launch the Ripple Effects program on the client, log in as a new user, and verify that a new user data file appears in the STUDENTS folder on the server.

Common issues after installation

If the computer doesn’t have a sound or video card, Ripple Effects won’t install from the disk. This usually happens if you’re trying to install to a server, not a client. See the Solving Problems section for instructions on installing “by hand.”

INSTALL Ripple Effects for Teens (or Kids or Staff) on other clients by copying folders
You do not need to install the program from disks and configure it by hand on every client. You can copy the Ripple Effects for Teens (or Kids or Staff) folder in C:\Program Files you configured on one client to the C:\Program Files folders of other clients via your sever or an external drive.

If you’ve already installed Ripple Effects for Teens (or Kids or Staff) on your other clients, change them to network mode by replacing just their copyToHD folders with the copyToHD folder from your configured client.

Saving records from previous use

If you’ve previously been running Ripple Effects in stand-alone mode, you may want to preserve existing user data files or a customized topic list.

1. Copy all the files ending in “.v12” from inside the STUDENTS folders on you client machines to the STUDENTS folder on the server.

2. Copy the topics.txt file from one of the client machines with a customized topic list from the CONFIG folder on the client to the CONFIG folder on the server.

3. After configuring the clients for network mode and logging on to Ripple Effects as a teacher or administrator, you should review all the user records you moved to the server by using the student progress button on your home screen.

 Removing Programs

Uninstalling Ripple Effects programs is easy: on Macs simply drag their folders and files to the Trash/Recycle Bin, on PCs use the Control Panel to uninstall the programs (versions 4.2 and later).

Then, locate and delete these folders and files:

1. A version flag text file (for example: RET3.3.txt, REKv4.0.txt, or RES4.2.txt). These are usually on the top level of your hard drive.
2. Network mode only: Program data folders in the server share (RE Teens Data, RE Kids Data, RE Staff Data).

II. MAINTENANCE AND SUPPPORT

ONGOING SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE

Part of ongoing support is making sure users know what to expect from the program. Here are the basics.

DEALING WITH USER ACCOUNTS AND PASSWORDS

Every user must set up an account to get into the program. The account consists of first name, last name, and a password.

Students need to remember the name and password they signed in with, and use the same one every time. There’s no way to find out (recover) forgotten passwords. If they forget them, they’ll have to start over and will lose the points they’ve earned as well as their Brain journal entries.

Let students know to use the same computer every time, unless Ripple Effects is running in network mode. Otherwise, they won’t find their account.

Administrator log-in

Through the administrator log-in educators can check student records, block topics, and turn off web access from the program. They use a special password to get to these features:

For Teacher access to see Strengths topics completed (but not Reasons or Problems topics)
The letters RFT + the 5-digit serial number for stand-alone mode

The letters RFN + the 5-digit serial number for network mode

For Disciplinarian access to see Strengths and Problems topics completed (but not Reasons topics completed)
The letters DFT + the 5-digit serial number for stand-alone mode

If you’ve already signed into the program as a regular user, you’ll have to go back in as a first time user and create a second account with a different first or last name.

IMPORTANT: PRIVACY ISSUES

For the privacy of users, Ripple Effects software is password protected. No one can access student Brain journal records, except the student with a password. The ONLY thing educators have access to are their Scorecards: the records of each user’s points for completing Got Its, Brains, and Profiles.  In addition all student specific information (including their password) except their name is encrypted via private key, 128-bit AES encryption, and only skill building (Strengths) topics are tracked by name.  Other topics in the Reasons and Problems categories are reported as complete but with the name: “personal exploration,” not the actual topic name.

To protect students’ privacy, let them know to quit the program if it’s open when they start up on a computer. If it’s open, they may be in someone else’s account. They should quit, and log back in with their own name and password. This goes for educators and technicians too!

If a student forgets their user name, a Ripple Effects administrator can look for it on the user list in Student Tracking. If they forget their password that can’t be recovered so they will need to start again with a new name and password (they’ll also start a new Scorecard and Brain journal). But you still can see, print or export their old Scorecard (but no Brain memories) through Student Tracking.

DELETING AND ADDING BACK IN TOPICS

Administrators or educators may decide that certain topics are inappropriate for a particular group or setting. Any topic can be blocked so they do not appear in the program, and can be added back in at any time.

To delete topics (or add them back in) you need to:

• Log into Ripple Effects as an administrator with your special password. Choose “customizing topics” from the home screen.
• Click on any topic you wish to remove in the window in the middle of the screen. It will turn green and become underlined, to show it’s been blocked.
• Click a topic again to add it back in.
• When you’re done, choose “Save” to save your customized topic list.
• The “Copy to Disk” button creates a copy of your customized topic list that you can import into the Ripple Effects program on other computers, to block the same topics there.
• You must QUIT and restart. When you open Ripple Effects software back up, the topics you blocked will no longer appear in the program.

INTERNET ACCESS

Built into the program is a web connection to a companion web site. Users access the site by clicking on the “web” button at the top of their screen.

If there is any problem with web access from within the program, you can use your web browser to access our site directly by typing in www.rippleeffects.com.

To block web access from within the program. Log in as an administrator, choose “Block Web Access”. This will prevent users from getting to the web from within the Ripple Effects software program.

DELETING STUDENT/USER RECORDS

To remove a user from a Ripple Effects program, find their user data file in STUDENTS and delete it.

To identify the files you want to delete you have to know what names they used to log in. Usually it’s their real names or nicknames, but sometimes you just have to guess. The user data filenames are made from the first five letters of the last name, an underscore, the first letter of the first name, and a number in the order in which they first logged in. For example, Juan Silvera would show up as silve_j1.db. Jessica Silverstein, who first logged in a month after Juan, would show up as silve_j2.db.

Delete the files you no longer need.

NEVER delete the file students.txt from the STUDENTS folder.

BACK UP before deleting. Make a copy of the STUDENTS folder on your desktop before you start deleting student records. That way, if you’ve deleted one you wish you had kept, you can always copy it back from your desktop back-up.

UPGRADES AND INTERGRATING STUDENT RECORDS

If you install upgraded versions of already installed Ripple Effects software, you need to decide how to integrate existing records with new records. One option is to delete existing records before installing the new program. This works for students who are no longer using the program. You cannot use student records created with pre-3.0 versions of Ripple Effects software, in the 3.0 version. It has new engineering, and doesn’t work with the old files. If you try to connect the new program to old program student records, you’ll get an error message saying that you are using an unregistered version of “.v12”. Move or delete the old records, and install a new students folder. Please call Ripple Effects Support if you are migrating large numbers of student records from older visions to version 3.0 programs.

III. PROBLEM-SOLVING AND TROUBLE SHOOTING

I. Problems at the desk top level
Here are some situations or problems that could potentially come up, with explanations of why they could occur and what to do to solve them.

 

PROBLEMS WITH LAUNCHING

Problem: You tried to get in to the program, but got an error message that says “You clicked on the CD to start the program, but it won’t work from the CD. You have to click on the files that are stored on your computer hard drive to start this program. Look for a file called ”Ripple Effects software” on your hard drive, and click on that to get started.”

Explanation: You may have tried to start your program off the CD or DVD instead of off your hard drive. You have to run it on your hard drive for it to work.

Solution: Quit out of the program, then restart by clicking on the Ripple Effects program icon on your hard drive. Eject the Ripple Effects software CD or DVD from the disk drive, just to make sure you can’t click on the CD or DVD by mistake. If the program isn’t already on your hard drive, then insert the disk and click “Start Here” to get the program properly set up on your computer.

Problem: You put in the disk and tried to use it, but it didn’t work.

Explanation: You can’t play the program file on the disk, because part of the program involves saving and accessing user files on your hard drive. The engine of the program MUST be copied onto your hard drive before it will play.

Solution: Again, make sure the program is set up properly on the computer you are using. Launch the “Start Here” installer program, and/or read the instructions on setting it up, before trying again. When at least minimal installation is complete, try again.

Problem: When logging in, you get a message saying you’ve typed something incorrectly, or that it doesn’t recognize your name or password, even though you know you’ve already logged in and set up an account.

Explanation: You could have typed your first name, last name, or password incorrectly. But, more likely, you logged in on a completely different computer, and your information is stored on that other computer, rather than the one you’re on.

Solution: If you are using a stand-alone installation, you must use the computer where you set up your account the first time, that’s where your records are stored. Or, try logging in again. Make sure to write down the name and password that you signed in with.

Problem: When logging in the first time, you get a message saying that someone has already signed in with your name.

Explanation: You may have mistakenly chosen “First Time” instead of “Already Signed In” on the first screen. If not, another user may have the same first and last names as you. The program needs a unique name in order to track each individual user.

Solution: If you have already signed in, make sure to choose the “Already Signed In” button at the first screen. If you really are a new user, sign in using a nickname.

Problem: You try to launch the program, but get an error message saying “Some files you need to run this program are on the server, and the server isn’t available”.

Explanation A: For a standalone installation the correct files are not in the RE Teens (or Kids or Staff) Data folder or that folder is not installed in the right location, or has read only permissions.

Solution A: Check that you’ve got the RE Teens Data folder with read and write permissions for all users and that it is located in the All Users\Shared Documents (Windows XP), Users\Public (Windows 7) or Users:Shared (MAC OS X) folder on your computer. Then check to make sure it has two folders in it; one called “STUDENTS” (that contains a file called “students.txt”), and one called “CONFIG” (that contains a file called “topics.txt”).

Explanation B: For a network installation the correct folders aren’t on the server.

Solution B: Check that you’ve got a folder called RETeensNetData on your server and that it has two folders in it called “STUDENTS” (that contains a file called “students.txt”), and a folder called “CONFIG” (that contains a file called “topics.txt”).

Explanation C: For a network installation, those folders are there on the server, but are marked “read only,” when they need to be marked “read and write.”

Solution C: Set permissions on the folders to read and write. On a PC “right click” on the files, choose “Properties”, and uncheck “Read only.” Choose “Apply.” On a MAC hold the apple and “I” key down to get information on the folder and go to the bottom window displayed and set the folder to read and write for all users.

Explanation D: The server location is incorrectly specified in the info.txt folder found in C:\Program Files\Ripple Effects for Teens\CopytoHD (PCs) or Applications:Ripple Effects for Teens:CopytoHD (Macs) on the client machine.

Solution D: Double check for clerical errors in the info.txt file, and make sure the server share name and shared folder name are correct.

 

PROBLEMS WITH AUDIO

Problem: NO sound.

Solutions:

• Check control panel/sound/settings, Make sure the sound is turned on and is not muted
• Set volume control higher, both on the computer, and through the program
• Make sure speakers or ear phones are are attached to the computer and they’re turned on and plugged in!)

Problem: The sound quality is poor. It drags and/or you can’t hear it very well.

Explanation A: Your speakers are either not plugged in, not turned on, or have the volume turned down.

Solution A: Make sure the wires going from the speakers to the computer are connected. Check to see if a power button needs to be turned on (often by pushing in.) Make sure it’s plugged in. Check the volume control, and turn it up.

Explanation B: Your sound quality preferences are set too low, or “mute” is checked.

Solution B: To get the best sound, check your settings in the control panel. Set sound preference at the highest resolution the machine can handle; and they’re turned on and plugged in!

 

PROBLEMS WITH VIDEO

Problem: Movies don’t play

Explanation 1: The program needs certain movie software to be able to play the movies. This software, QuickTime, has to be the right version to play — version 6.0.3 or later.

Solution: Install the right version of QuickTime. Quit out of the Ripple Effects software program. Find your program disk, put it in your disk drive, and open it. Look for a folder called QuickTime. Launch the QuickTime installer, and follow the steps from there.

Explanation 2: The videos were not installed properly. Confirm they are in a folder called “Movies 2″. If they are not there, reinstall disk 2.

Problem: Movies play but are jerky or REAL slow

Explanation: Either too many people are trying to access the movies at the same time over a network that does not have the bandwidth to accommodate them, or the computer’s memory (RAM) is not large enough to process the requests.

Solution: Talk to your technologist. Even if you are keeping all student records on the server, if you load media files on each desktop, this problem will be resolved. There is “ghosting software” that can do it automatically.

Problem: Images are pixilated or funny colors

Explanation: You system color preferences are set too low, make sure they are set to thousands of colors

Problem: When you see the program on other people’s computers it takes up more of the screen than on yours.

Explanation: Your monitor preferences are probably set higher (and thus your screen size smaller) than theirs. Monitor preferences set resolution levels on the screen in pixels per inch. The more pixels per inch you choose the smaller space they need to be concentrated in.

Solution: You can change the size of the picture on your screen by changing the resolution of your monitor. Go to monitors or display, and settings, and select one of the numbers shown. The smaller the display numbers, the larger things will be on your monitor. 640 x 480 is maximum size. The program is designed to display at this size so that the “picture window” on the main screens feels almost like a mirror to students users. If it’s much smaller, they are unlikely to identify with kids in the photos or videos. You can change to 832 x 624 if you want things to appear somewhat smaller, and 1024 x 768 if you want the screen to be even smaller. But remember, each decrease in perceived size from the user’s perspective, can result in learning losses. You can experiment by clicking on different numbers, and see which layout you prefer.

 

PROBLEMS WITH STUDENT DATA

Problem: You know you saved “memories” after writing in the Brain/Journal, but your memories aren’t showing up when you click the “memories” button.

Explanation A: You were on another computer and your memories are being held there. Things that get saved are saved on the computer hard drive (in Stand alone mode) or the server (in Network mode). So if you use the program on different computers, unless the computers are linked in a single network, only the hard drive where you last used it will save the information you did on that computer.

Solution A: Unless you are using a networked version of the program, always use the same computer.

Explanation B: Someone else had signed in and the program was already running for them, when you took over. If so, your memories will be stored under their name.

Solution B: Always sign in and start the program from scratch, using your own password. Make sure you quit when you are done. Quit if it’s open when you get there.

Explanation C: There are not read and write privileges from the client machine to the server volume where records are stored. Permissions are often set up in a way that blocks this function.

Solution C: To make sure client machines have read and write access, you can:
• Create a secure partition of a server hard drive (that can be separated from sensitive
materials on that server) with only the STUDENT and CONFIG files in that partition.
• If you use commercially available security software systems such as Fortress, make sure
you give the Ripple Effects programs on the client permission to read and write to specific directories on the server.
• Simply allow programs in the user space (not individual users) on a client machine read/write access the necessary files.

Problem: When you try to create a new account, or sign in, you get a script error saying “error creating new user” and the program quits.

Explanation: This rare error only occurs on network installations. Often, the first few users are able to sign in, and then suddenly, no one else is, and this script error appears every time someone tries to enter the program. This happens because a student record has gotten corrupted. As soon as the STUDENTS folder contains a corrupt file, no one else can create a new account, or access an existing one.

Solution: Determine the corrupt file, go to your STUDENTS folder on the server, and delete the file. There is no visible, simple way to tell which file is the corrupt one. There are two things you can try, depending on how many records are in the STUDENTS folder, and how much troubleshooting time you have. One way is to sign in to Ripple Effects program as an administrator and (password RFN plus 5 digit serial number), start up student tracking and check each student name – a corrupt file will display that no data is available. The file for that student should be deleted.

If this does not work, save the folder with all student records and send that folder to Ripple Effects Tech support. We will examine the folder and identify the corrupted file and send a “clean” STUDENTS” folder back to you.

Problem: When a student is using the program and they select the “In Your Mind” (Brain) icon they get a script error and the program quits

Explanation 1: The RE Teens (or Kids or Staff) Data folder is in the wrong location or it does not have read and write permissions for all users.

Solution: Check that the RE Teens (or Kids or Staff) Data folder is located in the All Users\Shared Documents (Windows XP), Users\Public (Windows 7) or Users:Shared (MAC OS X) folder on your computer. Then check to make sure it has read and write permissions for all users for all of its contents

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

We at Ripple Effects are committed to doing whatever is necessary to make our software work for you. If you run into a problem that is not included here, or if the suggested solution is not working for you, please contact us immediately so we can help you solve it effectively. The more information you have about the technical details of your system, the quicker we’ll be able to help solve the problem.

Other problems
If your problem is not covered here, please don’t hesitate to email or call us directly (toll free)

E-mail: help@rippleffects.com
Toll free: 888-259-6618 (9am-5 pm PST)