Graphics Disappearing / Display Problem

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:19 am

** The following issue has been resolved - this post contains the problems encountered and scenarios found - read below for the post on the "Resolution" ** (13 Mar 2006)

Our Setup:
We have PWB running on an HP T5710 Thinclient, running Windows XP Embedded. The configuration for PWB (latest version) is to run as shell, in a kiosk mode with no menu bars, no shell bars, no navigation. The web-page that it is configured to display is for a single page that is not navigated away from, in fact these "kiosks" don't even have a keyboard and mouse hooked up. The web-page itself is configured to show status of certain things that it queries from a SQL server every 15 minutes or so.

Our Problem:
After several hours of operation PWB looses all graphics that the web-page has / supposed to have, basically showing an all white page. Sometimes the static text is still visible, but since alot of the page is meant for color-coded display this has been a problem.

Our Temporary Workaround:
Reboot the device. But the problem comes back after a few hours.

Our Testing So-Far:
1. Web-page refresh code was tested (add / removed) - no avail.
2. PWB Inactivity Timer set to "Go Home" after a few minutes, also tested the option to clear the cache on Home Page (ClearCacheOnHome=) - no avail.
3. Combining the 2 above, trying different combinations of the two.
4. Tried changing the web-page from images to color indexes, tables to divs, etc.. - no avail.

Our Idea:
Wondering what PWB does during the "inactivity timer" reset, and curious if it has code for "Me.Refresh" in addition to the web control page refresh (document.refresh or similar). We were thinking that if the inactivity timer was not doing a window refresh that maybe there could be an option for it to do one?
The reason we think this is we have another HP Thinclient setup very similiar to this one and it doesn't loose it's graphics. The only difference is the one that works has a screen saver which we think when it activates it issues a screen refresh, which resets PWB we think. The problem is we can't put a screen saver on the one we are having a problem on because we can't have keyboards and mice attached due do the different nature of what it is used for.

Does anyone else have this issue? Is it possible to have an option added to the Inactivity Timer to do a screen refresh in addition to the page refresh or "action"? Are there other scenarios that we haven't considered or done that anyone else can suggest?

Thanks in advance for any / all help and feedback..

Post by **Scott** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:07 am

We are currently testing PWB v2.09.1. To this we added a new inactivity action "Redraw", which refreshes the current web page and redraws the PWB window. Please let me know if this fixes the problem.

PWB v2.09.1 can be downloaded from our Beta Download page.

Another thing you can try is to use the inactivity action "exit" and the restart on close option in the security section. This will cause PWB to exit and restart to the home page.

--Scott

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:29 pm

Very cool, thank you for the reply.

I've downloaded and our test Thinclient is being updated with this new compile at the moment. Am I correct in the understanding that the configuration should be the following?

Code: Select all

[Inactivity]
InactivityAction=Redraw

Thanks again..

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:53 pm

The redraw appears to run, but it kills the inactivity timer from restarting. So basically it will only run the inactivity action once, and the timer goes away. I'm assuming thats just a bug.

If it helps here are the inactivity timer options that I have, for reference/testing:

[Inactivity]
InactivityTimer=True
InactivitySeconds=30
InactivityMessageTitle=Warning
InactivityMessageFile=Inactivity.txt
InactivityAction=Redraw
InactivitySoundFile=
InactivityStartOnOpen=True
InactivityShowDialog=False
ResetOnMouseMove=False
ResetOnMouseButton=False
ResetOnKeyboard=False

Thanks again.. - Brian

Post by **Scott** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:58 pm

Did the redraw option fix the problem?

We fixed the timer starting problem. The inactivity redraw action will now start the timer based on the start timer on open setting. The update is posted on the Beta Download page.

We also added a window refresh to the inactivity home action.

To ensure you have the version with the fix, ensure the EXE in the zip file is dated 1-12-06 6:26PM.

--Scott

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:08 am

I'll download the update and test it out.. I think this may solve our problem, but it takes a few hours for the problem to occur so we weren't able to test properly when the inactivity timer was killed.

I'll get the update running on our test systems and will respond next week with it's results (since it takes a few hours and today is Friday).. Thanks so much!

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:19 am

It does not appear that the "Redraw" action is helping our specific issue. The webpage still "goes all white" as the graphics and so forth are not shown on the screen.

I have yet to test the improved "Home" action, that is on the list for today. After that I suppose I can play with Close & Restart configuration options.. But with PWB set as the Shell I am not sure how well that will work.

I think we've found a reproduce method, although it still takes time for it to happen. Using our HP T5700 Thinclients we have now seen this problem happen on any webpage that is set to be used. The inactivity timer set to Redraw, or previously Home. The one thing to keep in mind is absolutely no screen saver is set for use.. Sure, screen burn-in issues, etc., but thats another issue..

Are there any other options that I'm not seeing? All help would be appreciated.. Thanks!

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:54 am

The "Home" action appears to work fine so far except for a couple things we noticed. On our test setup we have the status bar displaying the inactivity timer and the system time. The two 'clocks' on that bar don't update anymore. We are also showing a simple menu bar that give us the option of the "refresh" button. We noticed that opening the menu the contents were blacked out until we hover of them. Doing this action (just hovering over the menu options) gets the inactivity timer display to work again - but not the system clock display.

Anyways, we figured these issues are minor compared to the actual page display refreshing without going white. Which is so far looking good. We didn't loose any graphics overnight and everything is looking good on the page.

On our regular workstation running the same config, except not set as shell and in window mode not full-screen, the status bar and menu do not have the same problems. They are working fine. This appears to us that the problem could be a result of either setting PWB as the Shell, using it full screen, or maybe another feature. But we haven't determined the exact reason yet. I'm going to setup another thinclient with the same PWB version and config, except remove it from being the shell.. This is one thing we thought might help isolate the actual problem.

If anything I'm hoping that our testing helps development and some bug fixes. We believe the fix to the "Home" action is very helpful. The "redraw" didn't seem to work well, so maybe that needs another look. And it appears PWB might have an issue with being the Shell (testing still to be done on this). So hopefully this is helpful testing and information.. If not for the dev's then maybe for anyone else out there with this setup/design/issue..

Post by **Scott** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:09 am

Do you have your inactivity timer set to start on open?

[Inactivity]
...
InactivityStartOnOpen=True
...

Instead of running PWB as the Windows shell you can hide aspects of the normal Windows shell with the HideGUI utility available on our download page.

http://teamsoftwaresolutions.com/phpBB2 ... .php?t=536

--Scott

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:24 am

Yes.. I have the Inactivity set to open on start.

I was just now playing around with the HideGUI tool.. Very nice. On my way to the lab to get this loaded up for the weekend.. Thanks!

Edit: Thanks Scott!

byoung · Post by **byoung** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:11 pm

With help from Scott our problems have been resolved. The biggest changes are no longer using PWB as shell and a new feature he has added to the recent PWB Beta versions.

Programs Used:
PWB.EXE (02/20/2006 dated version of v2.0.9.3)
HideGUI.EXE (11/22/2005 dated version of v1.0.0.2)

Scripts Used:
Startup.reg (to setup a script to run at startup):

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"ThinPC"="C:\\PWB\\Startup.cmd"

Startup.cmd (launched at logon):

Code: Select all

@ECHO OFF 
CLS 

REM Check for user and lock down 
IF %username% == User GOTO LockDown 

REM No lock down 
GOTO End 

:LockDown 
START C:\PWB\HideGUI.exe 
START C:\PWB\PWB.exe 
GOTO End 

:End
Exit

PWBDisableWindowsGUI.INI:

Code: Select all

[General]
HideDesktop=True
HideTaskbar=True
HideStartButton=True
HideTaskTray=True
HideTaskbarButtons=True
CloseTaskTray=False
CloseStartButton=False

[Keys]
DisableShortcutKeys=True
DisableWindowsKey=True
DisableApplicationsKey=True
DisableCtrlEsc=True
DisableShiftEnter=True
DisableTaskSwitching=True
DisableAltSpace=True
DisableCtrlKey=False
DisableAltKey=False

[Mouse]
DisableMouseClicks=False
DisableRightClick=False
DisableShiftLeftClick=False

[HideGUI]
EnableOverrides=True
TimeToShow=1000
Password=
ToolTip=
ShowSplash=False
SplashMessage=Securing Desktop...

PWB.INI:

Code: Select all

[AutoRegister]
RegisterKey=
RegisterPassword=
RegisterDaysLeft=30
RegisterSeconds=15
RegisterShowWindow=False
UseWindowsRegistry=False
RegisterDelayClose=False

[Browser]
HomePage=[CLEANED-OUT]
Title=[CLEANED-OUT]
RegisteredTo=[CLEANED-OUT]
RegistrationNumber=[CLEANED-OUT]
IniFileVersion=2.09
UpdateWindowOnTime=True
RedrawWindowSeconds=0
KioskMode=True
DesktopMode=False
CommandLineHomePage=False
SearchPage=www.google.com
WebMailPage=www.Hotmail.com
AddressBarText=Address:
DefaultFontSize=2
DefaultSendLink=True
StartMaximized=False
AlwaysOnTop=False
WindowHeight=
WindowWidth=
WindowTop=
WindowLeft=
ShowMenuBar=False
ShowToolBar=False
ShowShellBar=False
ShowAddressBar=False
ShowAnimation=False
ShowStatusBar=False
ShowTitleBar=True
ShowBackButtonMenu=True
ShowInactivityTimer=True
ShowActivityTimer=True
ShowStatusBarTime=True
ShowURLInBrowserCaption=False
DisableMinimizeButton=True
DisableMaximizeButton=True
DisableCloseButton=False
DisableMoveWindow=False
DisableResizeWindow=False
DisableNewWindow=False
DisableINIVersionCheck=False
DisableExit=False
ConfirmClose=False
UseIEFavorites=False
ShowGoButton=False
GoButtonText=Go
AlwaysOnBottom=False
ShellButtonIconWidth=
ShellButtonIconHeight=
DisableIESubClass=False
ShowWindowRelation=False
MainWindowIndicator=(Main)
ShowKioskBar=False
F1HelpPageURL=
ShowSplashScreen=False
DisableAutoComplete=False
ShellExecuteScripts=False
OpenLinksInNewWindow=False
DisableCtrlEnter=False

[SecondWindow]
AlwaysOnTop=True
LimitCount=
DisableMinimizeButton=True
DisableMaximizeButton=True
DisableMoveWindow=False
DisableResizeWindow=True
DisableTitleBar=False
WindowHeight=
WindowWidth=
WindowTop=
WindowLeft=
NewPageAsHome=False
OpenInParentWindow=False
DisableUnrequested=False
StartOnDesktopMode=False
OpenDesktopModeLink=True
ShowTimers=False
ShellBarURLNewWindow=False
DisableCloseButton=False
ShowShellBar=False
StartMaximized=False
CloseChildrenOnClose=False
SecondWindowIndicator=(Secondary)
OpenInNewProcess=False
ShowAddressBar=False
ShowGoButton=False
ShowKioskBar=False
ShowToolBar=False
ShowMenuBar=False

[ToolBars]
MenuBarGripper=True
ToolBarBreak=True
ToolBarGripper=True
ToolBarChevron=True
ShellBarBreak=False
ShellBarGripper=True
ShellBarChevron=True
AddressBarBreak=True
AddressBarGripper=True
MenuBarWidth=
ToolBarWidth=
ShellBarWidth=
AddressBarWidth=
GoButtonGripper=True
GoButtonBreak=False
AlignBottom=False
KioskBarScrollBy=40
AutoSizeButtons=False
ButtonTextRight=False

[Printer]
ShowPrintButtonDialog=False
ForcePrintPreview=False
UseLimitPrintJobs=False
LimitPrintJobs=0
PrintJobLimitTitle=Print Limit
PrintJobLimitMessageFile=PrintLimit.txt
ShowPrintingDialog=False
PrintingTitle=Page Printing
PrintingMessageFile=Printing.txt
CheckPrintAccess=False
PrintDialogShowCancel=True
ShowPrintMenuDialog=True
PrintTemplateFile=

[Dialogs]
DialogSeconds=15
PolicyTitle=Policy
AccessTitle=Warning: Denied
ConfirmCloseDefaultNo=True
ConfirmCloseTitle=Confirm Close
PolicyHeight=
PolicyWidth=
ConfirmCloseSoundFile=
AccessDeniedSoundFile=
AlwaysOnTop=True
SecondInstanceTitle=Second Instance
IncorrectPasswordMessage=Incorrect password entered?!
AccessURLRedirect=
PolicyShowDecline=True
PolicyShowClock=True
MessageHeight=
MessageWidth=
OkButtonText=Ok
CancelButtonText=Cancel
DeclineButtonText=Decline
AcceptButtonText=Accept
YesButtonText=Yes
NoButtonText=No
ShowPopupMessage=False
PopupOnMessageTitle=Pop-ups are on
PopupOffMessageTitle=Pop-ups are off
UseHtmlDialogs=False

[Files]
WorkingAnimation=
PolicyFile=Policy.txt
HistoryFile=History.txt
CheckURLFile=URL.txt
CheckIPFile=IP.txt
PopupAdFile=Popup.txt
AccessMessageFile=Access.txt
ConfirmCloseMessageFile=
SaveAsErrorMessageFile=
FavoritesFolder=Favorites
ShellBarFolder=ShellBar
StartupScript=
ShutdownScript=
PolicyDeclineScript=
DesktopFile=
SendToApp=
SecondInstanceFile=
ToolBarButtons=
CheckPrintFile=
PopupOnButtonFile=
PopupOffButtonFile=
PasswordFile=
KioskBarButtons=
NewWindowProcessINI=
InactivityScript=
CheckPostDataFile=

[WebFiles]
EnableWebFiles=False
CheckURLFile=http://www.teamsoftwaresolutions.com/WEBURL.txt
CheckIPFile=
CheckPrintFile=
PopupAdFile=

[Directories]
SaveAsDirectory=
SaveAsErrorTitle=Floppy required
DownloadDirectory=
DownloadErrorTitle=Floppy required

[RestrictedSave]
EnableRestrictedSave=True
RestrictedSaveApp=

[Security]
StationEnvironmentVariable=COMPUTERNAME
UseUniqueHistoryFiles=False
WriteHistoryFile=False
TrackURL=False
CheckURLAccess=False
CheckIPAccess=False
ClosePopupAds=False
ShowAccessDialog=False
LogAccess=False
ClearCacheOnHome=False
ClearCacheOnClose=False
DisableAddressDropDown=False
DisableContextMenu=True
UseCustomContextMenu=True
ShowPolicyDialog=False
OnlyAccessHTTP=False
DisableSecondInstance=False
RestartOnClose=False
ShowPasswordDialog=False
PasswordTitle=Public Web Browser
Password=password
CheckInitialURL=False
DisableFileDownload=True
AllowSingleLinkLevel=False
AllowBrowseOnDeny=False
LogoffOnExit=False
ShowFilterStatus=False
FilterOnText=<Filter On>
FilterOffText=<Filter Off>
ShowProxyStatus=False
ProxyOnText=<Proxy On>
ProxyOffText=<Proxy Off>
ShowDenyDialogOncePerSession=False
OnlyAccessInternet=False
DebugAccessString=False
AllowLinkLevelDepth=3
CheckPostDataAccess=False
DisableFileUploads=False

[Overrides]
ExitBrowser=
Logoff=
Shutdown=
ResetActvityTime=
ResetPrintLimit=
RestrictedSave=
ReReadINIFile=
OpenSysedit=
OpenRegedit=
OpenExplorer=
DisableProxy=
DisableFilters=
ShowAddressBar=
OverrideURLKeyword=

[Java]
JavaExit=
JavaActivity=
JavaRegister=
JavaHideToolbar=
JavaExecute=
JavaReadINIFile=
JavaPrint=PWBPrint
EnableExternalJava=True
JavaHideAddressBar=

[ScreenSaver]
EnableScreenSaver=False
ScreenSaverSeconds=0
EnablePolicyScreenSaver=False
PolicyScreenSaverSeconds=10
DisableScreenSaverOnPolicyClose=False
DisableScreenSaverOnClose=False
WindowsScreenSaverExe=
WindowsScreenSaverMinutes=0

[Inactivity]
InactivityTimer=True
InactivitySeconds=120
InactivityMessageTitle=Warning
InactivityMessageFile=Inactivity.txt
InactivityAction=Home
InactivitySoundFile=
InactivityStartOnOpen=True
InactivityShowDialog=False
ResetOnMouseMove=False
ResetOnMouseButton=False
ResetOnKeyboard=True

[Activity]
ActivityTimer=False
ActivitySeconds=8
ActivityMessageTitle=Warning
ActivityMessageFile=Activity.txt
ActivityWarnAt=10
ActivityWarnTitle=Warning
ActivityWarnMessageFile=ActivityWarn.txt
ActivityAction=Home
ActivitySoundFile=
ActivityStartOnOpen=True
ActivityShowInTitleBarTrue
ActivitySecondWarnAt=15
ActivitySecondWarnMessageFile=ActivityWarn.txt

[Proxy]
UseCustom=False
ProxyEnable=
ProxyServer=
ProxyOverride=
AutoConfigURL=

[PageSetup]
UseCustom=False
Footer=&u&b&d
Header=&w&bPage &p of &P
MarginBottom=0.75000
MarginLeft=0.75000
MarginRight=0.75000
MarginTop=0.75000
Duplex=1
Orientation=1

[Buttons]
Back=True
Forward=True
Separator1=False
Stop=True
Refresh=True
Home=True
Separator2=True
Search=True
Favorites=True
Print=True
PrintPreview=True
Separator3=True
Send=False
WebMail=True
Separator4=True
About=True
Policy=False
Separator5=True
New=False
Save=False
Separator6=False
Cut=False
Copy=False
Paste=False
Find=False
TextSize=True
Encoding=True
Popup=False
Shell=False

[MenuItems]
FileMenu=True
FileNew=False
FileOpen=False
FileSaveAs=False
FileSeparator1=False
FilePageSetup=False
FilePrintPreview=False
FilePrint=False
FileSeparator2=False
FileSend=False
FileSendFile=False
FileSendLink=False
FileSeparator3=False
FileProperties=True
FileExit=True
EditMenu=False
EditCut=True
EditCopy=True
EditPaste=True
EditSeparator1=True
EditSelectAll=True
EditSeparator2=True
EditFind=True
ViewMenu=True
ViewToolbar=False
ViewStatusBar=False
ViewSeparator1=False
ViewGoto=False
ViewGotoBack=False
ViewGotoForward=False
ViewGotoHome=False
ViewGotoSearch=False
ViewStop=False
ViewRefresh=True
ViewTextSize=False
ViewTextSizeLargest=False
ViewTextSizeLarge=False
ViewTextSizeMedium=False
ViewTextSizeSmall=False
ViewTextSizeSmallest=False
ViewSeparator2=False
ViewSource=View Source
ShellMenu=False
FavoritesMenu=False
FavoritesAdd=True
FavoritesOrganize=True
FavoritesSeparator=True
HelpMenu=True
HelpPolicy=False
HelpAbout=True

[ContextMenu]
OpenLink=False
OpenLinkNew=False
SaveTarget=False
PrintTarget=False
Separator1=False
ShowPicture=False
SavePicture=False
SetWallPaper=False
SetDeskTopItem=False
Separator2=False
Cut=False
Copy=False
CopyShortcut=False
Paste=False
Separator3=False
Encoding=False
Separator4=False
Print=False
Refresh=True
Separator5=False
Properties=False

[URLKeys]
EnableURLKeys=False
EnableURLFKeys=False
[KioskButtons]
Back=True
Separator1=True
Forward=True
Separator2=True
Stop=True
Separator3=True
Refresh=True
Separator4=True
Home=True
Separator5=True
Print=True
Separator6=True
ScrollUp=True
Separator7=True
ScrollDown=True
Separator8=True
Close=True

Notable things in the above PWB are the "Inactivity" section and the entry for "UpdateWindowOnTime=True" entry in the "Browser" section.

The design of this is to primarily show one webpage that does not have any navigation or links. We also use this configuration as an interface to a Citrix Server nFuse (Metaframe) logon panel. That page allows launching full Citrix hosted desktops from its page. Otherwise no internet browsing or intranet browsing is done in these designs.

Thanks again to Scott for all his help in this configuration!