Software no start

[lemon]

Hi:
I just purchased Electronic Circuits and Components CD ROM but it will not start after install. I click the link in the programs file and get nothing. Only things I can think of is I am using a mac with Parallels Desktop for PC. Or it is an Internet Explorer 10 problem.
Please help advise

[Benj]

Hello

Internet explorer 10? they were on v8 last time I looked. I can confirm that v8 of Internet explorer did have some problems with some of our courses. You should be able to install Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome onto your system and then as long as you have the pre requisits such as Java and .net installed on your system then you should be able to use the course as normal.

[lemon]

yes version 8, not 10. Getting ahead of things there

[lemon]

My software update on the mac says it's up to date. But when I try to run the program from windows I just get the hour glass icon for a few seconds, as though it is going to start up, but then it just disappears and nothing happens. When I try to run a demo version I get the following error message - "This executable requires the Asymetrix ToolBook runtime system. Please make sure these files are installed and in the PATH".

[lemon]

I can't find the program in the programs folder either. Only the Asymetrix folder.

[lemon]

I have found the Matrix folder - it is on C-Drive but not in the Programs folder. Is this wrong?

[lemon]

sorry - 1 million posts - i have opened up the index file from the Matrix folder and can see the electronics homepage but it says that it is an invalid license file

[Benj]

Hello

Right the electronics circuits and componants should live here by default.

C:\Matrix\Electronics\

The course should be launched by running the ecc.exe file. Internet explorer 8 might not work correctly as it is seems to have problems with toolbook applications. Firefox or Chrome should work no problem.

Newer versions of the toolbook plugin can be found from here. I have had good success using the 9.5 version of the Plugin.

http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/support/ ... euron.html

Note that when installing the plugin you cannot have your internet browser open. If you do have the browser running then the installer will say it has completed ok but it will not actually work.

[lemon]

No - still won't start - have 9.5 toolbox plugin installed into Chrome but nothing.
I have a snapshot of what I get if I open the index file in Chrome and a shot of what my computer reads. It seems the virtual desktop is only allocated 512RAM. Could this be an issue?

[lemon]

Well. I have to say, I'm getting a bit peeved with this now having spent so much time just trying to get it started. I cranked up the memory so it was not that. I uninstalled everything entirely and reinstalled (a number of times now)- followed instructions word for word to install and start up. And it just does nothing!

[lemon]

The launcher Ecc is in the Electronics folder, path: C/Matrix/Electronics.
I installed a new version of Chrome and closed it down before running 9.5 toolbox. Although I don't know if I should be able to see that in the Electronics folder as well. I think it's a plugin, right? And should be in a plugins folder somewhere?

[Benj]

Hello

From your screenshot it looks like the java plugin is not working. Do you have a java runtime installed on your virtal machine?

The license key is stored in your registry and may not be accessible correctly if you are not running a native Windows machine. There is probably a workaround but I am by no means an expert on toolbook or the licensing methods used. All I do know is that the product runs correctly on native windows machines so I would start trawling forums for people with similar problems that are also running a similar setup to you.

[lemon]

yeah i have java.
I just did a clean reinstall of XP and put java and .net back on before installing software with version 10 of plugin. nothing. just nothing.
it says on the packet win98. win XP should be ok though, right?
I'm at a loss now.

[lemon]

It wouldn't be anything to do with running a macBook Air with external CD Drive, would it?
Although I did a full install before so it should not need CD, right?
But I have uninstalled and did just minimum CD install and it still won't run.

[lemon]

I tried the CDROM on a windows computer today and it ran ok.
If I dual boot my mac with windows using bootcamp, will it then be ok?

[Benj]

Hello,

Im afraid that we have never tested this product running on a Mac hosting a virtual Windows environment. If you manage to get it working then please let us know how what steps you took. I think that the license missing message stems from the software not having appropriate registry access but without knowing more about virtual environments on a mac (of which I know nothing) I cannot really say. I have tested some of our products under Wine in Linux and these seem to work well with all of the Microsoft runtime plugins installed on Wine. Only problems with this is that the hardware does not work as the driver system is completely different.

[lemon]

I've got it working. It seems that it just does not work on a virtual machine. I reformatted my hard drive (mac), then inside mac osx I ran boot camp. I setup a partition for the windows software and installed xp. I then installed the matrix software inside the windows environment and it runs from there. But only if I run it from the native windows.
I then installed windows on Parallels and it naturally created 'My Boot Camp' icon on my mac which created a window through to the native windows partition. I got excited. Thinking that I would be able to run matrix from within the mac/parallels environment, but I was soon disappointed. It can only run if you boot from windows.
Now. Thinking I had some form of success, I ran the program and found that I had no sound or connection to anything I needed.
There are big yellow question marks in my 'hardware/Devices window. All things under 'other devices' have this question mark.
I have no internet so my windows activation period is expiring, even though this windows has been activated on 'MY Boot camp', inside the mac environment.
Please somebody tell me why I shouldn't send this annoying software back to where it came from?
The amount of time I have spent trying to set this up, would have given me a pass grade at my exam coming soon. But now I am still none the wiser and a lot of time shorter to pass electronics.
Thanks MatrixMultimedia

[Benj]

Hello,

Sorry your having such problems it does sound very frustrating. I have no experience of recent MACs having Windows abilities. Our software is sold as Windows based only. This is what we test our products on and give no guarentee that they will work on any other form of OS. There is probably a programming guru on a Mac forum somewhere that knows the ins and outs of hosting a virtualised copy of Windows on a Mac and maybe able to solve the problem for you in a heartbeat.