1.4 Troubleshooting
Here are some tips for dealing with common InqScribe problems. If your problem is not covered here, please use the support page; we'll be glad to help you.
- Checking for InqScribe Error Messages
- My Movie Doesn't Load
- InqScribe Won't Open My InqScribe Document (macOS)
Checking for InqScribe Error Messages
When InqScribe encounters a problem, it will often write an error message to a error log. It's a good idea to check this error log to see what InqScribe is complaining about.
The location of this log file varies depending on your operating system.
Windows
Error messages are written to the Event Logger, which you can view using the Event Viewer. You can also download an application called DebugView to view these messages.
macOS
Error messages are written to the system logger. You can use the Console application to view the log. You may also try opening a Terminal window and typing either "more /var/log/system.log" (to see the entire log file) or "tail /var/log/system.log" (to see just the last few entries).
My Movie Doesn't Load
There are various reasons why InqScribe might not be able to load and display your media objects.
Can't Load a File
If you have defined a file-based media object, you may encounter loading errors in the following circumstances.
In general, you will be able to fix these problems by opening the Define Media dialog and re-selecting the media file via the Select File... button.
If InqScribe says it cannot find your file, the problem could be:
- The file is located on a file server, but your computer is not connected to that file server.
- The file is located on a DVD or CD, and the DVD or CD has not been inserted into the computer.
- The file has been moved. (In certain circumstances, InqScribe can find moved files.)
- If someone else created this document, they may have referred to a file on their local hard drive. You won't be able to access that file.
The easiest way to troubleshoot this scenario is to look at the full name of the file that InqScribe tried to load, and check if that file actually exists on your computer.
Sometimes InqScribe may fail to load your media object, and the error message will say it could not load movie from file. In this case, InqScribe is able to find the file but cannot open it. This may occur because:
- The file is not really a media file. Check the documentation for a list of all media file types that InqScribe supports.
- The file is corrupt. To test this, try opening the file in another media player.
Can't Load a URL
When a URL-based media object fails to load, the problem may be related to your network connection.
Make sure you can access the media via a web browser. Open the Select Media Source... dialog and copy the URL. Paste the URL into your web browser. If the web browser also fails to show the media object, the problem has to do with the URL, not InqScribe.
Some likely problems:
- The link is not a direct path to the hosted file. Sorry, YouTube, Vimeo, and Google Drive links won’t work.
- The object is no longer at the given URL.
- The web server indicated in the URL is down.
- There is a firewall between you and the web server.
- You are not connected to the internet.
InqScribe Won't Open My InqScribe Document (macOS)
There is a known issue where InqScribe documents with really long names (more than 31 characters) may not open properly on macOS. Such files are impossible to select in the standard File > Open dialog.
There is a workaround for this problem. Hold down the option key while selecting the File > Open... menu item. This lets you select any file you want. InqScribe will still prevent you from opening files that really aren't InqScribe documents (like spreadsheets), but this technique will let you open these troublesome files.
Note that this issue does not occur if the files with long names are saved on macOS to begin with. This is only an issue for cross-platform teams, where Mac users need to view or use files created by Windows users.