Summary

Omnivex recommends that Moxie Network Administrators perform a variety of system configuration tasks on computers intended to act as Moxie Players. You can complete many of these configuration tasks as part of a customized installation image.

Use the following checklist to configure a Moxie Player computer for ease of administration and optimal performance.

Note: The following list is presented as a guide. Some of the list items may not be available or appropriate for all computers and all environments. 

Solution

1. BIOS/Hardware Configuration options (if available or appropriate)
   
   1. Enable Wake on LAN.
   2. Configure the computer to perform a power-on self-test (POST) and boot automatically when power is connected or restored.
   3. Configure the discreet graphics adapter to initialize first.
   4. Set system clock.
2. Generic Windows Configurations
   
   1. Ensure the correct graphics driver is installed and configured.
   2. Ensure Windows Desktop is set to the native resolution of the connected display (or cumulative resolution of a connected display group).
   3. Set the desktop background to black or a corporate logo.
   4. Remove unnecessary icons from the Desktop.
   5. Configure the Windows taskbar to auto-hide.
   6. Disable Windows power management and screensaver functions.
   7. Disable notification area/system tray notifications.
   8. Install all Windows Updates and then disable automatic updates in order to prevent unexpected system reboots.
   9. If you are using Moxie's Video Sync or Playlist Sync features, ensure that Windows Firewall has exceptions configured for port 9001/UDP or whichever port you intend to use.
   10. Configure the computer to automatically log on as a signage-specific user.
   11. Add a Moxie Player shortcut to the Start menu's Startup group. Ensure that you manually create the shortcut to the Omnivex Moxie Player.exe file installed on the computer. This will ensure that the Startup shortcut persists after a software upgrade.
   12. Configure Windows Explorer to display hidden files.
   13. Install any required third-party codecs or software, such as Adobe Flash.
   14. Install any required fonts that are not natively installed with Windows.
3. Windows Vista/7 Specific
   
   1. In order to deploy Player upgrade files remotely using Moxie Studio, you must disable User Account Control (UAC) on every Player computer. Optionally, you may decide to disable UAC temporarily as part of the upgrade process.
   2. For the best graphical performance, ensure Windows Aero is enabled. This enables the Desktop Window Manager (DWM.exe) which manages display resources more efficiently.
   3. Confirm that the display DPI settings are set to 100%.
4. Third Party Software Considerations (if applicable).
   
   1. Remote Administration
      
      1. Remote Desktop: Many Administrators may be inclined to rely on Remote Desktop for access to Moxie Players, but it is important to note that an RDP connection requires you to log on to the target computer. This causes the display connected to that computer to show a Windows logon screen instead of the assigned content in Moxie Player. When you are ready to end the remote session, you can either reboot the computer or use the following commands as part of a Windows batch file to return display output to the connected display:
         
         @%windir%\system32\tscon.exe 0 /dest:console
         @%windir%\system32\tscon.exe 1 /dest:console
         @%windir%\system32\tscon.exe 2 /dest:console
      2. VNC: As an alternative to RDP, some administrators use VNC for remote access to Player computers without disrupting the display. Avoid VNC implementations that rely on the use of mirror drivers to redirect graphics output. Mirror drivers are known to disable the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) in Windows Vista/7. Disabling DWM while the Moxie Player is running can cause unexpected behaviour.
         
         Also, the Moxie Administrator should choose a VNC solution that provides an amount of security adequate for the display environment. This can include encryption or VPN tunneling options to prevent unauthorized access to Player machines.
   2. Virus Scan
      
      1. The use of real-time scan antivirus software is can adversely impact the performance of a Moxie Player especially if media assets are large files. There are no known issues related to running Moxie software in conjunction with virus or malware protection software but these products are constantly updating so there is no way to confirm that they will not impact performance.