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Sun Enterprise 220R Server Service Manual

Appendix E Video Player Help

This appendix is designed to help you if you are having difficulty playing the online video demonstrations of the Sun server disassembly or reassembly from your browser. To view the videos you need access to the AnswerBook2 software running on a server in the network, and you need to configure your web browser to play MPEG videos.

To play an online video in an AnswerBook2 document, just click on the video icon (illustrated below) wherever it occurs in the document.

Graphic

If the video does not start playing, then consult the following topics in this appendix:

E.1 Do You Have a Problem Playing Video?

In order to browse the AnswerBook2 documentation that accompanied this product, your administrator must install server version 1.70, or a later compatible version, of the AnswerBook2 software. Consult your system administrator to confirm that the correct version of the server software is being used, that the server is running and accessible to your browser, and that the AnswerBook2 collection for your product is installed. You also need to configure your browser so that it will play a video player.

E.1.1 Sun Server Users

E.1.2 PC Users

You can view AnswerBook2 videos using ActiveMovie, which is commonly available for Windows95, Windows NT, and later compatible operating systems. ActiveMovie configures itself automatically to your browser.

E.2 Requirements for Playing Video

On both Sun systems and PCs, you must configure the system on which you are viewing the videos with adequate memory and space in your local system's /tmp or /swap directory. For more information about configuring systems, see "E.5.1 Video Files and Your System Resources".

On a Sun system, you will need to install the ShowMe TV software and configure one of the supported browsers listed below to use ShowMe TV.

With a Sun server running the Solaris 2.4 operating environment, or later compatible version, the following browser-video player combinations are supported:

If clicking on the video icon does not launch a video player capable of playing AnswerBook2 videos, you must do one or more of the following:

On a PC, ActiveMovie should work with the supported platforms listed below. If you do not have ActiveMovie on your system, you must obtain it. No special installation or configuration procedures are required.

With a PC running either Windows 95 or later, or Windows NT software, version 4.0 or a later compatible version, the following browser-video player combinations are supported:

Note -

Other browser-player combinations may work, but have not been tested.

E.3 Obtaining and Accessing the ShowMe TV Player on Solaris Systems

If you are using a PC to access the AnswerBook2 documentation, you do not need to read this section. PC users can view online videos using ActiveMovie, which is widely available but not supplied by Sun. This section includes the following topics:

E.3.1 Obtaining ShowMe TV Software

If you are using a Sun server, ShowMe TV is the supported movie player.

Note -

To view the videos that are included in the AnswerBook2 collection, Solaris system users need to install ShowMe TV software.

For information about downloading and decompressing the latest ShowMe TV software components, and about the user guide and the installation instructions, consult the information at the following URL:

http://sun.com/desktop/products/software/ShowMeTV/

For software installation instructions, consult the product release notes information on the web site.

If you do not have web access, you can obtain the ShowMe TV software (version 1.2.1) for Solaris 7 from the Solaris Computer Systems Supplement CD that accompanies the operating environment software. Contact your Sun sales representative to obtain the supplement CD if you did not receive it.

E.3.2 Accessing ShowMe TV Software

There are two ways to access the ShowMe TV software. The first way does not require any software installation procedure on your part.

  1. If you or your system administrator has stored the ShowMe TV player in a mounted, exported file system, you can already access this software without any installation. Consult your system administrator to determine if this applies to you, and if the ShowMe TV player version is correct.

    If the exported file system is in your PATH variable, you should be able to type showmetv in a command window, and the ShowMe TV player will start. In this case, you can skip to "E.4.1 Configuring Web Browsers to Use ShowMe TV" and configure your browser to use the accessible version of the video player.

    If the exported file system is not in your PATH variable, you need to find out the showmetv executable's full directory path name from your administrator and then skip to "E.4.1 Configuring Web Browsers to Use ShowMe TV". You will need to enter the full showmetv path name to configure the executable in your browser.

  2. If your administrator has not installed the ShowMe TV player in a mounted, exported file system, you will need to obtain or download the ShowMe TV product, and install the ShowMe TV player software on your local system.

E.3.3 How to Install ShowMe TV on Your System

If your AnswerBook2 server is not a network-mounted file server, the ShowMe TV software must be either copied via the FTP program from a server where the files are located, or downloaded from the web site (see "E.3.1 Obtaining ShowMe TV Software"), or loaded from the Solaris Computer Systems Supplement CD. You need to load the files into your /tmp directory so that you can install the software. If you are using the CD, follow the instructions in the accompanying installation booklet.

Instructions for using the ftp command to copy the software from a server are provided below. If you need further assistance, please consult your system administrator.

Note -

If the AnswerBook2 server is also a file server, you can copy the tar file using the Solaris cp command instead of using ftp.

  1. Log in as the root user of your system. You must have root access to your system to install software on it. Type:


    hostname console login: root
password: password

    Or


    hostname% su
password: password

  2. To retrieve the client software via FTP, follow these steps.

    1. Activate the FTP program by typing this command: 


      # ftp servername

      Where servername is the hostname of the AnswerBook2 server.

    2. The FTP program will request that you type in your user name and password:


      Name: username
Password: password

    3. While in the FTP environment, type these commands:


      ftp> binary
ftp> get /smtvtmp/smtv.tar /tmp/smtv.tar
ftp> bye

      The FTP program will close.

  3. To extract the contents of the smtv.tar file, type:


    # tar -xvf /tmp/smtv.tar /tmp

  4. Install the ShowMe TV package. Type:


    # pkgadd -d /tmp SUNWsmtvh SUNWsmtvr SUNWsmtvu

    The packages are installed in your /opt directory by default; however, the pkgadd command gives you the option to select a directory other than /opt.

  5. Log out as the root user. Type:


    # exit

When you have completed the installation, you will need to configure your browser to use the ShowMe TV software. See "E.4.1 Configuring Web Browsers to Use ShowMe TV".

E.4 Configuring Web Browsers to View AnswerBook2 Video

After you have installed the ShowMe TV video player software for Solaris users, and made it accessible to them (see "E.3 Obtaining and Accessing the ShowMe TV Player on Solaris Systems"), individual browsers need to be configured to use ShowMe TV. PC users should configure their browsers to use ActiveMovie, or another suitable MPEG1 video player.

The following instructions help you configure the HotJava and Netscape Navigator(TM) browsers to use ShowMe TV software.

Note -

Configuring web browsers other than HotJava or Netscape Navigator requires slightly different procedures.

E.4.1 Configuring Web Browsers to Use ShowMe TV

To view AnswerBook2 videos, users of Solaris systems must configure their browsers to use ShowMe TV software.

E.4.1.1 To Configure HotJava Browser 1.0 or 1.1

  1. Log in to the client as a user:


    hostname console login: username
password: password

  2. Start the HotJava browser.

  3. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences ä Viewer Applications...

    The Viewer Applications window opens.

  4. Scroll through the large Content Types field to find MPEG Video Clip and select it.

  5. At the Action selector, choose View in Application.

  6. In the Application field, type the path to the ShowMe TV software. If you install the software in the default location, the path will be as follows:


    /opt/SUNWsmtv/bin/showmetv -exit %s

    The path may specify an exported file system instead, if that is how the system administrator made the ShowMe TV player accessible to users. The -exit %s option instructs the video player to shut down at the end of the movie.

  7. Click Apply and then click the Back button.

E.4.1.2 To Configure Netscape Navigator 3.x or 4.x

  1. Log in to the client as a user:


    hostname console login: username
password: password

  2. Start the Navigator browser.

  3. For Navigator 4.x, go to Step 4. For Navigator 3.x, perform the following steps:

    1. From the Options menu, choose General Preferences...

      The General Preferences window opens.

    2. Click on the Helpers tab.

      The MIME Configuration Files window is displayed.

    3. Scroll through the field to find video/mpeg and select it.

    4. Go to Step 5.

  4. For Navigator 4.x, perform the following steps:

    1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences...

      The Netscape: Preferences window opens.

    2. Click on the triangle next to Navigator, and then click on Applications.

      The Applications window is displayed.

    3. Scroll through the large field to find MPEG Video and select it.

  5. Click the Edit button.

    The Netscape: Helper/Application window opens.

  6. Choose Application and in the adjacent field, type the path to the ShowMe TV software. If you install the software locally, the default path is as follows:


    /opt/SUNWsmtv/bin/showmetv -exit %s

    The path may specify an exported file system instead, if that is how the system administrator made the ShowMe TV player accessible to users. The -exit %s option instructs the video player to shut down at the end of the movie.

  7. Click OK.

  8. Repeat Steps 3 through 7 to change the settings for video/*. When you have finished, or if you cannot find video/*, continue on to Step 9.

  9. Click OK to complete the task.

E.5 Improving Online Video Performance

Playing video online requires considerable computer resources compared to other computer applications. This section informs you about resources, and alerts you to measures you can take to improve performance and conserve system resources. To find out about each topic, go to:

E.5.1 Video Files and Your System Resources

On Sun systems, the video files are loaded into your AnswerBook2 server's directory. Each video file in this AnswerBook2 document can be as large as 60 Mbytes. The size of the video file is displayed next to its video icon in the AnswerBook2 documentation.

When you click on the video icon, AnswerBook2 downloads the file to your local system's /tmp or /swap directory, and then launches the video player for which your browser is configured.

On Sun systems, usually the system administrator often configures the /tmp or /swap directory to be about twice the capacity of the system memory. On the Sun system where you will be viewing these videos, make sure that the system administrator configures the system /tmp or /swap directory to support playing video files as large as 60 Mbytes.

When you quit the video player, the /tmp or /swap space is released. If you do not quit the player, then it is possible for your /tmp or /swap directory to become full. We recommend that you quit the player after watching each video.

E.5.2 Improving File Loading Time

Downloading video files can take a few minutes, depending on the size of the file and the amount of network traffic. Because load time is so dependent on your network environment, it is impossible to be more specific. The status bar at the bottom of your browser window will generally provide real-time reports on what percentage of the file has been downloaded.

To improve access times to the videos, you can store the AnswerBook2 collection on your local disk. Keep in mind that the size of this AnswerBook2 collection can be as large as 300 Mbytes. If storing the AnswerBook2 locally is not an option, load times will be improved by having the AnswerBook2 stored on the same subnetwork as your own system. If you find the load times of videos are unacceptable, speak to your administrator about storing the AnswerBook2 collection on your subnetwork.

E.5.3 Configuring Web Browsers Not to Use Proxies for the AnswerBook2 Server

Some web browsers are configured to use proxies. These proxies can slow down viewing of the AnswerBook2 videos. The following procedures describe how to configure the web browsers not to use proxies when viewing AnswerBook2 documents.

E.5.3.1 To Configure HotJava Browser 1.0 or 1.1

  1. Log in to the client as a user:


    hostname console login: username
password: password

  2. Start the HotJava browser.

  3. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences ä Proxies...

    The Proxies window opens.

  4. In the large Don't Proxy field, type the hostname of the AnswerBook2 server.

  5. Click Apply and then click the Back button once.

E.5.3.2 To Configure Netscape Navigator 3.x or 4.x

  1. Log in to the client as a user:


    hostname console login: username
password: password

  2. Start the Navigator browser.

  3. For Navigator 4.x, go to Step 4. For Navigator 3.x, perform the following steps:

    1. From the Options menu, choose Network Preferences...

      The Network Preferences window opens.

    2. Click on the Proxies tab.

      The Proxy Configuration window is displayed.

    3. Go to Step 5.

  4. For Navigator 4.x, perform the following steps:

    1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences...

      The Netscape: Preferences window opens.

    2. Click on the triangle next to Advanced, and then click on Proxies.

      The Proxies window is displayed.

  5. If Manual proxy configuration has been selected, click on the View button. Otherwise, go to Step 7.

    The Netscape: View Manual Proxy Configuration window is displayed.

  6. In the No Proxy for field, type the hostname of the AnswerBook2 server and click OK. Then go to Step 8.

  7. If the Automatic proxy setting is in use, obtain and enter a different server name that will bypass the AnswerBook2 server proxy.

  8. Click OK to complete the task.

E.5.3.3 To Configure Microsoft Internet Explorer

  1. Log in to the client as a user.

  2. Start the Internet Explorer browser.

  3. From the View menu, choose Options.

    The Options window opens.

  4. Click on the Connection tab.

    The Proxy Server window is displayed.

  5. If Connect Through Proxy Server is checked, click on the Settings button. Otherwise, click OK to complete the task.

    The Proxy Settings window opens.

  6. In the field of the Exception window, type the hostname of the AnswerBook2 server and click OK on the window, and click OK to complete the task.

E.5.4 Quitting the Video Player

Although AnswerBook2 and your browser software will launch the video player for you, it will not quit the player for you. The software has no way to determine when you have finished watching the video, or whether you intend to use it for watching other videos that are not part of the AnswerBook2 collection. Quitting the player is up to you. If you are using the ShowMe TV player on a Sun server, you should configure it to quit after playing the video file. Otherwise, it will play the file continuously until you stop it. For instructions, see "E.4.1 Configuring Web Browsers to Use ShowMe TV".

Here are some reasons to make sure you quit the video player when you have finished viewing a video:

E.5.5 Adjusting the Brightness of ShowMe TV Files

The settings on your monitor partly determine how bright or dark the video appears on your screen. The AnswerBook2 videos are digitized to look their best on an "average" monitor setting. If your monitor or video card does not fit this average profile, the video may seem too light or dark. First try adjusting your monitor brightness setting.

When using the ShowMe TV player, on some systems you can adjust the brightness of the video file you are playing by selecting the Properties option under the TV pull-down menu. The Properties control sheet has a Brightness slider bar that will make the video lighter or darker.

There is no Brightness control available for ActiveMovie.

E.5.6 Playing the Movies From the AnswerBook2 CD

The AnswerBook2 installation instructions also include a method for viewing the AnswerBook2 contents (including the movies) directly from the AnswerBook2 CD. This viewing method may offer better performance than other online methods. See "Viewing the Collection From the CD" in the appropriate Sun Enterprise Server Documentation Installation Guide.