If you’ve come here and there is an emergency at the facility, please stop reading this and dial 911. Follow your safety training manual for any safety-related issues.
Button box
Most issues (even see below) can be solved by restarting the fORP32. If you look at it from the top (see right), the power connector is the one on the far right (from left-to-right, it’s fibre-optic response cable, fibre-optic trigger, USB, power). Unplug and replug it to restart the box.
“USB” blinking on fORP32 (silver box)
This happens if the stimulus delivery computer goes to sleep and wakes back up. It’s set to not sleep, but if you see “USB” blinking on the display of the fORP32, go to the back and unplug/replug the mini-USB cable or power cable.
Number streaming all the time or no responses
If it’s calibration based on what response box is attached has gone south, you may get a stream of responses continuously (especially if we’re in the mode that lets us capture key releases). Unplug and replug the power connector.
It’s making ‘r’ instead of ‘1’, ‘g’ instead of ‘2’, etc.
Somebody changed the setting for the fORP32 and forgot to change it back. Somebody should go sit in a corner and think about what he or she did…
Press the silver knob in and it’ll ask “Change modes?” Turn it right to highlight “Yes” and press it in. Click again to accept “autoconfigure” and then turn it right to select “HID NAR 12345” (you’d be forgiven if you selected “HID KEY 12345”). Press the knob in again and you’re set.
Streaming YouTube video looks jerky
The sync pulse sends out space bar presses which act as pause/unpause for YouTube. Just click outside of the YouTube window (e.g., on the desktop) to send the spaces there.
Screen
BOLD Screen won’t turn on
You need to have both the computer on and awake (can’t be in sleep mode) and you need to have the monitor’s power (1: on button on white remote on Equipment Room door) to get things to show. Typically you’ve forgotten to wake the computer first. It’s possible, also, that the battery in the remote control has died. We have spares in the drawer near the sink.
It’s mirroring the display (or not mirroring the display) and that’s not what I want.
Either right-click on the desktop and select “Display Settings” or click the Notifications icon (lower-right – like a comment box) and click Project to change the settings between Extend and Duplicate.
Sound delivery
First, keep in mind that there are two sound systems on the scanner and you need to make sure that you’re diagnosing the right one. From the experimental computer, sounds should be going to both the Siemens audio delivery system and to the high-fidelity MRConfon system. This happens because the computer audio is fed via the rear jacks to the MRConfon and via the headphone jack to the Siemens system. The speakers by the computer there are fed via the MRConfon system.
Sound heard through the MRConfon headphones and speakers near the computer, but not through the Siemens setup.
We have two possible things going on here. First, someone may have unplugged either end of the black audio cable that goes from the headphone jack on the computer to the Siemens audio console
If those are hooked up properly, your next spot to check is the Siemens volume control on the scanner itself.
All sound is low
Check the computer audio output setting (bottom-right of the main Windows desktop – speaker setting
Using the MRConfon, the participant can’t hear me
You’re talking into the MRConfon’s microphone and not the Siemens one right? If not, remember all that nice audio isolation of the headphones will prevent the MRI’s speakers from being heard.
Assuming you are doing that, press the Talk button (you’re doing that, right?) and then adjust the volume knob (middle knob) on the MRConfon.
Using the MRConfon, the participant can hear me, but not the computer audio (or that’s too loud)
By default, the volume knob (middle knob) on the MRConfon adjusts the volume going to the participant. It should say “Music_Vol” and somewhere around -15 dB is a good starting point. If it doesn’t say “Music_Vol”, press the volume knob in for a second and it’ll go from “Music_MonVol” (which adjusts the volume at those speakers — the monitor volume) over to “Music_Vol” and let you adjust things.
Using the MRConfon, I can’t hear the sound in the monitor speakers and the participant can’t hear the sound
Look at the LCD panel on the right. Does it say “IN STIM”? If so, press the “START” button and it should say “SPDIF 3” there and sound should be coming through just fine now.
If it already says “SPDIF 3”, double-check the volume. If the left LCD says “MUSIC-VOL”, the volume knob controls what’s going to the participant. Press the volume knob in and it’ll say “MUSIC-MONVOL” and you’ll be controlling the volume on the computer monitors (what you hear).