Troubleshooting Bulb Playback

IMPORTANT NOTES:
  • Troubleshooting? Check out our guide here

In this article

  • Generic troubleshooting steps
  • Video is loading slowly
  • Video is blocked
  • Video streams failed to load
  • I am seeing ads in my video
  • Bulb playback fails in the middle of a video
  • Captions don't appear when I select them in the player
  • Unauthorized preview
  • Video is age restricted
  • Other bluescreen errors
  • Generic troubleshooting steps

    If your bulb, designer, or dashboard is having trouble with playback, or your browser window will not load try the following troubleshooting steps first.

    1. Update browser/try a different browser. Click here for Chrome update instructions and click here for Firefox update instructions.
    2. Clear browser cache and cookies. For information on how to clear cache/cookies on Chrome, clickhere. For information on how to clear cache/cookies on Firefox, click here.
    3. Disable browser extensions. Extensions that are being used may be blocking the underlying video content.
    4. Try an incognito browser window. Sometimes your browser's extensions or add-ons may be interfering with PlayPosit functionalities. For assistance with creating an incognito window in your browser, clickherefor Chrome, andherefor Firefox.
    5. Try a different device type. If you are working on a tablet or mobile device, try watching the bulb on a desktop or laptop computer. If you are already on a computer, try out the bulb on a different device. 
    6. Try a different network. If you are on wireless internet, try connecting to a different network or disabling your VPN. Some issues can be easily resolved by switching to a faster internet connection when streaming video.
    7. Enable third-party cookies in the browser. Some browsers might be configured to block third-party cookies. This can cause issues content embedded on certain websites.

    Enable third-party cookies in:

    Video is loading slowly

    Player error: a spinning circle that does not resolve.

    1. If your video is loading slowly, the video file may be a large file and/or you may be on a slow connection. 
      • Students: try switching your wi-fi network to a faster network, or letting the PlayPosit player load. 
      • Teachers: try transcoding and re-uploading your video to PlayPosit, YouTube, or Vimeo. Contact help@playposit.org if you need extra assistance.
    2. If your video plays, but then freezes or hangs, then the video might be corrupted.
      1. Students: please contact your instructor and/or help@playposit.org
      2. Instructors: You may need to transcode or re-upload your video to PlayPosit, YouTube, or Vimeo. Contact help@playposit.org if you need extra assistance.

    Video is blocked

    Player error: "Youtube content has been blocked."

    1. If you see this error message, then the PlayPosit player is unable to load content from YouTube on your current network. In some cases, your school district may actually block YouTube for all devices, or only for school-issued student devices.
      • Students: please contact your instructor.
      • Teachers: If you own the video, you might be able to upload it to Vimeo or directly to PlayPosit, depending on your account type.

    Video streams failed to load

    Player error: "Video streams failed to load."

    1. YouTube video may be private
      1. Teachers: Try accessing the original Youtube video URL in an incognito browser window. If the video is private, then you will not be able to play it. If you own the video, try setting the video to either unlisted or public.
    2. Vimeo video may be private 

      1. Support for "Unlisted" videos is only available for institutional clients who have a Pro Vimeo account. You may need to replace the Vimeo video in the Designer with the Unlisted Vimeo link (i.e. https://vimeo.com/12345/abcdef) in order to get it to play in PlayPosit. Note: Private Vimeo videos are not supported. Vimeo has recently updated its naming of their privacy settings. Here is more information.
      2. Free/Pro Instructors: If you are the owner of the video, you can change the privacy settings of your Vimeo video to either Public or Hidden from Vimeo. Make sure to either add *.playposit.com as a trusted domain, or letting it be embeddable anywhere.
      3. PlayPosit does not support Vimeo's new "Custom links". Please use the Vimeo created share link. 
    3. YouTube video may be blocked from being embedded on other sites
      1. Teachers: If you happen to own the video, you can follow these instructions to enable embedding on other sites. Otherwise, you will want to try finding a copy of the video on YouTube or other sites.
    4. Video may be removed or deleted.
      1. Teachers: try accessing the original Youtube video. If you do not have it, please reach out to help@playposit.org. If the video fails to play on YouTube, then you will need to re-link or re-upload the video to YouTube, Video, or PlayPosit, and change the video source.
    5. There are too many videos within a Bulb using the Safari browser. 
      1. Learners: Switch to the most up to date version of Chrome.
      2. Instructors: Limit the number of videos being used to six or less if students are using the Safari browser. 
    6. Video may be copyright-protected - in this case, the video will playback without issues on YouTube, but will fail to playback on third-party websites like PlayPosit.
      1. Teachers: If you own the video, then you may need to change your YouTube settings or upload the video file to PlayPosit, if your account allows uploading video. 

    I am seeing ads in my video

    We do everything we're allowed to do within YouTube's terms to minimize ads. As an educational company, YouTube allows us to disable pre-roll ads (commercials) and disable recommended videos post-roll (special request). If the YouTube video author has enabled overlay ads, they cannot be disabled by us. If there's a specific YouTube video with ads you'd like us to test, our team can generate a side-by-side comparison.

    Bulb playback fails in the middle of a video

    Occasionally, a YouTube video might have ads in the middle of the video, causing the bulb playback to fail. If you own the video, try following these instructions to remove ads from your videos. Otherwise, if possible, try to find a copy of this video without ads, either on YouTube, Vimeo, or another video host.

    Captions don't appear when I select them in the player

    Certain video hosts will convert caption files to a format known as DFXP, which the PlayPosit player does not currently support. We recommend that if you have access to the caption file, you should convert it to a .vtt or .srt file and upload it in the Designer using these instructions.

    Unauthorized preview

    This error can occur if you are clicking on a share link sent to you and PlayPosit is recognizing you as a student. Here are some things you can try to circumvent this:

    1. Log out of your PlayPosit account, clear your cache, and then try accessing the link.
    2. Copy and paste the link into an incognito window
    3. Try using a different web browser.

    Video is age restricted

    If you hit the following error on video playback the video you are trying to post has an age restriction set that will need to be removed in YouTube's settings.

    Other bluescreen errors

    If you receive a blue screen error when viewing a bulb, check below for more details on each error type. 

    Bulb attempt bluescreens

    Various parameters could be missing from the URL, such as

    • bulb ID
    • section ID
    • player type
    • user token
    • etc.

    Below is an example screenshot of what you might see:

    Note: Make sure your learners are accessing the correct share link URL. Share links should look like https://api.playposit.com/go/... etc. Find where you originally accessed PlayPosit and try the link once again.



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