Troubleshooting media problems

How audio and video resources work within Verbum

Verbum Bible Software supports a variety of media (video and audio) resources (primarily Mobile Ed) that play within the application. These resources require a high-speed internet connection by default. The media content caches to the computer locally when played so that future viewings of previously viewed media will pull from that locally cached data rather than from the internet.

Media requires the latest version of Windows Media Player (Windows) and Quicktime (Mac). 

 

Skip ahead to:

• Problem: Offline Access
• Problem: Verify d3dx9_43.dll is operating correctly
• Problem: The video window is black. (Windows)

---

Problem: Offline Access

“We couldn’t access the media you’re trying to play. Please verify that you are not working offline. For more help troubleshooting this issue please visit our support page.”

 

Solution 1: Check your internet connection

Verify your internet connection is fast enough to stream audio. A connection faster than 10mb/s down, and with no other media streaming traffic on the local network should suffice. There are a variety of locations on the internet to check your internet speed. Below are two options

Fast.com

Dslreports.com

Solution 2: Download the files

The above message appears if Verbum is not able to reach the server location to stream the media files. One solution is to download the files from the More Actions Menu.

Note: You'll need to open your course from the Library, rather than from the Courses tool.

1. Expand the sidebar

2. Click the Table of Contents with the sidebar open.

3. Click Overview.

4. Click the More Actions menu.

5. Click Download all media.

Note: If Verbum does not detect any internet connection or is working offline Download all media will not appear.

 

This may take some time depending on a few factors:

• Your internet connection.
• The length of the media.
• The amount of individual media items.

Keep in mind the following during the process:

• Keep Verbum open.
• Keep the resource you are downloading videos within open.

There currently is no way to track the download process of each video through a download progress bar. There are a few cues that will help you identify the status of the videos.

• During the download you will only see the option to Cancel media download.
  • Unless you did not follow step 5 above and failed to download existing video content that might have cached. You will see both Delete all media AND Cancel media download.
• When the download has completed all you should see is Delete all media

Solution 3: Verify there is a Default Audio Device

If there is no default audio device detected Verbum' videos will not play. The best way to test this is to attempt to play audio from another source like your browser. If you cannot hear anything then follow the instructions here. The problem may be solved by plugging in an audio device like headphones or speakers.

 

---

Problem: Verify d3dx9_43.dll is operating correctly

There is a Windows .dll file that Verbum needs to play media properly called d3dx9_43.dll, and when it is not loading properly Verbum will report that the media cannot be found. Verify it is running properly by downloading and running and installing the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer.

 

---

Problem: The video window is black. (Windows) 

 

Solution 1

If you are using a newer Windows machine, confirm Hardware Acceleration is enabled in Tools > Program Settings.

Solution 2

This can be because the version of Windows Media Player is outdated or not installed. Use this article to make sure Windows Media Player is installed and properly enabled. 

Solution 3

Another possibility is that the video card driver needs to be updated (Windows).

Check the graphics card (GPU) manufacturer, and current version of the graphics driver.

1. Open DXDiag and take a screenshot to record the version of the driver prior to trying to updating. (We may need to review this later.)

2. Use the video card manufacturer’s auto detect software to check for and download new drivers

   • AMD

   • NVIDIA

   • Intel

 

Note: It’s possible that your computer manufacturer has a custom driver for the display device. In this case you’ll need to go to the manufacturer’s website to find the appropriate driver for you.

Solution 4

Uninstall or Reinstall the computer's video driver

1. Use these steps from Microsoft to uninstall the computer's video driver.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Open Verbum.
4. Try the media to see if it works without the current video driver to determine if the Windows base video driver works.
5. Download the latest video card driver from your video card (or the computer manufacturer's) website (see Step 2 from Solution 2 above).
6. Restart the computer. 
7. Open Verbum.
8. Try the media.

Should the behavior continue there is an incompatibility between Verbum and the video card driver. We encourage your to use app.Verbum.com to view the videos until an update to the video card driver fixes the problem.