Chris Hoffman’s
Outstanding Elephant

Frequently asked questions

• How do I calibrate the touchscreen?
• How do I program the remote control?
• How do connect to the Internet?
• How can I make my Mercury faster or keep it from freezing?
• What can I do about a battery that won’t charge?
• Why doesn’t my Mercury start up?
• Why isn’t there anything on the screen?
• Why isn’t there any sound?
• Which wheelchair mount do I need?

Calibrating the touchscreen

The cursor moves when I touch the screen, but not to where I touch.

Your Mercury’s touchscreen probably needs to be recalibrated. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Mercury Control Panel by clicking where it says Battery next to the green Start button.
2. Click on the Setup button at the bottom right.
3. Click on either Open Control Panel or Touchscreen Setup, depending on whether you have old or new touchscreen software installed.
4. Select the Calibration tab and, again depending on the version of the touchscreen software you have installed, click on either Configure or Calibration Type.
5. Make sure the calibration type is set to 4 point and that the offset is 20%, and click OK.
6. If the calibration starts automatically, skip ahead to the next step. Otherwise, click on either Run or on the flashing red arrows.
7. Hold your finger or sylus down in the center of each of the four red targets that appear on the screen, and release either when the target moves to a new position or the word RELEASE appears next to the target.
8. When the calibration is done, you will be asked to test the calibration and then click Yes or Accept to indicate that the touchscreen is properly calibrated.
9. Click on OK to exit the touchscreen setup, OK again to exit the Mercury setup, and Minimize to close the Mercury Control Panel.

I recalibrated the touchscreen, but it still doesn’t work.

If calibrating your Mercury’s touchscreen doesn’t work, then you can try re-installing the touchscreen drivers. For this you will need a copy of the touchscreen installer, which can be found on the white “Mercury Software” CD that shipped with your Mercury. You can also download the touchscreen software from ATI’s Web site. If your Mercury isn’t connected to the Internet, you can download the software on another computer and use a USB drive to transfer it to the Mercury.

Begin by uninstalling the old touchscreen software. Click on the green Start button and select Control Panel, and then double-click on Add or Remove Programs. Look for an entry in the list of installed programs that says either “Hampshire,” “TSHARC” or “Touchscreen,” click on the entry to hilight it and click on Change/Remove.

Once the old touchscreen software has been removed, you can run the installer either from the CD or from the .zip file you downloaded. The setup should be fairly straight forward, except for when you are asked to choose a controller type. If you have an original Mercury (the serial number starts with a 2), choose TSARC-10/12 Serial, COM 1 and 9600bps. If you have a Mercury II (the serial number starts with a 4) or a MiniMerc (the serial number starts with a 3), choose 10/12 and PS2.

When the installation is finished, you will be asked to restart the Mercury. When it starts up again, the touchscreen will need to be recalibrated.

Neither recalibrating nor reinstalling the touchscreen software solved my problem.

If you’ve tried both recalibrating and reinstalling, but the touchscreen still isn’t working, contact us and we will help troubleshoot, and, if necessary, arrange for the Mercury to come in for repair.

Done

Programming the remote control

How do I program my Mercury’s remote control?

Click on Battery, next to the green Start button, to open the Mercury Control Panel, and then click on the Setup button to go to the setup window. Select the Remote Control tab to get to the remote setup.

If you are using an original Mercury (with a serial number that starts with a 2), follow these steps. Otherwise, you can skip ahead to the steps for your programming a Mercury II or MiniMerc..

1. Check the checkbox next to the device you want to control.
2. Click on the Setup button to go the the setup page for that device.
3. The setup page has a list of device brands. Unless your device is not one that the Mercury can control, you should be able to find and highlight the appropriate brand.
4. Once you have selected a brand, a list of numbers will appear under Remote Codes.
5. Make sure one of the two IR bulbs on the top or back of the Mercury is pointed toward the device you are trying to control and press Try Code.
6. If the device turned on or off when you clicked Try Code, then click Save to save the remote code, and OK to close the Mercury setup window.
7. Otherwise, click on Try Next Code to try the next code in the list.

Here are the steps for programming the remote control on a Mercury II or MiniMerc (where the serial number begins with either a 4 or a 3):

1. Under Room Selection, either choose an existing room or click on Add to add a new room and then select it.
2. Click on Add Device.
3. Select a device type from the Type column.
4. Select the appropriate brand from the Brand column.
5. Once you have selected a brand, a list of numbers will appear under Remote Codes.
6. Make sure one of the two IR bulbs on the top or back of the Mercury is pointed toward the device you are trying to control and press Try Code.
7. If the device turned on or off when you clicked Try Code, then click Save to save the remote code, and OK to close the Mercury setup window.
8. Otherwise, click on Try Next Code to try the next code in the list.

My device’s brand isn’t listed. Can I add more codes?

Despite our attempts to support most popular device brands, there are inevitably some brands that aren’t supported. One notable example is the lack of support for digital cable boxes. Unfortunately, the remote codes are built into the hardware on your Mercury’s motherboard, so it is not possible to add additional codes.

I get a “Failed to set source key” error.

For reasons we don’t quite understand, there a few remote codes that just don’t seem to work. If you get a “Failed to set source key” error, the only recourse is to restart your Mercury and then try the next code in the list.

Done

Connecting to the Internet

How do I connect to a dial-up ISP?

If you have an original Mercury or a Mercury II, it already had a dial-up modem installed. Just install your service provider’s software, plug a phone cord into the side of the Mercury, and you’re ready to go.

Dial-up access with a MiniMerc requires a modem card for the PC card slot on the right-hand side of your device.

How do I connect my Mercury to broadband or DSL service?

To connect to a high-speed network you will need an Ethernet adapter. You will also need to decide whether or not you want to connect wirelessly.

For a wired connection, you will need a USB Ethernet adapter (or a PC card Ethernet adapter if you are using a MiniMerc). You can then connect either directly to your cable or DSL modem, or you can connect a router inbetween the Mercury and modem so that you can connect more than one computer to the network.

A wireless connection requires a wireless router connected to your cable or DSL modem and a wireless Ethernet adapter for your Mercury. Mercury users need an adapter that plugs into one of the USB ports, while MiniMerc users have the additional option of using a PC card. To ensure that everything will work properly, make sure you follow the installation steps for your wireless adapter exactly as they appear in the manual.

A word of caution: We have found that the software for the “Compact Wireless USB Adapter” from Linksys (model #WUSB54GC) causes a login screen to appear whenever the Mercury starts up. Although this is generally little more than a nuisance, the login screen is inaccessible to switch users. If you are a scanner, you should avoid this particular adapter.

Done

Sluggishness and freezing

My Mercury is being really slow and/or freezing.

Often freezing and sluggishness are a result of scarce resources. Here are a few tips for freeing up memory and disk space, which can go a long way toward speeding up your Mercury:

1. Turn off virus scanning.

   Although virus scanning software can serve the very good purpose of protecting your Mercury from online threats, having it running constantly and checking files in the background can be quite a burden on the system. We have found that McAfee and the AOL Version 9 virus scanning applications are particularly hard on system resources.

   Try using a different virus scanning application, or, alternatively, take some time to research and familiarize yourself with practices that will keep your Mercury safe while you are online.

2. Delete temporary files.

   Windows and other applications on your Mercury keep something of a scratch pad on the hard disk so that they can quickly access frequently used files and information. When that scratch pad starts to get full, the whole system slows down. Go to Start → All Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Cleanup. Wait for the dialog box to come up, and then check everything except for Compress Old Files and click OK.

3. Defragment your hard drive.

   Large files are often not stored in one contiguous section of your Mercury‘s hard disk. Instead, they are divided into small chunks that are indexed and then stored wherever there is room. Over time, the effect can be something like having a recording of a song broken up into one-second sections, and then having to rewind and fast forward the tape to find each section and hear the entire song.

   Defragmenting the hard drive rearranges the chunks of data so that they are closer together and therefore can be accessed much more quickly. Go to Start → All Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Defragmenter, and then click on Analyze to find out how fragmented your Mercury’s hard disk is, or Defragment to do the actual defragmentation.

4. Reduce the size of digital photos.

   Photos taken with digital cameras can be huge. For example, a 5-megapixel photo takes up anywhere from 1.25 to 15 megabytes, depending on the file format. When you import photos into Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro, the photos maintain their original size in memory, even when you shrink them down on the screen. So having a half dozen digital photos on a page can have a huge impact on the amount of memory a the page uses and on how quickly it responds.

   There is a trick to getting Boardmaker to reduce the actual size of photos on a page. In Design Mode, click on a photo to highlight it. Then click on the mirror tool (it looks something like this: ←|→) to flip the photo from left to right. That causes Boardmaker to change the photo to its own internal format, which takes up a lot less room than the original. To return the image to its original orientation, just click the mirror tool a second time.

   Note that once you’ve used the mirror tool to reduce the size of an image, the quality of the image will degrade if you try to make it larger on the screen. Therefore you should make sure the images are the exact size you want before flipping them, and always keep copies of your original photos.

Done

Battery issues

My Mercury’s battery isn’t charging, or it’s only lasting for a couple hours.

The expected lifespan for a Mercury or MiniMerc battery is somewhere between two and three years. After that the capacity starts to drop off quickly, so if you have a device that’s more than a couple years old, it may be time to get a new battery.

If your Mercury’s battery is not that old, but still doesn’t seem to be charging, you can try doing a power manager reset. A power manager reset will reset the Mercury’s entire charging system. Follow these steps:

1. Turn of the Mercury.
2. Unplug the power cord.
3. Take out the battery. Mercurys have a spring-loaded latch on the right-hand side; on MiniMercs it’s on the bottom. In either case, the battery slides out like a drawer.
4. Hold down the silver power button for ten full seconds.
5. Plug in the power cord.
6. Turn the Mercury back on and wait for Windows to start up.
7. Put the battery back in.

Done

Problems starting up

I keep getting a screen saying “Windows did not shut down properly” or other errors when I turn on my Mercury.

Startup errors are usually caused by errors and corrupted system files on the hard drive. More often than not, you can fix the problems by running the Windows Recovery Console from a Microsoft Windows XP Home CD. Obviously, you will need an XP Home CD to do this. Follow these steps:

1. Put the Windows XP CD in your Mercury’s CD drive.
2. Turn off the Mercury by holding down the power button for a few seconds (This is one of the only times you should turn off the Mercury with the power button, by the way).
3. Plug in a keyboard.
4. Turn the Mercury back on.
5. Just after the screen with the silver-on-black Mercury logo, you will see a message saying, Press any key to boot from CD. As soon as you see that message, which will only be on the screen for a couple seconds, press the spacebar.
6. You should start to see messages that Setup is loading files. After a few minutes, you will get to a screen that says Welcome to Windows Setup.
7. Press R for “repair.”
8. If you are asked which Windows installation you would like to repair, type 1 and press <enter>.
9. If asked for an administrator password, just press <enter>.
10. At the C:\Windows prompt, type chkdsk /r and press <enter>.
11. The Repair Console will start doing a thorough check of the entire disk, including all the system files. The process usually takes about half an hour, but can sometimes take significantly longer.
12. When the disk check is finished, you will see another C:\Windows prompt. Type exit and press <enter> to restart your Mercury.

Done

Display problems

I can’t see anything on my Mercury’s screen.

If nothing appears on the screen when you turn on your Mercury, you should contact us to arrange to have it repaired. However, the display seems fine when you turn the device on, but then goes black when Windows starts to load, the fix is much simpler:

1. Plug in a keyboard and mouse.
2. If Windows has already started up, shut it down by pressing the Windows key and then pressing U twice.
3. Turn the Mercury back on.
4. As soon as you hear the startup beep, start tapping the F8 key on the keyboard.
5. Keep tapping until you get to a Startup Options screen.
6. Arrow up to Safe mode and press <enter>.
7. You will be asked to log in either as Administrator or Mercury User. Choose either one.
8. Once Windows has finished starting, right-click on an empty spot on the desktop and then left-click on Properties.
9. Select the Settings tab and click on Advanced.
10. Click on the Adapter tab and then on Properties.
11. Select the Driver tab, then click on Uninstall.
12. Confirm that you want to uninstall the driver, and then restart your Mercury.

The display on your Mercury should now be working, but there may be a thick black border around the screen. You will need to fix the screen resolution:

1. Right-click on a blank spot on the desktop and select Properties.
2. Go to the Settings tab.
3. Change the screen resolution to 1024×768 if you are using a Mercury II (serial number starting with a 4), or to 800×600 if you are using an older Mercury or a MiniMerc.
4. Click OK.

Done

Sound problems

There is no sound in Speaking Dynamically Pro.

Go into design mode and choose Speaker Volume... from the Dynamic Boards menu. Make sure No Separation Use Volume Settings Below is selected, and then make sure Normal Sounds is not set to Mute.

There is still no sound (or I’m not using Speaking Dynamically Pro).

Go to Start → All Programs → Accessories → Entertainment → Volume Control and make sure both Master Volume and Wave are not muted and are both set about ¾ of the way to the top.

If the sound still doesn’t work, you can check that the right audio driver is installed. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Start → Control Panel.
2. If the screen says Pick a category, double-click on Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices; otherwise, continue on to the next step.
3. Double-click on Sounds and Audio Devices.
4. Click on the Audio tab.
5. If you have an older Mercury, the default device should be Crystal SoundFusion(tm) CS4281. On a Mercury II or MiniMerc, it should be SigmaTel Audio. If the right device isn’t listed, try selecting them in the dropdown lists and then see if the sound works.

If you are using a Mercury II or MiniMerc, the default device may be listed as ALi Audio Wave. In that case, see below for instructions on installing the correct Mercury II audio driver.

The next step, if the sound is still not working, is to re-install the driver:

1. Go to Start → My Computer.
2. Click on View system information under System Tasks on the left.
3. Click on the Hardware tab.
4. Click on Device Manager.
5. Click on the small cross next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand the category.
6. If you are using a Mercury II or a MiniMerc, double-click on SigmaTel C-Major Audio; otherwise double-click on Crystal SoundFusion(tm) CS4281 WDM Audio.
7. Go to the Driver tab.
8. Click on Uninstall, and confirm that you want to uninstall the driver.
9. Restart your Mercury. When Windows starts back up it will automatically detect your sound hardware and install a driver for it.
10. If you have an older Mercury (with a serial number starting with a 2), then the driver that Windows chose is correct. If you have a Mercury II or a MiniMerc, however, you should continue on to the next section.

My audio driver is listed as ALi Audio Wave.

Install the correct driver by doing the following:

1. Go to Start → My Computer.
2. Click on View system information under System Tasks on the left.
3. Click on the Hardware tab.
4. Click on Device Manager.
5. Click on the small cross next to Sound, video and game controllers to expand the category.
6. Double-click on ALi Audio Accelerator WDM driver.
7. Go to the Driver tab.
8. Click on Update Driver....
9. If you are asked if you want to search for a driver on the Internet, choose No, not this time and click Next.
10. Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced) and click Next.
11. Select Don't search. I will choose the driver to install and click Next.
12. Click on SigmaTel C-Major Audio and then click Next.
13. Click on Continue Anyway at the warning about Windows Logo testing.
14. Click Finish and then close all of the windows.

Done

Choosing a wheelchair mount

Wheelchair mounts need to be specially chosen and sized to fit the needs of individual users. We strongly recommend that you seek the guidance of a knowledgable occupational therapist when deciding on a particular mounting system.

Assistive Technology, Inc. carries three basic categories of wheelchair mounts: rigid mounts, folding mounts and swing-away mounts. The features and benefits of each are described in turn below.

Rigid mounts

A rigid mount is a fixed, solid L-shaped mount that attaches to the frame of your wheelchair. Once it is attached, the only way to move it out of the way is to lift the entire mount up and out of the mounting bracket. For this reason, a rigid mount is best if you do not need to get out of your wheelchair often (and if no one needs to get to you), and if there is someone who can take the mount off for you when you do.

Folding mounts

A folding mount consists of a vertical and a horizontal bar that are connected by a double-hinged joint. Your Mercury, mounted on the horizontal bar, can be folded up and to the side, making it easy for you to get in and out of your wheelchair. The folding process involves a bit of somewhat complex manoeuvring, so you will likely need to have somebody help you.

There are a couple of things to be careful about when choosing or using a folding mount. The first is that when folded to the side, the weight of the mount and the Mercury can throw off your wheelchair’s balance. This shouldn’t be a problem when you are in the wheelchair, but might cause a lighter wheelchair to tip over when you are not in it. The issue can be alleviated by taking the Mercury itself off of the mount before you get out.

The second thing to be careful about is that when it is folded the mount will increase the width of your wheelchair by several inches. You will most likely not be used to the increased width, and there is a risk of damaging your Mercury if it should accidentally hit, say, the edge of a doorway. Therefore it is probably best that you don’t move around too much while the mount is folded. There is also a subcategory of the folding mount, the rear folding mount, which allows the Mercury to fold back behind the backrest of your chair, thus decreasing the potential for damage.

Swing-away mounts

A swing-away mount consists of an L-shaped bar that pivots at the point where it attaches to the frame of your wheelchair. By pulling on a quick-release cord, you can unlock the pivot and swing the Mercury away from yourself horizontally. The swing-away mount is therefore excellent if you need to be able to get out of your wheenchair with little or no assistance.

Because of the risk of the quick-release mechanism failing, however, the swing-away mount should not be used if your wheelchair has a tilting seat.

Done