Issue

Solution

I can't hear anything.

HEADSET:

Is your headset is plugged in to the right socket(s) on your computer and switched on?

Is your headset muted? Some headsets have a mute button on the cable or on the headset itself.  Check if there is a button on your headset that mutes the sound if there is toggle the switch.

COMPUTER
PC:

Is the sound muted on your computer?  Look at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, next to the clock. Is there a speaker with a line through it, or a small red ‘no-entry’ sign? If there is, you will need to click on the icon, un-mute your sound. and make sure the volume is turned up (exactly how you do this will vary depending on the type of computer you are using). You may also have volume controls on your keyboard, or on the outside of your laptop.

QUBE:
Have you selected the correct sound device?  Right-click on  in the bottom left corner of QUBE Select your headset.  Usually this will be listed in green.

Select  'Settings...'. This will open the advanced sound settings menu.

Tick 'Hear a sound to check your speakers are working'

If you hear no sound, check you have selected the correct headset selected using the drop-down menu underneath 'Speakers'. You may need to take your headset off to look at the manufacturer and model.

Also, check the Speakers volume and click the button in the bottom right-hand corner that says 'Reset Sound'.  

<If you can still not hear yourself, your microphone is not working. See “No one can hear me” in this trouble-shooter.>

Click 'Done' when you are finished

QUBE Facilitators only:
The sound may be muted on QUBE. Look at the toolbar at the bottom of QUBE. If you see , it means your speakers are muted. Click on the icon. It should now look like .

No one can hear me.

QUBE:
Your microphone may be muted on QUBE. Look at the toolbar at the bottom left of QUBE. If you see , it means your microphone is muted. Click on the icon. It should now look like .

HEADSET:
Check that your headset is plugged in to the right socket(s) on your computer and switched on. 

Is your headset muted? Some headsets have a mute button on the cable or on the headset itself.  Check if there is a button on your headset that mutes the sound if there is toggle the switch.

In the sound menu, make sure you have the right headset selected on the drop-down menu underneath 'Microphone' You may need to take your headset off to look at the manufacturer, as this is what you need to choose on the drop-down menu.

Check the microphone Input Level slider and move it to the right

Now, click the button in the bottom right-hand corner that says 'Reset Sound'.

You can test whether your microphone is working by ticking 'Hear Myself (Temporary)'. If you speak, you should now be able to hear yourself.

<If you cannot hear yourself, your speakers may not be working. See “I can't hear anything” in this troubleshooter.>

Click 'Done' when you are finished.

Re-check that the volume for your microphone is turned up, and that the microphone is not muted (it should look like , not . If you have the second icon, click on it to un-mute).

COMPUTER
PC:

Select Start – Control Panel – Sounds and check the levels and settings of your devices. You may need to select Advanced to find the microphone volume; check it is not muted or low.

How can I change my name or company logo?

On the toolbar at the bottom left hand corner, right-click on . This opens the 'My Qubot' menu.

In the 'Name' box type your name as you would like it to appear to other people.

To set your company logo, under 'My Badge' click 'Browse...' Select a picture from your local machine and click 'Open'.

(Please note that your logo will be square, so if you choose a picture that it is not square it will be resized to fit the space.)

Once you have made your changes, click 'Save'.

If you want to use the original defaults, click 'Revert' to go back to your previous settings.

Every time I enter QUBE, I'm taken to the Orientation qubicle. How do I stop this from happening?

The first time you enter QUBE, you will be taken to Orientation. The Orientation qubicle poses 25 challenges which you solve by trial & error.  You quickly learn enough to make your use of QUBE Productive, Effective and Enjoyable. 

The final instruction in Orientation, is to Drag a Certification Card onto a specified panel.  Once you do this you will be informed that you are certified and a copy of the certificate, will be saved on your computer. The next time you log on to QUBE, you will not be taken to Orientation.  Instead you will enter a ‘Lobby’ which will allow you to select the ‘Organisation’ you wish to participate in and also offer you a list of qubicles to join.

If you have not completed Orientation and collected your certificate, you will be brought to the Orientation qubicle when you log on in order to give you another opportunity to improve your skills.

If you have completed Orientation but you are still brought to the Orientation qubicle it could be because you are using a different computer or your certificate has been deleted.  Simply use the  shortcuts to quickly go to the certification area and recertify.  You do not need to repeat the 25 Orientation steps.

I want to send a message without interrupting the speaker. How do I communicate by text?

There are two ways to communicate by text: Private text and group chat.

Private text to another person on QUBE:

This will only appear to the person you are talking to. No one else will be able to see what you write.

To open private text, you can either:

Right click on any part of their Qubot and select text chat

Or Look at the list of people on the right-hand side of QUBE. Select the person you want to send a message to and either:

Click on the  icon at the bottom of the list of participants

Or right-click on their name. Click 'Private Text...' on the menu that appears.

A window will now appear that says 'Private Text with [User]'. Type your message in the lower white box and hit Enter to send it.

To close private text, click  or the 'Close' button in the 'Private Text with [User]' window.

Group chat with everyone on QUBE:

This appears to everyone in your current qubicle

To open group chat, go to the bottom toolbar on QUBE and click on

The Text Chat window will open. Type your message in the white box and hit the Enter key to send it. To close group chat, click  in the top right-hand corner of the Text Chat window. 

How do I move to a different qubicle (room on QUBE)?

There are two ways to enter another qubicle:

The first is using the list of all QUBEs or Qubicles. To open the list, go to the bottom right hand toolbar on QUBE and click on . A new window titled 'QUBEs' will open. Double-click on the qubicle you would like to enter.

The second is by following someone else. Look at the list of people on the right-hand side of QUBE. Next to their name in brackets their location will be specified.  Find someone who is in the qubicle you would like to enter. Double-click on their name to be taken to their location.

You will know that you are in the process of entering as a progress bar will appear. The length of time it takes to enter a new qubicle depends on your network connection speed and network speed of the person who entered immediately before you. If it seems slow cancel and repeat the process and try again.

I can’t remember how to move, create 'post-its' etc.

You may download a ‘Cheat sheet’ http://PentacleTheVBS.com/QUBE_CheatSheet.htm

I seem to be moving very slowly / my sound stops and starts / qubicles seem to take a long time to load.

You may have a slow connection, either because of a slow computer, a slow network, or both.

COMPUTER
Look at the bottom right hand corner of your screen; there will be a message which says either Computer: OK or Computer: Slow.

If it says computer slow please close other programs you are running which are memory or CPU hungry.  You may need to open Task Manager (or equivalent, depending on your operating system) to check if any processes are running in the background.

NETWORK
Look at the bottom right hand corner of your screen; there will be a message which says either Network: OK or Network: Slow.

You will be able to compare your connection to everyone else’s by looking at the list of people on the right-hand side of QUBE. To the left of everyone's name is a vertical bar. Full height green bars indicate strong signals with good stability.   Yours is probably short and red or it is fluctuating between green and red.

If you are on a wireless connection change to a wired connection

If you don’t have a wired connection see if you can connect to a wireless connection with a stronger signal

It is also worth checking whether other users in your home or office are using a lot of bandwidth (e.g. by downloading or streaming large files).

I put a document in a qubicle and now I can't find it.

You can see a list of all documents in your current qubicle by going to the bottom toolbar on QUBE and clicking .

In the documents window, you can type all or part of the name to find matches, or you can arrange the list by Document Name (alphabetically), by Type (Image, Text etc) or by date Last Saved.

I'm stuck somewhere and I can't move.

First thing is to move your mouse to the centre of the window and left click.

If you find yourself trapped somewhere and don't know how to get out, go to the bottom toolbar on QUBE and click . This will take you to the home point for that qubicle (if your keyboard has a ‘Home’ key, you can use this too).

Alternatively, look at the list of people on the right-hand side of QUBE. Double-click on someone's name to be taken to their location. This will take you to stand in front of them so you can see them. If they’re looking at a whiteboard, you’ll be in their way, so beware!

I can hear people talking, but only faintly.- I could hear them before but now I can’t.

You may be in a different private zone to the people who are talking.

The rule on QUBE is that if you sit down you instantly enter a private zone where it is much more difficult to be overheard by anyone who is not sitting with you.   In addition we use red and pink carpets to indicate where private zones operate even though you may be standing up. This convention allows people to have private conversations without disturbing/being disturbed by others.

So hearing other’s faintly is quite normal.  Simply move closer to the person you are trying to hear, or sit down next to them if they are sitting down.

I can hear people talking, but only faintly- I have not been able to hear properly from the start.

The volume on your headset may be turned down. See the ‘I can’t hear anything’ section of this guide.

I am looking for something on a whiteboard and I can't find it.

It may be on a different tab on the whiteboard. Look at the left-hand side of the whiteboard (the green bit). The will be a list of all the tabs for that whiteboard. Click on one to display the contents of that tab. Remember this changes the tab for everyone in the qubicle, so check no-one else is busy on that whiteboard first!

A message comes up saying “Error: Cannot write a read-only file.” However, QUBE seems to be working fine.

You may have two versions of QUBE running simultaneously. If this is the case, clicking 'Quit' should solve the problem without logging you out of QUBE.

Every time I start QUBE, I get an error which says “An unexpected problem interrupted the drop.”

This happens if you try to launch QUBE twice at the same time - usually by double-clicking on its icon when you only need to single-click. It won’t cause any problems, and you can try single-clicking next time.

When I started QUBE I got an error which said 'nil'

This happens if you try to launch QUBE twice at the same time - usually by double-clicking on its icon when you only need to single-click. It won’t cause any problems, and you can try single-clicking next time.

Have an error on my screen about a lost connection asking me to quit but QUBE has restarted.

Just drag the dialogue box off the bottom of the screen

I was typing in a document, and now I can’t use the keys to move any more.

You are still in typing mode. Click  on the bottom toolbar to go back to navigation mode. You will now be able to use the keys to move again.

My qubot is moving without me doing anything.

Look at the list of names on the right-hand side of QUBE. Is there a  next to the top name on the list? If there is, this means that this person is leading the session, and is controlling everyone’s movement. Tutors can lead sessions to make sure no one gets left behind and everyone is looking at the same thing.

In this case, either wait for them to let you free, or ask them over voice or text chat.

I need to leave my computer for a moment, and I want people to know that I’m away.

Click  on the bottom toolbar of QUBE. This will set your status to ‘Away’. Press any key to remove the ‘Away’ status.

How do I log out?

You are automatically logged out of QUBE when you close it down. 

To close QUBE, click the X icon in the top right-hand corner of the window. A box will appear saying “Attention: Quit QUBE?”; click ‘OK’.

I can't find the answer to my problem in this trouble-shooter.

If you have checked the entire trouble-shooter and cannot find an answer to your problem, you can contact QUBE technical support. Call +44 (0) 1494 674 326, or email Admin@PentacleTheVBS.com