Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Help with Touchscreen problems @ Concession

This is topic Help with Touchscreen problems @ Concession in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-27-2008, 05:42 PM:

I have a computer issue I’d appreciate suggestions on.

I use touch screens at the concession stand. They are Dell branded touch screens, but they are actually 3M Microtouch guts. The touch screen interface connects via USB to dell dimension computers running Xp.

I have two setups like this; I have the same problem on both. The problem being, that at times, the touch screen will stop responding completely, or when you touch a certain spot on the screen, it will not register at the spot that you have touched; it may register the touch 4-5 inches from where the finger was pressed.

When this problem occurs, the mouse pointer on the screen will quiver back and forth just ever so slightly. During the time this problem occurs, the mouse will not operate correctly either.

You can unplug the usb cable from the touch screen, and the quivering will stop, and the mouse will start responding and working as it should.

Sometimes, you can restart the computer and all will be well for days, or sometimes weeks. Then other times, you can restart the computer and it will re-occur almost immediately. When this happens, we have found the only solution is powering monitor and computer down, unplugging the power from both the computer and the monitor, and also unplug the USB cable from the monitor. Wait 30 minutes or more. Plug it all back in, and it will solve the issue. After doing this, sometimes it will work correctly for up to several weeks before acting up again. So, I have about decided it is a USB issue with the computer some how. But I have no idea what it may be. The monitors both plug directly into the USB ports of the computers, no USB hubs involved.

The problem seems to occur more often than not, after the touchscreens have not been used for a time-such as 20 minutes. Rarely has the issue started during heavy use of the touchscreens.

I’ve ran the touch screen alignment procedure, and I’ve updated the touch screen driver software, to no avail. Computers have been checked and rechecked for viruses and malware/spyware with none found. Both computers and monitors have APC battery backups.

Thanks for any and all suggestions or thoughts.

Posted by Robert Minichino (Member # 3495) on 01-27-2008, 07:31 PM:

It's been about 8 years since I serviced touchscreens, but I do remember occasionally having issues with static electricity causing the screens to flip out in the winter. I think we ended up installing grounded floor mats at the workstations.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-27-2008, 07:52 PM:

Check Control Panel, Power Options, Power Schemes; see if XP is configured to shut down any devices after a period of inactivity. I would set all that stuff to "Never" if it isn't already.

Make sure you have the latest Dell motherboard chipset drivers for XP (probably from Intel) and the latest Dell motherboard BIOS.

I've seen USB problems go away by plugging a powered external USB hub into one of the computer's built-in USB ports, and plugging the devices into the hub. USB hubs are very inexpensive so it might be worth trying. I would use a powered hub, not one that draws power from the USB bus.

Another thing to try would be add a USB expansion card to an open PCI slot (assuming there is an open slot) and run the monitor off the USB card and see what happens.

How long are the USB cables from the computer to the monitor? Keep them as short as possible.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-27-2008, 08:11 PM:

Thank guys.
We've had about the same problems in the summer as well, but that's worth a thought, I know the humidity gets very low in this building in the winter.

David, the USB cables are just long enough to reach the tower setting on the floor directly below. Maybe 5ft.

I just had a thought, I wonder if a better USB cable with possibly a choke on it might help.

I will definitly give the powered USB hub a try. Any brands better than others?
Thanks!

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-27-2008, 08:26 PM:

This USB hub has worked well for us at the office. We have a dozen or so of them deployed, no problems with any of them.

If you want to try a USB expansion card, I'd go with something like this one although most any card would probably work. With XP you shouldn't have to install any special drivers for such a card (or the external hub).

Five-foot cables should not be a problem unless they're really inferior quality (like not shielded). But that's another thing to try swapping that won't cost you much.

Crazy question: Nobody's plugging an iPod into the computer and running iTunes are they? [Smile]

I've seen that cause some strange problems.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-27-2008, 10:18 PM:

Mmmm, now that I think about it, the usb cables that came with the monitors are the one's being used. Probably not the best.

Thanks for the tips. It's a place to start.

No Itunes I'm aware of, someone would be hankering to have an Ipod stomped if so. [Big Grin]

I do recall now that sometime ago, a new Sieko thermal receipt printer I installed, was not at all happy with the parallel printer cable I first used with it. Caused it to spew all sorts of odd characters. New cable cured that.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-28-2008, 02:40 AM:

You might want to check if dell or 3m have a calibration software.

I know on the touchscreen kiosks I've used, you occasionally had to get out a regular keyboard to exit out of the concession software to run a calibration program where you pressed on the screen at specified locations.

Posted by Christopher Howland (Member # 4386) on 02-01-2008, 04:52 PM:

i have IBM touch screens in my concession as well

this may or may not be the case, but assuming your serving concessions and ringing up orders at the same time, butter residue/water will cause the screen to incorrectly read button presses. The screen will believe that the water is a finger pressing on the screen, thus, when you press somewhere else, it'll move the cursor a few inches away from where you actually pressed. It's solved by simply cleaning the screen and making sure your fingers are dry when using the touchpanel.

Simple solution but sometimes those are the most easily overlooked.