meshO Manager

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Troubleshooting ​

Audience: Anyone hitting an error or unexpected behaviour in Manager.

Symptoms, likely causes, and fixes, grouped by when you'll meet them. For a result that looks wrong, start with Resolving issues on the day instead.

Starting Manager ​

macOS says meshO Manager "is damaged and can't be opened" ​

The app is not damaged. macOS shows this (or "…can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer") the first time you launch Manager because it isn't notarised by Apple yet and your browser tagged the download with a quarantine flag. Don't move it to the Bin. Open Terminal and run:

bash
xattr -cr /Applications/meshO\ Manager.app

Then launch Manager normally from Applications. This is a one-time step. It is not caused by the browser you used (Safari, Chrome and Edge all behave the same), nor by whether your Mac is Intel or Apple Silicon, and the "damaged" message is not cleared by right-click → Open — only the Terminal command above works. Full details, including the path for the milder "unidentified developer" message, are in Allowing the app on macOS.

Manager doesn't open, or keeps stopping ​

Manager runs as a server in the background with a small tray (Windows) or menu bar (macOS) icon; the browser tab is only a window onto it. So:

  • Nothing opens when you launch it. Look for the meshO icon in the tray or menu bar. If it's there, click it and choose Open. Closing the browser tab doesn't stop Manager, so it may already be running.
  • The menu says Server stopped: it kept stopping unexpectedly. The server stopped six times in ten minutes, so Manager stopped restarting it. The commonest cause is another program using Manager's port (5154, or whatever Settings → Server says). Close that program, or change the port, then choose Start Server from the menu. An alert also explains what went wrong.
  • You ended Manager in Task Manager or Activity Monitor, and it came straight back. That looks like a crash, so Manager restarts itself. Use Quit from the tray or menu bar instead.

See How the server runs in the background.

"Port 5154 is already in use" ​

The tray or menu bar reports that the port is already in use. Another meshO Manager (or another app) is bound to that port. Usually it's a second copy of Manager — one left running under another user account, or an older version that didn't quit. Quit it (or the other program), then choose Start Server.

If only the HTTPS port is taken, Manager still starts, serving plain HTTP: the secure links disappear from Settings → Server and a banner says why. See HTTPS and certificates.

Other devices can't reach Manager at all ​

If neither the name link nor the IP link opens from any other device, check that Allow access from other devices on the network is on in Settings → Server. Then check the server computer's firewall: on Windows, the first launch asks to allow Manager on Private networks, and answering no blocks every other device. See Firewall prompt on first launch.

An update didn't install ​

  • No update notice during the event. The notice is hidden while an event is live, and automatic updates wait until no event is running and no browser is connected. That's deliberate. See Updating.
  • Could not reach the update server or The update check timed out — the server computer has no internet just now. Try again when it has; the event doesn't need it.
  • In-app updates aren't supported for the Linux AppImage — on Linux, download the new .AppImage and replace the old one by hand.
  • The update failed, Could not write the updater script or Could not start the updater — install the new version by hand over the old one; your events and settings are kept. See Installing an update manually, and send that day's log to support.

Connecting hardware ​

The SportIdent station doesn't appear in the browser's device chooser (macOS) ​

On a Mac, the browser's serial-device chooser comes up empty (or lists only unrelated ports) even though the station is plugged in and powered. macOS doesn't recognise SportIdent's USB product ID, so it never creates a serial port for the station — and Web Serial can only offer up real ports. Install the Silicon Labs CP210x driver once per Mac, and approve it in System Settings (the installer stalls at "Installing new driver…" until you do). Full steps: SportIdent USB stations on macOS.

If the chooser does list the station but the download controls never appear at all, that's a different problem — Web Serial needs a secure connection off the server machine. See HTTPS and certificates.

A USB printer on a Windows laptop won't print from the browser ​

Test print says Windows has its own driver on this USB printer, so the browser cannot use it — or, in older versions, Windows is using this printer through its own driver, or even A USB printer needs the secure (https://) link on a page that is already https. Windows attaches its own driver (USB Printing Support) to nearly every USB printer, and the browser can only open one whose driver is WinUSB. Removing the printer from Printers & scanners doesn't change that driver. Switch it to WinUSB with Zadig, once per laptop. Full steps: USB printers on Windows.

A laptop's USB printer says it printed, but nothing comes out ​

The printer does not understand ESC/POS, the only language a laptop's browser can send. A Brother QL label printer (QL-570, QL-700, QL-800…), a DYMO LabelWriter or an office printer accepts the bytes and throws them away, so Test print reports success with nothing on the paper — and the only settings offered for it are thermal-printer ones. Plug it into the server, install its maker's driver there (no Zadig), and add it Into the server, drawn for its driver. Full explanation: Which printers a laptop can print on.

meshO Prime isn't detected ​

There is no COM port to choose. Manager finds Prime by itself, and the Devices page shows Searching for meshO Prime until it does. If it stays there:

  • Plug Prime into the computer running Manager, not into a download laptop. Prime is read by the server; only SportIdent readers plug into other computers. See meshO Prime must plug into the server.
  • Try another cable and USB port. A charge-only USB cable powers Prime without carrying data.
  • Open Diagnostics from the dashboard's Field Units card, which shows what Manager can see on the computer's ports.

If Prime was connected and the Devices page and Field Units card have gone back to Searching, the cable was pulled or the connection reset. During a live event that uses Prime, every manager screen also shows meshO Prime connection lost — Waiting for reconnection…. Unplug Prime and plug it back in, into the server; Manager picks it up again and the message goes by itself. Dismiss hides it on that screen meanwhile. Punches Prime stored meanwhile can be fetched with Resend stored punches (see below).

Prime is connected, but no radio punches arrive ​

  • Is radio for this event switched on? Event details → Radio controls → meshO Prime. It's set per event.
  • Is the event live? Punches are recorded only while the event is running. After Manager restarts, a live event comes back interrupted, and nothing is recorded until someone clicks Resume event.
  • Are the controls reporting? The Field Units card on the dashboard shows a dot per control: green reporting, orange quiet for a few minutes, red silent, grey never heard from. A red or grey control may be switched off, out of range, or flat; check its battery on the Radios page.
  • Did Prime hold punches before the event started? Radio punches → Actions → Resend stored punches asks Prime for everything in its memory; anything Manager already has is ignored.

See Connecting meshO Prime and radios and Recovering missed punches.

A SportIdent or EMIT reader isn't detected (Windows, Linux) ​

  • Web Serial isn't available in this browser (or Browser not supported) — use Chrome or Edge 89 or later, or Firefox 151 or later. Safari doesn't have Web Serial.
  • Web Serial needs a secure connection (or Needs a secure connection) — on a computer other than the server, open Manager through its https link; on the server itself, http://localhost:5154/manager works too. Web Serial only works on a secure page. See HTTPS and certificates.
  • Failed to open port. The device may be in use by another application. — something else on that laptop already has the reader open: another browser tab or window with Manager in it, or another timing program. Close it and connect again.
  • The reader is no longer attached to this computer or Device was disconnected — the USB cable was pulled or the station lost power. Plug it back in and connect again. A reader this browser has used before connects without the device chooser; to pick a different one, disconnect first and then connect.
  • "The card reader is busy with station memory". One reader serves both card download and station memory. Wait for the station-memory read to finish, or disconnect it there. See Station memory.

Splits or labels don't print ​

A print that didn't come out is shown on the computer that asked for it, with Try again, Print on… and Discard. For what each message means, see When a print does not come out and When nothing prints.

Reaching the server ​

A laptop can't find the server by name — DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN ​

Chrome shows "This site can't be reached" with DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN for the name-based access link, while the same address opens fine in Safari, Firefox or on a phone. Chrome uses its own DNS resolver and frequently won't resolve the server's computer name, so it asks the router instead — which has no record for it.

Use the link tagged IP in Settings → Server → Access links on that laptop. This hits download and station-backup machines hardest, because those are the ones typically running Chrome for Web Serial. To use a name on them anyway, give the server a DHCP reservation and host name on the venue router, or run Firefox 151+ there — it also has Web Serial and looks names up through the operating system. Full detail: Reaching the server: name or IP.

If neither the name nor the IP works from another device, it isn't this — check Allow access from other devices on the network in Settings → Server, then the server machine's firewall.

"Server unavailable — reconnecting…" ​

The device has lost the server: it's off the network, the server computer has gone to sleep, or Manager there has stopped. The device keeps trying by itself and catches up when it's back; there's no need to reload. Check the device's Wi-Fi, then the server computer. See When a device loses the network.

The device doesn't trust meshO's certificate yet. Nothing is broken — but click past it only as a stopgap, because some browsers won't read a card reader until it's trusted. Install the certificate once on that device: Trusting the certificate. If it still warns after that, see HTTPS and certificates → Troubleshooting.

HTTPS is on but didn't start, usually because its port is taken or matches the HTTP port. Settings → Server says why. See HTTPS and certificates → Troubleshooting.

Saving ​

A full-screen "This event can't be saved" message appears ​

meshO Manager can no longer write to the event's folder on this computer. The screen is paused behind the message until it can, and the message can't be dismissed — the only ways out are fixing the folder and pressing Retry, or closing Manager. Card downloads and radio punches are still taken while it is up.

Your changes are not lost. The changes made since the problem started — card downloads, radio punches, edits, and the audit trail's record of them — are held in memory, and a second copy is saved outside the event folder. The message shows where. If you close Manager before fixing the problem, those changes are applied automatically the next time you open the event.

The message shows the event folder, which parts of the event can't be saved (the competitor and punch data, the audit trail, or individual files such as the class list) and the system's own reason for each. To fix it:

  1. Check the folder isn't read-only. On Windows, right-click the folder → Properties and look at the Security tab: your user needs Modify or Full control. The Read-only tick box on the General tab is not a reliable guide for folders — Windows shows it filled in even when the folder is writable — so clearing it usually changes nothing.
  2. Move the event out of a synced folder. If the folder is inside OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, pause syncing, or move the event to a plain local folder such as C:\meshO. Sync clients can lock a database file while they upload it.
  3. Check antivirus and ransomware protection. On Windows, Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Ransomware protection → Controlled folder access can silently block Manager from writing. Allow meshO Manager through it, or turn it off for the day.
  4. Check the disk isn't full and that nothing else — a second copy of Manager, a backup tool — has the event's meshO.db file (or AuditTrail\AuditTrail.db) open.

Then press Retry. Manager tries again to write everything it was holding back — reopening the event's database and audit trail and rewriting each file — and checks that each write really landed. If it still can't write, the message stays up with the new reason and how many attempts have failed; fix that and retry again. The message disappears by itself once everything is saved.

If the message says it could not save a second copy either, don't close Manager until the problem is fixed — the held-back changes then exist only in memory.

If the message says the event's database failed its integrity check, retrying won't fix it. Keep Manager open and contact meshO support.

If the message says the details could not be loaded, the problem is still there and Retry still works; the details come back once Manager answers again.

Event data ​

An event isn't in the Events list ​

  • Look on the History tab. Upcoming holds the running event, and events dated today or later that haven't been finished. Finished events, and every event dated before today, are on History, including one that was set up and never run.
  • It's part of a multi-stage event. A carnival's days are listed under its group header; open the group.
  • It's on another computer. Events live on the computer where they were created or restored. To move one, see Moving an event to another computer.

A re-import added a second copy of some competitors ​

A re-imported entry list recognises the competitors it already has by their registration number (such as their Eventor ID), then their card number. It matches on name only when the entry has neither. So a runner typed in by hand at the desk, and then sent in the entry file with an Eventor ID and a different card, arrives as a second competitor.

Keep the copy that has their card download and result, and delete the other one. If both have something on them, move the download to the right one first from Card downloads. See Re-importing.

An imported file is missing people, or Manager asks about removing some ​

Manager never deletes on an import unless you ask it to. If the file doesn't list competitors the event already has, it stops and asks whether the file is the complete list. See When a file is missing competitors or classes you already have.

During the event ​

Punches arrive, but don't land on a competitor ​

On Radio punches, the runner's name shows Unknown: nobody in the event holds that card number. Either the card number on their entry is wrong (they're carrying a different or hire card), or they aren't entered. Click Unknown to add a competitor for that card, or correct the card number on their entry; their earlier punches are then matched to them. See Unknown cards.

A control's times are all out by the same amount ​

The unit's clock was wrong. Set a Time Offset on the control, and every punch from it is corrected, earlier ones included. See Time Offset.

A TV screen is blank, or shows the wrong thing ​

  • Check its link. A screen's link includes the server's address and the event's id. A link from another event, or one taken from a different server, shows nothing for this one. Open it again from the event's Screens page. See Opening each screen on its TV.
  • Results held back on purpose. A class under results quarantine shows its start list but not its results until its release time.
  • The TV lost the network. Screens catch up by themselves when they reconnect. If one doesn't, reload the page on the TV.

There's an alert I don't understand ​

Alerts collect in the Alerts panel at the right of the manager screens, and the alert icon flashes while there's one you haven't seen. Each alert says what happened and, where there's something to do, what that is: a low battery, a lost connection, an external backup drive that's missing. Many withdraw themselves when the problem clears.

Dismissing an alert removes it from the panel and stops the icon flashing for the rest of the event. The message stays in the Messages panel. If the problem comes back, for example a battery drops further, a new alert appears.

A result looks wrong ​

That's usually a status, a punch or a start time to correct on the competitor. See Resolving issues on the day and Status and race time rules.

"A live standby has taken this event over" ​

If a live standby has taken the event over, the computer it left refuses every change to it: a save is refused with A live standby has taken this event over. It runs on that computer now, so nothing can be changed here., the event shows This event is now running on … with the address stations should use, and its card on the Events list says Taken over by …. This is deliberate — it stops a card read at a desk still pointed at the old computer being recorded where nobody looks. Open the address it gives on every device, and move meshO Prime to the new computer if it's still plugged in here. Become the standby lets this computer follow the event from now on.

On the standby, Take over is refused while an event is being replayed on that computer (Event … is being replayed on this computer. Stop the replay before taking over.), or when it already has an event with the same id. An event that is live there doesn't stop it: the standby can run several events at once (see Running two events at once). See If something goes wrong.

A runner marked DNS ran after all, and still shows DNS ​

A DNS you set is kept through every later card download. Open them, go to Result, and press Auto beside the status. See Marked DNS, then they turn up.

Logs and getting help ​

Where the logs are ​

Manager writes a log file each day, named log- and the date, in a logs folder:

ComputerLogs folder
Windows%LOCALAPPDATA%\meshO Manager\logs (paste it into Explorer's address bar)
macOS~/Library/Application Support/meshO Manager/logs
Linux~/.local/share/meshO Manager/logs

On a Mac, Show Files in Finder in the menu bar opens the folder that holds logs. On Windows, the tray's Show Files in Explorer opens the events folder, which is somewhere else. Linux has no tray icon; open the folder yourself. Settings → Logging sets how much detail goes into the log; leave it alone unless support asks.

What to send with a support request ​

  1. What happened, and roughly when: the time helps find it in the log.
  2. The version, from About in the tray or menu bar.
  3. That day's log file (above).
  4. A backup of the event, if the problem is about an event: Backup event → Download on its card. It includes the event's audit trail, card downloads and radio data, which is usually what's needed to see what happened. It also holds competitors' details and the liveresultat password, so send it privately, never post it publicly. See Backup and restore.

Email it to help@mesho.live. To report a bug or suggest a feature in public, see Reporting bugs and sending feedback.

A damaged event, or one that won't open ​

See Repairing a damaged event.