FAQ's
- Known issue : There is currently an issue when connecting Apple Mac devices. - See article here
Answers
I can't see the list of available displays on my Laptop / Mobile Device?
Open the app on your device, click the gear icon (Settings) and enter solstice.manchester.ac.uk in the Solstice Directory Server Address field. Alternatively, you can manually enter the IP address of the Solstice Wireless Display by clicking on the 'Enter IP' tab.
Why don't certain apps like YouTube stream to the Solstice Wireless Display from an iOS device?
This issue is often related to DRM Copy Protection for HDCP compliance on the iOS device with certain apps.
Apps such as YouTube and Netflix prevent streaming of content from any device that is not connected directly from a device to an HDCP compliant display through a DVI or HDMI cable.
Since iOS utilizes AirPlay for streaming to the Solstice Wireless Display, this does not meet the requirement for HDCP compliance and the applications themselves prevent streaming.
You can use alternative apps to access the same content you would like to share, such as Tube Master or Video Tube.
I've entered the SDS (solstice.manchester.ac.uk) details into the Solstice Client App / Software, but the room I'm in doesn't appear?
This is likely to be because the room is not centrally timetabled. Only CTS rooms are available to view on the Solstice Directory Service. Faculty and meeting rooms around campus which have Solstice Pods installed, are not listed on the solstice.manchester.ac.uk SDS directory. Faculties may have their own SDS Directory setup. Please contact local Faculty technical teams for info. If you believe a CTS room is missing from the Solstice Directory Service please contact Media Services by emailing us here.
Known issues with Apple products (MacBook, iOS devices)
There are currently several known issues with M1 and M2 chip MacOS devices.
Newer Apple Mac devices (2021 onwards), such as MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs now feature ARM based Apple Silicon chipsets as opposed to the previous Intel chipsets. Owners of these devices are reporting issues when used with the Solstice platform.
Users can check what type of chip their device has by clicking on the Apple icon in the top left hand corner of the desktop and selecting "About this Mac". The processor chip will either be listed as an Intel Core device or an Apple M1/M2 chip.
Known Issues:
- The Solstice Mac client app crashes intermittently when screen sharing
- The Solstice Mac client app consistently crashes when app sharing
- Pressing the speaker icon in the client app to transmit sound consistently crashes it.
- The Solstice client app for Mac is not available on the Apple App Store, (although it is for iOS devices such as iPads).
The University has met with Mersive, the provider of the Solstic platform regarding this issues. They assure us that it is an absolute priority for their customer base and are currently working on a fix for their next major release of the client app, which they expect to be available for Q1, 2024. While this is in progress, there are some workarounds to download the client and improve stability.
Ensuring that the installed client app is the latest version can improve stability for screen sharing, (although not with app sharing).
If the client app should crash, a force quit needs to be performed and the client restarted. Press these three keys together: Option (or Alt), Command, Esc (Escape). Or choose Force Quit from the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen.
Instead of pressing the speaker button in the client app to transmit sound, click the speaker icon on the menu barof the MacBook desktop, and select the name of the Solstice Pod you are currently connected to, (not Solstice Desktop Speakers).
For MacOS devices, the client app must now be downloaded and installed from the Solstice download centre website:
