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Forum thread: Mac user!
| Matt Mars 15 September 2010 16:50 |
STEARsoft looks an ideal product for our needs however we are mac based! Any plans down that path? Meantime, I read something in a thread about registers being available online once registers were inputted over WiFi onto a computer. So could I use a PC to sync the teachers' iPhones, and then have the data accessible on my mac online? Cheers! |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 15 September 2010 23:27 |
Dear Matt, You just need one Windows-based PC running on your network to act as a server. You'd install STEARsoft there and then all administration and access by teachers is web-based, so can be done from a Mac, a PC, a Linux machine, an iPad etc. iPhones, iPods and iPads running the STEARsoft App will also sync directly to the one installation over the network, as will Palm-based devices. The free demo license will be enough for you to see that all working. If you're on a large network, the only thing to watch will be setting up firewalls and any router equipment to allow traffic through on port 13031. The largest STEARsoft installation I know of has 80+ users with a mix of PCs, Macs and iPad users, so you should be fine. Yours sincerely, Marcus Butler |
| Matt Mars 16 September 2010 11:07 |
Thanks for your detailed response Marcus. We have a PC laptop from our previous system but I think it is out of date. What is the minimum spec and would we need anything other than STEARsoft and Internet Explorer installed? Many thanks, Matt |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 16 September 2010 12:57 |
Dear Matt, The minimum spec is very low. As long as the PC can run Windows NT, Windows 2000 or better (so XP, Vista, 7 etc) and has a network connection, that's about it. You don't need any extra software (you could even manage without a web-browser on the PC if you always accessed STEARsoft over the network from another machine), and you don't need any particular service packs installed. Having a working web-browser is useful though as it shows whether you have a working network connection. The amount of memory required is modest and is tens of Megabytes (this depends on how big your school is). A fast PC might become preferable for a large school (50+ teachers) once you have a lot of historical data; but this would just be for quicker responses to some of the detailed report options that analyse and process a lot data over a long period of time. If you have some computer knowledge, it is possible to move from one computer to another by simply copying the contents of the data directory in STEARsoft from one machine to another, so you could start with an older computer (or laptop) that you may already have, and upgrade if you find STEARsoft to be not as responsive as you'd like. I suspect you'll find it is fine though with even a relatively old computer. Yours, Marcus. |
| Lucille butler 14 August 2024 01:43 |
I have the STEARsoft on my iPad for several years. However, I have signed up for the cloud server and I cant get it to sync. Also when I use the app and try to create sessions for my class I cant add a new term since it says my administrator which is me says Im not allowed. I changed tge settings in the administrative pages but it doesnt seem to translate to my app. I hope this isnt to confusing but I need some help. Thank you Lucille I am in the USA |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 15 August 2024 09:06 |
Thank you for getting in touch. I am sorry to hear this. And apologies for the slow response. I will look into this later today and will get back to you soon. Is this a fresh setup? Or are you using data you already have? |
| Lucille butler 15 August 2024 14:56 |
I am using the data I already have. Just setting up new schedule for the fall. Thank you. I teach private lessons and having been using this program since 2013 to keep attendance records for my vocal lesson students. Its great I just cant get it to work this year. |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 16 August 2024 00:38 |
Thanks for your patience. So you have the tricky situation of starting with data on your iPad/iPhone. There are a couple of tutorials specifically for this situation which you may have already found? On the tutorials page, the very top one called 'Individual Sync from App to Cloud' is the simplified version if you're only using the Cloud server as a backup. If you're merging with other users, then under Administrator Tutorials, you'll probably want the 'Migrating from App to Cloud' tutorial (24 mins). From what you describe you've already figured this... So, the first sync (iPhone to Server) can take a little while. And this may be affecting you more, as you're in the USA. Key things to ensure this works are to ensure you have a good connection to the internet. For this first sync, make sure you're on a good reliable WiFi connection. Second thing is to keep your phone 'alive' while it synchronises. Move the screen a little every now and then to stop it going to sleep. If it does fail, then try just synchronising again. STEARsoft should carry on from where it stopped. Repeat if necessary until it can do a rapid two-way sync. Final things to note: 1) Send yourself a backup by email of your iPhone data first in case anything goes badly wrong 2) If it looks like it's got in a mess, change the Sync back to one way (iPhone to Server), and then try again. I'm hoping you've just been unlucky and that this will help. If not, let me know and I can look into this in more depth. |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 20 August 2024 09:55 |
Hello again, just checking in to see if the issue is resolved. There are other things we can try if ensuring a good constant WiFi connection does not fix it. |
| Lucille butler 21 August 2024 17:49 |
Hello, I am sorry but it still doesnt finish syncing. It stops about half way through at regregister and says connection lost. Also I cant get the app to recognize that that I the administrator has allowed me to add new terms. Thank you, |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 21 August 2024 21:18 |
No need to be sorry. I'd like to get this sorted for you. Thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm sorry it didn't just work first time. I will communicate further directly by email to you. There are two things that I'll post here though: 1) Something to try, if you haven't already: Once the Sync fails, go to Synchronisation Setup (this is in the App on your iPhone) and ensure Sync type is "Synchronise" before trying starting another Sync. I believe doing this should get STEARsoft to try and continue from where the previous sync stopped. 2) The second issue (allowing you to add new terms), is almost certainly because it hasn't completed the sync. If we can fix the sync, then the permissions should then get fixed too. I will communicate further, directly by email. |
| Lucille butler 22 August 2024 14:56 |
Hello Marcus, unfortunately I have tried syncing in other places with different WiFi and and it still stops at exactly the same point and I still cant get it to let me add terms so I can add multiple sessions. Thank you so much for all your help and time spent on this. Lucille |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 22 August 2024 22:08 |
Thank you for your continued patience and experimentation. I have made a couple of changes on the server which may help. Please could you try another 'Sync'. If it now works, Great... If not, I still have one or two other ideas to try. Thank you again |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 22 August 2024 22:15 |
Actually one other thought... When the iPhone is 'syncing', does the spinny thing keep spinning up until it fails? or does the spinner get stuck at some point? This could be a useful clue as to how it is failing. Many thanks |
| Lucille butler 22 August 2024 23:36 |
Hello Marcus, whatever you did it worked!! I can sync and set new terms and set up my fall teaching schedule. Thank you so much for your time, help and patience. Lucille |
| Marcus Butler (STEARsoft) 23 August 2024 09:09 |
That's fantastic to hear. Thank you for letting me know. It really should have just worked the first time, so thank you for all your communication and patience to help me fix it. With best wishes. |
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