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Quick Fixes and Troubleshooting

Most classroom multimedia problems come down to a handful of causes: the wrong source or display selected, a loose cable, a muted image, or equipment that needs a restart. Work through the checks below before calling — each one takes well under a minute. If none of them work, call us; very often we can fix the rest over the phone.

Common problems and fixes

No image on the projector or display
  1. Is the system on? Touch panels: touch the screen to wake it. Button panels: press and hold ON for 3 seconds and wait out the warm-up flash (up to 2 minutes).
  2. Is the right source selected? Press the button for what you're actually using — PC, Laptop, HDMI, Doc Cam or Blu-Ray.
  3. Touch panel rooms: did you pick a display? After selecting a source, touch a display button at the top of the screen or Send To All. In window-layout rooms, confirm the source is assigned to a window.
  4. Is the image muted? Press PIC MUTE / Projector Mute / Display Mute once — if the image appears, it was muted, not broken.
  5. Is the display itself off? Touch panel rooms have a Displays button where individual projectors and screens can be turned on manually.
Laptop not showing
  1. Check the cable is firmly seated at both ends — the input panel and your laptop.
  2. Select the matching input on the panel: HDMI if you plugged into HDMI, Laptop/VGA if you plugged into VGA.
  3. Set your laptop to output to an external display: on Windows, press Windows + P and choose Duplicate; on a Mac, open System Settings > Displays and mirror.
  4. Using DisplayPort, USB-C, Thunderbolt or DVI? You need an adapter to HDMI.
No sound
  1. Turn the room volume up on the panel and make sure Mute is off.
  2. If your laptop is the source, turn the laptop's own volume up too.
  3. Connecting by VGA? Video and audio are separate — the audio cable must be plugged into your laptop's headphone jack.
  4. Confirm the source you hear nothing from is the source that's actually selected on the panel.
  5. Using a microphone? Check the Mic controls on the touch panel — the mic has its own volume and mute.
Document camera shows nothing
  1. Fully extend the camera arm.
  2. Press the camera's own power button — the doc cam has separate power from the room system.
  3. Select DOC CAM on the control panel.
Panel unresponsive or system acting up

Turn it off (System Off on a touch panel; press and hold OFF on a button panel), wait 2 minutes for the projector to cool down, then turn it back on. A power cycle resolves a large share of classroom problems.

When class ends, turn the system off — don't just mute it. PIC MUTE and Display/Projector Mute only blank the image while the projector lamp keeps burning. Muting is for during class; the OFF button is for the end of class.

Still stuck? Call us

Call the ETS Call Center at (408) 864-8324 or 8324 from the classroom phone.

  • Normal working hours (7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday–Friday):
    Press 2
  • After hours (Monday–Thursday, 5:00–6:30 p.m.):
    Press 3 to page ETS staff

Leave the room number and a contact number — the extension in the room or your cell — so we can call you back. Most issues are resolved over the phone. 

For non-urgent problems, submit a ticket at helpdesk.fhda.edu.