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Troubleshooting

Find the message or problem below. Most take one or two clicks to fix.

The projector shows nothing

First, look at the bottom-left corner of the LumenStage window.

It says “No projector connected”. LumenStage can’t see a second screen.

  1. Check the cable and that the projector is on and set to the right input.
  2. Open Settings › Outputs and press Refresh Displays.
  3. Make sure the projector is listed under Displays and set to Audience.

A banner says “No audience display is configured — the output is not visible.” You pressed Present, but no screen has the Audience role. Open Settings › Outputs and set the projector to Audience.

It says “Audience screen:” with a name, but the projector is still black.

  • Check that the show is on. You should see a red LIVE sign at the top of the window. If not, press Present (⌘L).
  • Look for an orange Show Slide button at the top. If you see it, the slide is hidden by Blackout, Logo, Freeze, Clear All or a test pattern. Click Show Slide.
  • Check that the right screen is set to Audience. If the projector is set to Stage display or Not used, change it.

Tip: Before the service, choose Live › Test Pattern › SMPTE Colour Bars. If you see the bars on the projector, the connection works.

The Present button is greyed out

Present needs an open presentation. Click one in the library first. On the Playlist and Bible screens there is no Present button: use Present Playlist or Show on Screen there.

“The projector is … but the slides are …”

This banner appears when the projector’s shape is different from your slides, for example “The projector is 4:3 but the slides are 16:9, so lines may wrap differently.”

  • To fix the presentation, press the button on the banner, for example Use 4:3 Slides. LumenStage reshapes this presentation’s slides and says “Slides are now 4:3, like the projector.” If you don’t like the result, press ⌘Z.
  • To change the shape for new slides too, open Settings › Outputs and set Slide shape (match the projector).

Logo shows nothing

If you press Logo and see “No logo chosen yet — pick a picture in Settings › Outputs”, you haven’t chosen a picture yet.

  1. Open Settings › Outputs.
  2. Under Logo, press Choose Picture….
  3. Pick a PNG or JPEG file.

Pressing a key does nothing

  • You are typing in a box. If the cursor is in the message box, the Bible box or a text box on a slide, your keys go there. The live controls then say “Typing — press Esc to control the show”. Press Esc and try again.
  • The show isn’t on and you’re not on the Live screen. Space and the arrow keys only move slides on the Live screen, or anywhere once you have pressed Present.
  • Esc doesn’t stop the show. This is on purpose. Press Stop Show (⇧⌘L) to end it.
  • A slide hotkey doesn’t work. The letters B, L, C and F are always Blackout, Logo, Clear All and Freeze during the show. Give the slide a different hotkey.

“This slide could not be drawn”

LumenStage won’t put a damaged slide on the projector. Open it in the editor and check its pictures and videos.

A file won’t import

  • “LumenStage can’t open this kind of file.” means LumenStage doesn’t read that file type. See the list of supported files in Library and importing.
  • “files could not be read” after an import means some files were damaged or in a different format. The message names the first file and the reason.

No Bible installed

If the Bible screen says No Bible installed, press Open Settings, go to Bible and press Add Translation…. See Bible verses.

The phone can’t reach the web remote

  1. In Settings › Remote, check that Status says Running.
  2. Make sure Allow access from local network is on.
  3. Make sure the phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as the Mac.
  4. Type the address exactly as shown next to URL, including the number after the colon.

See Remote control.

Help › Diagnostics

Choose Help › Diagnostics for a summary to share when you ask for help:

  • System — your macOS version, Mac model, memory and processors.
  • Application — the LumenStage version and where the library is.
  • Outputs — the screens LumenStage can use, or “No external output”.
  • Services — whether Web Remote, OSC and MIDI are Running or Stopped.

Where is my library?

Your presentations are kept in a Library folder inside LumenStage’s folder in your Mac’s Application Support folder. To see the exact place, open Settings › Advanced and look at Location. Press Reveal Library in Finder to open it.

Back up your library

  1. Choose File › Backup Library….
  2. Save the .zip file somewhere safe, such as a USB stick or cloud storage.

To bring it back, choose File › Restore Library… and pick the .zip file.

Tip: LumenStage saves your work by itself. When the bottom of the window says All changes saved, everything is on disk.