SuperLab 4 Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs)
Last
Revision: April 5, 2012
These FAQs apply to SuperLab version 4.5.2 or later. If you are using an
earlier 4.x version, please upgrade to the
latest 4.5.x version; it’s
free.
Audio
Keyboard
Mouse
Movies
Miscellaneous
Audio
Can I play MP3 sound files?
Yes. However, this needs to be done via the Movie stimulus type. This
odd behavior is due to patent issues surrounding the MP3 file format:
the audio playing library that SuperLab uses is open source and cannot
license the patents.
On the Mac, there is sometimes a brief delay before a sound plays.
Many Mac computers have a built-in power save feature that puts the
sound system to sleep after several seconds of silence. This results in
a delay when playing a sound file after the sound system has been put to
sleep. We have not found a way to disable this Mac OS feature.
One workaround is to have SuperLab play a “silent” sound file to prevent
the sound system from sleeping. Another approach is to install a
utility program called
Antipop that
was developed specifically to help users affected by this.
Sometimes I hear Windows’ default beep.
You need to go the Control Panel and change the “default beep” to None.
Keyboard
I want to use keyboard string input and keyboard single keys input in
the same experiment but I’m having some difficulties.
Please see this tech support
note.
A key press (or string input) is not being acknowledged by SuperLab as
being correct, even though I am sure that it is.
Make sure that the Caps Lock key is not pressed; responses are case
sensitive. On the Mac in particular, having Caps Lock pressed can mess
with string input.
Mouse
Clicking the mouse twice quickly does not always work on Windows.
Two clicks that happen quickly but were intended as two separate single
clicks will be recorded by SuperLab as a single click. A possible
workaround is change the double-click “speed”; see this
web page.
My Microsoft Serial Mouse is not being recognized by Windows.
When Windows starts up, it scans all the available ports on your
computers. If it “sees” the Microsoft Serial Mouse, it assumes that you
are intending to use it as a general purpose mouse, e.g. to click on
buttons or select from menus. It then “reserves” the mouse for its own
use, so SuperLab and other applications can no longer access the mouse
directly. The only workaround is to make sure that the Microsoft Serial
Mouse is unplugged when Windows is starting up.
Movies
SuperLab for Mac sometimes freezes when I use present more than one
movie simultaneously.
On the Mac, the only known issue with presenting
multiple movies simultaneously is when they overlap. The
workaround is to make sure the movies do not overlap. This is a
QuickTime issue and beyond our control.
Can I play animated GIF files?
Yes. On the Mac, the animated GIF plays once
and then it stops. On Windows, it keeps repeating.
Miscellaneous
How can improve the presentation on Windows 7 (and Vista)?
We highly recommend that you disable the Aero features and animations.
See these web pages on how to do so
for Vista and
for Windows 7.
How can I share an experiment or move it from one computer to another?
Click on the File menu and chose Create an Experiment Package.
SuperLab will then copy your experiment file and all the stimulus files
being used, compress them, and put them in a single .ZIP file that you
can move.
What does the port 5972 error mean?
This means that port 5972 is blocked on your network. This is a setting
on your network and needs to be changed before SuperLab can connect to
the license server. The following information is often requested by IT
before enabling port 5972: SuperLab connects to license server at
activation.cedrus.com:5972 using SSL and TCP/IP. UDP is not used.
Is a printed manual available?
Yes. If you need one, please
send us an email. The
manual is also available for download as a
PDF file in English and
Spanish.
Can SuperLab 4 import SuperLab 1 and 2
experiments?
Unfortunately not.
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