Known Issues & Faults with eLearning Systems
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Blackboard Email Issue – 21/11/2023
Grademark Bulk Download Error
LOAD152 Data Protection Training
VideoPortal
Some users are reporting that they cannot see their course listed in VideoPortal and as such cannot access their recorded lectures.
IT services report there are ongoing network issues which they are working to resolve.
If you are experiencing this issue, please raise a support request here.
VoiceThread Scheduled Maintenance 05-02-2022
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Planned Start: February 5, 2022 10:00
Expected End: February 5, 2022 14:00Details: We are performing regular maintenance. You might see some slowness during this window. VoiceThread should remain available.
Turnitin Error: filesys.err.dir.attempt Installed version 2.8.13 (FIXED)
Some users are reporting issues when accessing student submissions – from Turnitin – via the Grade Centre. They receive an error saying, ‘Error filesys.err.dir.attempt’. The issue is currently being investigated.
Workarounds
Staff can be advised to access student submission via the following route:
- Open the Course Tools menu item in the Course Management
- Select Turnitin Assignments from the list.
- Select the relevant assignment inbox you wish to mark.
- Select the student submission you wish to mark.
Turnitin inbox needs to be within a folder visible to students.
Student Users attempting to access a submitted paper or feedback via Learn MyGrades are presented with the error message. Students are able to see marks from Turnitin assignments in their My Marks area, but will see the above error message if they select the assignment link to access their submission feedback.
Access to submissions is possible via direct access to the Turnitin assignment link in the Content area where the Turnitin submission was deployed. This means the Turnitin inbox needs to be within a folder visible to students.
Blackboard Video Buffering
Some users are experiencing buffering when trying to access lecture recordings via Blackboard or Video Portal.
This is currently under investigation.
VoiceThread Scheduled Maintenance 03-12-2021
- 2pm December 27th 2021 – Possible slow media load times
VoiceThread will be increasing the security of user-uploaded media.
There should not be a noticeable change with this update, but it is possible that there may be increased media load times temporarily.
- 10am December 29th 2021 – Offline for 8 hours
VoiceThread will be performing a database upgrade and maintenance.
VoiceThread will be offline for 8 hours.
Users who attempt to access during this window will see a message that VoiceThread is down for maintenance.
Blackboard Assignment Submission Error Message – 18-11-2021
When submitting a group assignment to Blackboard, some students see an error message saying that the upload has failed:
“Failed to submit assignment. Please try again.”
In most cases this message has been populated in error.
In order to check whether you have submitted:
- Press Cancel at the bottom of the screen. This will take you back to the main Assessment area.
- Return to the assignment submission link.
- You should see a preview of your file that uploaded successfully and a timestamp on the right side of the screen.
Important: Blackboard no longer sends submission confirmation receipts by email, you will not receive an email confirmation after submitting on this Blackboard link however please check directly on Blackboard by clicking on the submission link and look out for the time stamp on the right hand-side as confirmation of the submission.
Issue opening files in Blackboard – 17-11-2021
Some users are experiencing a ‘404 file not found’ error message when trying to view files in their browser from Blackboard.
Following workarounds may work for most users so far:
1. Users to switch to a different browser (i.e. Chrome or Firefox)
2. Switch off “Open office files in the browser” feature in Microsoft Edge (edge://settings/downloads)
3. If Blackboard Ally is in use, users can be advised to use “Alternative Formats” feature to download office files as “Tagged PDf”
BoB experiencing slow performance – 21-10-2021
BoB is currently running a little slow. They are investigating an intermittent problem with some components.
Box of Broadcasts Scheduled Maintenance – 12-08-2021
BoB is undergoing scheduled system maintenance between 9:00 and 12.00 on Thursday 12 August. Users will experience the following:
- The Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) might be unavailable during this maintenance window.
- Programmes can still be found thought the search interface
- Streaming is not affected.
Turnitin Inbox Issue – 28-07-2021
We have received reports of the Submit button not working when creating or editing Turnitin assignments with post-dates more than two weeks after the due date. It appears that Chromium-based browsers are blocking the popup that warns of the post-date being more than two weeks after the due date and therefore making the Turnitin assignment impossible to create or edit with the correct dates. Users are advised to use Firefox when creating or editing Turitin inboxes, as Firefox does not appear to be affected.
Blackboard and Turnitin Service Disruption – 08-06-2021 RESOLVED
Due to worldwide internet issues, Blackboard and Turnitin are currently are currently experiencing a major unexpected disruption. For more information, please see: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=26460.
[Update 08-06-2021] This issue is now resolved.
Incorrect Code in Turnitin – 03-06-2021
We are aware of an issue whereby a code is displayed at the top of the page in Blackboard when clicking on a Turnitin assignment. Turnitin have stated that this issue will be rectified by updating to the most recent version (which will be undertaken after exams have been completed), and that the code has no impact on the performance of Turnitin itself.
Turnitin Similarity Report Delays – 05-08-2021 RESOLVED
Delays in the generation of similarity reports were reported by Turnitin as occurring between 8am and 12:15pm on the 5th August 2021.
This issue is now resolved.
Blackboard Scheduled Maintenance – 10-08-2021
Blackboard will be unavailable between 23:30 BST on 10th August 2021 and 03:30 BST on 11th August 2021. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Blackboard SCORM Packages – 07-06-2021
All SCORM packages on Blackboard are currently inaccessible. This problem is currently being investigated.
[Update 08-06-2021] This issue is now resolved.
Blackboard Service Availability – 15-05-2021
Blackboard will be unavailable for up to 3 minutes at 2am BST on Saturday, 15 May 2021 while maintenance work is undertaken to prepare our service for the upcoming exam period. We apologise for any inconvenience this short notice may cause.
Blackboard Assignment Video Portal Embedding Issue – 11-05-2021
Audio Issues in Collaborate – 13-05-2021
LaTeX Equation Editor Issues in Blackboard – 10-05-2021
Audio Recording Issue in Podcasting Service – 10-05-2021 RESOLVED
Blackboard Organisation Issues – 23-04-2021 RESOLVED
- Unable to open files in Group File Exchange
- Unable to edit content items with files attached
- Unable to upload new SCORM packages
Network Issues – 12-04-2021 RESOLVED
There were network issues on the evening of 12-04-2021 which impacted access to Video Portal and Blackboard. Blackboard log ins from 19:00 – 00:00 may have experienced difficulties.
Some issues are ongoing. IT services are working on fully restoring services which have not fully recovered, including:
- My Manchester for staff (which includes eProg, Training Catalogue, Timesheets, Costings, Project Finance)
- The P&DR system
- Key Information Set
Turnitin Download Issue – 12/04/2021 RESOLVED
We are aware of an issue which is preventing users from downloading files in Turnitin. This problem seems to be affecting both bulk downloads and single file downloads. Turnitin’s Technical Specialists are investigating the problem.
[Update 29-04-2021] This issue is now resolved
Blackboard Enrolments Issues – 23-02-2021
IT Services continuing to investigate the issue where a small number of students are unable to access course units they should be enrolled on. If this issue is affecting your students, they should report this to the Support Centre including full details of the missing course(s).
[Update 29-03-2021] This issue is largely resolved, but some isolated cases are still occurring. Please continue to contact the Support Centre to have missing enrolments corrected.
[Update 25-02-2021] IT Services are still investigating this issue.
[Update 08-03-2021] IT Services continue to investigate the issue and the frequency of the problem has reduced significantly.
Turnitin Bulk Download Issue – 05-03-2021 RESOLVED
We are aware of an issue which is preventing bulk downloads. Turnitin’s Technical Specialists are investigating the problem.
[Update 10-03-2021] This issue has now been resolved. If you are still experiencing problems, please contact the Humanities eLearning team.
Issue uploading files to Collaborate Sessions – 09-03-2021 RESOLVED
Blackboard identified an issue where some files were not being uploaded, and were getting stuck in “converting” status or showing a “failed to upload” error. As a workaround, they asked users to use the “screen share” feature if you want to share a file. The issue is now resolved.
Collaborate Recordings Error Message – 09-03-2021 RESOLVED
Blackboard reported that some users may have received an “uh-oh” error when trying to playback recordings. The issue is now resolved.
Turnitin Current View Report and Digital Receipt Issues – 05-03-2021 RESOLVED
Turnitin reported that due to unexpected service degradation, users of Turnitin, Turnitin UK and iThenticate, as well as those accessing these services via an integration, may have experienced slowness and time-out issues when attempting to download the Current View and the Digital Receipt for their Similarity Reports. Similarity Report generation and access to reports were not affected.