Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Q : How does Ibid work ?1) Reboot your PC and when you see the Starting Windows
Ibid uses resistive technology to "feel" the location of your pen or eraser. It uses a standard RS-232 serial cable to communicate with the whiteboard. The whiteboard controller generates up to 192 touch points per second, which are transmitted at 9600 baud to the PC. On the PC side a driver runs under Windows/NT and checks the designated serial port 2000 times per second for incoming data. The front surface of Ibid is actually a thin polyester membrane which is suspended over a solid backing sheet. Each sheet is coated with a conductive film. The writing location on Ibid is determined by applying sufficient pressure for the 2 conductive surfaces to come in contact with each other.Q : What file format does Ibid use ?
Ibid uses a proprietary, compact vector based format. Each 'snapshot' image can be exported directly to a disk file by either the "export" command or by dragging the 'snapshot' to the desktop. Ibid can export images as either .BMP or .WMF formats.Q : Why was the name "Ibid" chosen ?
Ibid is short for the Latin word "ibidem" ... which means literally, "in that very (or same) place or "at that very instant". When considering the literal translations from Latin and the practical use of the term, the reasons for using the name "Ibid" were obvious. Ibid is an innovative, time saving productivity tool that puts both information and users at the very same place, at the very same time. Besides all that ... it's a catchy name that's easy to remember ... and fun to say !Q : Do I need special pens or erasers with Ibid ?
No, Ibid uses any standard dry erase whiteboard markers and erasers. Note, we do provide an eraser and 4 pens with each Ibid ... and the round eraser is designed to work especially well with Ibid. Do not use ball point pens or hard pointers on Ibid as it may scratch the surface and void your warranty.Q : How big are the files when Ibid saves them ?
The size of your .WBD files will depend on the information in them. Typical sizes though for 10 'pages' of information would be less than 150KB. 1 typical 1.44MB floppy disk can hold around 70 'pages' of information. The process of saving Ibid files is the same as you would do for any Windows file. In other words you can create subfolders under the Ibid directory ... which can then be used for meetings held for different days ... or for different departments etc.Q : Will Ibid work with a Macintosh ?
No, at this time Ibid only works under a Windows operating environment. Ibid works with Win 3.1x, 95, 98 and NT versions 3.51 and 4.0Q : Will Ibid work with my Laptop ?
Yes, in almost all cases. There are some laptops though that have a serial port available for modem use only. Check that your laptops serial port is a standard serial connection or a communications only (modem only) serial port.
IBM ThinkPads :
Some users have reported problems connecting Ibid to their ThinkPads.
Resolution : The IBM ThinkPad comes with the Infrared (IR) communications port enabled and the standard serial communications port disabled. To allow Ibid to communicate with the laptop, the serial port needs to be enabled. Reconfigure your ThinkPad using the thinlPad features software supplied with your computer. You will need to install the ThinkPad utility diskette for Windows 3.1/95. If you do not have the software contact your IBM representative.
Compaq Presario :
Some users have reported that after selecting a softkey icon such as Snapshot Erase All, communications between the PC and the Ibid whiteboard are dropped. We have identified this problem as being caused by a serial communication modification by Compaq. This modification causes the PC not to respond to the whiteboard communication timer ticks. When there is no response from the PC, the Ibid application assumes the communications has been severed and stops recording data from the Ibid whiteboard.
Resolution: To resolve this problem, you must add two* entries into your SYSTEM.INI file, located in your WINDOWS directory. The syntax for the modification is as follows and must be entered exactly as it appears below:
[MicroTouch Ibid]
safemode=1
After the modification has been made, save the file and reboot your system.Q : Are there any problems with Ibid and Windows 98 ?
A handful of customers have reported that the Ibid installation fail on a Windows 98 system. This is caused by a problem in InstallShield.
Resolution: You can circumvent the problem by installing Ibid in SafeMode, or you can download the Ibid 98 software.
Safemode Installation :
4) Follow the Ibid installation instruction prompts until you get to
the COM port selection screen. When you boot up in Safe Mode,
your COM ports are not logically installed and therefore the Ibid
whiteboard will not be found by the installer. You must identify
for
the installer where your whiteboard will be found.
5) Manually select the COM port from the COM port selection drop
down and continue with the installation normally.
6) When the installation is finished, remove the Ibid diskette and
reboot your PC in normal mode.
7) Your Ibid whiteboard will be accessible now.
Download Ibid 98 Software
1) Download 15ibid98.exe file.
2) After you have retrieved the file, you will need to expand it by
double-clicking the file icon in Explorer.
3) A WinZip Self-Extraction dialog box will appear. This will prompt
you for the directory location for the disk files to be extracted. You
can leave the default, or enter any directory name you choose.
Once the directory location has been entered, select the Unzip
button.
4) A dialog box will appear upon successful completion of the file
extraction. Acknowledge this box by clicking the OK button and
press the Close button to close the WinZip dialog box.
5) The 15ibid98.exe self-extracting archive will create 3
subdirectories (e.g., DISK1, DISK2, and DISK3).
6) Once the unzip has finished, run SETUP.EXE from the DISK1
directory and follow the installation prompts.
After Installation
If you would like to make a set of diskettes, please copy each of
the expanded subdirectories onto a diskette and delete the
temporary directory and it's subdirectories.
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