Raster Tech: help

Raster's installers aren't code-signed yet. Click More info, then Run anyway. You only do this once on each computer.

Raster's installers aren't code-signed yet, and Smart App Control blocks unsigned apps; it has no Run anyway. Windows 10 doesn't have Smart App Control, and on many Windows 11 computers it's off. Install Raster on a computer that doesn't use it.

Unsigned beta builds sometimes get flagged. Check that you downloaded it from the release page. If you're unsure, email us before allowing it.

That's expected: the app opens only the sheets you pick. Live monitoring pauses until you pick it, so update between shows, not during one.

The first time a new version opens with a show already linked, Live Monitor starts paused, and the computer running Raster Run asks whether to resume it for your show. Choose Resume, or Not now to keep it paused until you're ready. Companion's Toggle Live Monitor button counts as an answer too, when Companion runs on the same computer.

Use Check for Updates in the app, or download the newest installer from the release page. It replaces the old version in place. On Windows, if the old copy won't quit, end it in Task Manager first.

Check you picked the right show sheet in the file picker. If it still doesn't work, email us the account you're using.

That shouldn't happen often now. If it does, click Sign in again — your settings are kept — and let us know, since it may be a bug worth fixing.

The one that can open your show's tech sheet.

It's on a VLAN your laptop can't reach from the port it's plugged into. The app says "not checked" rather than guessing. Plug into a port on that VLAN, or a trunk, to check it.

Check that the sheet has its IP address, not a .local name. Many AV switches don't pass .local traffic. Then check the laptop is on the right network. One missed ping never fails a device on its own; it has to miss several in a row.

The dashboard shows a banner when that happens. It usually means the laptop lost its connection (a cable, a switch port, Wi-Fi taking over) rather than half the rig dying. Check the laptop's own connection first.

The data is old because the app hasn't refreshed recently. Nothing you're seeing is being passed off as current. It clears on the next good update. If it doesn't, check that the laptop is still on the show network.

Put a Y in the Hide VLAN row, at the top of the IP INDEX tab, under that VLAN. Those devices are left out of the show entirely — no tile, no tally.

Put the phone on the show network and open raster.local:5000 in its browser, or the laptop's IP address with :5000. Settings → This Computer → Open on a phone or tablet lists each address with a QR code to scan. Some Android phones don't find raster.local, so use the IP address there.

Usually it's Windows Firewall. Show networks count as Public, and Windows often only lets the app in on Private ones. Settings → This Computer says Phones can't connect yet: click Let phones connect. If that doesn't work, open Windows Security → Firewall & network protection → Allow an app through firewall and check both Private and Public for Raster Run.

The phone has to be on a network the laptop is plugged into or joined to. A guest Wi-Fi, mobile data, or a network on the far side of a router won't reach it. Venue guest Wi-Fi usually stops devices talking to each other on purpose, so use the show network's Wi-Fi.

Anyone who can reach this computer can view it, press Audit Now and set device overrides, until you set a PIN (Settings → Set Up PIN Lock) and lock the dashboard. Switching the show, signing out and changing the PIN only ever work on the computer running Raster Run. At a public venue, check Phones need the PIN even to view (Settings → Dashboard Lock).

That's on purpose. If the phone shows a PIN screen, enter the dashboard PIN there. If the dashboard is locked, unlock it from a laptop or the computer running Raster Run (a phone shows a simpler view, with no lock button). Some changes, like switching the show, only work on the computer running Raster Run. Too many wrong PINs make only that phone wait a little before trying again.

Yes. If Companion runs on a different computer, its Toggle Live Monitor button is refused, since only the computer running Raster Run can pause monitoring. With Phones need the PIN even to view on, Companion on another computer can't reach Raster Run at all: run Companion on the computer running Raster Run, or leave that setting off. Your own HTTP buttons should send JSON or no body.

In your own Google Sheet, and nowhere else. We don't keep a copy.

No. It works on the show network. It only needs the internet to sign in and to read and write your sheet.

It writes only your devices' Status, Last Check and Audit Details (and a MAC address, if that cell was blank), plus a list of unexpected gear on its own tab. Everything else in your sheet is read, never changed.

Settings → Third-party notices in the app, also at /notices on the dashboard.

Windows 10 and 11, as a free public beta. It prints to Epson LabelWorks and Brother P-touch tape printers, or any laser or inkjet printer on Letter or A4. Download it here.

In Settings, use Print a test label (or Print a test page) on that printer. The bar should measure 50 mm (about 2 in). If it doesn't, set the printer to Actual size (100%).

Save labels writes the label files to the print folder for you to print yourself; it doesn't print. The row says Saved until Raster Label prints that label itself, then Printed. Either way, Only new since last save or print skips it next time.

Yes. The Cables tab makes a label for every cable on your sheet's FLOW tab, the same label at each end. Add an optional Label column on FLOW to name what each cable is for; without one, the label shows where the cable runs.

Fronts. Device fronts are 18 mm and backs are 12 mm by default, so save or print the fronts, change the tape, then do the backs.

Open Settings (the gear) → Error log, then Copy or Export, and email it with the code from the message. It never includes your sign-in or passwords.

Every message in Raster Run and Raster Label ends with a short code, like TS-SHEET-001 or LS-PRINT-002. What each code means, with the next step to try. Quote it when you write to us.

Yes. Each app has a one-page Quick Reference card with the screens, the buttons and the codes you're most likely to see: Raster Run · Raster Label.