PlayOS is a custom operating system for running Dividat Play together with Dividat Senso.
PlayOS runs on most standard x86_64 systems.
The only recommended and supported machines are the Shuttle DH110 and ASUS PB62 series.
The system will automatically boot and load Dividat Play.
If the application is not accessible due to a lack of Internet connection, an error message may be shown. In this case you may have to configure Internet access in the Network settings.
Once the application has been loaded you may log in using the provided credentials and start your training.
Connection to an attached Dividat Senso will automatically be configured. To manually configure connection please refer to the Dividat Play manual.
The system may be shut down by pressing the power button on the computer or alternatively from the administrator menu.
When a remote control with a power button is connected, the system may be shut down by long-pressing the power button.
<<administration>>A menu for system administration may be accessed with the key combination Ctrl-Shift-F12, or with a long press on the Menu key.
The administration interface opens to a page displaying basic system information.
Items:
- Version: The version of the currently running PlayOS system
- Update URL: The location from where updates will be installed
- Kiosk URL: Location of web application that is loaded automatically
- Machine ID: A unique identifier for the machine
- Local time: Current time with timezone
- Remote maintenance: Button to temporarily allow remote maintenance
<<network>>The network section can be used to view and configure Ethernet and WiFi network connections.
The page shows a list of available wireless networks. Information about the system’s network interfaces and MAC addresses may be found at the bottom of the page.
Wired connections will be displayed if an active Ethernet cable is plugged in.
Connected network services and the Internet connection status are displayed at the top of the page.
To connect to a wireless network, select it from the list of available services and enter the password, if any:
A connected wireless or wired service may be selected for additional configuration. Optional proxy servers and static IP addresses may be configured:
A wireless service that is connected may be forgotten (disconnecting and resetting configuration) by expanding the service information and clicking the Forget button.
Ethernet connections are automatically configured using DHCP or link-local address autoconfiguration unless a static IP configuration is provided.
Setup timezone, language, keyboard layout, and screen resolution preferences.
View System Health, Update and RAUC states.
View what has been added, changed and fixed with each version.
A status screen providing a brief status report about various components of the system is available on tty8. It can be accessed using the key combination Ctrl-Alt-F8. To get back from the status screen to the graphical interface, use Ctrl-Alt-F7.
At times network issues may cause corrupted media resources to end up in the kiosk browser’s cache. In this case it may be helpful to clear this cache to force all resources being downloaded again. A hard refresh can be triggered using Ctrl-Shift-R, which clears the cache and then reloads the kiosk application. The hard refresh does not affect user sessions or preferences, so it can be performed without the user having to log in again.
Certain user data such as Play login credentials, wireless settings are stored persistently on the computer’s disk.
User data can be completely deleted (wiped) from the rescue system. To start the rescue system, reboot the computer and press the Escape key once the message “Welcome to GRUB!” appears. This will show the boot loader menu:
Select the entry “wipe user data / rescue system” with the arrow keys and press Enter.
The rescue system will boot and display a menu:
Select the entry “wipe-user-data” and press Enter. This will delete all user data and reboot the computer.
The following instructions are suitable for installing PlayOS to a modern PC and assume that you have access to a USB stick with the desired version of the PlayOS installer.
This section is only relevant when a PC is first installed with PlayOS. If you are updating an existing installation you can skip to the next section.
In order to install and run PlayOS, the PC needs to be set to UEFI mode and allow booting custom operating systems.
To check or set the configuration, press the Delete key immediately after powering on the computer.
Now make sure that UEFI Secure Boot is disabled:
In systems obtained before 2023 the screen looks differently:
In systems obtained before 2023 you may also need to navigate to the tab Boot and set the option Boot Mode Select to UEFI:
Once the configuration is complete, navigate to Exit and choose the option to save and exit BIOS.
<<selecting-boot-medium>>Insert the USB key into the PC. Press and keep pressing the F8 key on the keyboard as you power on the computer to open the boot selection menu. Select the USB key and hit Enter:
On systems up until early 2023 the F7 key needs to be pressed while booting instead.
If you use any other PC, the steps for selecting the boot medium may differ.
The installer will start and display a boot loader menu:
Select the first entry and press Enter. This will boot the PlayOS installer. After the installer is completely booted a prompt will ask for confirmation to install PlayOS on the computer’s disk:
To continue installation enter y and press Enter. Note that installation will delete any data already present on the computer’s storage disk.
Installation takes around 5 to 10 minutes. After the installation completes successfully, the computer will automatically restart and boot into the newly installed PlayOS system.
A live system build of PlayOS is available and can be pointed to experimental versions of Play or other web addresses to allow for easy evaluation. This version of PlayOS boots from removable media such as USB keys and has no persistent storage at all. Any configuration done when booted will be reset to defaults on next boot.
See the section on selecting a boot medium to find out how to start a live system from a USB stick. Once started, network and other configuration can be set in the administration interface.