Known Issues - Blackboard Help For Students - University Of Reading

Home » Why Does Blackboard Keep Reloading » Known Issues - Blackboard Help For Students - University Of Reading

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Here you’ll find a list of known issues and ongoing problems with Blackboard Learn and related services and tools:

  • Blackboard Learn
  • Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
  • Microsoft Stream
  • Assessment Tools: Blackboard and Turnitin

Check system status

Planned downtime: See details of scheduled Blackboard and Turnitin maintenance

UoR IT Services’ Status page: Please visit the link https://itsstatus.reading.ac.uk/ to check live status.

Blackboard Learn Status: Please visit the link https://status.blackboard.com/ to check live status. Expand the ‘Europe, Middle East & Africa’ section to view the status of Blackboard Learn SaaS, Ally and Collaborate Ultra.

Turnitin Status: Please visit  the link https://turnitin.statuspage.io/ to check live status.

Known issues

Please click on the title of an issue to see further information about it.

Blackboard Learn Status
Issue: Unable to open files from Blackboard (Server error, 404 – File or directory not found) Information: Users of the Microsoft Edge browser receive an error when trying to open Word, PowerPoint and other file attachments from Blackboard. Edge attempts to open MS Office files inside the browser but they fail to open. This is an issue with the “Open office files in the browser” feature in Microsoft Edge.

This issue has been resolved in in Edge version 100.Solution:

  • Update Edge to the latest stable release.
  • If this is not possible, switch off the “Open office files in the browser” setting in Microsoft Edge (see below).
  • Use a different browser (e.g. Chrome or Firefox).

Steps to switch off “Open office files in the browser”:

  • In Edge, copy and paste edge://settings/downloads in the browser address bar and press Enter.
  • Or click on the 3 dots in the top right-hand corner of  the browser.
  • Select Settings.
  • Click on Downloads.
  • Toggle the “Open office files in the browser” setting to Off.

For more information see this Blackboard support article.

 Resolved
Issue: Unable to embed Stream videos in Blackboard Information: Students are unable to embed Stream videos in Blackboard Journals and similar other tools. Solution: Please submit direct URL (video link) or share video via YouTube. Ongoing
Issue: Blackboard not allowing download of Adobe Illustrator (.ai files) file types from SAFARI on Mac Information: Safari try to show these files as inline graphics (like a PDF) but can’t manage it, so users get a blank page. Solution: Please use a different browser (e.g. Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox). Ongoing
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Status
Issue: Users in China unable to join Collaborate Information: Blackboard report variations in quality between the main internet providers in China. Among the top three telecommunication carriers in China, users with China Unicom have the best performance with Collaborate, and then China Mobile. Users with China Telecom can experience problems accessing and/or reconnecting issues. Solution: Please consider switching to a different Internet Service Provider or request your Lecturer to switch lectures to Microsoft Teams if possible. Ongoing
Issue: Audio breaking up and cracking when using Mac OS “Big Sur” or “Catalina” and Safari 14 Information: When using Mac OS “Big Sur” 11.0 or “Catalina” 10.15 and Safari 14 with Collaborate Ultra the audio a user hears is breaking up or cracking. Affected Platforms Mac OS “Big Sur” 11.0 and Safari 14 Mac OS “Catalina” 11.0 and Safari 14 Solution: If Safari 14 is installed on your computer, please plan on using either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox with Collaborate Ultra sessions. Ongoing
Issue: Collaborate not Loading Information: Purple wheel keeps spinning for longer than usual. Solution: Please ensure “Third Party Cookies” are allowed in your browser settings and if you are using Safari please also ensure “Prevent cross-site tracking” is disabled. Ongoing
Issue: Unable to join sessions using Chromebook devices

Information: Blackboard Collaborate Ultra will not support versions of Google Chrome below version 79 – see Collaborate Ultra supported browsers. Chromebook devices running Chrome version 78 or earlier will be presented with an error when attempting to join a Blackboard Collaborate Ultra session.

Solution: Please update your browser to the latest Chrome version. If you are unable to update Chrome, you may be able to install an alternate browser from the Google Play Store: Microsoft Edge Mozilla Firefox (requires a touch-screen device)

 Old browsers no longer supported
Microsoft Stream Status
Issue: Authenticated user is not authorised to access this resource Solution: Contact your Module Convenor, Instructor or Stream group owner. They can ensure you have access to video or contact DTS in case of any issues. Ongoing
Issue: Cannot play videos Solution: Clear your browser cache, login to Stream or Blackboard again. Try a different browser. Microsoft Stream issues Ongoing
Issue: Microsoft Stream – Operation returned an invalid status code ‘Forbidden’ Solution: We are investigating this issue. If you are getting the same message, please contact [email protected] Investigating
Issue: I’m in China, cannot play videos Solution: Check your Firewall or Network settings. Ongoing
Assessment: Blackboard and Turnitin Status
Turnitin: Turnitin now display submission “Due Date” as UTC equivalent of its UK time Description: Turnitin now displays submission “Due Date” as UTC equivalent of UK time for students who are outside UK or those who have their computers configured to a Timezone other than UK time (i.e. UTC +00:00 Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London). Recommendation: To avoid any inconvenience students are advised to ensure their computers are configured to correct Time Zone and ensure date and time on their computers is up to date. Please see Recommendation
Blackboard Test: Text editor in Blackboard Test is not visible – there is nowhere to type answer Description: During a Blackboard Test, for short answer questions you should see a text editor where you can type your answer. For some users this text box doesn’t appear or is greyed out. This issue is either caused by Pop-ups being blocked, the browser cache, or browser extensions. Solution: To fix the issue please:

  • Go to your browser settings and allow all pop-ups (run this Browser compatibility checker to check whether pop-ups are being blocked)
  • Clear your browser cache (see the DTS Help page Clearing your browser cache and cookies if you need help)
  • Disable or remove browser extensions (e.g. Ad-blocker or McAfee)
  • If none of these steps works, please type your answers in a Word document and email the document to your programme administration team or lecturer as soon as possible, then log a ticket through the Self Service Portal.
 Please see solution
Turnitin: Unable to view Turnitin feedback from My Marks and Feedback

Description: 

There was an issue preventing students from accessing Turnitin assignments from My Marks & Feedback in Blackboard. This has now been resolved.

Workaround / Solution:  You are now able to access marked work via My Marks and Feedback, as well as directly from the Turnitin assignment itself – see Turnitin: View marks and feedback.

 Resolved 20th January 2022
Blackboard Assignments: Students get error message when submitting to a Group assignment – NOW FIXED

Description: 

When submitting to a Group assignment, Blackboard was showing an error message, even when your submission was successful. This bug has now been fixed.

If you see an error message when submitting work, please

  • check out our guide Was my Blackboard submission successful?
  • try submitting again
  • if you are still unsuccessful, log a ticket with the Service Desk
 Resolved 26 November 2021
Turnitin: Time out error: ‘Due to inactivity, your session has expired…’

Description: 

You may receive the following error message when trying to upload a document to Turnitin

Workaround / Solution:  To continue using Turnitin, please fully close and re-enter this assignment. Refreshing your browser will not resolve this issue.’ You can resolve this by clearing your browser’s cache and cookies. In most cases, this will resolve the issue. If you still receive this error after clearing cookies and cache, please try a different browser (e.g., if you are using Safari, try Google Chrome).

 Ongoing
Turnitin: Microsoft files generated using Windows can occasionally fail to process when uploaded to Turnitin Description:  Microsoft files generated using Windows, including .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, and .pps files, can occasionally fail to process when uploaded to Turnitin. Files created using other operating systems are unaffected. Workaround: Convert your file to a PDF before attempting to upload it to Turnitin. This ensures it is in a format we can process gracefully and without any problems. Find out more here Ongoing
Blackboard: Empty file submitted to Blackboard Assignment if using Microsoft Edge and opening the file while submitting

Files selected for Assignment submissions and Course Content become replaced with an empty file if a user of Microsoft Windows 10 and the Edge browser has opened and closed the file after selection and before submission.

Resolution/Workaround: Workaround #1:

  • Do not open the source file after selecting it for upload into Blackboard Learn. Users should be advised to open files for inspection before accessing the area to which they wish to upload the file.

Workaround #2:

  • Use different browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
 Ongoing
Blackboard Assignment: Track changes visible in files submitted to Blackboard Assignment

If you used Track Changes when writing your assignment in Word, you need to accept all changes before submitting to Blackboard.

See Blackboard Learn: Assignment Submission – Accept Track Changes

 Ongoing
Turnitin Error 124

You may see this error when trying to open feedback on a Turnitin assignment from ‘My Marks and Feedback’.

Error 124: Object ID missing or invalid.

The error occurs when Turnitin and Blackboard have not synchronised correctly.

Workaround:

  • Go directly to the Turnitin Assignment and click on View/Complete (as you did when you submitted your work). See Turnitin: View marks and feedback.
  • Please also notify your Programme Administrator. They can easily resolve the 124 error, but won’t be aware of it unless you tell them.
 Ongoing
PDFs opened from Blackboard appear to be blank

Sometimes when you click on a link in Blackboard to a PDF, the file opens in the browser, but only the first page is visible, and the other pages appear to be blank.Only first page of PDF displays in browserThis is a browser issue, not specifically related to Blackboard.

Workaround: Download the file and then open it

  • Right-click on the link and select Save link as (or ‘Save target as’)Save PDF As dialog box
  • Save the file to a suitable location e.g. your Downloads folder.
  • Open the file. It will probably still open in your internet browser, but should now display correctly.
  • If it still does not display correctly, open Adobe Acrobat and then open the PDF from inside Acrobat.
 Ongoing – see workaround

Is the issue you’re experiencing not listed? Please log a ticket through the DTS Self Service Portal and we will follow up with you.

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