Two Tips to Avoid Trouble with the New Generation Victor Reader Stream
by Marvin Commerford, Second Sense Technology Tutor Tags: Adaptive technology, Blind, book readers, NFB Newsline, NLS, podcasts, Second Generation Victor Reader Stream, Victor Reader Stream, Vision loss, Visually impaired
The Second Generation Victor Reader Stream‘s Wi-Fi feature has added many great features to a great device. However, it has also opened up the possibility for problems that didn’t exist on the original Stream. Here are two tips to decrease the possibility of some problems.
- The Stream puts all downloaded content like books, podcasts, NFB Newsline, etc. onto its internal memory. The internal memory holds about 2.5 GB when it is empty. So, if you subscribe to many podcasts and download a good supply of NLS books to your Stream, you may possibly fill this memory up. I recommend you move your downloaded content to your SD card so you can make sure you don’t fill up the internal memory. If the internal memory is full, your Stream may not work properly. You can use the THREE key to delete items. The THREE key also is used to move downloaded content to the SD card by pressing it twice.
- Make sure the Stream is not downloading content when you turn it off or turn off Wi-Fi. The POUND/CONFIRM key is your friend here. Press and hold this key and the Stream will tell you your battery and download status. It is possible to corrupt the internal memory if you power the Stream off before downloads have been completed. If you don’t have time to wait for downloads to complete, you can cancel all downloads in the online menu.
Marv is one of Second Sense’s Technology Tutors. If you have questions about your Victor Reader Stream, give Marv a call at 312-236-8569 on Thursdays.
Why does the Victor Reader sometimes fail to recognize that the SD card has content on it? Even when there is?
I’d actually like to know more about the specific situation to provide a complete answer.
I have seen cases where there was content on the card but it was put in the wrong place for the content type. In another instance, music that was saved wasn’t showing up. When looked at the card on the computer I found that the music was in an unsupported format. The Stream ignores invalid content.
Short answer. Make sure content is put where it belongs on the card.
If the Stream says “no media” when you start it there may be a problem with the card. This sounds like a tutor call to me; we could go through steps to try to figure out what’s going on.
Just call 312-236-8569 to schedule a time with Marv for a free phone call consultation. Marv is at Second Sense on Thursdays from 8:30 to 3:30 pm.
Before I get an estimate on repair, of which I already had 3 in the past year and a half, I have a Humanware Victor Reader Second Gen. Recently I get a message that says no SD card. I put a fresh card in just now. No SD card. It also does not make the spring sound that says the card is installed. Is this another trip to the tech support Humanware? They don’t do a whole lot just have it sent in and that can be expensive. I have a Note (not a Touch thank God) I have a friend with one of those. He has already spent more than a third of its cost on repairs. I tried to see if anything might have gotten stuck in there because it may be a connection thing but nothing appears to be in there. The last SD card that worked slid out a little tight. Please help. IF it is repair I am going back to Kindle. I have a Kindle that I have had for 3 years and I have had no repairs on it. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any but a lot of this blind stuff is costly especially when it goes back a lot. Any help would be appreciated. For what it cost in 3 repairs I could have bought a new one but the repairs would have just been kicked down the road. Deric
Deric,
Marv just posted a response to your question.
What is the capacity of the fresh card? If it is over 32GB the Stream will not recognize it until it is formatted. You can format the card in the off line menu by pressing 7 until you hear “format SD card.” Press confirm and follow prompts. If the card is 32GB or less it should work. If other cards still work in the Stream the new card might be defective.
This reader is going back. need repair. Another question. On my wife’s reader, yes we are both blind, there is an option for exporting your radio playlist from internal memory to SD card. IT shows up on the card on the computer. It does not show up on the card in the reader. Is there a way to export it back to the internal memory from the SD card. IT seems like Humanware is low tech. When you get these things repaired you need to reconfigure it, get new keys from BARD, run new playlists podcasts etc. Is there anybody who knows some of the ways to bypass all that set up when the reader is repaired. NOt to mention set up wifi too. I wouldn’t mind any suggestions about that to me and Humanware. It is not a biggie but as many times as I have had repairs it get redundant. I realize BARD need serial etc. but can anything be saved other than transferring to SD card. Deric
I do not know of any way to save most of the setup info. You can save your Wi-Fi settings to a file and on the Wireless menu pick import from file. Our tutors can help with this.
I just finished talking to Humanware’s tech. support about the internal memory in my victor stream new generation.
I told them that I had three books on the internal memory and asked for help to remove them.
The guy who I talked with told me that there was nothing to worry about. Is this true?
When I got the stream a year ago, it had 5.83 gigabytes and now it has 5.71 gigabytes. How come the amount of memory keeps dropping?
Thank you,