Black Screen

[jarvis24]

yes, .bmp

see also:
www.empirisoft.com/directrt/help/directrt_stim.htm
www.empirisoft.com/directrt/help/directrt_notes_about_image_files.htm

Note that the 2010 version, we expect, will allow for pretty much any image file format.

[vumrikar]

Thanks for the help. I have just two more questions:

1.) Can you have more than two keys available for a response? After my stimulus is shown, I want the subjects to be able to respond by entering anything of the arrow keys on the keyboard. However, if I enter in rt:200,205,209,201 in my input file, only the up and right arrow key work!

2.) How do I get rid of a random blank gray screen that's showing up in between my trials?

I am attaching a copy of my revised input file for your reference.

Thanks!

[jarvis24]

Check your keycodes. I think the codes for left and right are 203 and 205. As far as colours go, check to make sure all the background colours match in your styles (.drt) file. You can also shorten the inter trial interval under options in the style file.

[Anneke]

I have the same problem. Whenever I try to run an input file, I get a black screen and DirectRT refuses to run the file. Even one as simple as the one in the attachment doesn't get run. I've edited the semi-colons to commas (with and without quotation marks) in Notepad for several times, but it still doesn't work.
I cannot change the regional functions on the computer since it is administrated by the university.

How do I fix this?

[Trevor Newell]

I have the same problem. Whenever I try to run an input file, I get a black screen and DirectRT refuses to run the file. Even one as simple as the one in the attachment doesn't get run. I've edited the semi-colons to commas (with and without quotation marks) in Notepad for several times, but it still doesn't work.
I cannot change the regional functions on the computer since it is administrated by the university.

How do I fix this?

Anneke,

The issue might be caused due to the way your input files are structured. Input files are nothing more than comma-delimited data files. The data within the input file you've attached looks like this:

block,trial,!Condition,bgr,wgr,style,stim,loc,time,*
"1,1,pos,0,0,2,~hi,""0,0,1"",""rt:any"",*"
"1,2,pos,0,0,2,~bye,""0,0,1"",""rt:any"",*"

The contents of the file should look like this:

block,trial,!Condition,bgr,wgr,style,stim,loc,time,*
1,1,pos,0,0,2,~hi,"0,0,1",rt:any,*
1,2,pos,0,0,2,~bye,"0,0,1",rt:any,*

What program are you using to edit these files?

Regards,
Trevor

[Anneke]

Dear Trevor,

thanks for your help. I use Excel to structure the basic input file but this program separates the colums with semi-colons (due to my regional settings, probably). Because of this, I open the csv.file in Notepad and replace all semi-colons with commas.

However, the file you sent me doesn't seem to work either. First, it gave an error similar to "Row 2 requests style 0 which doesn't exist". I created a style 0 in the style editor, ran the input file, but it still doesn't work. Instead, it does seem to give a message like "Auto adjustment in progress. Recommended settings (1280 x 1024 - 60Hz)", but I think this stems from the monitor instead of from the program itself.
In short, it still doesn't run. Could this have anything to do with the fact I'm using DirectRTv2006?

Attached is the 'real' experiment I am working on which also doesn't work. Besides the black screen, I also get errors like "missing LOC value in row 3" and "row 2 requests style 0 which doesn't exist".

[Trevor Newell]

Anneke,

Have you had any trouble running the sample input files that DirectRT comes with?

It seems strange that the input file I sent over still wasn't able to run correctly. The message you received, "Auto adjustment in progress. Recommended settings (1280 x 1024 - 60Hz)" almost seems like your computer doesn't want to change its settings when DirectRT tries to run.

If you can't get the samples to run, we will have to do a bit more troubleshooting to see what's happening. I don't believe the issue is arising due to DirectRTv2006.

Regards,
Trevor