Victor Reader Stratus4 M and Stratus12 M FAQ
The following is an extensive list of answers to frequently asked questions about the Stratus and related information such as the HumanWare Companion, book producers, and use of the Stratus by physically disabled people. For keyboard users, you may navigate the pages using the heading navigation keys of your screen reader. The major sections of the FAQ are level 1 headings and each question is a level 2 heading. Following is the table of contents to each major section.
Table of Contents
1 Basic Controls - Speed and Volume
6 CNIB Online Digital Audio Books (Canada)
9 LEARNING ALLY (United States)
10 Microsoft Word Save as DAISY Add-in
15 Playing or Copying Content from CDs
17 Use by Physically Disabled People
A. For your convenience, Stratus remembers separate volume settings for the built-in speaker and the headphones. This means you can set one volume level that is comfortable for the headphones and a different volume level that you prefer for the built-in speaker. When you remove the headphones Stratus will reset to the last volume level you set for the speaker and when you plug the headphones back in Stratus will reset to the level you last set for the headphones.
A. Be sure the variable speed control is set to normal speed (setting number 0). If you speed up or slow down the speed for music files they will play in mono instead of stereo.
A. Approximately 10 hours for continuous play of recorded DAISY books on CD.
A. Up to 4 hours.
A. Yes. It is normal that the battery becomes warm during the recharge process. The player has a safety mechanism that will suspend the charge if the battery becomes too warm. This could prolong the recharge beyond the normal 4 hours. Thus, for maximum efficiency you should recharge the player in an open space away from any heat source.
A. The Power button light has the following behavior:
A. You can press INFO (key 0) to hear the battery and recharge status.
A. Yes. Press the Info key 0 followed by a double press of key 4.
A. Yes.
A. No. The Stratus saves all bookmarks and settings in its internal memory which does not require power to maintain the memory. When the player senses the battery is very nearly depleted it will save all settings and automatically power off.
A. Yes. You may purchase it from HumanWare.
A. No.
A. The player should be stored in a clean dry place respecting the following conditions:
When storing for long periods (several months) it is recommended that you charge and discharge 1 to 3 times every 3 months. For storage periods of 6 months, 3 full charge and discharge cycles are recommended.
A. With Stratus12 models, stop playback near the start of the heading, page, or file that you want to bookmark. Press the Where Am I key to determine the heading, page, or file number. Then press the Go To key to the left of key 1 to select the appropriate function: Go To Page, Go To Heading, or Go To File. Enter the number and then press the Confirm (pound) key. Stratus will position precisely at the start of the entered page, heading, or file but playback will not start. Now insert your bookmark.
A. You can quickly delete all the bookmarks in a book by pressing the bookmark key five times then the number nine five times followed by the confirm key.
A. No. There is room for several thousand bookmarks in the data base. Even if this limit is reached the Stratus will start reusing space from the least recently read book. The only reason to delete bookmarks is if you do not want them.
A. If you have any DAISY talking books in the root of your SD card, then Stratus will not look for any other files in the root. If you want to have talking books in the root you must put music files in $VRMusic folder and any non-structured MP3 books in $VROtherBooks.
A. All text files must be saved in the $VRText reserved folder.
A. Yes.
A. Yes. Stratus will let you navigate the subfolders when you are browsing the bookshelf. You enter bookshelf browse mode with the Bookshelf key. The Up/Down (2/8) keys will let you choose your navigation level within your subfolders and the Left/right (4/6) keys will move from folder to folder at that level. The lowest level is called the book level. For Music you can also navigate any folder structure that you have created within $VRMusic but since Music is defined as a single book, you must first open the music book by pressing the Play or Confirm key from the bookshelf browse mode.
A. Yes, if they are transferred as html files. You can transfer the DOC files as html using HumanWare Companion program or with the Save As dialog of Microsoft Word. To transfer files from MS Word, select the Save As option of the File menu to save your document to the $VRText folder of your SD card. In the Save As dialog window select to save the document as an html file (filtered web page) from the Save As Type list. This will save your doc file to the Stratus SD card as an html file type. The html file will maintain any structure headings that were in the Word document. This means you can use Up/Down (keys 2/8) on the Stratus to select the heading navigation level and move backward or forward from heading to heading with Left/right (4/6) keys. Word may warn you that saving the document as filtered html will remove Microsoft Office features. Select to save anyway, because the Microsoft Office features are unnecessary on the Stratus and the filtered html file will take less space.
A. Yes.
A. No. With Stratus12 you can use the Go To Book feature. For example, if you have 50 books and you know the desired book is located approximately in the middle of the list then you can press the Go To Book key to the left of key 1 and enter 25 followed by the Confirm (pound) key. Stratus will move to book 25 and you can then use keys 4 or 6 to move back or forward from that position.
A. Yes. The Stratus lists the books in alphabetic order by their path names. So, you could create two levels of subfolders in your $VRDTB bookshelf. The first subfolder could be categories of books. For example, you could create a subfolder for Newspapers, another for recorded books, and a third for Text books. Then within each of these category subfolders you would create the sub-subfolders for each of your books. In this example, when you browse the Talking Books bookshelf, Stratus will list all the newspaper books, then the recorded books, and then the Text books.
A. Yes. You could prefix the folder name of each book with the date in year-month-day order. For example, if you add Harry Potter on the 23 of July2012, you could name that folder as “120723 Harry Potter”. Thus, the last book folder you create will always be at the end of the bookshelf and you can reach it quickly by pressing the Left arrow (key 4) once when you enter the Talking Books bookshelf.
A. Yes, if you save the podcast files in the Other Books bookshelf. On the Podcasts bookshelf each audio file is considered a book with its own reading position and bookmarks. Thus, the Stratus stops playing at the end of the file and announces end of book. If you have a collection of podcasts that are all related you may want to consider putting those in a single subfolder under $VROtherBooks bookshelf. On this bookshelf each subfolder is considered a book so the Stratus will automatically play each file in the subfolder and continue playing the next file until all the files in the subfolder are played. It will also save only one reading position within the subfolder instead of for each file.
A. Download the Bookshare zip book to your computer. Use Windows to extract the book files from the zip file into a folder on your computer. Then copy the folder to the $VRDTB folder on your SD card. The only files that are required are the four that end with .NCX, .OPF, .SMIL, and .XML. However, it is ok to copy the entire folder as the extra files will not affect book playback. Also, instead of using Windows, you may also use the HumanWare Companion software to transfer Bookshare zip books. The Companion will automatically unzip the book and create the folder on the SD card. Indeed, using the Bookshare Web Service item on the Online Books menu of the Companion allows you to find the book, download it, and transfer it to the Stratus SD card all within the simple Companion interface.
A. Follow these steps:
A. No. Stratus software upgrades consist of a UPG (upgrade) file that is downloaded from HumanWare's web site. You simply download that UPG file and transfer it to the root of an SD card. Then insert the card in the player while it is plugged to AC power. Stratus will recognize the special UPG file and automatically update its internal software. Audio announcements will inform you of the start and end of the update process. It takes approximately 5 minutes to update the player.
A. Yes. In the Companion Help menu there are 2 items to check for updates to either the Companion itself or the Stream or Stratus. If you want to check if there is a new version of the Stratus, insert the Stratus SD card into your computer's SD card reader. Then select the Help menu item to check for Stratus updates. If Companion is attempting to update the Stream, be sure you have selected the Stratus player in the options dialog of the Companion Tools menu. If a new update is available, the Companion will download it and transfer the UPG update file to the Stratus SD card. Then when you power the Stratus back on it will automatically process the UPG file to update the Stratus.
A. If the Stratus becomes non-responsive, you can force a system reset and reload all software by pressing and holding the Power button for 7 seconds. This is equivalent to removing the battery. If this does not restart the Stratus, you should contact customer support for assistance.
A. Press and hold the Eject key and key 5 while powering on. For the Stratus4 M, press and hold Eject plus the Info key while powering on. You will hear a message informing you that the player profile has been reset. Resetting the profile will erase all your bookmarks, clear the reading position of all your books, and reset your Menu options to default values. It will not affect your SD card and it will not remove any book keys (e.g. NLS or LEARNING ALLY keys). If the Profile data base becomes corrupt your Stratus may not power on or books may not play properly. Resetting the Profile may sometimes correct such issues.
A. The HumanWare Companion is a free Windows XP, Windows 7, or Vista program that can be downloaded for free from http://www.humanware.com/Stratus_software. The HumanWare Companion supports the Stratus, Stream, and the ClassMate Reader players. It provides several functionalities:
A. No. It has been developed for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows7.
A. Yes. While you are in the Talking Books window of the Companion, insert the CD into your computer. The title or titles of the books on the CD will appear in the list of titles. Check the titles you wish to transfer and activate the Transfer button. After the CD book(s) are transferred, simply eject the CD and Companion will redisplay the list of Talking Books on your computer.
A. Yes. However, LEARNING ALLY books are encrypted and any player must have a User Authorization Key (UAK) from LEARNING ALLY to decrypt the books.
A. Visit http://www.learningally.org/help/
A. The Stratus12 M model is the recommended model because it has a full numeric keypad which allows you to enter a page number from the table of contents and jump to that page in the Learning Ally books. You also require a number pad to enter the Learning Ally PIN number when you install the User Authorization key.
A. If you purchased your Stratus from Learning Ally the User Authorization Key (UAK) will be pre-installed on the player. Otherwise; you may download the UAK at no charge from Learning Ally by logging onto your online account. The UAK is unique to the serial number of your device and cannot be transferred to or from any other Daisy Book player. To obtain the UAK you will need the following:
• You must know your LEARNING ALLY user log-in information
• If you don't have an online account, or if you aren't sure of your login information, you can call LEARNING ALLY member services at 1-800-221-4792 and they can provide you with the information.
• You
must know your Stratus serial number. You can find the serial number by
pressing INFO (key 0) on the Stratus.
A. To download your User Authorization Key (UAK), do the following:
1. Visit http://www.learningally.org .
2. Locate the member login link by pressing Alt-L and then press Enter.
3. Login using the username and password given to you when you signed up for your LEARNING ALLY account.
4. On the next page, select the My Account link.
5. When your account page comes up, select the link that says Authorize a DAISY player.
6. On this page, you will be presented with a drop down list of approved Learning Ally players. Choose HumanWare Stratus, and then select the Continue button.
7. Next there will be an edit box to enter your Stratus serial number. Enter the 12 digit serial number without dashes or spaces, for example, 950400123456. Then select the Continue button.
8. Finally, on the next page, you will be informed whether your UAK was successfully generated. You will also be presented with a link to download the UAK zip file. Select this link to download the ZIP file to your computer.
A. Follow these steps To Install the UAK Using a Windows computer.
Once your Stratus is authorized, you may then delete the UAK files from the SD card. You only need to authorize the Stratus once even if you use multiple SD cards. The next items explain how to download books to the Stratus.
A. Yes. AudioPlus books are available for download via the LEARNING ALLY web site at www.Learningally.org. To order books online, you must be a LEARNING ALLY member and you will also need an online ordering account.
A. Yes. You must install the LEARNING ALLY Audio Book Manager program on your computer. The first time you download a book from Learning Ally you will be asked if you wish to install the Audio Book Manager (see next item).
A. Follow these steps:
A. You will use the Audio Book Manager program. It will launch automatically if you selected to download books from the Learning Ally web site. Or, instead of logging into the Learning Ally web site, you may launch the Audio Book Manager from the desktop and it will prompt you for your username and password.
A. Here are the basic steps to use the program.
A. No. You may always return to the Audio Book Manager and synchronize any of your books again. Your books remain on the bookshelf until you log into your Learning Ally account and specifically select the link to remove a book from the bookshelf.
A. No. In the Audio Book Manager program, there is a Player List screen pane that allows you to manage your list of players. You may add a new player to this list if you wish.
A. The Microsoft Save As DAISY add-in is a free program you can install on a Windows XP, Windows 7, or Vista computer. After installing the program there will be a Save As DAISY option in the Word File menu allowing you to save Microsoft Word XP, Word 2003, and Word 2007 documents as full text/full audio DAISY books. The resulting DAISY book will use the built-in Text-to-speech (TTS) voice of your Windows operating system to create the full audio portion of the resulting DAISY book. If you have Word XP or Word 2003, it is necessary to install the Microsoft Office 2007 compatibility components but the Save As DAISY installation program will do this automatically.
A. The Save As add-in produces DAISY 3 books officially known as ANSI/NISO Z39.86 books. The Victor Reader Stratus, Stream, ClassicX, ClassicX+, and ClassMate Reader can play these books. The older Classic and Classic+ can also play them providing they have software version 3.1 or higher. The Victor Reader Wave cannot play Save As DAISY books. The Stratus and Stream can play both the text and full audio portions of the book. This means you can use key 9 on the Stratus to switch between the recorded and text portions of the book. Accessing the text portion will allow you to benefit from spelling words and searching the text. If you burn the DAISY book to a CD then the Victor Reader Classic CD players will play the recorded audio portion of the book.
A. You can download it from the projects area of the DAISY.org web site:
http://www.daisy.org/projects/save-as-daisy-microsoft/
This page contains the downloadable add-in installation program. It also includes all the add-in documentation including Authoring Guidelines and the Instruction Manual. Brief installation and user instructions are also provided in the following FAQs. However, for a thorough understanding of the Add-in, please refer to the product documentation. The Add-in documentation will also be found in the Help button of the Word tool bar after it is installed.
A. You must go through your Word document and ensure the section headings are marked with the Word heading Style tags. It is these Style headings that are mapped as DAISY book navigation tags when the document is translated to DAISY. If you do not mark the headings then the translated DAISY book will not have any DAISY navigation.
A. Highlight each heading and then select the Styles option in the format menu and select the appropriate heading level 1, 2, 3 etc. Heading 1 is the highest level heading. Be sure to nest multi-level headings properly. In other words, you should not have a heading 1 followed by a heading 3 without a heading 2 in between. DAISY books can have up to six heading levels. Note: A keyboard shortcut for applying level 1 to 3 headings is to simply place the cursor at the start of the heading line and then press Alt+Control+1 to assign heading level 1, Alt+Control+2 to assign level 2 and Alt+Control+3 for level 3. Note: Be sure to not accidentally include blank lines after your headings as part of those headings. This is easily done when using the mouse. If you are unsure you can use the Reveal Codes option of Word to ensure that blank lines are not tagged as headings. For screen reader users you can announce the type of style (e.g. with JAWS use the JAWS key + F to check that the line following your heading is not in a heading format).
Refer to the Save as DAISY full documentation in the Help button on the Word tool bar. The Help documentation should be reviewed as it discusses other Save as DAISY features such as how to manage abbreviations, acronyms, page navigation, and translating multiple documents into a single DAISY book. The documentation is also available for download from the Save as DAISY web page.
A. First, if you are not using Office 2007, you must save your Word XP or Word 2003 document as a Word 2007 compatible document ending in .DOCX. To do this, use the Save As option and select Word 2007 document (DOCX) as the file type in the Save As dialog. If Word warns you about compatibility features just select to save anyway. Be sure Track Changes are off before saving. Also, for the file name, you should use only the characters A-Z, 0-9, hyphen, and underscore and avoid spaces. Once you have marked your headings and saved your document as Word 2007 DOCX follow these steps to translate the document to a synchronized full text/full audio DAISY book.
A. For the Stratus copy the entire book folder you created to the $VRDTB folder of the Stratus SD card. For the Classic CD players you must burn all the files of the book folder to a CD. Insert a blank CD in your drive and open it with Windows Explorer. Then copy and paste all the files from your book folder to the CD. From the File menu, select to write these files to the CD. A CD burn Wizard will start and in this Wizard be sure to specify that you want to burn a data CD not an AudioCD.
A. The Save As DAISY add-in uses the default SAPI5 Text-to-Speech driver configured for your computer. To change the default TTS voice, go to the Windows Start menu and select Settings and then Control Panel. Select the Speech option of the Control Panel. Then select the Text-to-Speech TAB. There you will find the list of TTS voices your computer has available. You can preview each voice and select the one you wish as the default TTS. Do not change the default speed of the computer TTS as the Victor Reader players have built-in speed control that you can adjust when you play the book. If you do not have multiple SAPI5 TTS voices available you can purchase additional TTS from many sources on the Internet. Computers with screen readers such as JAWS or Window Eyes will typically have multiple TTS voices installed.
A. In the United States the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) provides a newsline service where you can receive accessible newspapers in DAISY format. To learn more visit:
After signing up for the NFB Newsline service, one can choose to have specific newspapers sent to them via E-mail. When this occurs, the DAISY newspaper will be received as an email with 4 attached files that make up the daisy newspaper. The following steps explain how to transfer these files to the Stratus. These steps assume that you are using the Microsoft outlook E-mail program.
1. Insert the SD card into the computer's SD card reader.
2. Open the NFB newsline e-mail.
3. Click the file menu or press ALT F.
4. Arrow down to Save attachments and press enter.
5. Press enter on the ok button to save all attachments.
6. When the save dialogue box appears, click the save in drop down menu or press ALT I, and arrow down to the drive letter that represents your SD card or Stratus and press ENTER on it. The drive is often referred to as a removable disk.
7. Tab to the Folder view. Arrow down to the $VRDTB folder and press ENTER on it.
8. Tab to the OK button and press ENTER.
The newspaper will be transferred to the Stratus SD card and will appear in the talking books bookshelf. You can press the Bookshelf key 1 until you reach the Talking Books bookshelf and then press keys 4 or 6 to find the newspaper. When finished reading, you can again press key 1 to return to the bookshelf and then press key 3 to delete the newspaper from the bookshelf.
A. This is a flexible way to easily download your favorite NFB Newsline publications directly to your Stratus. Using a free software application, you only need to insert your Stratus SD card into your computer, launch the free application, and your favorite newspapers and magazines will be placed on your Stratus automatically. You need to first set your list of favorite newspapers in your NFB Newsline online account. It is a powerful and flexible way to use NFB-Newsline for Victor Reader Stratus users. For more information visit:
http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/
A. Registered NFB-Newsline users should log in to their Newsline online account at:
http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/ and select the link for the NFB Newsline in Your Pocket. This link will give information about the service as well as a link to the free download application software for Windows. Instructions on how to download and install the software are also available on this page.
A. First dial in to your NFB-Newsline account with your telephone and use option 4 to set up your list of favorite newspapers and magazines. This need only be done once or whenever you want to modify your list of favorites. Then, each time you wish to download your favorite content, follow these steps:
· Insert your Stratus SD card into your computer.
· Select the NFB-Newsline In Your Pocket desktop icon.
· The NFB-Newsline In Your Pocket program will run and look for your Stratus SD card. The first time it will ask you to enter your login ID and pass code and confirm a name for your Stratus device. Then it will connect to the NFB-Newsline server, download your selected favorite publications, and transfer them to your Stratus SD card. It will announce the content as it is being transferred.
· Select the Windows Safely Remove Hardware option in your Windows system tray. When Windows tells you it is safe to do so, remove your SD card from the card reader.
Put the SD card back in your Stratus. You will find your downloaded newspapers and magazines on the Talking Books bookshelf of your Stratus.
A. Yes. The NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) website provides digital talking books and magazines for download to eligible NLS patrons. For more information visit the BARD site at: https://nlsbard.loc.gov/
A. There are 3 steps to register to the NLS BARD service and authorize your Victor Reader Stratus to play NLS books and magazines.
Step 1 - Apply Online at the NLS BARD web site.
Access to the BARD website is restricted to eligible readers. You require a login id and password to use the BARD service. To apply for your username and password visit:
Select the link for the BARD application instructions which explain the criteria for participation. If you qualify, select the link to the BARD application form. Fill out this enrollment application completely and after activating the submit button the following page will offer a link to choose your player. Activate this link and select the Victor Reader Stratus from the resulting list of players. If you are approved to participate, NLS will send you an e-mail message with your BARD site username and password. If there is a problem, you will receive a message explaining the problem. Note: If you forget to select the Victor Reader Stratus when applying you can still go back later after NLS approves your application. Simply log in to the BARD site with your new username and password and then select Account Settings to register your Victor Reader Stratus.
Please note that your enrollment information will be shared with the National Library Service, Library of Congress and HumanWare.
Step 2- HumanWare will contact you
Once you have registered your Victor Reader Stratus with NLS, NLS will notify HumanWare. HumanWare will then contact you by email with a link to a HumanWare web form where you will need to supply your Stratus serial number to authorize it to play NLS books. Please do not try to complete the HumanWare web form until you receive our email as we cannot process your request in advance.
Step 3 - Sending the NLS Authorization Key to You
After you complete the HumanWare web form, HumanWare will respond within 2 working days with a second email. Attached to this email will be an NLS authorization key file to install on your Stratus. The email will contain the installation instructions. After you install the key file, you will be able to play NLS downloaded digital talking books and magazines.
A. Follow these steps:
Go to the NLS BARD site at https://nlsbard.loc.gov/
Log in to the web site by entering your NLS username and password. Note that both of these are case sensitive.
After login, you will be on the screen to choose books or magazines. You can search for books by title, author, subject, or keyword. You can find magazines by title or issue date. The different sections of the page are marked with headings. Individual books are also separated by heading markers making it easy to jump from one book to the next with the heading shortcut keys of your screen reader. The site also has a link to get help on to search for books and magazines.
Once you arrive at your chosen book simply click or press ENTER on its download link.
Your computer will ask if you want to OPEN or SAVE the book. Specify to SAVE It.
Your computer will then ask where you want to save the downloaded book. The book download is a single ZIP file containing all the necessary files for the book. Choose a desired location on your computer where you want to save NLS books and select the Save button. The download window will then open showing the progress of the download.
A. The downloaded book is a ZIP file. You cannot copy the ZIP file to the Stratus. You must first unzip the book files to a folder on your computer and then copy the folder to the Stratus as follows:
A. Yes. The Companion will unzip and transfer the book for you. In the Companion Talking Books window be sure to check the Include ZIP files box so that your downloaded zip file will show in the list of books.
A. Yes, if the Stratus is properly authorized to play NLS books as explained above. You may attach an NLS book cartridge to the Stratus USB port using a Type A male/female USB extension cable that can be purchased from a computer retail store. Once attached the cartridge book will appear on the Stratus Talking Books bookshelf.
A. Yes. To copy the cartridge book you press key 3 while playing the book. A prompt will ask you to confirm the copy. Audio messages will inform you of the progress of the book copy.
A. No.
A. Yes.
Overdrive offers some recorded books in MP3 format which does play on the Stratus.
If your library offers Overdrive MP3 books you can download the MP3 files of a
multi-part MP3 book and put those files in a subfolder of $VROtherBooks. To do
this, use the Overdrive Media Console software. On the screen where you choose
which parts of the book to transfer, press the Advanced button. You will be
placed on a screen where you can choose the folder you want to use. The benefit
of reading a multi-part MP3 book on the Stratus is that your reading position
is saved since all the files are treated as one book when you save them in a
subfolder of $VROtherBooks.
A. To check if MP3 books can be downloaded from your public library’s Overdrive service you can examine the drop down menu where you choose a book format to see if MP3 is one of the choices. For more information about Overdrive, visit www.overdrive.com.
A. If you press the Cancel (star) key within 10 seconds of the accidental move, the Stratus will undo your navigation. For example, suppose you were in the middle of chapter 1 and accidentally press key 6 and moved to chapter 2. If you then press the Cancel key within 10 seconds you will be returned to your previous position in chapter 1.
A. With Stratus12 M, press the Go To key followed by the Fast Forward key.
A. With Stratus12 M, while in the Text files bookshelf, press the Go to key to the left of key 1 which functions as a Go to Percent key for text files. Simply enter the relative percentage offset from the start of the file that you wish to reach. For example you can enter 50% to position at the middle of the file, 67% to position two thirds of the way into the file and so on. You can press Go to Percent followed by the Rewind key to return to the start of the file.
A. With Stratus12 M use the Go To Percent or Go To Time functions to enter a percentage or time offset from the start of the book. These functions are available for DAISY books, Other Books, and Podcasts. Note that the time or percentage offset is from the start of the first book file in Other Books, or the start of an individual Podcast.
A. You can press and release the Rewind key instead of holding it down and this will backup 5 seconds for each press. The same applies to the fast forward key.
A. Yes. Instead of pressing the Play key to resume your playback, just tap the Rewind key. It will back up 5 seconds and start playing.
A. Yes. With the Stratus12 M,
Insert the CD and press Play to start playback of the book. Then press key #3.
You will be asked to confirm if you wish to copy the CD book to the SD card.
Press the Play key again to confirm and copying will begin with messages
informing you of the progress. DAISY CD books are copied to the Talking Books
bookshelf and MP3 CD books are copied to the Other Books bookshelf.
A. Yes. In this case you must copy each CD separately and each copied CD will appear as a separate book on the Bookshelf list of the Stratus. If you do not copy the CDs in order it does not matter as the Stratus determines which is part 1, 2, etc. by the book contents.
A. You must create a subfolder for the book in the $VRDTB folder of the Stratus SD card. Then copy all the files from the CD into that subfolder. If the CD has more than one book then copy all the folders on the CD to the $VRDTB folder excluding the Discinfo file on the CD.
A. You must create a subfolder for the book in the $VROtherBooks folder of the Stratus SD card. Then copy all the files from the CD into that subfolder.
A. Yes. While you are in the Talking Books window of the Companion, insert the CD into your computer. The title or titles of the books on the CD will appear in the list of titles. Check the titles you wish to transfer and activate the Transfer button. After the CD book(s) are transferred simply eject the CD and Companion will redisplay the list of Talking Books on your computer
A. If you have a DAISY book that is on 2 or more CDs then you put the files of each CD into separate folders of $VRDTB just as if each CD was a separate book. For example if you have a 2 CD book titled, History of Science, then create two subfolders in $VRDTB called:
History of Science 1 of 2
History of Science 2 of 2
And put all the files from CD1 into the first subfolder and the files of CD2 into the second subfolder. If you make a mistake and copy the CD2 into the CD1 folder it does not matter. The Stratus will still play the book correctly and announce the book title part 1 and part 2 based on the actual book contents not the folder names.
The Stratus will announce the message to insert CD2 whenever you attempt to navigate to any part of the book that is on CD2. The message to insert CD2 is actually part of the book itself. It is not part of the Stratus program. Similarly, if you are playing the CD2 portion of the book and navigate to a part of the book that is on CD1 you will hear a similar message to insert CD1.
Note that the INFO key 0 will report the total time and total pages for the entire book i.e., all the CDs. So, if CD1 was 1 hour with 50 pages and CD2 was 30 minutes with 25 more pages then key 0 would report a total of 75 pages and 1.5 hours total time for the book. If you were reading the part of the book from CD1 and you requested to go to page 61 you would hear the book message to insert CD2. At this point you could press Go To Page again to change your mind and enter a number less than 50 and remain in part 1 of the book. Or, you could press key 1 for the bookshelf and navigate to the second part of the book and press play to open it. However, at this point you will be at the beginning page 51 of part 2 not page 61. In other words, the Stratus cannot jump from the first part of the book to the actual page number you enter in the second part of the book.
So, when you hear a message to insert a different CD, then at that point, you need to press the bookshelf key 1 and then press the left or right (4/6 keys) to navigate to the other part of the book on your talking books bookshelf. If you have created the two folders in the $VRDTB folder for each CD then you will find both part 1 and part 2 of the book on the bookshelf list.
A. You cannot copy commercial audio CDs using a simple copy and paste with Windows Explorer. To copy audio CDs you must use special CD extraction software to extract (often referred to as rip) the audio CD format to a format such as MP3 or OGG Vorbis that can be played on Stratus.
A. The Stratus is compatible with SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) cards up to 32GB. The “Class” designation does not matter because Stratus is not optimized for any particular class of SDHC card. Reputable brand name media manufacturers are recommended for your SD cards. HumanWare uses SanDisk cards.
A. You need to format only if the card is not accessible. If your SD card is not recognized by Windows when it is inserted in your computer card reader or when the Stratus is connected to the computer, it may be possible that the card needs to be formatted. Also, if for any reason data becomes corrupt, you may notice that some files/books will not play properly on your Stratus. This is also an indicator that reformatting is needed.
A. To ensure the card is properly formatted you should use the Stratus built-in format utility. Simply insert the SD card into the Stratus, press the Menu key 7 multiple times until you hear the Format SD card option. Then press the Pound key to start the format utility. You will receive a warning that formatting will erase all the files on the SD card. Press the Pound key again to proceed with the format or press the Star key to cancel the format. The utility will format your card and label it as VRStratus. The label will be visible beside the drive letter when you view the card in Windows. Once formatted, only the $VR folders will exist on the card. You will need to recopy all your books and files from the computer. Important: It is only necessary to format the card if you have problems using it with the Stratus or with your computer.
A. No. Stratus saves current reading position and bookmark information in a database stored in the player’s internal memory. It does not save this information on the SD card.
A. No. Stratus saves bookmarks and reading position in its internal flash memory, not on the SD card. So, a write-protected SD card will only prevent you from deleting books.
A. In that case try inserting the SD card before you power on. The more files you have on an SD card the longer it takes for Stratus to scan the card especially if there are many files in a folder. When you have many files, try to organize them in multiple subfolders.
A. It depends on your computer. Windows recommends that you use the Safely Remove option when write-caching is enabled for the USB device. If write-caching is not enabled then the device is said to be optimized for quick removal and the Safely Remove option is not needed. The Safely Remove option is intended to prevent the SD card from becoming corrupted when write-caching is enabled. To be safe, the Stratus documentation always recommends using the Safely Remove option. You can check and/or modify your computer’s setting for write-caching in the device manager of Windows Control panel.
A. The Safely Remove Hardware icon may be hidden. Press Tab on the Desktop to go to the Windows Start menu button and then press Alt+Enter to open the Task Bar and Start Menu properties dialog. In the properties dialog, ensure the check box for “Hide Inactive Icons” is not checked.
A. You connect the USB drive to your computer’s USB port and transfer files to it using Windows or the HumanWare Companion. The procedure is the same as copying files to the SD card. Note that the Stratus does not automatically create the $VR reserved folders when you connect the USB drive to the Stratus so you must create these folders or, if transferring files with the Companion, it will create the $VR folders for you.
A. No. The USB drive and SD card can both be present at the same time. The books of each bookshelf on the USB will be listed together with the books on the SD card. You will hear “USB” announced for book titles on the USB drive and you will hear “SD” announced for the titles on the SD card and “CD” announced for titles on the CD drive.
A. This is possible on the advanced Stratus M by attaching the interface device used by the physically disabled person to the Stratus USB port. The interface device must be able to connect to a USB and it must be a compliant HID keyboard device. Also, HID keyboard compliance does not mean it must be an actual keyboard. For example, a foot pedal switch or blow pipe device could work if it can be connected by USB and is HID compliant.
A. Yes. As of version 2.1 of the Stratus the particular HID compatible device called a Swifty is supported. It is aUSB adapter that plugs into the USB of the Stratus and this adapter has a jack to plug the foot pedal switch. If the user presses the foot pedal it will toggle the Play/Stop button of the Stratus. If the user holds down the foot pedal button it will perform a rewind function on Stratus. If users require the use of such a foot pedal then they may purchase this adapter for the Stratus USB.
Manufacturer: Origin Instruments
Name: Swifty Switch Interface
Manufactures Part Number: HM-0362-S
Approximate Retail Price: $80 US
Name: Swifty with Orby Switch Bundle
Manufactures Part Number: SW-0105-LY
Approximate Retail Price $110.
Disclaimer: HumanWare is not able to provide details or support information for devices used by physically disabled people. For more information on the above devices please contact:
http://www.orin.com/access/swifty/
email: support@orin.com