Operations · Troubleshooting

Operations

Troubleshooting

Symptoms you may see on a bay, what causes them, and how to fix each one — from a bay that ignores bookings to "Device Not Ready" and a Launcher with no debug port.

Where to look first

SimLock logs every notable event. The easiest place to read it is Dashboard → activity feed, which shows the latest 25 entries and refreshes every 5 seconds. The full log (newest 500 entries) is in C:\ProgramData\SimLock\customers.db; Customers lists the entries worth knowing. The Uneekor Launcher has its own logs: C:\ProgramData\SimLock\launcher-health.log and launcher-restart.log.

When you contact support@neutrocorp.com, include the version from the Admin header (Version X.Y.Z), the time of the problem, the activity entries around it, and what the golfer saw.

The bay did nothing at a booking

Check these in order; each one has caused a real missed booking.

  1. Is the PC on? A bay that lost power stays off until someone presses the button. Set the BIOS to Restore on AC Power Loss = Power On on every unattended bay.
  2. Is Manager Override on? The Dashboard's OPERATING MODE card is red and reads "MANAGER OVERRIDE ON". From 2.20.0 the next booking ends an override that was left on; on older versions it made the bay ignore every booking. Click Lock Kiosk, or right-click the tray icon and choose End Maintenance Mode.
  3. Is the calendar being read? LAST CALENDAR SYNC should be under a minute old and show events. See the next section if it shows 0 events, and Google Calendar if it shows an error.
  4. Is the licence valid? A red LICENSE REJECTED line on the Dashboard gives the date the bay stops. See Licensing & activation.
  5. Is SimLock Monitor running? No shield icon in the tray means nothing brings the lock screen up. Start SimLock Monitor from the Start Menu.

Calendar sync shows "ok · 0 events" and bookings never trigger

This bay's calendar is not set. Calendars ticked under Other bays' calendars only feed the customer list; they never lock or unlock this bay. Pick the bay's calendar on Google Calendar, click Save, then Catch Up Now.

Sync status says "Google needs reconnecting"

Google's permission expired or was withdrawn. The bay never opens a sign-in browser by itself. Open Google Calendar and click Connect Google Account. If you use your own Google Cloud project with the consent screen in "Testing", Google expires its sign-ins every 7 days; publish the consent screen.

"Please call for assistance" — Device Not Ready

The Uneekor Launcher reported Device Not Ready: the launch monitor is switched off, asleep or not connected. The standby screen holds with "Please call for assistance" because the golfer could not play anyway.

  1. Switch the launch monitor on and check its power and cable or network.
  2. Wait until the Launcher's GSPro tile no longer says "Device Not Ready".
  3. Tap Try Again on the lock screen. SimLock launches again and the session continues.

The activity log shows "GSPro NOT launched: the Uneekor Launcher reports 'Device Not Ready'". SimLock does not restart the Launcher for this, because it cannot help.

The golfer was left on the desktop with no GSPro

The standby screen lets go after 60 seconds so a golfer is never trapped. Read the session.launch entries:

  • "GSPro FAILED to launch … Start it manually." — both attempts failed, including a Launcher restart. Start GSPro by hand for the golfer, then check the Launcher's debug port (next section).
  • "CDP unreachable at 127.0.0.1:9333" — SimLock cannot reach the Launcher. See the next section.
  • "Launcher is waiting for GSPro ('Third-party Searching')" — normal on some bays; SimLock starts GSPro itself. If this is followed by a failure, check GSPro program on Launch & Uneekor.
  • Bays on 2.24.2 or earlier gave up after 25 seconds, and bays on 2.24.4 or earlier could not launch on Uneekor Launchers that only wait for GSPro. Update.

The Uneekor Launcher has no debug port

Test Connection on Launch & Uneekor fails, or the log says CDP unreachable. The Launcher only opens its debug port when it is started through SimLock's wrapper with normal (not elevated) rights. Causes, most common first:

  • Someone reopened the Launcher by hand from a desktop shortcut. Run the SimLock-NightlyLauncherRestart task from Task Scheduler (or reboot), and point that shortcut at C:\Program Files (x86)\SimLock\Tools\launch_uneekor.cmd.
  • An autostart task runs it as administrator. Click Configure Launcher… again; from 2.20.0 it also fixes tasks it set up before.
  • Windows auto-logs in as the built-in "Administrator" account. That account runs everything elevated, so the port never opens. Switch auto-login to a normal account that is a member of Administrators.
  • The 4 AM restart failed — the activity log shows launcher.restart_failed. Restart the Launcher with the task or reboot.

Never refresh the Launcher's page to fix it: that signs the Launcher out. Only a full restart helps.

The lock screen did not come back

  1. Manager Override is on. It lasts until you relock. Right-click the tray icon and choose Launch Lock Screen or End Maintenance Mode, or click Lock Kiosk in the Admin header.
  2. The Monitor is not running. Start SimLock Monitor from the Start Menu.
  3. PIN mode: the lock screen comes up when the monitored program starts. If the program was already running, close it and start it again.

A returning golfer was shown the intro video

Read the customer.lookup entry for that arrival; it shows what the booking carried and the verdict (NEW or returning). Common causes:

  • The booking name carries a location, such as "Jane Smith Stratford". Add the word under Customer name cleanup on Google Calendar and click Save.
  • Visits is 0. On Customers, edit the person and set Visits to 1, or click Mark All Returning.
  • The other bay's visit was not shared. Tick the other bays under Other bays' calendars. A customer.marker_failed entry on the other bay means it could not write the "arrived" marker.

The intro video does not play or will not download

The lock screen plays only the local file in Video file on this PC; if it is missing, the video is skipped. To get one, paste a link on Intro Video & Instructions and click Download Video from Link. Downloads failed on every bay before 2.24.6; update. If it still fails, delete ffmpeg.exe and deno.exe from C:\ProgramData\SimLock and try again.

The help button does not appear

It is off by default; turn it on under In-Session Help. It only shows while a session is running and the lock screen is hidden — never over the welcome, standby or video screens. With the launch option Nothing, only help/contact entries are offered.

Locked out of the Admin panel

The password is stored as a hash and cannot be read back. Contact support to reset it. If a bay was downgraded to a version before 2.22, its password and code may no longer work for the same reason.

Settings reverted to factory defaults

Signs: the splash says "Welcome to SimWoods Golf", the bay is not activated, the launch option is Nothing. Versions before 2.17.1 could do this; update. Your previous settings are usually in C:\ProgramData\SimLock\config.json.bak, or import a profile you exported on Backup.