Media Walla User Guide June 2019

Media Walla User Guide, June 2019
Media Walla User Guide
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................................1
Introduc on ...........................................................................................................................................................2
1. Media Walla – AT Tablet Interface to Conduct a Course ....................................................................................2
1.1 Before the Course ........................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Start a Course ...............................................................................................................................................3
1.3 Playing Audio/Video – Features on the tablet screen ..................................................................................5
1.4 Day 0 Anapana Instruc ons and beyond .....................................................................................................6
1.5 Workers Me a (9:00 pm) .............................................................................................................................6
1.6 Con nuing to the Next Day ..........................................................................................................................7
1.7 Auto-start Features ......................................................................................................................................7
1.8 Video Discourses ..........................................................................................................................................8
1.8.1 Arrangements for Final Day foreign language discourses – Sa pa hana and 10-Day courses ...............10
1.9 End of Course .............................................................................................................................................10
2. Media Walla – Foreign Language MP3 Players – During a Course ...................................................................11
2.1 Before the Course ......................................................................................................................................11
2.2 Con guring the Language for an MP3 Player .............................................................................................12
2.3 Short/Long Anapana, Final Me a and Servers Discourse ..........................................................................13
2.4 Using the MP3 Players ...............................................................................................................................14
3. Media Walla – Non-course Media....................................................................................................................17
4. Media Walla – Video Demonstra on ...............................................................................................................19
5. Instruc ons to follow if there is a problem in connec ng the tablet to the Wi : ............................................20
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Introduction
Media Walla is an advanced system to facilitate delivery of audio and video material at
Vipassana Meditation Courses as taught by S. N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba
Khin. The system plays the material on the meditation hall audio-visual system in the
language of the course. It also allows receiving of audio instructions and discourses
simultaneously in foreign languages on specially configured mp3 players over a wireless
network, as per the needs of the students.
While the Media Walla system is simple and intuitive by design, this user guide is essential
reading in familiarizing with it and using it. The guide is divided into 3 major sections with the
first one covering operation of the AT control interface on the tablet to conduct a course.
The second section covers the setup and usage of foreign language MP3 players, and the
third section covers playing of non-course material (for Dhamma Padhana this consists of
between-course group sittings and chantings only).
1. Media Walla – AT Tablet Interface to Conduct a Course

1.1 Before the Course
Connect the tablet to the charger lead, which is labeled. Press and hold the On/Off switch
for a couple of seconds to turn on the tablet. The On/Off switch is indicated in the photo.
Video demo
Touch the flashing cursor or swipe the screen with fingers, to bring up the keyboard. Type in
the password: atat. Then touch “Done”. The tablet communicates with the server through
Wifi and it usually connects very quickly. Sometimes it takes slightly longer, especially if the
tablet has not been used for a while. Wait for the Wifi signal indicator in the lower right
corner to turn blue/grey and then touch the Dolphin icon in the middle. (If there is a delay,
follow the instructions given on pages 20 of this document; these instructions are also
available at the console).
When there is no course in progress, the tablet screen shows the following:
There are 3 possible actions at this time:
• “Start Course” to start a new course within the Media Walla framework
• “Non-course Media” to play audio when not on a course
• “Reset” to bring system to the default state when no course is running, and no other
audio is being played.
1.2 Start a Course

Touch “Start Course” in the screen shown above and open the page to select a course. The
default settings for course type, language and start day are shown below, and can be
changed as follows:
Video Demo
• The different course types available can be viewed by touching “10 Day Course” in
the screen above. From the display list, the course required can be selected. (For VCE
select 10 Day Course, then select English-only-executive under language)
• The language in which the course is to be conducted, can be changed by touching

the “English-only” selection on the screen above.
• By default, Media Walla begins each course on Day 0. If necessary, the course can
be started with Media Walla on any day, for example, Day 5 of a 10-day course. To
do this, touch “Day 0” above, and select from the list.

When choosing a long course, more fields will appear as a drop down menu:
If a “bilingual” long course is chosen, the following drop down menu will appear:
Evening Discourses in Hall: To select the language and the sequence to play in the hall,
choose one of these options:
• Only Foreign Language

• Only English
• English first, followed by Foreign Language
• Foreign Language first, followed by English
• 2nd Discourse language (if different language from the Instructions is required on a
bilingual course). Select from the drop down list.
Long Course Morning Chanting Sets: These will default to suggested sets for Dhamma
Padhana. A different chanting can be selected from a separate list.

Example of course type selection:
Example of language selection (note that the list can be scrolled up and down by touch):
Example of day selection:
1.3 Playing Audio/Video – Features on the tablet screen

Media Walla shows the following page when playing audio or video material. Note that the
current track (“Day 0 - Tikapatthana”), time elapsed (“00:00:00”), time remaining (“01:13:32”,
which is the total length as the track has not been started yet), and a large Play icon are
shown. Also shown are other useful details such as the time and date, and the course type
(“English-only 10 Day Course” in this case). In addition, Previous Track and Next Track icons to

 
 


manually go forward or backward (to view next or previous track) are shown, These would
not be needed during normal operation of the system, as the next track is automatically
loaded when a track finishes playing.
Video Demo
The above screen is what Media Walla tablets will show most of the time during the course,
allowing the appropriate audio or video to be played in the hall, and to show the progress
when something is being played. Importantly, the “Play” turns into a “Pause” when a track is
being played. To start playing the Tikapatthana, touch the Play icon.
1.4 Day 0 Anapana Instructions and beyond

When Tikapatthana has finished playing, Media Walla will automatically advance to the
next track, the Anapana instructions, as shown below.
Likewise, the Media Walla system keeps on advancing to the next track, which is then ready
for playing. While many tracks are loaded and not played until Play icon is touched, some
are automatically played after a calculated delay, when their ending time is pre-
determined (this aspect is covered in more detail in a later section).
1.5 Workers Metta (9:00 pm)

On Day 0, after Anapana instructions are over, and after the 9:00 pm BSM on other days,
Workers Metta will be automatically loaded. Appropriate bilingual Workers Metta will be
loaded, if the course is bilingual. An alternate language Workers Metta can also be selected
from the yellow link under the title as shown below. This can be kept as default during the
course, if preferred.
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1.6 Continuing to the Next Day

When a day is over (“Day 0” on the screen below), the tablet should be switched off after
workers metta. Hold down the power button till the “Power off” shows on the screen, and
then touch it. Then touch “OK”. The “Airplane mode” should not be touched since this will
remove the Wifi access.
Video Demo
The next morning, you need to switch on the tablet before chanting is due to auto play.
Touch “Continue with Day 1” button to start Day 1.
1.7 Auto-start Features

The next track to get loaded is the “Day 1 – Chanting – Atanatiya Sutta (5:56 am),” as shown
below. Since morning chanting ends at 6:30 am, they are automatically started by the
Media Walla system at an appropriate time so as to end at exactly 6:30 am. The tablet
needs to be switched on in the mornings before the chanting auto start time. If the starting
time is missed, it will be cued to the next day and then needs to be started manually. If AT
wants to play a track before/after the auto start time, just manually over ride it by pressing
the “Play” button.
 
 

Video Demo
The Auto-start feature comes into effect for the following:
• Morning chanting (to end at 6:30 am)
• Group sitting end chantings
• 9:00 pm BSM
• Gongs (in the hall and cells – at 11:00 am, 2:15 pm, and 5:00 pm). No 5 pm gong on
10-day course Vipassana day, in case the session over runs.
• Additional gongs for long courses - at 9:00 am and 3.30 pm.
At other times, Play must be pressed to manually start the tracks. Due to the auto-start
features, the only action required to deliver all the audio and video is to touch Play eight
times during a day (on 10-day courses), and even less on long courses; no other action is
required except turning On/Off TVs, or adjusting volume, etc. The Previous Track and Next
Track buttons can be used if required to view the previous and next tracks.
On VCE courses, on Day 1, if it is necessary to bring the afternoon group sitting forward to 2
pm to make time for new-student checking, touch Next track button to 2.30 pm track and
play it manually at 2 pm. Also play the end chanting and subsequent afternoon instructions
manually.
1.8 Video Discourses

When video discourses are being played in the hall, the system will show a prompt for TVs /
Projectors to be turned on, as shown below. TVs must be turned on before “OK” is touched.
Then, for your convenience, the Media Walla system will play the first 4 seconds of the video
and pause at this screen (shown for Day 1). Picture below.
Video Demo
When ready, touch the Play icon on the screen shown below to start the discourse.
 
1.8.1 Arrangements for Final Day foreign language discourses –

Satipatthana and 10-Day courses
Satipatthana course - On Day 8 after Workers’ Metta, forward to Day 9 and download the
foreign language discourses into the mp3 players. Then switch off the tablet as usual. The
closing discourse is quite short for all languages except Hindi, which is 52 minutes long.
10-Day course including VCE - after Workers’ Metta, forward to Day 11 discourse and
download the foreign language discourses into the mp3 players. Then put the course back
to D11 morning chanting and switch off the tablet as usual.
Since the mp3 players will be switched off overnight, check in the morning that the
downloaded discourses are there. The students listen to their discourses in the usual places
and come to the hall for Final Metta.
1.9 End of Course

The course progresses in this fashion, to reach the following page, after Final Metta:
At the end of the course:
• Please switch off the tablet and put it back in the glass-fronted cupboard in Male AT
room.
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2. Media Walla – Foreign Language MP3 Players – During a
Course
2.1 Before the Course
Media Walla uses wireless MP3 players to make foreign language material available to
students. When these devices are powered up, the screen shows two buttons: “View Course
Audio” and “Settings” (picture on the left below).
Touch the “View Course Audio” icon to start using the device to listen to foreign language
course material. It is not possible to return to this screen without turning the device off and
back on. Also, once the “View Course Audio” icon has been touched, the student is locked
into a subsequent page, which delivers the audio (mp3) material. It is not possible to use the
device for any other activity whatsoever.
The “Settings” icon allows changing of device settings, which is password protected
(Password “2828”), and is provided for maintenance only, when needed. It is not required for
normal operation as the device is already configured.
Do not touch “Settings”. If it is touched by accident, simply touch “Cancel” (do not touch
‘OK’) and return to the main screen.
If battery level gets too low and the device asks if you want to enable “Power Saving
mode”, DO NOT select it as it will disconnect the WiFi. Select “Cancel”. Do not select “OK”.
Recharge the battery straight away. If “OK” is touched by mistake, you will need to reset the
Wi-Fi by going to “Settings”, put in password 2828 and touch Wi-Fi “On”, on the next screen.
See pictures below.
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2.2 Configuring the Language for an MP3 Player

The first screen below shows Device 1(number in bottom-right is the device number, unique
for each device). To pair up this MP3 device with Media Walla, touch “Foreign Language
Device Setup” (the yellow link in bottom-center) on the tablet shown in the second screen
below. The list of devices paired with languages from previous course should have been
deleted automatically but if it is still there, please delete it before you start pairing for your
course.
Video Demo
Touch Device box to bring up the keyboard and then enter the device number in the field (1
in this case), touch the language box and scroll to choose the language required, then
either touch “Save and Add More”, or “Save and Return to Course”.
Additional devices, as required, are paired with the language by repeating this process. As
shown below, the paired devices are now listed.
After device number 5, the list may become out of view behind the keyboard. You can scroll
up the screen by touch. Alternatively, you can rotate the tablet to vertical/portrait position
and the keyboard then occupies only the lower quarter of the screen, making the long list of
devices visible. Note: devices can be prepared at any stage of the course.
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Video Demo
The “Delete” link, beside the language box as shown above, can be used to un-pair a
device. Once finished configuring all the devices, touch “Return to Course” to go back to
the main Media Walla interface.
Use masking tape (and not cello tape, address labels etc.), to label each device (at the
back) with the student’s name. You may also make a list of names, languages and device
numbers, for easy reference.
2.3 Short/Long Anapana, Final Metta and Servers Discourse

These tracks can be found with the list of discourses on the Foreign Language Devices Setup
page. They can be paired with the devices in the same way as “Instructions, GS &
discourses”.
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2.4 Using the MP3 Players
The use of Media Walla MP3 players is designed to be very simple. When the device is
switched on, it is automatically refreshed, i.e. if there is anything that is ready to be loaded,
will be loaded. Short messages in English appear on screen to inform the student. The
student can refresh the device either to retrieve foreign language material, or to play what
has already been retrieved. Touching the green “Refresh” on the MP3 device checks if a
foreign language equivalent of the instructions/discourse to be played in the hall is
available. When a track is available, it is loaded onto the device for playing.
Please note: maximum three devices are loaded at any one time; the others stay in queue
and are loaded in turn. Percentage being loaded is shown. “Abort and retry” may show if
the device has been waiting for about 30 seconds. Ignore this and the device will be loaded
when it is its turn. If the screen goes black while loading, do only a ‘short press’ of the power
button. The total time for twenty devices to be loaded will be only a few minutes.
Device 1 setup in the previous section is shown below. Note that the language Burmese is
now displayed in the bottom-left corner, and a message is there indicating that the next
track will be available at 8:00 pm. Next to the MP3 device screens below, the state of the
Media Walla tablet at that time is shown.
After Tikapatthana has been played, and the Anapana Instructions are loaded on the server
as shown on the tablet below, the same instructions in Burmese for Device 1 are loaded on
the device upon touching “Refresh.”
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The following are the two states that the device alternates between throughout the course.
The first one is shown when no foreign language audio is made available to the student.
Upon touching “Refresh” on this screen, the second screen is shown whenever a foreign
language audio is available for the student. The Play icon can be pressed to start listening.
Another example of these states is also shown below for illustration.
The slider on the device enables the student to fast forward or rewind the track while they
are listening but once the track is played till the end, this function is lost. It would not be
necessary to mention this facility to the students. The slider on the tablet enables the AT to
fast forward the track, go back to the beginning etc., but this facility would not normally be
needed.
Since the next track is automatically queued on the tablet after the previous track has been
played, it would then be possible for the student to load this next track and listen before it is
due to be played in the hall. The times that this would be possible are between 6:30 and 8:00
am, between 2.15 and 2.30 pm, and between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, and should not cause any
problems. It is not necessary to share this information with the students, unless you want them
to listen to the 6 pm instructions earlier before they are played in the hall. Students should be
asked at the beginning of the course, to leave their devices on their hall seats when not in
use.
The screen of the device goes black after ten minutes while the track is being played
(battery saving function), but it will come back with only a ‘short press’ of the power button.
15

To switch off the device, press On/Off button and then touch Power off shown on the screen.
However, it is not necessary to switch off the device every time after a track has been
played.
Do not touch the “Airplane mode” since this will remove the Wifi access.
Make sure the devices are fully charged at the start of the course. They should be switched
off at the end of the course.
The following tracks are made available in foreign languages through these devices, as
applicable, based on the course type.
• Day 0 Anapana instructions
• 8:00 am group sitting start
• 9:10 am instructions (Vipassana Instructions when applicable)
• 2:30 pm group sitting start
• 3:40 pm instructions (Vipassana Instructions when applicable)
• 6:00 pm group sitting start
• End chanting instructions for long courses
• 7:10 pm discourse
• 8:30 pm PDIs
• Final discourse/metta
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3. Media Walla – Non-course Media
For AT to play group sittings or chantings between courses, touch the “Non-course Media”
on the screen; see below.
A category is then selected. For example, “Group Sittings”, and this will show the list of
available tracks.
Select a track and touch “Open” to load it.
17

After a selection has been made, touch “Open” to play, as shown below.
Similarly, 10-day morning chantings or special chantings may be played manually, by

choosing the category to arrive at the following screen:
When any of these are played, the same screen as described in section 1.3 is shown,
allowing the track to be played, or paused, and also showing the progress with time elapsed
and remaining.
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4. Media Walla – Video Demonstration
For short video demonstrations of Media Walla in action, please refer to these links:
(There are eight video clips, ranging from 0:17 to 1:30 in lengths)
Media Walla Tutorial Demos {https://vimeo.com/album/5434905}
For more detailed information, you can also watch:
Media Walla Short Introduction (2:08)
http://youtu.be/I1VD6ltRqNA
Media Walla Demo - Foreign Language Devices (7:52)
http://youtu.be/mKiMxAFa6po
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5. Instructions to follow if there is a problem in connecting the
tablet to the Wifi:
The tablet Wifi signal indicator in the lower right corner turns blue/grey when Wifi is
connected. Usually, the tablet connects very quickly to the Wifi and these instructions are
rarely needed. Sometimes it takes slightly longer, especially if the tablet has not been used
for a while. If WiFi is delayed, do the following:
1. Check that the tablet is not in Airplane mode. If it is, the icon will show in the right upper
corner of the tablet. To remove it, go to settings and check Wifi.
2. If not in Airplane mode, just refresh the webpage.
3. If this does not work, switch off the tablet by pressing the On/Off button, touch “Power off”
on the screen, then touch “OK” and wait a little while. Re-start by pressing the On/Off
button.
Usually, the above is all that will be needed to connect to Wifi. If it still does not work,
continue with the following:
4. Switch off the Router switch and switch it on again. The switch is in the upper console
cupboard, plugged into a six-plug extension lead.
5. If this still does not work, switch off the UPS button and turn it back on again. The UPS
(Uninterrupted Power Supply) battery is on a low table in the male AT Hall lobby. The on/off
button is clearly marked.
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Media Walla User Guide, June 2019