Field recovery playbook

This is the print-it-and-keep-it-with-the-drive page. A tech holding a USB recovery drive at a venue should be able to follow this without prior DisplaySync context and end up with a working kiosk.

If you're the tech on call: you do not need to read Building the drive or Setup script reference. Just follow the steps below.

When to reach for the recovery drive

The drive is the last resort, used when faster fixes haven't worked.

Try first, in order:

Refresh from the dashboard (Remote control) — fixes content blips
Reboot app from the dashboard — fixes most kiosk app issues
Reboot device from the dashboard — fixes most Windows-level issues

If after all three the kiosk still isn't working, then reach for the recovery drive. It's destructive (wipes the kiosk's local DisplaySync state), so it's not the first move.

Common reasons the recovery drive is the right answer:

The kiosk won't boot far enough for remote commands to reach it
The kiosk shows the QR screen but never reconnects to the backend
An update went bad and the watchdog can't recover
The hardware is from a different fleet and needs to be brought into yours
A clone collision is producing duplicate sign IDs

Before you wipe — capture diagnostics

If the kiosk is still booting and you can keyboard into it, grab the logs first. The recovery drive will wipe state, including the in-memory clues that explain why this kiosk was misbehaving. Knowing why means you can prevent it on the next 50 kiosks.

Press Ctrl + Shift + S for the on-kiosk Status Dashboard. Take a phone photo of:

Connection Status, Sign ID, Backend URL
Cache status
Recent error counts

Then if you can:

# Plug a USB into the kiosk (any USB, doesn't have to be the recovery one)
$out = "E:\sign-logs-$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd-HHmm').zip"
Compress-Archive -Path "C:\ProgramData\DisplaySync\logs\*" `
  -DestinationPath $out

Send the photo and the .zip to whoever runs follow-up.

If the kiosk won't boot far enough for any of this, skip to the recovery steps — it's not worth a half-hour of revival attempts.

The recovery procedure

What you need:

The misbehaving kiosk
A keyboard (you'll need it briefly)
The DisplaySync USB recovery drive
The kiosk user password (or another local admin's password)

Estimated time: 5-10 minutes end to end.

Step 1 — Get to the desktop

If the kiosk is showing content, press Ctrl + Shift + Q to put it in maintenance mode. The sign app exits cleanly and the watchdog won't relaunch it.

If the kiosk is at the QR screen or showing an error, press Ctrl + Shift + Q anyway — the same shortcut works. If nothing happens (the app isn't responding), reboot the kiosk and let it auto-login as DisplaySync. Then immediately press Ctrl + Shift + Q to enter maintenance mode before the watchdog gets in your way.

You should now see the Windows desktop. If not, see Kiosk won't start.

Step 2 — Plug in the USB drive

Plug the USB recovery drive into any port. Wait for Windows to mount it.

Open File Explorer and navigate to the drive — you should see at least 6 files at the root:

setup.bat
setup.ps1
config.json
README.txt
tailscale-setup.exe
DisplaySync-Sign-<version>-x64.exe

If files are missing, the drive is incomplete — you'll need a working drive before you can recover this kiosk.

Step 3 — Reinstall DisplaySync

Double-click DisplaySync-Sign-<version>-x64.exe.

The installer is silent — you'll see a brief progress dialog, then nothing. Wait ~30 seconds for it to finish.

If a UAC prompt appears, click Yes.

Step 4 — Run the recovery script

Double-click setup.bat on the USB drive.

A PowerShell window opens. If a UAC prompt appears, click Yes — the script needs admin to register the watchdog and configure Tailscale.

Watch the output:

You'll see a series of [PASS] lines as each step succeeds.
If you see a [FAIL], stop and read the message. Common fails are listed below.
After ~1-2 minutes, you'll see === Setup complete ===.

The script also writes a setup.log file next to itself on the USB drive. If anything fails or the support team needs to investigate later, that log is the artifact.

Step 5 — Verify

After setup.bat finishes, the DisplaySync sign app should launch within a few seconds.

You should see the QR claim screen on the kiosk display. Press Ctrl + Shift + S to confirm:

Connection Status: Connected — kiosk reaches backend
Tailscale IP: 100.x.y.z — kiosk is on the tailnet
Sign ID: <a fresh UUID> — identity regenerated

If all three are populated, you're done. Re-claim the sign from the mobile app or the dashboard (Claiming signs).

Wipe the drive or at minimum delete config.json. The auth key on the drive is a credential.
Rotate the Tailscale auth key in the admin console. Mint a new one for the next event.
Update the drive for next time — refreshed auth key, latest DisplaySync installer.

See Post-event teardown → Rotate Tailscale auth keys.

Field recovery playbook

When to reach for the recovery drive

Before you wipe — capture diagnostics

The recovery procedure

Step 1 — Get to the desktop

Step 2 — Plug in the USB drive

Step 3 — Reinstall DisplaySync

Step 4 — Run the recovery script

Step 5 — Verify

Step 6 — Reboot to leave maintenance mode

When something goes wrong

`[FAIL] DisplaySync is not installed`

`[FAIL] tailscale-setup.exe not found`

`[FAIL] tailscaleAuthKey is still the placeholder`

`[FAIL] tailscale up: auth key expired`

Setup completes but no QR screen appears

Tailscale IP not showing in the dashboard

Sign won't claim after recovery

After the event

See also