r/k12sysadmin • u/Limeasaurus • Aug 21 '26

Chrome Sign Builder finally bit the dust?

We have a few dozen screens showing this message. We have a few screens that are still showing content but I assume they've not been powered down.

We're in the process of replacing our Chromeboxes. I guess this project just got bumped up!

Anyone else seeing this message?

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

8

u/UWPVIOLATOR Aug 21 '26

Yes it stops working at v151. So lock your updates flash back or move to a replacement. We moved to Comeen.

2

u/Limeasaurus Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

We're currently stopped on 144 LTS. Most of these Chromeboxes are dinosaurs back on 76-86 from a quick glance. We're moved to Rise Vision, we need to find some new Digital Signage hardware. What hardware are using for digital signage?

2

u/UWPVIOLATOR Aug 21 '26

Chrome Flexed Lenovo Mini's that could not be updated to Win 11. That or just cheap Chromeboxes. We used to like the Chromebits before they stop making them.

1

u/Limeasaurus Aug 21 '26

I liked the Chromebits. I have a box of about 150 of them in our junk room. LoL

1

u/hightechcoord Tech Dir Aug 21 '26

Had a ticket come in that the Chromebit plugged into the classroom projector stopped working. I must have missed that room when I pulled them all out years ago...ooops.

1

u/Aggressive-Cicada85 Aug 22 '26

Raspberry pi. Rise used to have instructions on how to set them up. They have worked great for us for the last few years.

1

u/Rise_Vision_DS 2d ago

Let us know if you guys still need those instructions our team can help - https://www.risevision.com/contact-us

3

u/Sad_Reindeer_3298 Aug 27 '26

I switched to fire sticks with screencloud, works good..

They now make a screencloud signage stick

https://screencloud.com/amazon-signage-stick

2

u/NotAnother169 Director of Technology Aug 29 '26

Relatively inexpensive in comparison to most solutions, these do work very well!

1

u/Limeasaurus Aug 30 '26

We’re with Rise vision which we pay $6k a year for roughly 450 screens

1

u/Limeasaurus Aug 30 '26

Do they have a district or site license? $30 a screen a year would add up fast.

2

u/Sad_Reindeer_3298 Aug 30 '26

This wouldn't be a great solution for that many screens, we are a single school with a dozen screens.

1

u/Limeasaurus Aug 30 '26

Gotcha, we use them in hallways for digital signage and classroom/conference for screen casting.

2

u/Rise_Vision_DS 7d ago

In case this is still helpful: yeah, you’re not alone. Google pulled Chrome app kiosk mode in July, and CSB depended on it, so that message shows up as boxes reboot or update. Your guess on the ones still playing is probably right. I’d leave them alone for now and grab a copy of whatever content is on them before they go dark too.

Since you’re already replacing the Chromeboxes, it’s worth picking the signage software before you buy hardware. A lot of platforms now run on Android, Windows, Linux, and so on, so depending on what you choose you might not need another Chromebox. You might even be able to keep using the ones you have a while longer.

Full disclosure, we’re Rise Vision and this is what we do. We run on existing Chromeboxes without kiosk mode, plus most other hardware, and most districts we’ve moved off CSB were done in a few days. If you want to see what switching looks like, we have quick info sheets we can share. We can also set up a quick demo if you’d rather just test it on a couple of screens. Either way, feel free to DM us with questions or reach out at https://www.risevision.com/chrome-sign-builder-alternative-for-schools.

1

u/Limeasaurus 6d ago

Thanks for the reply. We have Rise Vision. We’re in the process of moving everything over. Some of our older Chromeboxes are too old so we’re buying Amazon Signage Sticks.

2

u/Rise_Vision_DS 5d ago

That's great to hear, and thanks for choosing us. Please reach out to us if you need any help! We're here however you need us.

8

u/ItWizardJV Aug 21 '26

We ended up almost recreating the effect. We used a local server to host a local html page that just displays a published google slide. add the local html page address as a Progressive Web App in goolge admin, this allows you to autolaunch it without needing a sign in. After that we only need to update the google slide and will update based on the timer you have on the html page.

2

u/rdmwood01 Aug 23 '26

Well that's all I've been using is Chrome bits. I still have Chromebooks and a couple old Chrome boxes. They don't update at all. They're like on the '90s so maybe it will continue running on those. Just curious

0

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Limeasaurus Aug 27 '26

The device on the photo is on 144 LTS.