Respondus LockDown Browser - Error & Troubleshooting Steps

Known Issue

Students may report seeing a "Fix It" error when they attempt to take their exam. This error may appear after some students in the class have successfully taken the exam, and it must be resolved by the instructor before the remaining students can access and submit their exam.

Screenshot of the "Fix It" error seen by students attempting to take an exam with Respondus LockDown Browser: "There is a problem with the LockDown Browser settings for this exam. The instructor needs to use the LockDown Browser "dashboard" to enable the settings for this exam."

 

NOTE: Students who encounter a problem but don't see the above message may be using an outdated version of Respondus LockDown Browser. Older versions may not work correctly with Blackboard, even if they have been used to take an exam in the past. Please uninstall and reinstall the most recent version of Respondus (see this article for instructions), then try the exam again. If the problem persists, see the student section below for more troubleshooting tips.

 

Prevention

This error typically occurs when the instructor makes changes to the exam or edits the exam settings after enabling Respondus LockDown browser. This may include changing availability dates or adding students to the exam exceptions. These changes can 'break' the connection between Respondus and Blackboard. It is recommended to check the exam/settings and make any changes before enabling RLDB to prevent this error from occurring.

If you must make changes to an exam where Respondus LockDown Browser has already been enabled, please follow the steps below.

  • Turn the RLDB tool off for the exam: Open the course in Blackboard and select the Books & Tools menu. Choose Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard and select the drop-down menu next to the exam's title and choose Settings. Select Don't require Respondus LockDown Browser for this exam > click Save + Close.
  • Make changes to the exam questions or the test options/settings.
  • Turn the RLDB tool back on for that exam: Go back to the Books & Tools menu and choose Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard and select the drop-down menu next to the exam's title and choose Setting. Select Require Respondus LockDown Browser for this exam and click Save + Close.

The error may also occur under other circumstances, such as copying a course or the student accessing the exam from a reminder link. For more information about alternative causes and solutions, please see the Respondus help page. Errors other than the 'Fix It' problem may also be resolved by turning the integration off and on again for your exam(s) as described above.
 

Troubleshooting Steps

If you are an instructor, please follow the steps below to repair the Respondus LockDown Browser - Blackboard exam integration. ​​​​If you are a student seeing this error, please report it to your instructor so they can resolve the issue – if that fails, you can try the steps below to fix any problems on your end. 

Fix the Error (Instructors Only)

  • Log in to Blackboard and navigate to your course.
  • Look under the Books & Tools menu (on the right-hand side of the course page) and select Respondus LockDown Browser Dashboard.
  • Locate the test with the associated error.
  • Fix the error by clicking the Fix It button.
  • The exam integration should be repaired and allowing students to access the test again. If this fails, please check for other problems with the Blackboard integration, or have the student follow the instructions below.
     

Fix the Error (Students Only)

If only some students cannot access the exam, it may be a problem on their end. Students may try the following troubleshooting steps:

Update or uninstall / reinstall Respondus LockDown Browser: 

  • Even if you just installed RLDB, you may need to patch the installation before you can access your exam. Please see this page for more information about checking for updates
  • If RLDB is up to date, but it still doesn't work, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the application to restore functionality. Please see our help article for a walkthrough with a link to the newest version of the install file. NOTE: This is a known solution to recent problems with essay questions.

Check for other problems on the computer or network: 

  • Make sure you are opening the exam with Respondus LockDown Browser, not Firefox or Chrome, and that all other applications are closed before you begin.
  • When you open Respondus LockDown Browser, ensure the URL is set to blackboard.UND.edu not blackboard.NDUS.edu.
  • Open the exam by navigating to it directly, through links inside of your Blackboard course – don't use a 'reminder' link from the toolbar or calendar (or any other outside link).
  • Ensure that you have the correct time and time zone set locally (on your computer's desktop).
  • Check the security settings on your computer, ISP, and network – relax security settings or bypass the router by plugging directly into the modem, then try again.
  • Try connecting to a different network to take the exam.
  • Try using a different computer (with RLDB installed) to take the exam.

If none of these steps are effective, please see the RLDB help page for more information about different causes and solutions for the user.

 

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