SEB freezes if permission request is not answered quickly

[Mak-64]

Dear all,

I am writing from an Italian university that would like to use SEB on all student computers to report a particular problem we have encountered with SEB in Mac version (at the moment, on version 3.3.3, which is the most recent available).

To facilitate the process for students, our university has developed an installer that installs SEB and places the SEBClientSettings.seb file in the ~Library/Preferences directory, as indicated in the documentation for deploying settings. This eliminates the need for students to download and start the configuration file, which has proven to be challenging for many.

We noticed that after a fresh install of the software with the SEBClientSetting.seb inserted in the directory, a system window appears when SEB is started asking for permission to access the document folder for SEB.
The problem is that the user has half a second to respond and then SEB opens.

We have tested the software on a variety of Mac devices with different versions of macOS. If the user does not answer to the permission request, in some cases, after a brief period, SEB becomes unresponsive, displaying the icon with a spinning ball. In other cases, the software freezes as soon as it is closed, preventing users from exiting without shutting down the computer.

(To add insult to injury, if Mac OS is set - as it is by default - to reopen open windows on shutdown, the “broken” SEB will reopen in a loop. The only way to avoid the loop is to try to press the power button to make the reboot window open - that does not work - and uncheck the option for the automatic reopening of windows after the reboot. Then, turn off the computer by keeping pressed the power button. This will clearly create problems for the majority of users).

We have seen that the problem is solved by responding quickly to the window (it is also OK to deny access to documents, just respond) or by allowing permission to access SEB to the entire disk from the system settings.

Here is a video of the problem: https://youtu.be/WaEDLQ68s_Y

Our IT technicians, who created the installer, have informed us that it is not possible to automatically add (or deny) access to the document folder from the installer.

I would like to ask you for suggestions on how to resolve this issue. Additionally, I inquire if the SEB developers could have foreseen a way to prevent the SEB from opening immediately after this window is opened, thereby preventing the user from responding.

Thank you for your attention.
Mak

[danschlet]

The documents folder permissions dialog is not handled by SEB right now, only by macOS and macOS doesn't expect the app to go into a kiosk/lockdown mode. I have to investigate if/what API could prevent the issue.

In the meantime check if your settings contain custom folders for log files and downloads. If possible use the standard directory setting/Downloads folder and no custom directory.

In general some features like ConfigKey/BrowserExamKey don't work as well with client settings. I assume that the documents folder permission dialog might also be more problematic when using client settings instead of exam settings.

We don't recommend to use client settings for exams. Is it really challenging for students to start an exam from some web page they regularly use from their regular web browser on which you would place a sebs:// link to SEB exam settings placed on a server? Current SEB versions also support seb links which contain a full SEB configuration, then you don't even need to place a .seb file on a web server.

It's not necessary to download and open a .seb configuration file, and I haven't heard about students having issues when an SEB exam is started using such a seb link.