# Maintain a device remotely: restart, log, update

Five commands hit the machine itself and with it every display attached to it. Each has its own effect and its own dark period. How many displays go along is shown in the portal above the buttons.

> **Type:** device
> **For:** anyone who has to get a device running again from a distance
> **Prerequisite:** Manager or Owner role. The device is paired.
> **Where in the portal:** **Devices** › device › tab **Remote service**

## What you need in front of you

- The device is plugged in and on the network. If it is not reporting right now, the portal accepts commands anyway.
- The device record in the portal, opened on the **Remote service** tab. From a display, use **Go to device remote service**.

> **Caution:** These commands apply to the machine, not to one display. Above the buttons, it says how many displays they affect. On a device with two displays, the second one goes black without warning. What concerns only one display is on that display’s own page: refresh content, screenshot, identify, and reclaim source.

## Steps

1. Open **Devices** and choose the machine from the list.
2. Switch to the **Remote service** tab. Above the buttons, it says **Every one of these commands hits the machine — and with it all N screens attached to it.**
3. Choose the command. What each one does is in the table below. Pointing at the button shows the same explanation.
4. Check under **Orders in progress** whether the order is under way.

![The “Device remote service” card with the sentence above the bar saying how many displays a command affects (1), and the commands Reboot (2), Fetch system log (3), Check for update (4), and Confirm system state (5)](/docs/devices/bilder/92fbc25c-remote-maintenance-toolbar.png)

*1 How many displays a command affects · 2 Reboot · 3 Fetch system log · 4 Check for update · 5 Confirm system state*

## The commands in detail

| Command | What it does | What the display does |
|---|---|---|
| **Reboot** | Restarts the machine. The fix for most faults. | black for about a minute, on all displays of the device |
| **Fetch system log** | Fetches the raw technical lines of the device, in case the operations log is not enough. | nothing |
| **Check for update** | Asks whether a newer system image is available for this device’s channel. Installing happens only afterward. | nothing |
| **Confirm system state** | Confirms the running system state as sound. Without this confirmation, the device falls back to the previous one at its next start. | nothing |
| **Determine again** (tab **Location**) | The device reads its radio environment and reports its position from it. | nothing |

The command for locating deliberately sits on the **Location** tab: Its result appears there too. It does not come immediately but **with the next report from the device**. Then it says **Position determined** with an accuracy in meters or kilometers, **No position — too few radio cells in range**, or **No position — the daily lookup budget is used up**. The position is determined **via the radio environment** or, as a fallback, **via the IP address**.

None of these commands restores the factory state. That happens on the **Lifecycle** tab with **Factory state …**, see [Device lifecycle](/docs/devices/device-lifecycle).

## Check the result

Every order is recorded. Under **Orders in progress**, it shows what is under way right now. Each row disappears as soon as its result arrives. The **Commands on this machine** table then lists all orders, newest first, including those aimed at one of its displays. The **Applies to** column names whom an order affected.

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Pending** | accepted, not yet delivered |
| **Dispatched** | arrived at the device |
| **Acknowledged** | the device has acknowledged the order |
| **Completed** | carried out |
| **Failed** | the device was unable to carry out the order |
| **Timed out** | no response within the deadline |

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Meaning | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **This device is not reporting right now** above the bar | The machine is offline. | Nothing further. Commands are accepted and run as soon as the device reports again. If it takes too long, they expire. |
| **Timed out** in the table | The order was not acknowledged in time. | Check whether the device is reporting, and issue the command again. A command to an absent device expires. |
| **This device reports no capability that can be triggered from here.** | The machine can do none of these commands, for example a web display. | Work on the computer itself, see [Web display: a display in the browser](/docs/devices/web-display). |
| A button is grayed out | You lack the permission to issue commands to devices. | Ask for the Manager or Owner role. |
| After the restart, the display stays dark | The restart takes about a minute. After that, the cause lies elsewhere. | Continue with [Troubleshooting on the device](/docs/devices/troubleshooting). |

## Related

- [Remote maintenance of a display](/docs/displays/remote-maintenance) — the four commands that hit only one display.
- [Device lifecycle](/docs/devices/device-lifecycle) — re-pair, restore the factory state, remove, or report as lost.
- [How does a player update itself?](/docs/devices/about-player-updates) — what **Check for update** and **Confirm system state** trigger.