Product FAQ
It is recommended that you follow the shutdown procedure below in order to avoid possible power surges that MAY, over time, shorten the lifespan of the components in the device.
That being said, the Enchanted Portal was designed with tiki bars in mind that may have a single switch to turn everything ON/OFF or may even be on a timer. We don't expect this method of shutdown to cause any problems, but you never know with power and voltage so if possible we recommend following the procedure below.
There are 2 ways to initiate a safe SHUTDOWN:
- Turn on your Relic Amplifier and place the provided SHUTDOWN card on it. The scene on your monitor should disappear almost immediately and go black. Wait about 10 seconds for the tiny GREEN LED on the bottom of the portal to turn RED and then it's safe to shut the power off. If the portal is in hidden location we suggest waiting about 20 seconds after the screen goes black and then power off, just to be sure.
- Press the power button on the side of the Enchanted Portal and hold it for about 5 seconds. You will first see a shutdown message on the screen and then a few seconds later the portal should shut down and the screen will go black.
This will depend on the method you used to turn the portal off.
If you turned the portal off by simply turning the power off, such as turning off a power strip, then simply turning the power back on should automatically start the portal.
If, on the other hand, you used either the SHUTDOWN card or pressed the button on the portal itself, you will likely need to press the button on the portal in order to power it up. (See Figure 3 in the Portal Manual if you don't know where the power button is)
This could be bad. Please take a photo of the screen so any text on it can be read and send it to support@tikibar.tech . The most likely cause is that your SD Card has been corrupted. A new card should fix the issue.
You're probably enjoying some strong, tiki cocktails at the moment so we do have to ask these 2 questions.
- Is the monitor turned on?
- Is the HDMI cable plugged in to both the Enchanted Portal and your monitor?
If you believe everything is setup properly, please send an email to support@tikibar.tech and explain the situation.
This can happen if you don't turn the power on your monitor on prior to turning on the Enchanted Portal. The portal will tell your monitor the resolution to adjust to, 1080p, but if your monitor is not on when that happens then it will default to whatever your monitor's default resolution is.
Use the SHUTDOWN card to power down your Enchanted Portal, wait about 10 seconds, and then turn the power back on on your Enchanted Portal.
If your screen looks like this image when you turn on the Enchanted Portal, you most likely have the HDMI adapter cable on the Enchanted Portal in the incorrect port. The cable should be plugged into the CENTER port, immediately to the right of the power cable. Refer to the Manual for a detailed image and instructions.
Note that BOTH THE VIDEO AND AUDIO are transmitted via the HDMI connection. With that in mind there are several possible reasons you are not hearing any sound.
Is you monitor on MUTE? Just starting with the easy one as I have done that a few times accidentally so I know it happens. If you are NOT on mute, trying muting and then unmuting.
My monitor is a SMART monitor and when I turn it on it searches for an HDMI signal from whatever port I have previously told it to look. If it does not find an HDMI signal (IE the Enchanted Portal is NOT yet powered on), it will auto switch(my monitor) to start looking for a WiFi connection. When it does that it turns off the HDMI audio signal. So even if I turn on the Enchanted Portal and switch the input back to the HDMI port I am using, the audio will not work.
To fix the issue I turn off BOTH the Enchanted Portal AND the monitor. Turn ONLY the monitor on and switch the INPUT to the proper HDMI port that the portal is plugged into. Now turn on the power to the Enchanted Portal. This should switch the audio on the monitor back to the HDMI port. It's possible your monitor behaves differently and you may have to look through the MENU settings on your monitor to see if that works.
If the diamond on the Relic Amplifier does not light at all when powered up, one of two things is happening.
- The batteries are dead. Try fresh batteries.
- The USB cable is bad or not compatible. Apple cables will not supply proper power. I don't know why. Try the cable supplied with the Relic Amplifier. If you plan to purchase a longer cable you'll want to get a USB to USB C Fast Charging cable.
This usually indicates that not enough power is being supplied to the device. In non mumbo-jumbo technical terms, the device requires more power to turn on then it does to actually run (Weird, right?)
TIKI HEAD DESIGN
If you are using the 4 AA battery powered device
Leave the device on for a few seconds and then try turning it off and then immediately back on. Usually, even if your batteries are partially drained, this will supply enough power to get it going. You may have to try this several times.
STONE TEMPLE DESIGN
The 3.7v rechargeable battery probably needs to be charged. Plug in the USB-C cable to start charging the battery. You can then immediately turn on the Relic Amplifier by pressing the button on the side and it should power on and can be used while charging.
BOTH TIKI HEAD & STONE TEMPLE DESIGN
If you are using the USB-C powered device from a battery pack
Leave the device on for a few seconds and then unplug the cable from the rechargeable battery pack and then immediately plug it back in. You may have to try this several times. Make sure the plug is pushed all the way into the adapter hole on the device if you continue having issues.
If powering it OFF and ON still doesn't work, try powering the device from a USB port on a laptop or wall plug to make sure it is working properly.
Some rechargeable battery packs simply can't supply the necessary startup power so try and get one with at least 5V and 3Amp power.
The diamond/flame blinking BLUE indicates that the relic placed on the amplifier was recognized. The diamond blinking GREEN immediately after, indicates that the Enchanted Portal has been notified and an effect should occur on the screen. If instead the diamond/flame blinks RED, that indicates either the Enchanted Portal could not be found(is it turned on?), or the Relic was too far away from the amplifier and the data could not be transferred. Try placing the relic close to the amplifier or cycling the Relic Amplifier power OFF and then ON.
When the diamond blinks or turns solid RED on the Relic Amplifier it means that the connection to the Enchanted Portal could not be found. Make sure the Enchanted Portal is turned on and the scene is showing on the screen. You can also try cycling the power OFF and then ON on the Relic Amplifier.
Place the relic on the mouth of the carved face. If the diamond does not immediately blink BLUE, trying moving it around a little bit until it does.
To access the battery compartment unscrew the 2 screws on the bottom of the device. Use caution when you flip the device over so as not to bang the stone pillar or the clear flame at the top as this could damage them. Once the compartment is open there will be a JST-PH 2.0 type plug available . This is the most common plug type for batteries of this size but there are others. So when purchasing a battery be sure and look for JST-PH 2.0 and 3.7v. The mAh (milliampere-hour) of the battery only matters in that larger values provide longer life. For example a 5200mAh battery will last longer than a 3000mAh battery.
The size of the battery obviously matters as well. Be sure and get a battery small enough to fit inside the compartment, otherwise you may as well just use a large battery and connect to the USB-C port on the back. A battery with the following dimensions will fit with room to spare.
2.65 x 1.46 x 0.75 Inches
Additionally the orientation of the RED and BLACK wires at the connection point is important. The connection seems to be pretty random on many batteries in that the RED and BLACK wires are reversed. Try and find a battery that has the proper connection orientation pictured (though honestly half the time that is wrong).
Here is a link to a battery on Amazon that when I last purchased it the connector was correct.
If you end up with a battery that has the RED and BLACK wires reversed at the connection point, below are details on how you can fix that.
Set the wire on a hard surface like a table. Grab the white connector and gently push the wires in. You will see the little silver part move away from the tab. Now use a screwdriver to gently lift the white tab (green arrows above) of one of the wires, just a little bit, and then gently pull the wire out. It should slide out pretty easily so if it does not lift the tab just a little bit higher. You don't want to lift it too far and break it off!
As you pull the wire out notice the orientation of the silver crimp that slides out as it needs to be reinserted this same way. One side of the silver crimp has a tiny little fin on it, that side goes up when pushing the wire in and that fin is what catches on the white tab to keep the wire from coming out.
Once both wires are out you can gently re-insert each with a gentle push. Give the wires a gentle tug to make sure they stay. If your wire slides out you can use your screwdriver to press down on the white tab to lock the wire into place.
There are a few reasons that can cause this. The most likely of which is that your Firewall is blocking it.
Firewall
Turn off your firewall and try and connect again. If you can connect then we have discovered the culprit. You'll have to edit your firewall settings and try changing the security level (see Encryption) or whitelisting the network you are trying to connect to. Whitelisting tells the firewall "hey, I know you think you have a problem with this network, but I'm telling you it's okay so let me connect".
If turning off your firewall does not fix the issue, continue to the next section below.
Encryption/Security
Currently the Tikibar.tech interactive relics do not support the latest encryption (WPA3) or HTTPS. Some Firewall or Browser settings may trigger "Unable to Connect" or a message such as "Supported Encryption is Older and not as secure".
If you see a message like this while you are trying to connect then the issue comes from your firewall or other settings on the phone/tablet you are connecting from. Check your system level Network settings or Firewall settings and see if you can allow older encryption methods like WPA2.
Once you are connected open up a browser and type in the URL for whichever interactive relic you are trying to reach. E.G. mystic_aurora.local
If you see a message such as "HTTPS Not Supported. Continue?", just click YES or CONTINUE or whatever the browser message allows. If the browser does not provide a way to continue you will likely need to go into the browser settings and allow non-HTTPS sites to display. Consult the help for the browser you are using.
You may also be able to whitelist the site in the browser, which basically means you tell the browser to allow a particular URL to bypass security settings. Again consult the help for your browser.
If you get a message that indicates the site is not reachable, not responding, or perhaps a message indicating a "failure of DNS to resolve the site", this could be a result of a security setting in the browser or a "live web page scan" from your firewall. You can try turning off your firewall temporarily to see if that is where the problem is and then try and whitelist the site if it is.
Try the IP address instead of RELIC_NAME.local
Oftentimes there are many different reasons that a URL ending with ".local" cannot properly be reached. One easy solution is to use the IP address of the site rather than the name, this bypasses the need for DNS to try and resolve where the website is. If the relic you are trying to connect to DOES NOT HAVE a static IP address (consult the relics manual), you will need to open your WiFi settings and look for the network called RELIC_NAME_IP where IP will be a number like 192.168.1.100 or something similar. That number is the IP address that you need to type into your browser INSTEAD OF typing in RELIC_NAME.local
For example if you open up your WiFi settings and you see a network called "tbt_tippytnt_192.168.1.100" you would then type into the URL of your browser 192.168.1.100
This should result in a web page being displayed. If you only get a blank or partial page, rather than an error, try hitting the refresh button on your browser. You may have to do this several times before the page finally loads. The bottom of the page should show a Tikibar.tech copyright so if you don't see this then you don't yet have the entire page loaded. If you continue to get an error try doing a Google search on whatever the error is or send an email to support@tikibar.tech and we will try and help.
If you have a single Mystic Aurora then please read the General Information section above on connection issues as something there is most likely the problem. Of course also read the connection section in the online manual if you have not yet done so.
If you have multiple Mystic Aurora then it's possible they were initially powered up incorrectly (see the Mystic Aurora manual for proper FIRST TIME power up procedures). The easiest way to fix this is to power down all Mystic Aurora. Choose whichever one you want to be the Master and press and hold the button on the side. Power up JUST THE ONE YOU ARE HOLDING. CONTINUE holding the button until the lights come on which will be about 10 seconds.
Now try following the connection procedures to connect to the Mystic Aurora.
There are a few different things you can try if this happens.
Firstly, try using a hard object like the end of a pen or pencil rather than your knuckles.
Try moving your knock location around. The best place to start is the center of the top. If that isn't responding then move left or right a little bit. Really, try anywhere on the top. The corners will sometimes work better just using your finger rather than knuckles(though both should work).
Try knocking a little bit harder for the first knock. When you see it recognizes the first knock(TNT blinks blue) then future knocks in that same sequence will be recognized with lighter knocking. IE you don't have to knock the entire sequence hard, just the first one. This is really only when you are using your knuckles.
The most likely reason for this to happen is that the crate is choosing an effect that is not compatible with the current state of the scene displayed on the portal. For example certain explosions won't occur if the volcano is erupting, or if there is a storm, or if the time of day is sunset and the effect only occurs at night. Please see the Unstable Cargo manual for these details.
This interactive relic, that's also a game, should be available sometime the first week or two of December. So you can ask for it as a stocking stuffer!
This interactive relic will be available sometime in 2025. Like the Unstable Cargo relic, this will have several modes as well as puzzles to be solved.
A basic relic is activated by placing it on the Relic Amplifier. In turn it will interact with the Enchanted Portal and trigger an effect there. This type of relic requires no power and requires the Relic Amplifier & Enchanted Portal.
An interactive relic requires power and can be used either standalone OR with the Enchanted Portal. This type of relic may be capable of playing a game, interacting with other interactive relics, and triggering effects on the Enchanted Portal.
The Unstable Cargo relic will be the first interactive relic and should become available in early December.