SEB 3.7.1 - Failed Display Verification - "Not Supported" in Log

[skycruiser8]

Important

• Please always consult the documentation first before creating a bug report: https://safeexambrowser.org/windows/win_usermanual_en.html.
• Please always attach the log file(s) of the affected session(s)! They can be found under %LocalAppData%\SafeExamBrowser\Logs.

Describe the Bug
When launching an exam configuration in which display verification is enabled, the exam cannot start with error like in picture. This machine is a tower PC in which the monitor is plugged in to the motherboard's VGA port.

Steps to Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use the attached SEB configuration to launch an exam
2. See error

Expected Behavior
Display verification should pass as the maximum display is 2 and only 1 is connected

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Version Information

• OS: Windows 10 Education Version 22H2
• SEB-Version: SEB 3.7.1

Additional Context

As observed in log, there is a "Not Supported" error thrown by the display validator.

SebClientSettings.zip
2024-08-15_15h46m09s_Runtime.log

[skycruiser8]

We have narrowed down the issue to the WMIC query when finding out the displays.

seb-win-refactoring/SafeExamBrowser.Monitoring/Display/DisplayMonitor.cs

Line 158 in febfd94

using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(@"Root\WMI", "SELECT * FROM WmiMonitorBasicDisplayParams"))

using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(@"Root\WMI", "SELECT * FROM WmiMonitorBasicDisplayParams"))

Executing the similar query in CMD will yield the same error as in SEB.

Gemini actually suggested another command which can return the display list, which can be a reference for fixing.

wmic /namespace:\\root\cimv2 path Win32_DesktopMonitor get *

Thank you @farkhans for help!

[skycruiser8]

Another revelation:

Our IT staff suggested that we switch the monitor with another one in the same fleet of PCs. This monitor somehow works and SEB was able to run without any issues.

Here is the comparison for the command when the original monitor is used (top) and when the monitor is changed (bottom):

Note that this PC only has a single VGA port so plugging in an extra monitor is not possible anyways.

Using the previous CIMV2 command, here are the comparison between the two monitors. As before, the existing monitor is the top one, and the new monitor is the bottom one:

[dbuechel]

Thanks a lot for the detailed issue report and research. We'll have a look at it and may hopefully be able to finally fix this issue, which has been reported before but without a way for us to reproduce it. Until now, we suspected a generic display driver to sometimes cause the problem.

[UNISTRAPHIOlivier]

Hello Dear,
We are here on vmware horizon.
Same error:

2024-09-26 21:53:39.218 [07] - ERROR: [DisplayMonitor] Failed to query displays!

Exception Message: Non pris en charge
Exception Type: System.Management.ManagementException

à System.Management.ManagementException.ThrowWithExtendedInfo(ManagementStatus errorCode)
à System.Management.ManagementObjectCollection.ManagementObjectEnumerator.MoveNext()
à System.Linq.Enumerable.d__971.MoveNext() à SafeExamBrowser.Monitoring.Display.DisplayMonitor.TryLoadDisplays(IList1& displays) dans C:\Users\appveyor\projects\seb-win-refactoring-mltg1wfbmuoivnbc\SafeExamBrowser.Monitoring\Display\DisplayMonitor.cs:ligne 163

2024-09-26 21:53:39.219 [07] - WARNING: [DisplayMonitor] Failed to validate display configuration, active configuration is not allowed.
2024-09-26 21:53:39.220 [07] - ERROR: Display configuration is not allowed!
2024-09-26 21:55:25.872 [07] - INFO: ### -------------------------------------- Session Start Failed -------------------------------------- ###

wmic /namespace:\root\cimv2 path Win32_DesktopMonitor get *

=>
Availability Bandwidth Caption ConfigManagerErrorCode ConfigManagerUserConfig CreationClassName Description DeviceID DisplayType ErrorCleared ErrorDescription InstallDate IsLocked LastErrorCode MonitorManufacturer MonitorType Name PixelsPerXLogicalInch PixelsPerYLogicalInch PNPDeviceID PowerManagementCapabilities PowerManagementSupported ScreenHeight ScreenWidth Status StatusInfo SystemCreationClassName
8 Écran par défaut Win32_DesktopMonitor Écran par défaut DesktopMonitor1 Écran par défaut Écran par défaut 96 96 OK Win32_ComputerSystem
3 Moniteur non Plug-and-Play générique 0 FALSE Win32_DesktopMonitor Moniteur non Plug-and-Play générique DesktopMonitor2 (Types d'écrans standard) Moniteur non Plug-and-Play générique Moniteur non Plug-and-Play générique 96 96 DISPLAY\DEFAULT_MONITOR\4&427137E&0&UID0 1440 2560 OK Win32_ComputerSystem

[dbuechel]

If you're in a virtual machine, then the error is to be expected and can be ignored in the SEB configuration (Security > Ignore errors when validating display configuration [...], see https://safeexambrowser.org/windows/win_usermanual_en.html#SecurityPane).