Installation troubleshooting for Computers

While installation is a very straightforward process, there are certain steps where things can go wrong. In this article we’ll discuss these common issues, and how to address them.

I installed the client, but my device is not showing up in the control panel.

Is your Prey installation configured correctly? 

During configuration, Prey assigns a unique device key to devices added to your Control Panel, associated with the device’s hardware. If you cannot see a device you recently added to your Prey panel, please try the following, depending on your installation method:

• After the installation process is finished, Prey will launch a configuration window on your default web browser to finish setting up your device. If you closed the window by mistake, please run the following command depending on your operating system (please have your administrator password at hand, as the MacOS and Ubuntu commands will prompt you for it):
  • For Windows: open a command prompt window with administrator privileges and run:
    C:\Windows\Prey\current\bin\prey config gui -f
  • For MacOS: Open a terminal window and run:
    sudo /usr/local/lib/prey/current/bin/prey config panel
  • For Ubuntu Linux: Open a terminal window and run:
    sudo /usr/lib/prey/current/bin/prey config panel

  This will open the configuration window once more, where you’ll be able to enter your login credentials.

• If you installed using any of the unattended installation methods, the process should be finished automatically after a few minutes, as all the account information will be included in either the executable or on the string you passed on. Please allow up to 5 minutes for the client to connect to the Prey servers, making sure the device is turned on and with an active internet connection.

If after five minutes the device still doesn’t show up, there may have been a connection issue at the moment of linking. You can use one of the following commands (depending on your OS) to force add the device to your account; please make sure to replace the SETUP_KEY placeholder with your unique Setup Key in each case. Additionally, have your administrator password at hand, as the MacOS and Ubuntu commands will prompt you for it.

• Open a command prompt window with administrator privileges and run:
  C:\Windows\Prey\current\bin\prey config account authorize -a SETUP_KEY
• Open a terminal window and run:
  sudo /usr/local/lib/prey/current/bin/prey config account authorize -a SETUP_KEY
• Open a terminal window and run:
  sudo /usr/lib/prey/current/bin/prey config account authorize -a SETUP_KEY

Is your device using an already assigned slot?

Once assigned a slot, Prey identifies the device by its hardware. In some instances, a device may be rewritten in a previously used slot. The reasons for this can be:

• The device does not have a unique serial number
• The device may have a USB network interface that cloned the previous device’s MAC address.

If this is the case, toggle off the option Identify devices when linking from the Settings menu in your Prey Control Panel, under Tracking Settings. Please note that a duplicate will be generated if you reinstall Prey on any of your machines while this option is disabled.