Nothing is displayed

• Make sure the sketch uploads successfully to the Teensy 3.1
• Check the soldering on the SmartMatrix Shield

"No SD card" message

• Make sure the microSD card is inserted in the reader, and is formatted properly
• Check your soldering on the expansion connector and Teensy
• Check the wires, make sure none are loose or connected to the wrong pins
• Try another microSD card

GIFs aren't playing

• See Troubleshooting in the SmartMatrix GIF Player section

Sketch does not respond to IR remote

• Make sure the battery still has charge
• Test that your remote is actually transmitting by viewing the remote's LED through a digital camera
• Check the wires, make sure none are loose or connected to the wrong pins
• If you are compiling the Aurora sketch yourself, make sure the CPU Speed is set to 48MHz or 96MHz (not 72MHz). You can first make sure the compiled Aurora.hex works on your display.
• If you're not sure if your IR sensor is working, try wiring it up to an LED to test.

"No Clock" message

• The clock overlay requires a separate RTC module with one of these chips: DS1307, DS1337 and DS3231. Adafruit's DS1307 breakout and the ChronoDot should work with the sketch. The wiring is more complicated as you will have to share the GND and power pins. SDA connects to SmartMatrix Shield pin 17, SCL to pin 16. Make sure I2C pull-up resistors are installed either on the SmartMatrix Shield or RTC board.