boardspace.net

BoardSpace needs Java!

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If the applet doesn't appear at all, this is the first problem to solve.  Our games require a Java-enabled browser. Most modern browsers support Java, including Netscape 3.0 and newer and Internet Explorer 3.0 and newer,  but some installations don't autmatically include java. 

The major causes of "no java" in browsers are: Two sites that will help you test and diagnose java on your browser are Java.com  and  Fitwise.com

Firewalls, Routers, Ports and Proxies, Lost Connections

If you get some kind of "can't connect" message in the lobby chat area:  The Java applet must be able to open an outgoing tcp connection on port 2255.  Most firewalls and routers are configured allow this; but some institutions (work, school) and some personal firewall products (blackice, zone alarm) may block this port.  If the applet window comes up, but can't connect to the server, look for problems with port 2255.  The applet will also fail to connect if it was loaded from some place other than Boardspace.net, which could be a side effect of some browser proxy setups. 

If you get the message rcv 221 errConnection error then you have successfully connected to the server, but your connection has been rejected.  The most likely cause of this is that you accidentally connected to the server without going through the login procedure.  This can happen if you use your browser's back button, or if your browser has cached the login page (and so didn't to chat with the server about your login).  Check your browser cache settings.

If you lose connection in mid-game: don't panic, you can reconnect and rejoin the game.  This can happen for a variety of reasons, most of which are impossible to predict or control.  Watch the little spinner clock spinner located next to your clock (and your opponents clock).  The little arrow should change position at least every 10 seconds or so, and if it has not changed position recently, the color starts fading from green to red.  After 2 minutes of no activity a timeout will occur and you can try to reconnect.

Slow  connections: Once the applet is downloaded, the bandwidth required to maintain the lobby and a game is very modest, and any type of internet connection should work fine.   One problem we have seen a few times is that firewalls such as Zone Alarm interfere with the flow of data to the server without completely blocking it. We don't know why, but disabling Zone Alarm fixes the problem.  A test for this condition is to switch the type of a game room, say from "Game Room" to "Unranked Room".  The changeover should happen very fast, within a second.  If there is more that a very brief lag, look for this kind of networking problem.

If you successfully play games, but scoring the game fails: To score games properly, the applet must be able to make HTTP requests on either port 80 or port 4321.  Port 80 is normally used by browsers, so it is usually open, but some sites enforce the use of a http proxy server by blocking port 80.  Scoring a game fails occasionally if the server is unusually busy, or just due to random internet glitches.  If port 80 is permanantly blocked, try referring to boardspace.net as http://www.boarspace.net:4321/


Browsers, Platforms and Java Versions

The Java applet that runs the game works in any browser that supports Java, but not all browsers or platforms are created equal.  None of them are perfect, but some are much more trouble prone than others.  

Windows (any version)
Seamonkey and Firefox, which are the latest browserdescendants of Mozilla and Netscape are the best.   These versions use a java pluigin from sun which is much more reliable.
Internet Explorer (6 or greater) works, but is the most trouble prone of the major browsers; especially "out of memory" errors tend to occur.
old Netscape and even older Internet Explorer
Safari for windows is still a beta, and doesn't work.

Other browser choices are known to work, including  HotJava and Opera, but  there isn't enough  usage to make predictions about  reliability 
Macintosh
Safari works the best and is recommended.   There are a few user interface glitches, but nothing major.  
Seamonkey and Firefox works except some menus are missing from the top of the screen.  The most annoying effect of this is that you can't turn the sound off.

Older versions of IE, Netscape and Mozilla usually work if  the Java pluigin us configured correctly.   The key word is if.  The OS developers and browser developers haven't always played together well, so some there are gaps where some version of browser doesn't support java for some version of OS.  

Some olld versions of MRJ are buggy and do not work at all, even though they work with most other web sites; but you are unlikely to still be using anything so old.
Linux
        Relatively few of our players use Linux , the only general statement we can make is that the most current combinations work ok.

Old Java Versions
Boardspace works with  Java version 1.1 and greater, which is really old.  No bleeding edge features are required.

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