Nightmare with your chatbox not connecting

[SaxMan]

I have a friend I've been trying to help with a particularly strange problem concerning your chatbox. She gets the network disconnected error message, no matter what she does. She can't use the chat box on her myspace page, she can't use the chat box on OTHER peoples pages at all....it's like you are blocking her. We tried everything...updated flash player & macromedia player, deleted cookies, tried both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox....nothing works!

Her ISP says they are not blocking your site....can you please help us with this problem??

Thanks,

SaxMan

[chris]

It could be a firewall problem. Try turning off your firewall for a bit and see if you can connect.

If that works you'll know you'll need to change the settings of your firewall.

Regards Chris.

[SaxMan]

Thanks Chris...unfortunately it didn't work. She still can't see or participate in any of the chat boxes associated with xat.com. There must be some cookie setting or *something* that can be cleared out...we tried doing that earlier and it made no difference...I just don't get it...:(

[chris]

It's unlikely to be a cookie problem. How do you connect to the internet?

Chris.

[SaxMan]

My friend who is having the problem connects to the internet via cable (Comcast to be exact). The odd thing is, the chat box used to work on her page. Then she started her computer up one day and it not only no longer worked, she cannot talk in *anyone's* chat box on their pages either...it is a VERY odd issue, and I'm completely stumped at this point.

Anything you can think of (including magic spells or potions) is greatly appreciated! :D

Thanks,

SaxMan

[chris]

Have you tried clearing the browser cache:

(See here: https://kb.iu.edu/data/ahic.html )

Chris.

[SaxMan]

Yeah, she tried that already per your suggestion, she went to that site & did that...though maybe it wouldn't hurt for her to do it again.

Actually I think she's in email touch with you or someone there as well...she really wants to get it working, but it's just such a weird weird issue...my day job is I do tech support for a software company, so I'm fairly computer savvy, but I gotta tell you, the symptoms she's getting with this problem is off the charts :(

thanks again Chris,

SaxMan

[chris]

Oh I see its the same "lady" ;)

The box is working fine for me. It's just her PC I take it ..

If you look at the bottom of the help screen you will see the version number, what does it say?

I'm a bit out of ideas (like you!)

Chris.

[SaxMan]

Oh I see its the same "lady" ;)

The box is working fine for me. It's just her PC I take it ..

If you look at the bottom of the help screen you will see the version number, what does it say?

I'm a bit out of ideas (like you!)

Chris.

Chris,

She's on Mozilla Firefox version 2.0.0.3, which is the same as I use, and it works great for me using the chat boxes.

I had a couple of additional thoughts about this though, which I wanted to ask you about.

1. How does the chat box "remember" who she is? No matter which computer she's on, work or home, when she goes into MySpace every chat box on every page shows the name she used previously (even though the chat box itself is blacked out). Even if she logs in under a different MySpace profile it still remembers her name. Where is that information being stored? Do you have a system file on your end which, for instance, copies an IP address from a new user, then remembers the name associated with the IP address everytime someone goes onto a webpage with the chat box on it? I'm curious to know how that happens, and if there is some way her information could be completely cleared out of it so she could start from scratch.

2. This is connected with my first question. Do you have any sort of way of "blocking" a user if you wanted to, for instance, if someone is a troublemaker? If so, could she have been mistakenly blocked? Or does your system have some automatic blocking mechanism it uses against someone if it detects (falsly or otherwise) something it doesn't like the user with the associated IP address is doing?

I've actually experienced the 2nd situation before on a gaming website where they got the nickname I used confused with a user who had been a problem in the past, so I was automatically banned until I appealed to the moderator that I was not the same person.

Anyway, please let me know at your convenience.

Thank you for your continued help Chris :D

SaxMan

[chris]

1. How does the chat box "remember" who she is?
Flash cookies.

No matter which computer she's on, work or home, when she goes into MySpace every chat box on every page shows the name she used previously (even though the chat box itself is blacked out).

She must have entered her name on each computer then.

2. This is connected with my first question. Do you have any sort of way of "blocking" a user if you wanted to, for instance, if someone is a troublemaker? If so, could she have been mistakenly blocked?

I don't think she could ban herself.
Delete and Ban, see here: http://www.xatquiz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468

You mention a black screen. Can you send a screen grab of why you see?

Chris.

[SaxMan]

How does one clear out flash cookies? Are those stored in the browser "cookies" area, or in the Window system "flash" area? We tried clearing out the browser cookies, but she still had the same result when going back to the chat box.

>She must have entered her name on each computer then.

Hmmmm, ok...I'll check with her & see if she remembers.

>I don't think she could ban herself.
>Delete and Ban, see here: >http://www.xatquiz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468

Ok, I'll check that out.

>You mention a black screen. Can you send a screen grab of why you see?

I'll ask her to get a screen shot of it & forward it to you.

Thanks.

Chris.[/QUOTE]