Console disappeared on Vista / IE7

[jdva]

OK, A really weird thing happened to me this evening. Last night, I was running the admin console for the ISY with no problems. This evening I try it and it will not run. I get the web page and I get a little closed container in the upper left of my screen but no application and it's all locked up. The container has minimze, maximize, and close buttons but they do nothing. Task manager shows IE and My Lighting are both running but to close them I have to kill them in task manager. I am running Vista and IE7 on a new HP box and version 2.5rc1 of the ISY Console.

 

I don't beleive it really has anything to do with the ISY. I tested it on my XP laptop and it appears to be working fine there.

 

Does anyone have any ideas? I am stumped!

 

Thanks,

jeffd

 

If I run a trace in the Java console it looks pretty normal. See below..

 

Java Plug-in 1.6.0_03

Using JRE version 1.6.0_03 Java HotSpot Client VM

 

liveconnect: Invoking JS method: document

liveconnect: Invoking JS method: URL

basic: Referencing classloader: sun.plugin.ClassLoaderInfo@a97b0b, refcount=1

basic: Added progress listener: sun.plugin.util.GrayBoxPainter@1decdec

basic: Loading applet ...

basic: Initializing applet ...

basic: Starting applet ...

basic: completed perf rollup

network: Cache entry not found http://

network: Connecting http://192.168.1.xx:xxxxx/web/insteon.jar with proxy=DIRECT

network: Downloading resource: http://192.168.1.xx:xxxxx/web/insteon.jar

Content-Length: 553,980

Content-Encoding: null

network: Wrote URL http://192.168.1.xx:xxxxx/web/insteon.jar to File C:\Users\jeff\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\38\33634666-446b8b98-temp

security: Loading Root CA certificates from C:\PROGRA~1\Java\JRE16~2.0_0\lib\security\cacerts

security: Loaded Root CA certificates from C:\PROGRA~1\Java\JRE16~2.0_0\lib\security\cacerts

security: Loading Deployment certificates from C:\Users\jeff\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\security\trusted.certs

security: Loaded Deployment certificates from C:\Users\jeff\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\security\trusted.certs

security: Loading certificates from Deployment session certificate store

security: Loaded certificates from Deployment session certificate store

security: Loading certificates from Internet Explorer ROOT certificate store

security: Loaded certificates from Internet Explorer ROOT certificate store

security: Loading certificates from Internet Explorer TrustedPublisher certificate store

security: Loaded certificates from Internet Explorer TrustedPublisher certificate store

security: Validate the certificate chain using CertPath API

security: Obtain certificate collection in Root CA certificate store

security: Obtain certificate collection in Root CA certificate store

security: The CRL support is disabled

security: The OCSP support is disabled

security: No timestamping info available

security: Checking if certificate is in Deployment denied certificate store

security: Checking if certificate is in Deployment permanent certificate store

network: Cache entry found

[yardman 49]

Hello Jeff:

 

You've probably already thought of this, but I was wondering if you've tried clearing out the Java cache??

 

Best wishes,

[jdva]

Yep, that's kind of why I posted this trace. I cleared the cache just before I ran this one. It actually says insteon.jar not found in cache and then proceeds to relaod it. Unfortunately, I never get to see it run for some reason. Thanks though!

[jdva]

I have been playing around a little. I get the same results in Firefox 2.0. I have disabled Windows Defender and all firewalls. I still have the save problem. I was kind of hoping FireFox would work Now I am really stumped!

[MikeB]

I assume you've tried rebooting your PC?

 

I get that on occasion with Vista/IE7 - along with many other IE issues (not at all related to the ISY). There seems to be some sort of memory leak with IE7 and/or one of its addins (Flash maybe?). I also see the problem on other systems, but typically only with heavy IE users (lots of tabs/windows throughout the day).

 

Switching to FireFox has increased stability for me here quite a bit, so I'm sticking with it even though I prefer IE7 - at least until someone fixes this issue.

 

You must be having a different problem if a reboot hasn't helped.

 

Have you tried accessing the GUI via this link?

http://www.universal-devices.com/beta/

 

Good luck!

[jdva]

Thanks Mike.. Yes, I have rebooted numerous times. You said you have seen this before? Did you do anything repeatable that fixed it? At this point, I am at a complete loss? I don't think it is a browser issue because I get the same results in Firefox and IE7. I would be happy if either one fixed the problem. I have come to the conclusion it is somehow just a java/vista issue.

 

My usual approach to this is "What did I change before it worked and didn't? In this case, nothing really.. I have a Cisco VPN client for work that I installed weeks ago but haven't been able to connect because because of config issues on our work server. Our admins made the required corrections and I tried it right before I left yesterday morning and it was the first time I was able to successfully connect. Since the actual client has been installed for weeks, I can't see how that would be the issue. Other than that I haven't really touched the computer. I have rebooted many times since then.

 

I have tried many things and nothing seems to work.

- I put the ISY in my local intranet zome

- I have relaxed the security settings to low.

- I have upgraded java to version _03 and made sure it was active in ie7.

- I turned off protected mode in IE.

- I have disabled all add-ins except java

- i have disabled all firewalls, I do use Norton normally,

- I read somehwere where turning off "Java in system tray" made a diff. I did that.

- I have tried both firefox and IE.

- I checked updates to see if anything changed? Defender had performed and update, that was it, but I have disabled it anyway.

 

I have yet to see it successfully run since two nights ago.

Yet it had worked fine for two weeks prior? I had been using it pretty heavily too.

 

It does run on my XP laptop so I don't think there is any corruption in the jar file.

 

Why me? Just when I think everything is working great something like this happens? Geez! I am ready to hate computers again! LOL

[yardman 49]

Hello Jeff:

 

I see that you've upgraded the JRE. But have you tried to completely uninstall Java, reboot your system, and then reinstall Java? If you haven't yet done so, it probably wouldn't hurt. It could be that there's some setting that's corrupt in the system Registry on that computer, and doing a complete uninstall and reinstall may fix it.

 

Another thing that you may have already tried would be to disable the local Java cache completely (disable "Keep temporary files"). I've never tried that, but it would be interesting to see what happens.

 

Finally, have you tried to force an ISY reboot through the Admin shell (RS command)? I think that unplugging the unit and plugging it back in effectively does the same thing. After you reboot or power cycle the ISY will go through and do an all device query, so the activity lights will be firing for a while. Once they stop, then try to log back in to the ISY.

 

The only reason that I suggest this is that I too access my ISY through both my main system and my laptop. It seems as though the ISY remembers the last state of the GUI display depending on which system I am logging in through. This may just be a local Java cache feature. But maybe Chris or Michel can comment as to whether the ISY tracks the system login identities. If so, then maybe that helps explain what you are seeing.

 

I hope that you can get this resolved and then report back with the solution!

 

Best wishes,

[jdva]

Thank you.. good suggestion.. I will try that when I get home this evening and let you know what happens. I just purchased this box about a month ago. I don't really remember installing java and I remember being surpirised when I tried the ISY and it worked. I thought java was not distributed with Windows any more and so I figured it was something HP did. This is the first Vista box I have owned and I am kind of determined to make everything work.

 

When this started happening I wanted to do a trace and looked in the Control Panel for the Java console. It wasn't there and that's usually where I go for it. Thats when I upgraded to _03 and the console reappeared but I did not uninstall the previous version which I now know was _01. It appears they are running side by side now although IE says it is using _03

 

This evening, I will uninstall both and reinstall _03 and see what happens.

 

Thanks for the help!

-jeffd

[yardman 49]

Hello Jeff:

 

You mentioned that there are two versions of the JRE on your computer. So then you may want to uninstall both, and then install the version that comes on the CD that came with the ISY. On my system (Windows XP SP2) that shows as version 1.6.0_02. Under "Add/Remove" programs, it shows as "Java 6 update 2". I have the same version on my laptop.

 

Also on both my systems, J2RE version 1.4.2 is installed. On my main system, it is 1.4.2_03, while on my laptop it is 1.4.2_01. So it appears that I also have two version of the JRE on my systems also.

 

I don't know how applications handle Java. It is possible that each applications calls out the specific version of Java that it requires, or maybe a "minimum" version number, so that multiple Java installations can co-exist on the same system.

 

I would probably start with using the version on the CD only and see how that works, after you've removed all previous versions.

 

Maybe Chris or Michel can reply here to let us know what is the best version of the JRE to use for Vista.

 

Best wishes,

[MikeB]

The fix when I have seen this has always been to close the browser and retry, or sometimes reboot the PC.

 

You must be seeing a different problem than me.

[Sub-Routine]

There used to be a bug if you had the window minimized when you quit the applet. When you restart the console you could not see the login request.

 

I saw the bugger once. I cured it by blindly typing my userid, tab, password, enter.

 

That was many versions ago, perhaps reintroduced with Vista?

 

Rand

[jdva]

Rand... You hit it on the head! I wish I had read your post 4 hours ago. I must have just missed it because I checked when I got home. LMAO. I hit on this almost by accident. I had tried everything and I mean everything and had given up. I was just clicking around on the screen when I right clicked the task bar and saw this option "Show windows stacked". I said sure... why not... and all of a sudden it popped open and I could actually see the console window. WOW!, I thought maybe it is actually running correctly it just wants me to log in. I killed that instance and tried again. This time I just entered my credentials even though I couldn't see the login and sure enough, it worked!

 

I couldn't believe it! All this time, I thought the applet was being blocked from running somehow when it really wasn't. The reason it was locked up is because the login dialog is modal and I just couldn’t see it. Now that I have logged in successfully, it is working fine. I even went back to JRE Version 6 Update 3 and it still works fine. I am not sure whether I feel relieved or really stupid but I don't care at this point. I am just glad it's working!

 

I want to thank everyone for their help, I really appreciate it! This is a really good group of people and the collective knowledge here is extremely valuable. I also want to thank Michel especially, he has been awesome!

 

Yahoo! problem solved, now back to the ISY!

-jd

[yardman 49]

Nice catch, Rand!

 

This probably should go in the Wiki.

[Sub-Routine]

Hey Jeff,

 

I'm sorry it took so long to reply, I usually check the forum a few times a day.

 

That bug was supposed to be squashed long ago. It must be something with Vista vs. XP. I'm not going to try to reproduce it here though

 

Happy Linking

 

Rand

[MikeB]

Glad you got it going!

 

That's why I posted this question above:

 

Have you tried accessing the GUI via this link?

http://www.universal-devices.com/beta/

 

With the past bug, accessing the GUI through the UDI web site link brought it back.

[jdva]

Mike, I am sorry I didn't answer you on that one. I did try that link a couple of times, even early on, and it didn't seem to have any effect. I wish I knew what caused it to collapse? I don't remember minimiizing the window but, I suppose I could have? One good think came out of all of this, I now know a lot more about Vista that I did before... lol

 

I have been experimenting to see if I can get it to happen again and I can't duplicate it yet. I get some weird things happening but the console always comes back. I have tried to get the web page to open up minimized and I can't even make that happen. I made a shortcut to iexplorer and set it to open minimized and it refuses to. Weird? Another strange thing is, If I minimize both the explorer window and the isy console and then close them using the right click. When I start it up again, the console window actually opens maximized. Go figure!

 

Anyway, Vista seems to work pretty well for me. I haven't really had any problems until this happened. If I can figure out how it happened I'll let everyone know.

 

Thanks!

-jeff

[Michel Kohanim]

All,

 

Thanks so very much for all your help and support.

 

As both Rand and Mike suggested, this was a bug which was fixed a long time ago and, as such, I am wondering: jdva, what version of ISY are you running?

 

With kind regards,

Michel