Chat Issues

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Gobberwart
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Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:23 pm

A number of people have reported strange behaviour in chat. No, I don't mean the chatters are behaving strangely, that's perfectly normal and nothing to be alarmed about, however there are some ongoing issues that we've spent some time looking at, and have as yet been unable to resolve satisfactorily, despite completely rewriting chat twice. The point is, it should be working, and for most users, it does work flawlessly, but for those having trouble, it's a real issue.

The main issue is that some users report that chat just stops working, and needs to be refreshed to get it going again. This seems to be an intermittent issue, that can happen anything from once or twice a week, up to several times an hour.

In most cases, people having this issue are using Windows XP or Vista, and have the Avast! antivirus installed, however I'm aware of at least one person using a Mac, with no Antivirus or Firewall software at all, which is interesting. I suspect, but have not confirmed, that users are also using Firefox web browser.

If you're having these problems, please respond to this thread with the following information:

Operating System: (eg. Windows XP, Mac OSX etc.)
Browser: (eg. Firefox 3.0.4, Internet Explorer 7 etc.)
Antivirus/Firewall Software: (eg. Windows Firewall, Avast! 4.0.8, ZoneAlarm etc.)
Symptoms: (eg. "Chat flickers, stops responding every few minutes" or "Chat stops very occasionally" etc.)
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:28 pm

Possible Fix for Firefox/Avast! users

Research suggests that Firefox sometimes has problems with Avast! antivirus, particularly the Webshield component of Avast!

A suggested fix is to manually specify proxy settings to use Avast!'s proxy, rather than letting Avast! attempt to intercept requests.

To do this in Firefox:
1. Go to Tools->Options->Advanced->Network
2. In the "Connection" section, click "Settings"
3. Select "Manual proxy configuration"
4. Under "HTTP Proxy:", enter "127.0.0.1" (without quotes)
5. Under "Port:", enter "12080" (without quotes)
6. Check the box marked "Use this proxy server for all protocols"
7. Click OK as many times as required to return to your browser

So far, I've had reasonable results doing this, so it's worth a try.
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SportGuy
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by SportGuy » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:46 pm

I'm going to echo the fact that that fix *seems* to be working. So I'd suggest it for anyone else having the problem.

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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:03 pm

I'd add to that the fact that I did have chat freeze once more after applying the fix, however discovered that Windows Firewall (XP SP3) was turned on, and shouldn't have been. I turned it off, rebooted, and have not *yet* had the problem recur.

I should also point out that I didn't have the problem, ever, before I installed Avast! antivirus, so it's pretty well confirmed that this is the catalyst for the problem, at least on Windows systems.
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by mastechno » Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:11 pm

Since this would be the place to put it...

I'm running Windows XP on a laptop(that shouldn't matter) [i'd have to check on SP, but I"m guessing 3, could be 2] with Avast! but it's the home edition; and using FF version 3 something

I have *not* run into any chat problems, with an exception of ONCE not too long ago, but that was fixed after 10ish min, and haven't had any problems since.

just throwing it out there

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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:04 pm

Valid point. While it's true that all Windows users who've reported the issue have also had Avast! (Home edition) it's also true that not everyone with Avast! has the problem.

Looking through various forums related to Avast problems, it seems that there are any number of factors that may or may not affect Avast's webshield, including other software installed, whether or not other Antivirus apps have previously been installed, etc. In my case, I previously had McAfee Enterprise v8.0 installed, and I believe Sportguy also has had other AV apps installed previously.

Mas, are you able to check and see whether you have any proxy information in your Firefox configuration (as per my second post)? Also let me know if you have (or had) any other antivirus/firewall apps installed, confirm version numbers, etc?
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by mastechno » Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:11 am

In the FF options for proxy...it's set to "No Proxy". The other program i'm running for viruses and junk would by Spybot SD. And i'm pretty sure i disabled the stupid windows firewall either completely or told it to ignore the internet.


SportGuy
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by SportGuy » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:34 pm

Yes I've had/have loads of other AV/AV like programs including clamwin, mcaffee, norton, spybot, etc.

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stroby
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by stroby » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:57 am

/me points out that having more than one antivirus and/or firewall can cause conflict and causes problems so if your running more than one SG that may cause weird stuffs

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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:56 pm

Yeah, definitely. There seems to be a bit of a habit of late for people to install multiple AV/Firewall apps in the hope this will make them more secure. It doesn't work like that. One AV + one firewall (or one combined app) should be sufficient if they're any good.

Also be wary of various anti-spyware/anti-malware apps, as they can also often be more trouble than they're worth.
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SportGuy
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by SportGuy » Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:46 am

the only additional one i have right now for av protection is clamwin...in it just scans my system when i tell it to...it's not always running...i have had cases where i've scanned and one scanner doesn't catch something another does...just like to be safe.

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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by Gobberwart » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:18 pm

Yeah, so long as it doesn't have anything resident, it shouldn't be the problem.

It does, however, remind me of a joke:

Q: Why did the Irishman wear three condoms?
A: To be sure, to be sure, to be sure!

Guffaw

Now, back to the bug thing.. Sport, has the problem recurred?
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SportGuy
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Re: Chat Issues

Unread post by SportGuy » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:11 pm

No sir it is not.

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