Frequently Asked Questions

Installation Questions

Is there some way to install Volano without having X-Windows running?

Just use the "-o" option to avoid graphical windows during installation. For more details, see the UNIX Installation or General Installation instructions.

When I try to install VolanoChat, why do I see the message, "Can't find class vchat2_1_x_y"?

Make sure you're in the same directory as the vchat2_1_x_y.class file when you enter the command, since the Java virtual machine by default looks in the current working directory for class files. If you have set the CLASSPATH environment variable, make sure to include the current working directory (".") in the CLASSPATH setting.

When installing VolanoChat and a Java Virtual Machine, how should I set up the directory structure?

You can install the server right under your home directory, such as /home/john, for example. That would put the VolanoChat server in:

/home/john/vchat2.1.x

The client applet must be moved to your public HTML directory. In the example above, you would need to move /home/john/vchat2.1.x/vcclient to your public HTML directory, such as:

/home/john/public_html/vcclient

(or any other public HTML directory). Most Java virtual machines can be installed in your home directory as well.

How do I start the VolanoChat server with the KeepAlive option?

The KeepAlive program takes the actual Java command as a parameter. For example, we start up our demo server with the following script on Solaris:

#!/bin/csh -f
cd $home/vchat2.1.x
unlimit
java COM.volano.KeepAlive java COM.volano.Main >>& server.log &

Chat Rooms and Banners

Why do I get a warning message on the applet window?

That's just your Web browser warning you that the window created by the VolanoChat applet is from a Java applet loaded over the network and not from one of your own local programs, like your word processor for example. The purpose of the message is to give you enough warning that you'll be suspicious of Java applets asking for passwords or credit card information.

Can the BannerPlayer applet be used outside of VolanoChat chat rooms?

Sure! See the BannerPlayer Applet page for an example.

How do I replace the BannerPlayer applet with another applet?

For example, if your applet tag looks like:

<applet code="video.class" archive="video.zip"
 width="177" height="145" align="center">
<param name="cabbase" value="video.cab">
<param name="src" value="http://123.123.123.123:1000">
</applet>

You would enter something like the following in the english.txt file:

banner.code=video.class
banner.parameters=video.txt
banner.width=177
banner.height=145

and then create the file video.txt containing:

src=http://123.123.123.123:1000

Both of these files would be found in the VolanoChat applet's codebase of vcclient by default.

The trick with ZIP or CAB Java archives is that you need to unpack the archive. It's easiest to simply unpack the ZIP archive with an unzip utility such as the one freely available for almost all systems from Info-ZIP. You need to place the unzipped files in the same code base as the VolanoChat applet (the vcclient directory by default). Then just make sure you're loading any applet resources from the machine running the VolanoChat server.

When loading banners from a remote server, why does the browser status bar display java.lang.NullPointerException?

The error may be a result of Web browser security restrictions preventing the applet from getting images and other files from any machine other than the one from which it was loaded.

You can get around the restriction by using a proxy CGI script such as the one we provide with our product, called the ProxyServlet. It's just a matter of putting a prefix on the remote URLs. See the COM.volano.ProxyServlet section of the VolanoChat Servlets chapter for more information.

How do I add an IP address to a user's profile?

By default, the profile properties are not defined to display the IP address in the profile information:

text.status.noprofile=%0 has no profile.
text.status.profile=%0: %2

To display IP addresses, modify the profile properties in the english.txt file, representing the visitor's IP address with the substitution variable %1. For example:

text.status.noprofile=[%1] %0 has no profile.
text.status.profile=[%1] %0: %2

How can room monitors see the IP addresses of visitors?

Just create a copy of the english.txt applet properties file and call it monitor.txt. By default, the IP address is not displayed in the profile information:

text.status.noprofile=%0 has no profile.
text.status.profile=%0: %2

Modify the profile properties in monitor.txt to display the IP address with:

text.status.noprofile=[%1] %0 has no profile.
text.status.profile=[%1] %0: %2

Then modify the monitor applet parameters to read in the new properties file:

<param name="monitor" value="true">
<param name="text"    value="monitor.txt">

How can I add sounds to the VolanoChat applet?

You can find some sample sound files under the demo directory of your Java Development Kit (JDK) installation. Just look for files with an "au" file name extension. You can get a good sound editing program for Windows, called Cool Edit, from Syntrillium Software Corporation.

Connectivity and Firewalls

Why do some visitors get disconnected?

There are several possible reasons for disconnections:

The user is closing the web page that contains the VolanoChat applet.
The user is surfing off of the page that contains the VolanoChat applet.
The user is being kicked or banned by a monitor or administrator.
There is an Internet connection failure at some point between the user and the VolanoChat server.

Why do visitors see an unable to connect Web page?

The chat server could be full or might not be running, or the user might not have access through a firewall proxy. If some people can get into the chat rooms and others cannot, make sure the license key is set up properly by viewing the support.log file. This file is created in the VolanoChat server installation directory and looks like the following:

server.version     = Version 2.1.x
server.properties  = C:\vchat2.1.x\properties.txt
server.license     = VolanoChatPro - 5 connection limit
server.expiration  = null
server.host        = red.volano.com (192.168.0.2)
server.port        = 8000
java.vendor        = Microsoft Corp.
java.vendor.url    = http://www.microsoft.com/
java.version       = 1.1
java.class.version = 45.3
java.compiler      = null
os.name            = Windows NT
os.version         = 4.0
os.arch            = x86
user.language      = en
user.region        = US
file.encoding      = Cp1252
file.encoding.pkg  = sun.io

The file displays your license information as the property server.license. In particular, it will tell you how many concurrent connections to the VolanoChat server is allowed by your license. If it displays "VolanoChatPro - 10 connection limit", then the license key is not working properly because the IP address or the port number of the server does not match the values provided when the software was purchased.

How does VolanoChat work with firewalls?

The VolanoChat applet works through any SOCKS proxy server. Many popular firewalls contain a SOCKS server, such as Netscape's Proxy Server, NEC's PrivateNet, IBM's Secure Network Gateway, Aventail's MobileVPN and PartnerVPN, and Deerfield's WinGate.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 has SOCKS support for Java applets built into the browser. To enable the support for Internet Explorer 4.0 on Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0, do the following:

Click the View menu.
Select Internet Options...
Click the Connection tab.
In the Proxy server section, check the box labeled Access the Internet using a proxy server.
Click the Advanced button in the same section.
For Server Type SOCKS, put the IP address of the machine running the SOCKS server under the column labeled, Address of proxy to use, and put the port number of the SOCKS server under the column Port. The default port if left blank is 1080.
Click OK.

Using Internet Explorer 4.0 on the Macintosh, do the following:

Click the Edit menu.
Select Preferences.
Select Network, Proxies.
Select Enabled.
Under Method, select SOCKS.
Enter the name of the SOCKS proxy server after http://.
Enter the port number. The default port is 1080.
Click OK.

For Netscape Communicator, Netscape Navigator, and older versions of Internet Explorer, you can download and install Hummingbird's free SOCKS client in order to allow Java applets to safely traverse the SOCKS server on your firewall. Aventail Corporation provides a commercial version of their automatic SOCKS client program, called AutoSOCKS.

For more information on SOCKS, please see the SOCKS Proxy Protocol page.

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