Paul,
I'll have to admit... There appears to be something fishy going on with the name resolution on your machine. I don't know if it's a Win98 thing or something with your ISP (or both), but the name resolution occasionally hangs, or at least takes an unusually long time. The only thing I changed in the last version was that I removed the name lookup used early in the program (before the main window is displayed) that allowed the program could find the IP address of the PC. It was no longer needed.
This allowed the program to start without any problems, but the program still needs to do a name lookup when connecting to the host. It now seems that this lookup is also taking some time, but it is done in the background with the application up.
One thing to try would be to immedialy start another instance (or two) of the app when the first one hangs. Also, drop to a command prompt and try to ping the hostname. I have a feeling that when Absolute is in this condition, ALL name resolution is hung. This would cause all instances of Absolute, ping, explorer, etc to seem to hang until the condition passes. Then, suddenly, they'll all start to work again.
It's difficult to troubleshoot because the problem is so transient, but I'd look to possible trouble with the dialup connection first. Do you have call waiting? Is it disabled during your dialup connections to your ISP?
Brian
A couple of things. I do not have call waiting, so that would not enter into the picture. As for ISPs, I just changed ISPs a couple of weeks ago, and the problem existed before that, so a service provider problem seems unlikely. My telephone connection is not the best. It is dial-up, and I have never gotten blazing service, even two computers ago running DOS with yet a different ISP and a different modem. I suspect a shortcoming in the wiring or telco central office. Because I am fairly poor, someone gave me this computer I am now using. Originally it had Windows 95 on it. I formatted the hard disk and installed Windows 98 from an OEM CD-ROM and applied Service Pack 1 on top of that. Even so, I do not recall giving it the computer name that it has. Whether that is in the BIOS or elsewhere, I don't know, so something might have survived the HD format. I have applied MS so-called "critical updates" from their website from time to time.
I can try starting another instance of A.T. However, are you referring to try to start it from the .tnt shortcut I use from the desktop, or just starting it from the Start menu? Ping I can also try.
Even so, eventually I can get a connection, so at this point it may not be worth trying to pursue any further. If we choose not to continue, what is the latest stable, non-debugging version I should download and install? (I still have a copy of v3.78 handy.)
Thanks for the support so far.
What I mean by starting another AbsoluteTelnet is that you start another instance or two with the same .tnt file. At the same time, you might also start one with a different hostname, to see if it follows the pattern. You could repeat this test with an app that may need to lookup a hostname (explorer, for example.)
My guess is that all of the instances will sit hung until the network problem passes. Then, all will connect at once.
I also suggested a 'ping' from the command line to the same hostname just as further proof that the issue is not specific to Absolute. An additional ping to the IP ADDRESS of the host may tell you whether the issue is just with name resolution or a deeper overall net traffic problem.
For example, if pinging the hostname does not work, but pinging the IP ADDRESS does work, then the problem is with the name resolution. If ping doesn't work with either the hostname or the IP ADDRESS, then you have a basic failure to communicate that could be related to your phone line or modem.
The reason I brought up call waiting is that it is a common cause of random errors in a dialup connection. Since you've changed providers and you're still having the problem, I'm still assuming the problem is somewhere on your end. Call waiting was just a stab. Possibly, somebody picking up another extension while you are dialed up could cause a similar issue. I'm trying to think 'outside the box' now.
If you are watching the dialup monitor and you see that you are not receiving any bytes during the period of the hang, even though you start additional apps and perform the ping tests, then this is a sure indicator of a dialup issue.
keep me posted
Brian
The last time I had a hang I did a quick ping on the actual IP address (not name) of my ISP's front end, and I got an almost immediate response. So it does look like there is something fishy going on in my computer somewhere with name resolution rather than with Absolute Telnet itself. However, I am always able to get a session sooner or later, and the problem has always been intermittent, so I am willing to consider this issue closed. Brian, I appreciate your support for what I consider to be a fine product, and one worth my money for what I use it for. Please let me know of the latest stable version without all the debugging code. (I still have the installer for 3.78 available.) Thanks again.
I'd recommend sticking with 3.80:
It still has some of that debug code in it, but it's not going to affect you at all. You won't even notice unless you have the debug monitor running. I really appreciate your help in identifying these problems. I know we never did identify the specific issue with your name lookup problems, but at least it isn't affecting Absolute as severly as it had been. Good luck and let me know if you come to any concrete resolution!
Brian
Hi!
I hope things are going well.
Let me know if you need anything else!
Brian
Everything sems to be going well with A.T. 3.80. I still get the very occasional hang, but not often. I am wondering whether it is something in my machine, bacause I occasionally get an analogous problem with the Mozilla (1.7.2) web browser. From time to time I enter a URL, and it just sits there with "Resolving" in the status bar. Eventually it contacts the remote host and things proceed. I don't know whether Mozilla does any sort of name resolution as does A.T. The problem can arise at the beginning of a Mozilla session or at any time whenever I put a new URL in the box. In any case, as far as I am concerned we can consider this thread closed.
I'm sure Mozilla does exactly the same type of name resolution that A.T. does. Any TCP/IP application has to be able to take a host name and lookup an IP address. These lookups are done across the network to a server that contains tables of names and addresses (like a phone book). If there is a problem with lookups in your system, it should affect all TCP/IP applications equally, unless you use IP addresses directly instead.
Anyway, thanks for your help! I hope you discover your issue.
Brian
