 |
 Tantrix in Your CountryTournamentsTournament ForumNeed Help? |
 |
|
| TANTRIX NEEDS JAVA |
 Java requiredTantrix is written in Java, which means that theoretically you can run the game straight from within your browser without installing any software. Your web browser should come pre-installed with everything that is needed to play Tantrix online. Unfortunately there are exceptions. So, if you tried to load Tantrix but nothing happened, then most likely Java is missing on your system or not configured correctly. Let's try to sort this out. If Java is installed and enabled, then you should see the following below: A box should display that "Java is installed and enabled", followed by the java version you are running in the line underneath and just outside the box a line of text should be moving across this page informing you that "Java is woking!". If however you see a message which says "You have a Java problem!" then first check that Java is indeed installed by clicking here and follow the instructions on the screen. Secondly, check that Java is enabled: Go to the section below on "How to enable Java". Once you are done, refresh this page and see if the message has changed. To play Tantrix, we recommend you install version 1.6 or higher. |
|||
 |
|||
| Which browser to use? Windows
Mac and Linux All major browser types (IE, Safari and Mozilla) use the Java plugin, so if they work, they all work about the same. The key word is if. Operating system and browser developers don't always see eye-to-eye, so there are gaps where some browser versions do not support Java for some version of OS. Relatively few of our players use Mac or Linux platforms, the only general statement we can make is that the most current combinations work ok. Some quite old versions of Macintosh "MrJ" java had serious bugs and did not work with Tantrix. If you are using an iPhone or iPad, you're out of luck. Only Steve knows why, so take it out with him. |
||
|
||
| How To Enable Java Not all browsers and platforms are created equal. The instructions below will give you an idea of where to look. You may need to "adjust" them to a similar wording. Settings change constantly and the ones below may well vary slightly to the actual wording in your browser version. Internet Explorer |
||
|
||
| Problems unrelated to
java If you confirmed that Java is installed correctly on your machine and yet you have problems connecting to the Tantrix server, then the next step should be to check the configuration of your firewalls, routers, ports and proxies: "Can't connect" message in the lobby chat area The java applet for Tantrix must be able to open an outgoing tcp connection on port 2244. Most firewalls and routers are configured to allow this; but some institutions (work, schools) and some firewall products (Blackice, Zone Alarm) may block this port. If the applet window comes up, but can't connect to the server, look for problems with port 2244. The applet will also fail to connect if it was loaded from some place other than Tantrix.com, which could be a side effect of some browser proxy setups. Message "rcv 221 err Connection error" You have successfully connected to the server, but your connection has been rejected. The most likely cause of this is that you accidentally connected to the server without going through the login procedure. This can happen if you use your browser's back button, or if your browser has cached the login page (and therefore didn't chat with the server to login). Check your browser cache settings. Lost connections If you lose your connection in mid-game: don't panic. You can reconnect and rejoin the game. This can happen for a variety of reasons, most of which are impossible to predict or control. Watch the little spinner located next to your and your opponet's clock.  This
spinner should change position at
least every 10 seconds or so, and if it has not changed position
recently, the color starts fading from green to red. After 2 minutes of
inactivity a timeout will occur and you can try to reconnect. SLOW connections Once the applet is downloaded, the bandwidth required to maintain the lobby and a game is very modest, and any type of internet connection should work fine. One problem we have seen a few times is that firewalls such as Zone Alarm interfere with the flow of data to the server without completely blocking it. We don't know why, but disabling Zone Alarm fixes the problem. A test for this condition is to switch the type of a game room, say from "Game Room" to "Challenge Room". The changeover should happen very fast, within a second. If there is more that a very brief lag, look for this kind of networking problem. Problems scoring games If you successfully play games, but the scoring repeatedly fails: To score games properly, the applet must be able to make HTTP requests on either port 80 or 4321. Port 80 is normally used by browsers, so it can be expected to be open, but some sites enforce the use of an http proxy server by blocking port 80. Scoring a game fails occasionally if the server is unusually busy, or just due to random internet glitches. If port 80 is permanently blocked, try referring to Tantrix as http://www.tantrix.com:4321 Problems connecting to www.tantrix.com If you are having problems connecting to www.tantrix.com and have ruled out everything else (firewalls, ports, proxies, etc.), it may be a routing error. To check this, you will need to email us a traceroute to our site. You can obtain a traceroute fairly easily by going to this page and following the instructions. |
General maintenance We recommend you occasionally clear your browser cache. This will force the browser to load the latest versions of web pages and programs. By doing so, it will get rid of problems caused by stale or corrupt files lingering in your cache. It is also a prudent measure to close and reload your browser after a series of games, or even reboot your computer if it has shown "serious signs of deterioration". These measures will refresh your system and are particularly useful before playing important games, such as tournament matches. To clear your browser cache:
|
||
|
||
© Copyright 2010, Colour of Strategy Ltd, Nelson, New Zealand. All rights reserved. Last update: November, 2010 |