


Computing and Networking FAQ
3. WORLD WIDE WEB
[3.1] Where can I get the latest versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer?
Australian mirror sites for Netscape :-
Internet Explorer :-
Australian TUCOWS mirrors (many browsers and other Winsock apps) :-
[3.2] How can I access the Web when I don't use SLIP/PPP or Windows?
Telnet to student or dingo, then run the "lynx" web browser.
[3.3] How should I configure Netscape/IE for the UQ environment?
For all versions of Netscape, this is done via selecting (one of the) Preferences from
the Options menu. The exact mechanism is different, however, depending on the
Netscape version. In the following I will use the shorthand
"y.x/MenuItem/SubMenuItem" to mean "For Netscape version y.x, from the Options
menu, choose MenuItem, and then look for a submenu titled SubMenuItem".
1.x/Preferences/Styles [2.x/General Preferences/Appearance]
Home Page Location : http://www.uq.edu.au/
1.x/Preferences/Mail and News [2.x/Mail & News/Servers]
Mail (SMTP) Server : smtp.uq.edu.au
POP Mail Server : dingo.uq.edu.au (staff & externals)
student.uq.edu.au (students)
Your Name : you should know this
Your Email : your full email address
eg. s1234567@student.uq.edu.au
or j.bloggs@mailbox.uq.edu.au
Reply to Address : as in "Your Email" [optional]
Your Organization : The University of Queensland
News (NNTP) Server : news.uq.edu.au
News RC Directory : Netscape setup should have
filled this in for you.
eg. If the Netscape
subdirectory is c:\netscape,
it will be c:\netscape\news
1.x/Preferences/Applications and Directories [2.x/General Preferences/Apps]
Telnet Application : if you use WINQVT/QVTNET,
set this to the full path
specification of TNSTART.EXE
eg. if the QVTNET subdirectory is
D:\INTERNET\QVTNET, it would be
D:\INTERNET\QVTNET\TNSTART.EXE
Alternatives are TRMPTEL.EXE, or
C:\WINDOWS\TELNET.EXE if Microsoft
TCP/IP for WfWg is installed.
1.x/Preferences/Proxies [2.x/Network Preferences/Proxies/Manual Proxy Config]
Port
FTP Proxy : ftp-proxy.uq.edu.au 80
Gopher Proxy : gopher-proxy.uq.edu.au 80
HTTP Proxy : http-proxy.uq.edu.au 80
Security Proxy : http-proxy.uq.edu.au 80
No Proxy For : uq.edu.au uq.oz.au
[Other entries in this section should be left blank]
For Internet Explorer most settings are similar. Proxy settings can be found under "Options.." in the View menu. Choose the "Connection" tab, check "Connect through a proxy server" and click the "Settings..". The only variation from the Netscape syntax occurs in the "Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with:" text box. Addresses must be separated by a semi-colon,
and may use the wildcard symbol, as in *.uq.edu.au ; *.uq.oz.au .
[3.4] Why do I get an "application not found" error message when I try to
connect to a certain host within Netscape?
Usually Netscape is not configured correctly for a Telnet application.
Check your Netscape Preferences (see 3.3 above).
Alternatively, the URL document may be of a particular mime type for
which Netscape has been assigned a non-existent helper application.
Check the file extension of the document, and then make sure there is
a valid application assigned to deal with files of this type
(Helper Applications section of Netscape Preferences - in version 2.x, this
is under General Preferences in the Helpers section).
[3.5] Why do I get an "Application Error" when I try to run Netscape?
If you're a Mac user, relax, you're having a nightmare. For Windows users,
in view of the large number of Netscape installations, this is not
a very frequent question, but it is not uncommon on older systems,
and is worth answering in some detail since most of the troubleshooting
techniques can also be applied to other more problematic Windows
applications (eg. Word, WordPerfect). [Some parts of this answer will eventually
move to a general Windows section of the FAQ]
There are many possible causes. Before you attempt to solve the problem,
check the name of the module that generated the error message. Is it
netscape.exe, & does the message indicate that netscape caused an error
in another module (eg. krnl386.exe, gdi.exe). Make a note of the details
in case you need assistance later on. The following checklist is
not definitive, but contains some known causes and solutions, as
well as a number of other possible explanations.
- Corrupt disk cache. Clear the cache and try again. If Netscape
won't start, you can do this by erasing all files in the cache
directory [usually c:\netscape\cache, but you may have installed
Netscape to a different directory - eg. d:\internet\ns112, in
which case it would be d:\internet\ns112\cache ]. If you have
multiple versions installed on your system, be sure to check the
location of the cache directory as specified in the netscape.ini
file.
- Make sure you have enough file handles set in CONFIG.SYS. You
should have FILES=30 or higher.
- Run Microsoft chkdsk (MSDOS 3.x-5.x) or scandisk (MSDOS 6.x) to
check for and repair file/directory errors. If you can, perform a
disk surface analysis to locate/fix physical media errors [Scandisk
or Norton Utilities "Disk Doctor"]. Watch for any errors in
Netscape files/directories when these tests are running.
- Check your system for viruses - it is essential to boot from a known
"clean" diskette, and run an up-to-date version of Leprechaun
Virusbuster, Mcafee SCAN, Thunderbyte TBAV, AVP, or some other
virus checker. Contact Prentice Workstation Support to obtain
software, or download shareware versions from
ftp://ftp.uq.edu.au/pub/pc/virus.
[Note that a clean report from MSAV is NOT a guarantee that your
system is virus free]
- Insufficient or faulty memory.
Ideally you should have 8 Mb or more of system RAM, though early versions
of Netscape (eg. 1.0N) do run with only 4 Mb. Virtual memory settings,
however, are critical. Check to make sure Windows is configured to
use a swap file, preferably permanent [Control Panel, icon labelled
Enhanced]. Ideally this should be at least 8 Mb but it will depend
on the amount of free disk space. You may need to delete some files
to create a reasonably sized swap file. Also, try removing as many
TSRs and Windows startup applications as possible, and turn off all
screensavers. Faulty RAM may be the cause if application errors
occur in a number of other common Windows programs. Try removing
SIMM modules and cleaning the contacts by rubbing with paper before
replacing.
- Insufficient disk space for caches and temporary files. Free up
as much disk space as you can. Try reducing the size of the
Netscape disk and memory caches, or turning them off altogether
to see if this has any effect. If Netscape won't start, you can do
this by editing the netscape.ini file and changing the values of
the Disk and Memory Cache Size parameters in the [Cache] section -
set both to 0 to disable all cacheing.
- Does the problem go away if you change the Windows video mode to
VGA? If so, you need to obtain updated video drivers for your
graphics adapter if you wish to run Windows in high-res graphics
modes.
- Reinstall Netscape in a new subdirectory. Ensure you are using
an authorized distribution disk or archive file. Before installing,
make sure you have checked your system for file/disk errors and
viruses as described above. If possible, install on an uncompressed
drive [problems have been known to occur on dblspace or drvspace
compressed volumes].
- If Netscape was working at some point, did you install new software
recently? Another software installation may have overwritten a module
in the windows\system directory with a version that is incompatible
with the Netscape supplied version. Alternatively, if Netscape has
never worked, the NS installation may not have overwritten a system
module by virtue of its more recent time/date stamp. For example, a
similar (but reverse) incompatibility existed between Miscrosoft
Office 4.3 and Netscape 1.2. If installed after Netscape, MS Office
didn't overwrite one of the ole dlls since the Netscape
supplied version was newer. If installed in the reverse order,
Netscape overwrote the file with its own version. Either way this
caused an "Undefined call to dynalink" error in Office.
Such errors are tricky to find and fix, since you need to compare
the time/date stamp of each Windows "system" file in the Netscape
installation set with the time/date of corresponding files in
the Windows system directory. If different, you must overwrite the
offending module(s) by expanding the distribution file(s) directly.
Furthermore, fixing the problem for Netscape may cause the other
application to fail [NB: the Miscrosoft supplied versions of the ole dlls
are compatible with Netscape. This issue also seems to have gone
away with subsequent Netscape releases].
[3.6] I can access UQ web servers ok, but I can't contact any off-campus
hosts. What's wrong?
If you're using lynx, there is a campus router, nameserver, or proxy
server problem, or else the AARNET link is broken. By default, lynx is
set up on dingo and student to use the Prentice http proxy server. From
the dingo% or student% prompt, issue the "noproxy" command and try
again. If this doesn't fix it, there's nothing you can do except report
the problem and wait.
If you're using Netscape or Mosaic, it is more likely that the
DNS/nameserver entry in your TCP/IP setup is incomplete or incorrect
(should include 130.102.128.43 and 130.102.2.15). If you only have one
nameserver specified, it is possible that it is down or malfunctioning.
Make sure both nameserver entries are there, and check to see if
swapping the order of the entries (or changing the default in MacTCP)
fixes the problem. Telnet to a campus host and run lynx to see if it's
a wider network issue (see above).
[3.7] I sometimes get "Page contains no data" messages, or the status line
just displays "Contacting host..." and nothing else happens.
What's wrong?
The first message usually indicates a cacheing problem, either at your
end (ie. your disk/memory caches) or with a proxy server. If you have
been writing and testing your own html documents, it's probably the
former. Remember that, in general, documents you browse will be
stored in your local caches, and if you're making changes to these
documents you will need to use the "Reload" function to refresh the
contents of the caches. This also applies to other documents on the
web. If this doesn't fix it, try clearing your disk and memory
caches, and check your http proxy setting (see 3.3 above). If the
problem goes away when you remove the HTTP Proxy setting, but returns
when you put it back, it's a proxy server cacheing issue. If you were
using the above-mentioned UQ proxy servers, report the problem,
including the URL of the site you were trying to access, to
webmaster@cc.uq.edu.au.
If the problem persists after clearing your disk and memory caches, and
with no proxy servers configured, the page really does contain no data,
and the problem is with the web server you were trying to access.
The "Contacting host..." message, usually followed by a "time out" or
"no response" error message, could also be a local or proxy server
cacheing problem, but check to see that it is not a widespread problem
[eg. telnet to student/dingo and run lynx] to eliminate the possibility
of TCP/IP configuration or campus network problems.
[3.8] Lately, when I've tried to save any file that is greater that xxx Kb
to disk within Netscape, the file has been truncated in size. Why?
This can happen without warning if you run out of disk space, or if you
lose your connection to the remote host (eg. it times out) during the
transfer. Note that if you are saving to a compressed drive, the
reported amount of free disk space is misleading, since it refers to the
amount of uncompressed data you should be able to save on the assumption
that it a can be compressed to a specific ratio of its original size.
In reality, a 2 Mb zip/arc/zoo/sea file could chew up 4 Mb of the space
you thought you had, since it is already compressed.
If space is not the problem, try to establish whether it is related to
specific remote sites. Try downloading a large file from a known "fast"
server - eg. the dingo ftp archive, or some other local site.
Lastly, it could be a proxy server problem. Depending on the form of the URL
[ftp://.. or http://..], if you have ftp-proxy.uq.edu.au or http-proxy.uq.edu.au in your
Netscape FTP or HTTP Proxy Server settings respectively, remove it, and try
downloading the problem file again. If this works, but replacing the Netscape Proxy
setting causes the problem to resurface, report the details to
webmaster@cc.uq.edu.au so that we can try to diagnose and fix the
problem.
[3.9] How do I go about publishing my own web pages?
Refer to the URLs :-
[3.10] How do I go about publishing web pages for my department?
Refer to the URL -
http://www.uq.edu.au/net-support/howtodept.html
[3.11] I've created a personal/departmental web page as per instructions.
Why do I get an error message 403 whenever I try to browse it?
Usually means that permissions are not set correctly on your home
directory, your web subdirectory, or your home page. Note that
error 403 can also occur if you ask Netscape to open the default page
in a subdirectory (ie. specifying only the path, but not the name of the
html file) and there is no index.html file there.
Permissions can be set from your dingo/student home directory by
running the shell script "publish". If your web directory is called
something other than "public_html", you will need to pass it's name as
a parameter on the command line. For example, your web files may be in
a subdirectory [of your home directory] called "dept-web". At the
dingo% prompt, type the command
publish dept-web
to set permissions so that everyone can browse your pages.
For unix folk, x permissions must be set for others on your home
directory and all subdirectories containing web files [chmod o+x]. All
web documents must have read permissions set for others [chmod o+r].
[3.12] Can I put a counter on my UQ web page?
Use of the counter program on dingo is currently under review. See
the UQ Web Service Announcements Page, accessible from the UQ Home Page, for news
and developments.
[ URL :
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/current.html ]
[3.13] Having to rename all my .htm files to .html is a pain. Can I leave my
pages with .htm extensions?
Yes, but for personal pages, your home page must be called "index.html",
which is the default page loaded by dingo and student if the filename
of the html document is omitted in the URL. This also applies to any home page
if you want it to load without having to specify the filename in the URL.
[3.14] Can I use imagemaps in my web pages?
Yes. Refer to the Announcments page for
more information. Bear in mind, however, that many people access
UQ pages over relatively slow dialup connections, and that some people use
text-only browsers [or have their graphical browser configured to not
load images to speed up access]. In any case, it's usually not a good
idea to use an imagemap as the only means of accessing information.
[3.15] Can I run a cgi-bin script from my UQ web page?
For security and maintenance reasons, running cgi-bin scripts on dingo
and student is strictly controlled. "Generic" scripts are available for
imagemaps and mail forms, and The Prentice Centre Web Development
Unit will contract to develop and maintain scripts for departments and
other paying customers. Refer to
http://www.uq.edu.au/wdu/
for more information.
[3.16] Several people need to maintain web pages for our
department/organization. Can we obtain a special "group network
access account" that we can all use for this purpose?
No. For security reasons, the rule is "one person per account".
However, it is possible to create a unix group, and set group
permissions on the principal account (ie. the home subdirectory & the
web subdirectory belonging to the principal web "administrator") so
that everyone in the group has read and write access to the web files.
Since this requires work by the Prentice network administrator(s)
responsible for dingo or student, a small fee or levy must be charged
for setting up the group and explaining the steps involved.
[3.17] What software is available/recommended for developing web pages and
where can I get it?
For Windows, Hotdog is probably the best HTML editor, although HTML
Writer is also very good. The Microsoft Internet Assistant (add-on for
Word for Windows 6.x) has the advantage that you can develop using a
familiar word processor interface.
If you need to publish the same information via a number of different
mechanisms (eg. print, Web, gopher, ftp), you can maintain the "master copies"
as Word or Wordperfect documents, and convert them to HTML format for
publishing on the web. Files can be saved in Microsoft's Rich Text format (rtf) or
WordPerfect format, and html versions generated via conversion programs
(eg. rtf2html, wp2html).
There are simply too many editors and tools to discuss in much detail
here. For more information, check out some of the following URLs.
[3.18] What do I need in order to set up my own web server?
You need a dedicated server with an ethernet connection - while it is
posssible to run a server over a permanent SLIP/PPP connection, this is
not recommended due to the slow data transfer rates. The type of
server you need depends on how much access you think the server will
attract - ie. number of simultaneous connections, volume of data
delivered to clients. For most departments a 486-DX4100 or medium-end
Pentium is more than adequate. Some computer vendors (eg. Apple) sell
web server packages which include all of the necessary hardware and
software. Freeware Web server software is available for unix (NCSA
httpd) and Windows NT (EMWAC https) servers. The Netscape web server is
free for educational use by educational institutions (unix and Windows
NT). There are many shareware Web servers for Windows 3.x, Windows 95,
and NT. For more information, check out the following.
[3.19] I've prepared all my web pages on my PC/Mac. How do I upload them to
my web subdirectory on dingo/student?
Given that you're obviously able to access the Web, the assumption here
is that your are running TCP/IP on your PC/Mac, either via ethernet or
through a dial-up SLIP/PPP connection. You can upload files from Netscape
via a URL of the form ftp://YourUsername@hostname. For example,
opening the URL
ftp://s999999@student.uq.edu.au
should bring up a dialog-box prompting you for the password for (the fictitious user)
s999999 on student.uq.edu.au. If the login is successful, the browser
will display a listing of the user's home directory on the host server. You can
then "drag and drop" to upload files from your PC, or click to download a per usual.
Alternatively, you can use any other ftp client for your computer (see
question [4.4] in this FAQ). Within the ftp
program, open a session to the host dingo.uq.edu.au [staff & external
clients] or student.uq.edu.au [students]. Specify your usual student/dingo
username and password. This will log you in to your home directory. Via the
point and click interface, change to your "public_html" subdirectory (or
wherever you store your web files) on student or dingo. Similarly, change
to the local subdirectory on your computer that contains the files to
upload. Select the files to upload, then click the "put" or transfer
button. Before sending gif, jpg or other "binary" files, make sure the ftp
client is configured to send in "binary" mode. Always send htm/html files
in "ascii" mode, otherwise your end of line markers will not be translated
to unix format correctly. [This will not affect web browsers, but if you
ever need to edit the files on the unix host, you will have to deal with
mysterious end of line characters.]
[3.20] How should I configure my browser to use the UQ proxy servers?
Please refer to the updated FAQ's relevant question at: http://prentice.uq.edu.au/faq/view-faq-question.asp?selectFaqID=1&categoryID=3&questionID=40
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Document last revised : 25 July 1997 [MM]