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        Arimaa >> Site Discussion >> New Chat
        
(Message started by: RonWeasley on Jul 10th, 2007, 12:40pm)
Title: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Jul 10th, 2007, 12:40pm
Seems to work great from Windows Vista.

Crashes the browser immediately from linux Firefox fc5.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by nbarriga on Jul 10th, 2007, 2:29pm
In my Fedora Core 6, Opera 9.22 the chat works OK.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by mdk on Jul 10th, 2007, 8:33pm
chat won't work on safari on my mac (safari version 1.0.3, OS 10.2.8) it works fine for me on firefox though
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Jul 11th, 2007, 3:19am
Thanks for the feedback guys. Keep it coming. I'll build a test page to track down what's causing the problems.

I had only tested it using FF and IE on XP.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Jul 12th, 2007, 1:30am
Crashes the browser immediately in Firefox 2.0.0.4 on Ubuntu linux.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by woh on Jul 12th, 2007, 11:15am
New chat works fine in Belgium.
I tried it with IE6 on  XP.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Jul 27th, 2007, 1:08am
The JavaScript version used a Flash stub for connecting to the server, but it turned out that communication between Flash and JavaScript was causing the whole browser to crash on Linux.

I just added a Flash only version of the chat client in the gameroom. This seems to work better on Linux. Give it a try and post any problems you encounter.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by PMertens on Jul 28th, 2007, 5:23pm
works fine for me on XPIE7.
At least it seems to work ... but since it is mostly empty I am not sure ;-)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 1st, 2007, 5:35am
Has anyone else had a chance to try out the new chat client? Is it working perfectly fine for everyone :-)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by chessandgo on Aug 1st, 2007, 6:16am
it's working alright for me on Internet Explorer. Good job Omar !
Will we remember with nostalgia the good old days when the chat used to crash when someone typed > ? :)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Aug 1st, 2007, 7:14am
Tried chat from linux firefox fc5.  It doesn't crash but I didn't do any more than get to the initial screen.  The screen acts like an old muggle TV set without vertical hold control.  Maybe I'm seeing a continuous redraw.  I don't recommend this for anyone prone to seizures.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by nbarriga on Aug 1st, 2007, 8:44am
In Fedora 7 + Opera 6.22 it works.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by arimaa_master on Aug 1st, 2007, 9:12am

on 08/01/07 at 05:35:38, omar wrote:
Has anyone else had a chance to try out the new chat client? Is it working perfectly fine for everyone :-)


It is working perfectly with Win XP pro firefox 2.0.0.6.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by mdk on Aug 1st, 2007, 10:11am
It now works on my mac (X.2.8 ) for both safari and and firefox :)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Aug 1st, 2007, 1:07pm
Hate to say it, but the new all flash client seems to get stuck with a status of "connecting...".

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by nbarriga on Aug 1st, 2007, 2:03pm

on 08/01/07 at 13:07:13, Janzert wrote:
Hate to say it, but the new all flash client seems to get stuck with a status of "connecting...".


It would probably be usefull if you state your OS and browser... and maybe wether or not you're behind a firewall or in a NAT
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Fritzlein on Aug 1st, 2007, 3:41pm
It worked great for me with XP and Firefox.  It's fun because some HTML tags are usable, e.g. <i> </i>.  PMertens and I experimented with various markup until my window froze up.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by PMertens on Aug 1st, 2007, 4:13pm
I feel guilty for breaking it :-(
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Aug 1st, 2007, 5:02pm

on 08/01/07 at 14:03:48, nbarriga wrote:
It would probably be usefull if you state your OS and browser... and maybe wether or not you're behind a firewall or in a NAT

This happened to me on XP / Firefox when I tried briefly, but I don't have time to report it properly at the moment.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Aug 1st, 2007, 6:20pm

on 08/01/07 at 14:03:48, nbarriga wrote:
It would probably be usefull if you state your OS and browser... and maybe wether or not you're behind a firewall or in a NAT


Duh, yes I should certainly know better.  ::)

Win XP, Firefox 2.0.0.6, upgraded to latest flash 9 behind a NAT and an incoming connection firewall.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Aug 1st, 2007, 7:48pm
From Windows Vista and IE I get a stable text entry box but an oscillating scene with the other boxes.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by PMertens on Aug 2nd, 2007, 2:22pm
does it interest, what actually broke the chat ?
shall I retry ?  ::)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by aaaa on Aug 2nd, 2007, 3:18pm
At first the windows didn't show anything, but now it works for me.
I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.6 on Linux.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 2nd, 2007, 5:53pm

on 08/01/07 at 18:20:28, Janzert wrote:
Win XP, Firefox 2.0.0.6, upgraded to latest flash 9 behind a NAT and an incoming connection firewall.


If you get stuck on 'connecting' most likely it is due to the chat client not being able to connect to the desired port. Unless you are behind a firewall that blocks out going connections it should work.

There is remote possiblility that the chat server daemon did not start when you opened the chat window. The chat server daemon exits when no one is in the chat room and gets invoked again when the page with the chat client is requested. Maybe it didn't get started when you opened the window.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 2nd, 2007, 5:56pm

on 08/02/07 at 14:22:26, PMertens wrote:
does it interest, what actually broke the chat ?
shall I retry ?  ::)


I checked the logs and found what caused the problem. Somehow you managed to get the chat client to send a boolean where a string was expected and caused the chat server to crash. It should be ok now.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 2nd, 2007, 6:00pm

on 08/01/07 at 19:48:53, RonWeasley wrote:
From Windows Vista and IE I get a stable text entry box but an oscillating scene with the other boxes.


I've seen this while developing the chat client. Usually happens if Flash encountered some internal error. I'll try to put up a version of the client with debugging turned on.

Thanks everyone for testing it out. For the most part it looks like this version is working better than the previous JavaScript version.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by aaaa on Aug 5th, 2007, 9:48am
There is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem here that one only tends to join the chat program when there are already people there. Perhaps for that reason it should be integrated with the game room.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Aug 10th, 2007, 9:17pm

on 08/02/07 at 17:53:20, omar wrote:
If you get stuck on 'connecting' most likely it is due to the chat client not being able to connect to the desired port. Unless you are behind a firewall that blocks out going connections it should work.


This happens when I connect directly to the internet from home.  The only firewall is the one inbuilt into XP.  What port number should I open? I think there's a way I can do that.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Aug 10th, 2007, 9:18pm
Hmm... actually, it even happened when I turned the entire firewall off.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by NIC1138 on Aug 11th, 2007, 3:36pm
Just for the record, I used it with my girlfriend's box, she uses Debian and Firefox, just like me, except her machine works better then mine for some reason. Everything looks fine... I have to try out some of those PMertens html-tag hacks now ;D
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Aug 13th, 2007, 10:20pm
Just an update, I tried it again just now when the gameroom said there was already somebody in the chat and had the same result of it saying connecting indefinitely. So far as I can think there shouldn't be any firewall on any outgoing connections.

I haven't a clue on debugging flash so sorry I can't be more help.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 15th, 2007, 10:03pm
From a dos prompt try a telnet to arimaa.com port 40003.

> telnet arimaa.com 40003

If that works then the problem is with the chat client.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 15th, 2007, 10:06pm

on 08/10/07 at 21:17:01, 99of9 wrote:
What port number should I open? I think there's a way I can do that.


Port 40003.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Aug 15th, 2007, 10:10pm

on 08/01/07 at 19:48:53, RonWeasley wrote:
From Windows Vista and IE I get a stable text entry box but an oscillating scene with the other boxes.


Ron, I just had this similar problem on an old laptop. I updated the flash player plugin and it started working. Maybe Vista doesn't ship with the latest flash player. You can get the latest version from here:

http://www.adobe.com/go/gntray_dl_getflashplayer
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Aug 15th, 2007, 11:02pm

on 08/15/07 at 22:03:04, omar wrote:
From a dos prompt try a telnet to arimaa.com port 40003.

> telnet arimaa.com 40003

If that works then the problem is with the chat client.


Seems to connect fine, any sort of ping or connection command I try to be sure I get a response?

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Aug 17th, 2007, 8:54am

on 08/15/07 at 22:03:04, omar wrote:
From a dos prompt try a telnet to arimaa.com port 40003.

> telnet arimaa.com 40003

If that works then the problem is with the chat client.


Like Janzert, I'm unsure what I'm meant to see.  I don't get a login screen, I just get a blank window with an underscore cursor.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Sep 1st, 2007, 3:21pm
Anything else I can do to help with this Omar?

WC spectating season is coming up and I'd hate for the participants to miss my crazed spectator ranting...or hmm...wait a second maybe this is supposed to keep me away from the players. Well it won't stop me, I'll rant even if they can't hear me.

Janzert (who is now sure Omar will really "fix" the chat to keep him out) :P
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by chessandgo on Sep 2nd, 2007, 3:34pm
lol Janzert :) Don't worry, we'll create a radio which will broadcast your live comments all over the world during the games ;)
Seriously, we wouldn't consider for a single second to miss your spectating comments, I hope there'll be a solution. Well, there is one actually : change your spectator's suit for a player's one ;)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Sep 4th, 2007, 11:21am
I tried to download the new Flash to my Vista machine.  Unfortunately there is a problem with Vista keeping it from downloading Flash.  Currently, all web information is that MS doesn't know what the problem is yet.

Looks like my witty commentary will be missing from the WC, too.  More seriously, without access to the chat, I would not be an effective TD.  I really needed that chat last year.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by IdahoEv on Sep 4th, 2007, 2:53pm
I maintain a web compatibility testing lab in my office (3 operating systems, 40+ different browsers), and I went to test the chat system in all of them.   A strange thing happened.

On my mac, at least, it didn't work in firefox.  But then it worked in safari,  opera, camino, and seamonkey.  Seamonkey and camino surprised me because they both use the same mozilla core as firefox.  When I went back and tried firefox ... it worked.  Even though it's never worked before on Firefox for me.  So now it works on all browsers on my mac, and I'm not sure why.

On windows, here were the results I got, all after installing the very latest Flash player.  They have stayed consistent:
Windows XPIE 7.0OK
Windows XPIE 6.0OK
Windows XPIE 5.5OK
Windows XPFirefox 2Fail (Flickering windows)
Windows XPFirefox 1Fail (Flickering windows)
Windows XPSafari 3OK
Windows XPOpera 9.23Fail (Flickering windows)
Windows XPOpera 8.5Couldn't test*

* The flash player only installed itself in the directory for the new version of Opera; Opera 8.5 was left without flash and I didn't think it was important enough to figure out.

Out of curisosity, Omar, why are you developing a chatroom yourself?  There are dozens of free open-source chat solutions out there, no need to reinvent the wheel and go through all this frustration.   On a quick search at sf.net, these two seemed reasonably promising:

http://www.sterryit.com/chatr/
http://www.sadame.net/serenity/index.html
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Fritzlein on Sep 4th, 2007, 4:05pm

on 09/04/07 at 14:53:48, IdahoEv wrote:
Out of curisosity, Omar, why are you developing a chatroom yourself?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that question.  Omar loves to use pre-existing software whenever he gets a chance.  Witness this forum and the chat client we had in the past.  The present chat client was actually just a stepping stone to a more-stable game client.  I'm afraid, though, that with all the issues you and others are reporting, all his hard work on the new game client won't pay off in greater stability.  :(
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Sep 5th, 2007, 11:52pm
Thanks for checking out the chat client on the various platforms IdahoEv. Im really suprised that it failed on WinXP with Firefox. Im using a WinXP notebook with FireFox 1.5 right now and it seems to work OK for me. Try typing:
  about:plugins
in your Firefox location bar and check the section for Shockwave Flash and be sure it is at least 9.0.

I used to have bribble.com chat setup, but it stopped working after I moved the site to a new server. I have not looked into why. As Fritzlein mentioned the flash chat client was really a test bed for the game client.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Nov 26th, 2007, 4:12am
Just wanted to bump this to the top; hoping Omar has a chance to take another look at this before the world championship.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Nov 27th, 2007, 9:00am
I looked at the two open source chat clients that IdahoEv mentioned and setup the one that seemed to have more/better features.

You can try it out here:
 http://chat.arimaa.com/chat/

If this seems to be working for everyone then I'll make this the default in the gameroom.

Also if anyone wants to help out by searching and evaluating other open source chat clients and recommending them that would be great. Thanks.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Nov 27th, 2007, 9:15am
Linux Mozilla Firefox.

This new chat client worked for me!  Something actually works for me!

Omar is my favorite Minister for Magic!
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Fritzlein on Nov 27th, 2007, 10:22am
Works fine for me too.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Nov 27th, 2007, 11:18am
Yay, seems to work fine here as well.

Edit: If you want to look at something else and since you had already set up a jabber server at one point an interesting option might be MUCKl (http://zeank.in-berlin.de/muckl/) a web interface to a jabber chat room. Then if anyone has a problem with the web interface they can always use a dedicated jabber client as well.

Edit2: Hmm, looks like muckl needs a pretty specific setup for the jabber server so may not work out well with what was already installed.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Nov 27th, 2007, 5:57pm
that chat works for me!

Edit:
if I try to log back in after a few minutes, it says "that username already exists"
but as long as I choose a different username, it lets me in (at that point it timed out the old 99of9, so after that I can go back to my original name)
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Nov 27th, 2007, 8:31pm
Windows Vista also works.

Sorry about all the kisses.  Hermione just can't leave it alone.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Fritzlein on Dec 30th, 2007, 1:32pm
The current chat client crashed today (Sunday) at 1:27 central time with Fritzlein, leo, jdb, and froody in attendance.  It will be too bad if the chat keeps crashing while we are trying to watch the World Championship.

Everyone got disconnected and had to close the window and rejoin chat.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Dec 30th, 2007, 1:32pm
Just as another data point. The per game observer chat works for me while the current overall gameroom chat does not. Even though I think they're both basically the same.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Jan 2nd, 2008, 1:41am
Thanks for this info guys. For now I think I will just use the 3rd party JS/AJAX client since it seems to work for more people.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Arimanator on Jan 3rd, 2008, 3:01pm
The new chat doesn't work for me. I enter the room or so it seems but then the program is completely dead, no matter what I type, it won't work. What should I do?
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by The_Jeh on Jan 10th, 2008, 7:21pm
The new chat is fine, but, admittedly, if the old chat works, I like it better. If you guys want to chat during the tournament, remember that the old chat is still implemented in the chat rooms of specific games. You can also set predictions on how the game will turn out. The average prediction is displayed for all to see.

And if no one else's name appears in the game-specific rooms, don't immediately assume no one is there. There are a few glitches with the list of chatters.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by The_Jeh on Jan 10th, 2008, 11:49pm
If you enter predictions in a game's chatroom, your prediction stays even after you leave. You can always change your prediction later. I encourage all who can to enter their predictions for the upcoming tournament games.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Jan 12th, 2008, 5:10pm
I like the game specific chat too. But it probably has some bugs since I didn't get to test it much. If anyone is familiar with Flash and want to help with the chat or the game client please let me know.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Feb 7th, 2008, 6:15pm
Has the gameroom chat stopped working for anyone else?

It takes a minute or so to load then says, "you have timed out, please login again" in the main window.

Janzert
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Feb 7th, 2008, 6:43pm
Yes, I got that when I tried last night.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Feb 8th, 2008, 2:13am
It was taking a while to load, but worked OK for me once it started.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by RonWeasley on Feb 8th, 2008, 7:31am
Happened to me too.  And continues to happen.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Feb 8th, 2008, 9:37pm
"Once it started..."
That's the key, it's getting extremely hard to get it started.  It's too broken to use as it is, because few people put up with the pain of attempting to log in >10 times.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by The_Jeh on Feb 8th, 2008, 9:59pm
I guess those who are able can chat in the individual game rooms until the universal chat gets fixed. It is version 0.7 that's being used, right?
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by omar on Feb 9th, 2008, 6:30am
Yes, it happened to me when I tried to login to the chatroom after my game last night. But, before the game I was able to login, though it took a while to start. After the game I wasn't able to even though I tried several times.

I just tried a reinstall and it still seems to be having problems. I'll spend a few minutes to see if I can debug it; otherwise we'll have to look for another chat solution.
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by 99of9 on Feb 9th, 2008, 6:53am
Thanks for your work Omar.

It seems I can now log in fine, but I time out within about 10 seconds... so I have to try to post really quickly!!
Title: Re: New Chat
Post by Janzert on Feb 9th, 2008, 9:43am
I don't know if it has any bearing on the problem, but one thing I noticed was that since the problem began no join or 'timed out' messages seem to be shown either.

Janzert


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