FAQs Before The InStream™ Viewer Application Loads


Q: Will my older computer support InStream™ and the IP video service?

A computer must meet certain minimum system requirements. If your system does
not meet these requirements, the service may perform less than desired or not at
all. The minimum system requirements to view each service are listed below:

*320×240, 2Mbps*

Windows 98/2000/XP:
Intel Pentium III 850MHz CPU or better
Sun JRE 1.4.1 or later
Firefox or Internet Explorer 6.0+

Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Power PC):
Power PC G3 700MHz or G4 400 MHz or better
OpenGL-capable video card (ATI Rage 128 or Radeon, any nVidia card)
Java Virtual Machine
Firefox, Safari, IE 5.2

OR

Mac OS X 10.4+ (Intel)
Java run-time environment
Firefox or Safari

RedHat (Intel) Linux 3 or greater, Fedora Core 5 or greater, Ubuntu Linux 6.04 or greater:
Intel Pentium III 850MHz CPU or better
24-bit graphics enabled
Properly configured and enabled audio card/module
Mozilla v0.9.9/v1.2a or later with Java Plug-in (i.e., v1.4.1 or later)

*480×480, 4Mbps*

Windows 98/2000/XP:
Intel Pentium III 850MHz CPU or greater
Sun JRE 1.4.1 or later
Firefox or Internet Explorer 6.0+

Mac OS X 10.2.8:
Power PC G4 867 MHz or greater
OpenGL-capable video card (ATI Rage 128 or Radeon, any nVidia card)
Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, or Netscape Communicator 7.0

OR

Mac OS X 10.4+ (Intel)
Java run-time environment
Firefox or Safari

RedHat (Intel) Linux 3 or greater, Fedora Core 5 or greater, Ubuntu Linux 6.04 or greater:
Intel Pentium III 850MHz CPU or greater
24-bit graphics enabled
Properly configured and enabled audio card/module
Mozilla v0.9.9/v1.2a or later with Java Plug-in (i.e., v1.4.1 or later)

The client computer must have network access and a recent Java run-time
environment, in most cases available at http://java.sun.com/.


Q: Why do I get a message in my browser that says my platform is
unsupported?

If you have what is determined to be an unsupported device, the portal attempts
to display a helpful message to guide you in resolving the problem. This message
means that your platform is unsupported by the viewer. Please review the minimum
platform requirements in another part of this FAQ.


Q: Will it work on my system with multiple monitors attached?

Video Furnace added multiple monitor support in system release v4.1.


Q: When I direct my Web browser to the portal to 'Tune In', why does my
browser 'crash' or show an 'Applet unable to initialize' or similar
status message in the lower left corner?

Your Java run-time environment may be obsolete or corrupt. Users of Macintosh OS
X platforms are advised to consider visiting apple.com and upgrading to Apple's
latest MRJ. Users of Windows and Linux platforms should consider retrieving the
latest Sun Java runtime environment which can be found at http://www.java.com/
You may also need to upgrade your browser to the latest version.


Q: When I try to connect to a broadcast using my Web browser, I see a
pop-up message, what are these messages and how should I reply to them?

These are security warnings that ask whether you authorize to load the signed
software necessary to automatically provision your computer to view the selected
content. These messages are common the first time you select a stream in a
browser session. Select the 'Grant' or 'Yes' button to bypass each request, each
time. If you do not want to see these messages again, check the 'Remember this
decision' o 'Always trust content' or similar option before you select the
'Grant' or 'Yes' button or select the 'Always' button depending on the type of
pop-up displayed. When you inform the security manager that you always want to
grant authorizations to the software, the messages will no longer appear when
you request to view enabled content in the future.


Q: Why do I see the message 'Unable to Initialize Transport' in the
browser's status area?

This means that one or more of the certificate authorizations was not granted.
Reload the page to force the browser to ask you for authorization again. You may
also need to upgrade your Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Java Runtime Environment
(JRE), or Java Runtime Machine (JRM - Apple) to a newer version. Instructions on
upgrading your JVM/JRE/JRM can be found elsewhere in this FAQ. You may need to
close all instances of the browser and start again.


FAQs After The InStream™ Viewer Launches


Q: Why does the viewer application display 'Retrieving guide data',
'Waiting for Broadcast', 'Tuning In', or 'Connecting', and then do
nothing - or worse, tells me I'm unauthorized?

The stream may not be available on the network or your computer system may not
be receiving multicast data through or from your network connection or may be
blocked by a personal firewall. Multicast is a standard network-based data
distribution technology used to broadcast services on the network. If you
encounter one of these messages but never receive onGuide data or video, you may
have a firewall or other configuration issue that prevents multicast data from
reaching the application on your system.

*User Not Authorized:* If you get a 'User not authorized' error after seeing the
message 'Retrieving guide data,' try disabling unnecessary network adapters and
connections (i.e., network bridges, wireless network adapters), and try again.

*License server not responding:* if InStream
™ cannot communicate with
the license server, this message may appear. To resolve this, open the outgoing
unicast udp port (specified below) in your personal firewall configuration.

*Multiple Network Interfaces:* You may encounter problems if your computer is
configured to use several different connections to the network such as a wired
802.3 and a wireless 802.11x adapters. Disable settings for wireless adapters
and try again.

*Firewalls:* If your computer has a personal firewall such as Zone Alarm or
Black Ice installed and configured to 'Block Internet Servers', you will not
receive multicast services even if your network connection is multicast enabled,
because an improperly configured firewall will block multicast. To enable
multicast on a system with a firewall you can either temporarily disable or
remove the firewall software by going to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
(Windows), or reconfigure the firewall program to 'Allow Internet Servers' in an
option menu. Your firewall must be configured to allow the IP addresses carrying
the multicast traffic on your network (e.g., 233.0.103.x, check with your site
technical support). Also, be sure to allow the following ports: incoming
multicast udp ports: 4900 and 4901 and outgoing unicast udp port 4902. Keep in
mind that some network services client applications may install firewall
software on your client device without your knowledge (e.g., Cisco - IPSec VPN).
If you suspect this to be the case, consider opening that application, finding
the firewall option and disabling it, closing the application then try accessing
the video services again. If it now works, consider appropriate configuration of
the firewall as mentioned earlier.

*Note:* Windows XP provides a built-in personal firewall that is disabled by
default. If you have not enabled this feature and have no additional firewall
software, multicast should not be blocked.

*NAT Routers:* If your computer is behind a NAT (Network Address Translation)
router, you will probably not be able to receive multicast traffic. Check with
your support organization if you believe this to be the case.

*Linux Users:* Verify that your kernel is enabled for IP multicast.


Q: Why does it take so long to connect to the transmission when using
Internet Explorer?

This may be caused by an early version of the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine
(JVM). Upgrade to the latest version of the Java run-time environment at
http://www.java.com/.

Also - At times, on the World Wide Web, 'helper applications' are loaded to your
computer or are attached to your browser without your knowledge. These
applications are intended to mine data and provide helpful capabilities. Some of
these applications may interrupt or slow down your browser performance. Be
certain that any such application is not interfering with your browser's
capability or performance.


Q: What purpose do the controls serve on the viewer?

The OnGuide /TV button is
located at the top left corner of the InStream
™ dashboard. Clicking on
this button toggles between 'TV' mode and the 'OnGuide
' program guide mode. In
onGuide™ mode, the viewer window displays the list of available channels and up
to two weeks of detailed program information for each channel. When InStream
™ is in TV mode, video
appears in full-window mode and the button reads onGuide™.

The Stop and Play buttons are located next to the onGuide™ button. Clicking the
Play or Stop button starts and stops the video. Right-clicking (Windows/Linux)
or control-clicking (Macintosh) the mouse over the Viewer presents a menu with
various options to resize, enable closed captioning, etc.

The station logo shows the icon associated with the currently tuned channel.

Volume controls are situated immediately to the right of the channel tuning
controls and listed from left to right as 'Mute/Unmute' and 'Volume Slider'. The
volume slider, located to the right of the mute button, increases or attenuates
the volume by sliding the slider control to the right or left. Click the mute
button to mute the audio or unmute muted audio.


Q: Why is my viewer so small?

To view video in full-window mode, click the 'TV' button in the upper left
corner of the 'OnGuide '
window or under the video preview thumbnail. To increase the size of the viewer
window, right-click (Windows/Linux) or control-click (Macintosh) on the viewer
to show a menu with pre-defined viewer sizes. Select the preferred size (small,
medium, large, or full screen) from the menu. Alternately, use the mouse to
click on and stretch the window borders or corners. To toggle between 'OnGuide
' mode and 'TV' mode, press
Ctrl-G (Windows/Linux) or Cmd-G (Macintosh).


Q: Why does it sometimes take a while for the video and audio to restart
when I click Stop, then Play?

Your computer has to leave and rejoin the multicast group for that service, then
reacquire the stream. This may result in a brief delay.


Q: How long should it take for video to start playing after I select a
channel?

It should take only a few seconds after selecting an enabled channel. A brief
delay of a few seconds is normal. If the video hasn't appeared in 30 seconds,
there is a problem either with your platform, it's ability to receive the
network transmission, or other problems that may require the assistance of your
site technical support. Close all unnecessary programs and try to restart
InStream ™.


Q: Why does the message 'Reception: (no broadcast available)', 'Tuning
In' or 'Ready' appear indefinitely in the InStream™ information field?

This means that either the requested stream has been interrupted, the stream is
not available in the part of the network in which you are located, or for some
other reason, the stream cannot traverse your network connection. It's also
possible that your personal firewall is blocking multicast traffic as described
in another part of this FAQ. If you believe there should be a stream available;
then consider contacting your service provider to resolve the anomaly.


Q: Why is the viewer showing a 'black' screen, green bars or an
otherwise snowy display?

If you see nothing in the InStream
™ viewer window, when in TV
mode, and the information message in the InStream
™ status window shows: 'Now
Playing:', then the analog input signal to the video encoder may have been
interrupted. Please notify your service provider of the service interruption.


Q: Why do the onGuide™ event times appear to be inaccurate by an hour or
two for the programs showing?

The time zone and system clock time of your computer (PC/Mac/Linux) might be
incorrect. Be certain that you set the time zone, date, and time appropriate for
your location and select the daylight savings time option if appropriate.


Q: Why do I get the message 'Ready' or 'Waiting for Broadcast' in the
InStream™ information window?

This message implies that the expected stream is no longer available or the
transmission has completed. If you know this to be unexpected, please contact
your IP Video service provider.


Q: Why is my video not smooth like TV?

The streams are placed on the network at a 'full motion video' rate (30 frames
per second). Your version of Microsoft DirectX
may not support monitors
that are set above a scan rate of 75Hz or your CPU is taxed by other
applications and not enough CPU bandwidth is available for InStream
™ to display full frame-rate
video. The following suggestions may help: check your CPU load with the CPU
monitoring tool provided by your Operating System. If you have surplus CPU
cycles available, try to change the scan rate on your monitor to 75Hz. If not,
consider closing some of your other opened applications. Also consider upgrading
graphics card drivers and/or your system software (e.g., Microsoft Update,
Direct/X (if used), Apple Macintosh OSX update, or try a faster computer).


Microsoft Windows Specific FAQs


Q: Why does my Windows PC 'lock-up' when video starts to play?

Your current graphics card drivers may not handle overlays properly. Upgrade to
latest video drivers for your graphics hardware.


Q: Why does my cursor flash when the video is running?

Your drivers may not handle graphics overlays properly. Consider changing the
properties of your mouse pointer in the control panel to normal pointer and turn
off the 'enable pointer shadow' option.


Q: Why does my browser crash instead of loading InStream™ or the Java
applet will load but nothing happens?

Be sure to install all Critical Updates at http://www.windowsupdate.com/. The
Critical Update package may include an up-to-date Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
from Microsoft, which may fix this problem. More information in recommended Java
plugins can be found elsewhere in this FAQ.


Macintosh Specific FAQs


Q: Does it work on Macs?

Yes. Currently InStream ™
supports OS X on both legacy PowerPC
platforms and the new Intel
platform. Requirements are listed elsewhere in this FAQ.


Linux Specific FAQs


Q: Does it work on Linux platforms?

Yes, InStream ™ supports RH
Linux 7.3 and later in X/Windows with OpenGL
. See platform requirements in
another part of this FAQ. With Linux, the first request to watch IP video may
ask that you accept and install the appropriate Java plugin. This may show a
series popup messages to guide you through installation of the appropriate Java
run-time environment.


Q: How do I upgrade my Linux Java Runtime Environment?

If you are having problems that might be related to Java, consider upgrading
your Java Runtime Environment to Sun's JRE (1.6.0_07 as of 8/08). To do so:

1.
Browse to (http://www.java.com/en/download/) and select “Free Java Download”
2.
Locate the Linux Self-Extracting RPM download option and download it to
your Linux machine
3.
Execute the RPM file, and it will install to your machine

The RPM installs the java plugin to:
//usr/java/jre1.6.0_07/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so/

For your web browser to use the new JRE, you need to make sure that there is a
symbolic link to the plugin from your browser's plugin directory.

*Firefox 3*: For Firefox 3, this directory is: //usr/lib/mozilla/plugins//

*Example:* To create the link for Mozilla Firefox 3, do the following:

1.
cd /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
2.
ln -s /usr/java/jre1.6.0_07/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so
./libjavaplugin.so


Q: My Java Runtime Environment is updated, but Instream still doesn't work.

Some linux installations need to have the compat-libstdc++-296 package installed
in order for Instream to function.

For Fedora / Red Hat, this package can be installed with:

*
yum -y install compat-libstdc++-296

For Debian and older version of Ubuntu, the following packages need to be
installed:

*
libstdc++2.10-glibc2.2
*
libstdc++5
*
libstdc++6
*
libstdc++6-4.1-dev

Which can be installed using:

*
apt-get install

For newer versions of Ubuntu, the package may not be available via apt-get. The
correct file can be downloaded and installed manually at:

*
http://http.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/g/gcc-2.95/libstdc++2.10-glibc2.2_2.95.4-27_i386.deb