Jago FAQ

This file tries to give you additional start support. Consult it in case of problems. You are still welcome to ask me, if you find problems not mentioned here. You are also welcome to report bugs and suggestions for future versions.


Jago does not start!

Jago runs on so many different systems that it is very hard for me to support all of them. On the other hand, there are common steps to analyze what went wrong. Moreover, if you still need help after these steps it is by far best to contact a local computer expert for assistance. If you cannot find one or if he/she fails, please do not hesitate to write me asking for help. In this mail, you should indicate

But first of all, please follow the following steps to analyze your problem.

(1) See, if your Java virtual machine works correctly. If Jago starts (the main window comes up with the pre-configured IGS connections, buttons and menus visible), you have no problems in this step and can go to step (2) starting Jago in a command line. If not, test your virtual machine. To do this, you will need a test program. You should have a Test.class file together with the documentation of Jago. If not, here is the class for you to download. You get a file named Test.class and you start the program in this file with

java Test

in a command line or the corresponding command on your java machine. This may be

jview Test

for the virtual machine that comes with Internet Explorer, or

jre -cp . Test

for the java runtime environment. Note that we have to set the classpath to contain the active directory in this case. If this prints "Hello", your virtual machine is working well.

(2) It may happen that your virtual machine does not fit to the Jago version you downloaded. Let me repeat that you need a 1.1.x Java version for Jago version 2.x. To test this, open a command line (DOS prompt, or UNIX shell) and switch to the jago directory. Check, if you have the file jago.jar there. In case, you are unable to follow these steps, you really need to consult a knowledgable person. If your system does not have a command line, you might also need additional help.

Then start Jago with

set CLASSPATH=jago.jar
java jagoclient/Go

(or jview instead of java), or with

jre -cp jago.jar jagoclient/Go

in case you installed the java runtime only. If this produces an error message of any kind, please write it down and try to get assistance (or mail me). If it produces no error message, but also no Jago main window, you have a serious problem, which is probably beyond me.

(3) Now we assume your Jago version started without any error message, and you see the main window of Jago with the preconfigured IGS servers, the buttons to connect, and a menu bar. If any of this is missing, please tell me so. Then try to open the topmost help item. If no new window appears, check for an error message in the command window. Likewise, check for command line output in any case of program misbehaviour and tell me the exact output. Preferably start Jago with the just in time compiler switched off, as shown in (5) so you get exact line numbers in case of an exception. Also try to open a local board and enter moves there.

(4) I assume, Jago works but you have problems connecting to the server. Please consult the next section for help on connection problems.

(5) If you can connect to the server but get irregular behaviour, please help me to locate the error more precisely. Start Jago with the -dump switch. I.e.

jre -nojit -cp jago.jar jagoclient/Go -dump

This will produce a dump file dump.dat, which contains a session log. the -nojit switch turns off the just in time compiler on windows and Java version 1.1.6. Older versions of Java may use the syntax

set JAVA_COMPILER=

for this purpose, or the compiler will be switched off by default. If you fail to switch off the compiler, never mind. This is not really important. However, I wont get the exact line location in case of an exception message.

Please send the dump.dat file and the error message of the command line to me. In Windows, you can simply cut and paste this message from the command line. Moreover, describe what you did before the error occurs and how it showed.

Thank you for a detailed bug report!


Jago does not connect!

Assuming you can start Jago, but cannot connect to any server, do the following.

If the telnet method works, please check the connection in the edit connection dialog for misspelled names. Make sure, you are running Jago from the command line, using a Java virtual machine, and not from a WWW browser (see below).


I need more help to install Jago on Windows 95/NT!

You are probably a MSDOS novice, who does not know the details of command lines and batch files. So here are more details for you.

First, let me assume that you downloaded and installed the Java runtime. You should have downloaded a file named like jre117B-win32.exe, which you can simply run to install the kit. Moreover, you need the self installing Jago version. Here are the links:

Download these files by clicking on them in the browser. I assume, you download these files onto the C:\ directory (the browser will prompt you for the destination).

Now choose "Start/Run" and enter

c:\jre117B-win32

Follow the instructions.

The next step is to install Jago. To do this run the command

jago95i

the same way.

Now you can already try Jago. Just click on "Start/Programs/Jago"


I want to connect to IGS from my Browser!

The Java security model restricts Java applets, which are loaded in a browser. There are two restrictions

Moreover, downloading the Jago classes is slower than accessing the local disk.

There are several ways to overcome these restrictions with Jago.

To overcome the restricted access to the file system, all you can do is mail go files to yourself. You could also use the clipboard to copy the SGF text from the mail window and paste it into an editor.


I am behind a firewall!

You need a computer outside the firewall, which can telnet to the internet go server, and runs a telnet server. Jago can telnet to this computer, and you can start a telnet session to the go server on it. See here for more details.


Sound does not work!

I tested the sound only on Windows 95. Here it worked with all Java versions. The sound is based on the undocumented java.sound API from Sun. There is no guarantee that it will continue to work in future versions. Also Jago somtimes hangs if sound is enabled producing an error message in the command line. I do not know the exact reason of this. If it ever happens to you, please do not use sound, but only the beeps. Future versions of Java will support more sophisticated sound and I will encorporate this as soon as it is available.

To enable sound, you must have a sound card properly installed, and checked "Sound on". If you un-check "Beep only", you should here a "Hi!" spoken by me on program start.


The board does not appear!

If you enable the true color board, it takes some time to be generated. You should see a "Creating Board" message. On my Pentium 75, a board size of about 400 pixels takes 5 seconds. On program start, Jago starts a thread, which creates a board based on the previous board size. If this board is available, the "Creating Board" message vanishes much faster. If you experience problems, you should switch off the true color board.


Is the source available?

Yes it is. You need to agree to a licence, however. See here.