Troubleshooting Java Web Start an ShaRP

If you have the Mozilla browser you may have to tell the browser how to install the java plugin to the browser and tell it how to interpret Java Web Start files.

Manual Registration of the Java Plugin and Javaws for Linux/Mozilla

The automatic install of an SDK or JRE 1.4.2 on a higher Linux with a higher Mozilla browser will not correctly register the Plugin or the Javaws components.

Follow Sun's instructions at:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/manual_install_linux.html and http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/install-linux.html#jws

Since I am running debian the following command (as root) was needed to get the java plugin registered with Mozilla:

ln -s <javahome>/j2sdk1.4.2/jre/plugin/i386/ns610-gcc32/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/You must also setup the Java Web Start MIME type (JNLP) in Mozilla.
Go to the Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Helper Applications section.
Add a new type and fill in the fields as follows:

MIME Type is application/x-java-jnlp-file
The file extension is jnlp

It should be handled by the javaws executable file in your Java Web Start directory (for me, the executable was <javahome>/j2sdk1.4.2/jre/javaws/javaws).

Windows appear but the they are blank.
ShaRP starts but there is no main 3D window.
ShaRP starts but immediately closes when the main window comes up.

The link doesn't work.
The ShaRP program will not start.
The web browser wants to download the jnlp file.

Java3D/3D Hardware Acceleration Installation Problems

1. It has been reported that the menus are blank if you are using Windows with Java version 1.5.0_02. The program is known to work in Windows with full graphics acceleration using Java version 1.4.2. I suggest installing 1.4.2 if you encounter this problem. Sometimes this may be corrected by turning down the graphics acceleration. This may be done as follows:

(i) Right click on the desktop and select the Properties option from the menu.
(ii) Click on the Settings tab and Click on the Advanced button within this tab.
(iii) Click on the Troubleshoot tab and then use the slider to change the graphic
I was able to solve this problem by moving the slider to the 3rd position from the left side (labeled "None"). This position is described as "Disable all DirectDraw and Direct3D accelerations, as well as all cursor and advanced drawing accelerations."

2. If windows appear but the large region of the screen is blank then, for some reason, the 3D graphics acceleration is not being properly detected for your graphics card by Java. Make sure that the graphics card driver is set to have 3D hardware acceleration enabled. This may be done in Windows as follows:

3. Re-install your graphics card driver or set your driver to "performance" from "high quality". This happened to me with an ATI graphics card.

Java3D problem with ATI RADEON Graphics cards :
As of May 5, 2005 I experienced problems using ATI graphics cards with Java Web Start. I found that to get ShaRP working on an ATI card you must use an older version of Java3D at the moment. Please use Java3D 1.3.2 if you have an ATI card. ATI has some driver problems which hopefully they will fix to allow their graphics cards to be compatible with Java3D applications using the most recent Java3D libraries (currently 1.4.0). This means that one must download Java3D version 1.3.2 and install it prior to running ShaRP via the Java Web Start link.

Java Web Start Installation Problems

1. Make sure you have installed the java run time environment (JRE).

2. Make sure that the browser has a java plugin properly installed. If you are using Mozilla on linux read this.

Mozilla Web Browsers

If you have the Mozilla browser you may have to tell the browser how to install the java plugin to the browser and tell it how to interpret Java Web Start files.

Manual Registration of the Java Plugin and Java Web Start for Linux/Mozilla

The automatic install of an SDK or JRE 1.4.2 or higher on Linux with a Mozilla browser is not complete. For this reason one must manually register both the standard java plugin and the Java Web Start (javaws) plugin.

To enable the standard java plugin on your browser follow Sun's instructions at:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/manual_install_linux.html and http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/install-linux.html#jws

Since I am running debian the following command (as root) was needed to get the java plugin registered with Mozilla:

ln -s <javahome>/j2sdk1.4.2/jre/plugin/i386/ns610-gcc32/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/ To enable the Java Web Start MIME type (JNLP) in Mozilla:
In Mozilla, go to the Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Helper Applications section.

Add a new type and fill in the fields as follows:

MIME Type is application/x-java-jnlp-file
The file extension is jnlp

It should be handled by the javaws executable file in your Java Web Start directory (for me, the executable was <javahome>/j2sdk1.4.2/jre/javaws/javaws).

If you are having problems starting ShaRP after reading and trying those suggestions mentioned in this guide.

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