HomeDoor Users' Guide

This section lists some common problems you might encounter when using HomeDoor, and provides some suggestions for troubleshooting those problems.

As a general troubleshooting hint, many problems with HomeDoor are due to incorrect configuration of domain names. To rule out DNS problems, try accessing your default home pages using hard-coded addresses (URLs of the form http://10.0.0.1). If hard-coded addresses work correctly, the problem is with domain name configuration. Consult your network administrator.

• The domain name system entry for the URLs involved may be pointing to the actual Web server rather than to addresses managed by HomeDoor. Each DNS entry must point to an address managed by HomeDoor. Consult with your network administrator.
  

• The browser has chosen to display the actual page's URL, rather than the one initially entered. To work around this problem, see the section entitled "Browsers' display of HomeDoor URLs" in the Extension Reference section. Open Door Networks also has a FAQ available on this subject.
  

• The Web server itself may be changing the display through a second redirect, giving the Web browser the real URL. Many CGIs issue redirects, and the Web servers themselves might issue redirects if an error is encountered (for instance a directory name is missing a trailing slash).
  

• There may not be a domain name system entry corresponding to the requested URL. Consult with your network administrator.
  
• There may not be a domain name system entry corresponding to the URL to which HomeDoor is redirecting (for instance the www2 entry used as an alias to your real Web server).
  
• Be sure you have restarted the Macintosh on which HomeDoor is running after you install HomeDoor.
  
• Watch the extension icons at startup to be sure HomeDoor has actually loaded.
  
• Be sure HomeDoor's status is set to Running in HomeDoor Admin.
  
• HomeDoor may not be configured to manage the address indicated by the domain name system entry corresponding to the requested URL.
  
• Be sure that HomeDoor's address range is valid for the network to which HomeDoor is connected, and that no HomeDoor address with a configured URL conflicts with another device on that network. Ping HomeDoor at the desired address to make sure it is accessible. Addresses ending in zero or 255 are often not valid IP addresses.
  
• If HomeDoor is running on a machine with more than one Ethernet port, be sure the network is connected to the first Ethernet port HomeDoor will find (usually the built-in Ethernet).
  

• Check the URLs entered in HomeDoor to be sure they are valid (actually try to access the entered URL from a Web broswer).
  
• If the requested URL contains anything other than a Web server address (that is, if it also contains a file or directory name) be sure the associated URL in HomeDoor specifies a directory name (that is, be sure it ends with a slash). Be sure the requested file actually exists in the correct directory on the actual Web server.
  
• Look at the log on your Web server to see the name of the page that is actually being accessed.
  

• The browser must support the HTTP REDIRECT command. A few very old browsers do not support this command.
  

• Be sure that the domain associated with this home page has been officially registered with the InterNIC, as indicated in Appendix 1. Additionally, it may take up to a week after registration (and DNS configuration) for the domain to be accessible throughout the Internet.
  

• TCP/IP protocols often cache the mapping between physical machines and IP addresses. Devices on your network (such as your router or other Macs) may be remembering the physical address of the Mac that HomeDoor was running on previously. Either reboot all your devices or wait for a few hours before trying again.
  

• You have probably configured HomeDoor in such a way so as to cause the loop. For a particular HomeDoor address, you have entered a URL which points back to that HomeDoor address, or to another HomeDoor address (which in turn points back to the original). HomeDoor addresses should always point to real Web servers. In particular, if you are redirecting to an alias to your real Web server (for instance one of the www2 form), be sure the DNS is configured to have that alias point to the real Web server and not back to a HomeDoor address.
  

• There may be no Ethernet port in the Mac.
  
• An error may have occurred trying to open the Ethernet driver. Perhaps the Ethernet is either unterminated or not connected at all.
  
• Be sure neither Open Transport versions prior to 1.1 nor the Apple IP Gateway are installed on the machine.
  
• Be sure there is no extension accessing TCP/IP services before HomeDoor loads.
  
• You may be using an expired copy of HomeDoor. Beta and evaluation versions of HomeDoor are set up to expire after a certain date.
  
• Your HomeDoor extension file may be corrupted. Try replacing it, either with a backup or with the original as distributed (you may then need to reconfigure HomeDoor).
  

• Be sure the HomeDoor extension is in the extensions folder in the system folder, and that it has not been disabled through use of the Extensions Manager control panel.
  

• You are probably using an evaluation version of HomeDoor, which only supports two default home pages, or a bundled version of HomeDoor which also supports only a limited number of default home pages. Contact Open Door Networks to obtain a fully functional version.
  

• Check the Mac's TCP/IP address using the MacTCP or TCP/IP control panel, and, if that address is within the range assigned to HomeDoor, be sure that there is no entry in the HomeDoor URL field associated it.
  

• Be sure that there is no entry in the HomeDoor URL field associated with the IP address for that device. HomeDoor takes over all addresses within its range for which URLs have been entered.
  

• The downloadable and bundled versions of HomeDoor Admin require HyperCard or HyperCard Player version 2.0 or later. A standalone version of HomeDoor Admin is available to registered users directly from Open Door Networks.
  

• If you have renamed the HomeDoor extension, HomeDoor Admin will not be able to find it.
  

• HomeDoor did not load at startup.
  
• An old version of HomeDoor loaded at startup. Check the version number of the HomeDoor extension in the extensions folder in your system folder. The version must be at least 1.2.
  
• The HomeDoor extension has been moved from the extension folder.
  

• HomeDoor did not load at startup.
  
• An old version of HomeDoor loaded at startup.
  
• The log file could not be opened or created, possibly due to another application having the log file open or the startup disk being full.
  
• The HomeDoor extension has been moved from the extension folder.
  

• The application probably can not read the log file because HomeDoor has it opened. Temporarily disable logging using HomeDoor Admin, read and then close the log file, and then re-enable logging.