Keep-It-Up-X troubleshooting

General Troubleshooting

If you experience problems while using KIU, always first check the KIU log file. The messages in this file will often point you to the problem you're trying to resolve. Also, 90% of the problems experienced with KIU can be solved by:
  1. checking your hard disk using the Disk Utility, which you can find in Applications/utilities (Disk First Aid)
  2. trashing the "KIU StartUp/WebLaunch/WebLog Items" folders and re-creating all aliases.
  3. trashing the "KIU Preferences" file.
Make sure your aliases work by double clicking them in the finder. If this doesn't work as expected, KIU won't be able to function correctly either. You may need to (re-)associate a document with the correct application:
  1. Select the original document in the finder
  2. Choose Show Info from the File menu.
  3. Choose Open with (application).
  4. Click the application selection menu, which is located immediately below, choose the correct application

KIU remote management

Some documents/applications I added in the KIU WebLog/WebLaunch folders don't show up in the webpages. 

If you look in the KIU logfile, you'll probably see the reason why the document doesn't show up e.g.:

Could not resolve alias 'KIU Logfile alias' in the KIU WebLog Items folder (parent directory not found)
Could not resolve alias 'KIU Logfile alias' in the KIU WebLog Items folder (file not found)

This indicates that there's something wrong with the alias you put in the folder. Make sure the alias works by double clicking it from the finder. Perhaps the original file was removed ? Perhaps the correct volume is unavailable ? Try recreating the aliases. Check your harddisk using a disk tool.

KIU-X seems to ignore shellscripts and Unix command-line applications. 

The current release of KIU-X only deals with true Macintosh-style programs, i.e. programs having a true Mac GUI. Unix software can generally be managed remotely from a telnet/ssh session, so there's little point to adding such functionality to KIU. However, future version of KIU-X will probaly integrate better with the Unix layer of MacOS X. Any views on this subject are always welcome.

The embedded webserver doesn't work. 

There's a lot that can go wrong with your network configuration, so I can only give a few pointers. First of all, you should always check the KIU log file. The error messages in this file will often indicate what is wrong. If the log indicates an error occurs after startup, you should verify your network settings and hardware.

Use a "ping" or "traceroute" utility  to check if the server is reachable from the remote computer. If the ping fails, you've got a network connectivity problem. Consult your network manager if you can't solve this problem yourself.
Check if TCP/IP is correctly configured on the server by connecting from the server to another machine using any network application (e.g. a browser).
 

I forgot my password, and now I can't quit KIU or change the preferences.

Trash the KIU Preferences file (in your /homedirectory/library/preferences folder) and restart your Mac from the finder.

KIU error messages/problems

 

I added a new application named "SuperServer 2.1" to the KIU items folder and now this application always pops to the front.

Make sure your alias doesn't end with ".1" which activates the "Keep application in front" feature of KIU.

Some aliases I put in the "KIU WebLaunch/WebLog Items" don't get launched or don't show up in the list of files using my webbrowser. The KIU log file says: "Could not resolve alias 'xxx' in the WebLaunch/WebLog Items folder."

This indicates a problem with your aliases. Make sure the alias works by double clicking it from the finder. Perhaps the original file was removed ? Perhaps the correct volume is unavailable ? Try recreating the aliases. Check your harddisk using a disk tool.

KIU doesn't do anything, it doesn't (re-)launch my applications and it sometimes doesn't perform a scheduled restart.

KIU doesn't do anything until it considers the computer to be "idle". In some circumstances (e.g. when using a keyboard switch),  KIU may be led to believe somebody is continuously using the Mac and it will never launch the applications . Set the "idle time before activation" to zero to solve this problem.

KIU doesn't open some documents/applications in the KIU StartUp Items folder. 

  • Check the KIU log file. Perhaps it says something like "The creator application of this document could not be found. KIU will continue without watching this document". Make sure the correct application is available and/or re-associate the document with the correct application.
  • Make sure you don't put both an alias to an application and aliases to documents of that application in the KIU Items.
  • If the watched application is already running when KIU is launched, the documents will not be (re-) opened. If documents are closed, without closing the application, KIU will not re-open these documents.

    • Automounter

    You may encounter something like this in your logfile:

    11:51 Error mounting Appleshare volume MacHD on server xxx (I/O error)
    11:53 Mounted Appleshare volume MacHD on server xxx
    11:55 Error mounting Appleshare volume MacHD on server xxx (I/O error)
    11:57 Mounted Appleshare volume MacHD on server xxx

    From this example, we see that the volume continuously gets mounted and disconnected.  You may also get several "ghost copies" of such a volume on your desktop.  

    This may indicate a flaky network connection or some other network/server related problem. Check your network connection and the server's health.

    Filemaker Pro

     
    Filemaker Pro and password protected databases.

    If you  use password protected FM Pro databases, you may notice that KIU will launch FM Pro without opening the database aliases in the KIUstartup items. To avoid this, add a blank (empty) password to all databases.