Flashing windows

[TechAnalysis]

I have a nasty problem with MC. As soon as it loads the main portfolio window, along with most of my other windows that are open, flash. They blank out then come back over and over again.

I spoke with LiveRep yesterday and he said someone would get back to me last night, but nobody did, so I'm posting this here.

Win XP
512 MB RAM
Sun Java 1.4

[ScottJ]

Hi and Welcome back

Are you saying that the java based window flashes or all instances of IE open flash? The flashing sure sounds like a Java issue. We recently added more information on Java to our Market Center training page. You'll find a link to "All About Java" there. We've linked to FAQ's and help information from Sun's site so hopefully those will be of help.

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

Hi Scott -

IB's windows flash as does MC's. Funny thing I tried it on my wife's Pentium last night and it worked; could it be a video card issue? I'm running 3 monitors on 3 different cards but they all flash. Strange. I even tried it in Opera as well as IE and it flashed in both so it's not a browser issue per se.

I'll check out the Java page you mentioned and report back to you.

[ScottJ]

We have had eSignal customers find that incompatible or outdated video drivers/cards have been the source of a reported problem. We briefly mention Video Drivers in this FAQ but I can't say we've had much feedback in regards to MC and Video Cards. It might be worth making sure all the drivers are updated...

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

Scott -

There's just one problem - all my other java apps/websites work just fine. MC is the only one that causes this to happen.

Does that help in any way?

[ScottJ]

Are any of the other java apps you use similiar to MC in the sense that they stream market data? If so, I'd be curious as to which ones work OK under your configuration.

It would be helpful to get a reading from your Java Console. In Internet Explorer, look in the View menu towards the bottom for Java Console.

If it's not listed there, look in the Tools menu for Sun Java Console. If it's also not listed there, you must go to Tools / Internet Options , then click the Advanced tab, and scroll down until you can mark the "Java Console Enabled" setting. Then close all Internet Explorer windows and restart your browser. You should now see Java Console under the View or Tools menu.

Once you've got the Java Console up, click the clear button in the lower left to erase the existing content. Now, open up MC and log-in. You'll see information fill-in to that console as MC starts-up and connects. Simply copy/paste the contents of the console and email me at [email protected] so I can forward to engineering.

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

Scott -

Other flashing java apps include IB's tws and related windows (account, exections, etc) and the various Medved Quotetracker windows. Additionally, the mouse cursor is flickering and whenever the screen redraws all the desktop icons refresh too, if this tells you anything.

I'll send a copy of the java console tonight. Thanks for your help

[ScottJ]

First suggestion from Engineering is that you upgrade your Java plug-in as there is a newer version available. You can find links to both an automatic and a manual download option on our All About Java page.

Let's see if that solves it.

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

The latest java is 1.4 - my first post mentioned that that's what I'm running.
IB is runnign great, all other java apps, streaming or otherwise are running fine.

[ScottJ]

Actually, the latest Java is 1.4.1_03. I just downloaded it a few minutes ago to confirm.

I can't say that upgrading will fix the flashing you are seeing but at least we'll be trying to compare apples with apples best we can. Please keep in mind that we aren't getting reports of this problem from other users and we're well over 1000 MC subs already. It's pretty clear the problem is some unique combination of items on your system and we'll do our best to help figure out what that combination is.

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

Running Java 1.4.1_03 here

[ScottJ]

Not sure I understand. The log file you forwarded shows you were running 1.4.0_01. I take it you've upgraded since and the same problem remains?

Thanks.

[TechAnalysis]

I just installed Java 1.4.1_03 - the latest from sun. It seems to be working tonight, Sunday, but I'd like to see what happens tomorrow morning when the quotescreen is updating with live data. Will let you know the outcome.

Thanks for all your help

[TechAnalysis]

OK Java _03 did the trick. Working great this morning.

Funny thing, I had the older version installed but the java site said it was the latest so I assumed it was _03. I uninstalled then did a fresh install to fix it.

Thanks, Scott et al for your help

[ScottJ]

That's great. Glad it's resolved. Thanks for the update.