The following is a list of frequently asked questions and problems regarding Ink Spot. If your problem is not explained here, please send us a report explaining what you were doing at the time of the error. If you are using a Newton and can include a BugTrap report as well, that would be great.
If you haven't yet, you may want to take a look at the on-line manual. If the problem isn't explained in the manual, or the manual is wrong, please tell us that too!
Note: Make sure you're using the latest version of Ink Spot. You can download it from Ink Spot's main web page. It may be that we've already fixed your problem.
Known bugs in the current version of Ink Spot are listed on the main Ink Spot page. Please check there before you look any further.
1.1: When I try to connect, I get the message "Unknown news server."
Either you never entered a news server name in the Connection Info section of the Prefs, or the name you entered is incorrect. Enter the correct name of your news server.
1.2: When I try to connect, I get the message "The news server did not accept the authentication: 502 Permission Denied."
You have checked the "Server requires an extra login" box in the Connection Info section of the Prefs. This should only be used when connecting to a secure news server that requires an additional level of authentication. You need to uncheck the box.
1.3: When I try to connect, I get the message "Connection was unexpectedly terminated."
This is probably caused by a problem with your news server, or some kind of network error. Another possibility is that your Newton's IP address is not authorized to connect to your news server. For solutions to any of these problems, you should contact your network administrator.
One other possibility exists: NIE 2.0 has been reported to drop connections intermittently. This seems to be a problem with NIE 2.0 itself, not with Ink Spot. Each of the following courses of action reportedly has fixed the problem for at least one of our users.
1.4: I'm trying to download from Earthlink, but Ink Spot keeps dropping the connection.
You need to delete the soup named "Internet DNS Cache" (for NIE 2.0) in the "storage" drawer. Earthlink changed the IP address of their news server some time ago, and evidently the Newton isn't taking well to this change. If you're using the IP address manually (instead of news.earthlink.net), you'll have to change the IP address in your download configuration.
Additionally, we have had some reports of continuing problems with Earthlink from Newton-based newsreaders (not just Ink Spot). We have been in touch with their technical support folks, but their news server admins are unwilling to give us information about their configuration changes because we don't work there. If you feel that you are affected by this, we encourage you to contact Earthlink support and complain.
1.5: While downloading, Ink Spot says it's downloading/skipping an article, and just sits there.
The first question is, is the progress bar moving? If not, you've found a bug. See question 1.11 below about sending us a transaction log. If the progress bar is moving, Ink Spot is working normally -- it's skipping an article that's bigger than the maximum article size you set in the Article Downloading prefs.
Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do to speed up this process. Since we can't get the size of an article before downloading it, and there's no way to tell the server to stop once we've exceeded the limit, Ink Spot has to recieve the entire article, and throw it away as it gets it, before it can move on to the next article. This process can take a long time, sometimes 15 minutes or more, if, for example, it's downloading a large binary file posted to a group it shouldn't have been, or a FAQ list, which tends to be very large.
1.6: When Ink Spot does an automatic download it uses connection method B, even though the last time I connected manually, I used connection method A.
Ink Spot uses the current default connection method when it does an automatic download. This default is set when you do a manual connection through Ink Spot or any other NIE application. Thus, between the time you connected manually through Ink Spot using method A, and the time Ink Spot did its automatic download, you must have connected manually through another NIE application using method B. Make sure the last connection method you use before Ink Spot does its automatic download is the method you want Ink Spot to use.
1.7: Ink Spot didn't download anything.
This is probably because there are no new articles on the server since the last time Ink Spot downloaded. If there are, there are several possible reasons why they would not have been downloaded. Please check all of the following:
1.8: I have Ink Spot set to download X articles, but it downloaded less than X, even though there are more articles on the server.
If you have Ink Spot set to download, say, 50 articles per group, and you have 35 articles stored on your Newton for a particular group, Ink Spot will only download 15 more articles to that group, enough to raise the total article count for that group to 50.
Also, if an article on the news server has been cancelled, a "gap" is created in the article numbers, which causes Ink Spot to download one fewer article than intended.
1.9: Ink Spot downloaded duplicate copies of some articles.
If you check one or more groups in the group view and choose "Mark Server Unread" from the routing menu, or you are in the thread view and you choose this option, Ink Spot will reset its internal counter for the group(s). Thus the next time you connect, the oldest articles on the server will be downloaded, which may be the same as articles you currently have stored on your Newton.
Another possibility is that the author simply posted the articles twice by mistake. This just happens sometimes.
1.10: While downloading my Newton reboots, or gives me a "not enough memory" error.
It's likely that your Newton is running out of heap. If you turn off the "Compress Articles" option in the Article Downloading section of the Prefs, the Newton OS tries to keep three copies of each article downloaded on the heap. If you don't have three times the maximum article size of free heap, you'll have problems. To compound the problem, if you encounter a heap problem while downloading, NOS will eat the block of memory that it was using to download the article. For example, if you have your maximum article size set to 32k, you need to have at least 120k of free heap (there's some overhead involved). If you run out of heap, NOS will take a 39k chunk of your heap that you can only reclaim by restarting your Newton.
If you turn on "Compress Articles," the article will be stored in a Virtual Binary Object while being downloaded, and NOS will only need to keep one copy on the heap. This is recommended, since compressing articles has almost no impact on storage or retrieval speed, even on an MP 130.
1.11: I'm having a problem connecting or downloading news that isn't covered here.
You need to contact us with all the details of your problem. Sending us a "transaction log" produced while experiencing the problem would provide additional insight into the source of the problem. You can create a transaction log by checking the "Keep transaction log" box in the Advanced: Server Debugging section of the Prefs, attempting to download news, and after your problem occurs, tapping the "Copy transaction log to notepad" button in the same Prefs section. Then attach the note containing the log to your mail message.
2.1: When I try to post, I get a message that I can't because the new text is shorter than the original text.
This is an error message generated by your news server, not Ink Spot. Your server is configured to reject posts when the length of the quoted text is more than the length of the new text you've added. You will have to edit your post and try again.
3.1: I've used up all of my free connections and I'm still waiting for my registration code, so I can't connect.
If you've purchased a registration code through Kagi and we haven't sent it to you yet, it means we haven't received notification of the purcahse from Kagi. If you just can't wait the three days or so that it usually takes to get a purchase through, contact us with your Newton's owner name as it appears in the owner card, or your Newton's serial number as shown in Ink Spot's About box, and we'll generate a code for you that will give you another set of free connections.
3.2: The registration code you sent me doesn't work.
The registration code you were given was based on either the owner name on your Newton, or its serial number. If it was based on your Newton's owner name, then the name we generated your code from probably doesn't match the name on the currently active owner card on your Newton. To check this, open Ink Spot, tap the connect button (you don't need to be connected to your modem for this), and look at the name in the top left of the slip. This is the name on the currently active owner card. If this is not the name you sent us, either change to the correct owner card (if you have more than one), change the name on the owner card to match the name you sent, or contact us with the correct owner name and we'll send you a new code.
If your registration code was based on your Newton's serial number, then the number you sent us probably doesn't match your Newton's actual serial number. To check this, open Ink Spot's about box and compare the number shown to the number you sent. If it doesn't match, contact us with the correct number and we'll send you a new code.
3.3: The registration code is based on the correct owner name, but it still doesn't work.
This problem is caused by trailing spaces on the first and/or last names on the owner card. To check this, bring up the currently active owner card and tap on the name. On the edit screen, tap at the end of the first name line, and then tap the right arrow key on the keyboard at the bottom of the screen. Using the arrow key is the only way to find the spaces -- when you tap at the end of the line, the Newton will put the insertion point after the last character on the line, even if there is a space after it. Repeat this process with the last name. Remove any spaces and enter your registration code again.
3.4: I registered Ink Spot a while ago, but it suddenly started telling me it's not registered.
If your code was based on your Newton's owner name, and you've changed the owner name on your Newton (or changed the currently active owner card if you have more than one), you'll get this problem. Either change the owner name back to its previous value, or contact us with the new owner name and we'll generate a new code for you.
If your registration code was based on your Newton's serial number you won't get this problem, because the serial number never changes. One exception to this rule: If you have upgraded your MP2000 to an MP2100, the serial number may have changed. If this happens, contact us with the new serial number (shown in Ink Spot's about box), and we'll generate a new code for you.
3.5: I registered Ink Spot and now I want to sell my Newton. Does the new owner need to re-register?
A registration code can be tied to either an owner name or to the Newton's serial number. If your code is tied to the serial number the new owner can use Ink Spot immediately at no additional cost. Note that this is only possible for MP2000 and up - older Newtons do not have serial numbers and can only be registered by owner name.
If your code is tied to the name on your owner card, the new owner will need a new registration code (since he will presumably be changing the name on the owner card). A new owner-based registration code is treated as a new registration, and the new owner should go through the normal registration procedure.
That said, if you're selling an MP2000 or above and you currently have a code tied to your owner card, we can give you a new code based on your Newton's serial number free of charge. Just contact us with the serial number (shown in Ink Spot's about box), and we'll generate a new code for you. This new code can then be transferred with your Newton as above.
3.6: I'm a registered user of Ink Spot. I just got a WindowsCE device and would like to start using Ink Spot CE. Can I transfer my registration?
Sorry. Ink Spot CE is a separate product, with its own set of features and foibles, and as such requires a separate registration. You need to go through the normal registration procedure.
