Presto!Links(tm)
Frequently Asked Questions

New Additions to the FAQ (8/10/96)

Does my Magic Cap communicator support FTP?

No. The communicator does not currently support the ftp protocol.

Can the communicator retrieve JAVA site content?

No. The MagicLink does not currently support JAVA.

I'm unable to connect to my ISP, but I have all the provider information set up correctly. What can I do?

See "Connecting to your ISP/Scripting" FAQ for known required scripts. This is not a complete list of required scripts. If your ISP is not listed, please contact Technical Support at 1-888-CONJURE.

I keep getting the message "PPP authentication failure". Why?

Your provider's DNS server may also be experiencing heavy traffic. Try an alternate DNS number or try back durning non-peak hours.

Make sure your provider infromation is enter correctly.

You may require a script. See "Connecting to your ISP/Scripting" FAQ for known required scripts.

Can I use a PCMCIA Ethernet card with my communicator?

No. The communicator only links via dialup connections, and cannot be used as a client on an ethernet network.

My PPP and/or Dialup stamps on my provider card have disappeared, and when I went to the "Connections" drawer in the Stamper, it was empty! Why?

You need to reset the PPP package in the Storeroom. Go to the Storeroom, tap the Magic Lamp, and tap on "reset package" or "delete changes". The stamps will appear in the Stamper "connection's" drawer.

I downloaded a web page but it is blank. I've tried to reload it but all I get is the blank page. Why?

This can happen for a number of reasons. It could be a DNS error or a large image that didn't download. Try throwing away the blank page and empty the Trash. Then try downloading the page again.

My web pages are taking a long time to download! Why?

It could be that the server you are trying to download from is a SUN Solaris Server that is running a version 2.4 and up which can operate as poorly as 5% of normal speed. Check with your ISP to see what version they are running and inform them that SUN has a TCP Performance Patch available to fix this issue.

Previous Listed FAQ's (6/24/96)

Is the Presto!Link application copy-protected?

Our software initially checks the personalization of your device and registers itself with that name when you install. Later, if the software is re-installed this registration information is displayed again. However the function of the applications is not inhibited in any way.

Can Presto!Mail and Presto!Links be used at the same time?

Yes, absolutely! The two applications share the same phone connection. You can check your mail, send and receive messages at the same time that you are engaged in downloading a series of web pages automatically.

When you start an operation in either application a status window is displayed to give you information about its progress. That doesn't mean you have to wait around. For example, when you tap on one of the "View Image" icons a progress bar showing the download of a GIF or JPEG image is displayed. This can take a while, and after you've done it a few times you realize that it's silly to sit and watch the process. Instead you could tap the Desk icon to begin composing a telecard to a friend, or pop over to the Presto!Diner in downtown to request a summary of your mail messages.

How can I find out the progress of the simultaneous Presto!Mail and Presto!Links activities?

Whenever either application is performing an operation, a small indicator is displayed in the upper status bar of Magic Cap, just to the right of center. Activities associated with Presto!Links are indicated by a small globe of the world, while Presto!Mail operations are shown by means of a tiny postcard. If both applications are active, then tapping on the combined icon will present a dual list, which can be tapped again to display the status of the process you're interested in.

Why not turn on GIF image support by default?

It's a matter of memory and time. It takes more time to retrieve images and it takes memory to store them. There's no doubt that the world-wide-web has come to mean hot graphic for a lot of people, but graphics aren't all there is. Likely you will need to download some image information to get around on the web, but you usually won't need to get every graphic that's out there. So it's better to be selective.

How can I know if I should download a graphic or not?

It's not always easy. However you can get a good idea by option-tapping any "SHOW IMAGE" icon. When you do you will see a display indicating the URL of any link associated with that image.

How much memory does Presto!Links take?

It really depends on what and how much you download. The application itself weighs in at only 177K, but storage of a sequence of pages and their associated graphics can quickly add up.

How can I find out the URL of the page I'm browsing?

Option-tap in any blank area of the page.

What does "Use Desktop Behavior" mean?

This phrase means that when a link is tapped for a new page or image retrieval that all previous pending retrievals, whether in progress or queued for execution are thrown away and not acted on. It's given the name desktop behavior because it is derived from other browsers that allow a user to follow a series of links very quickly, without waiting for each of them to be resolved in turn.

What does the "Generic Proxy" stamp do?

When a "Generic Proxy" stamp is placed on a Provider Card it forces the use of an exernal network server to process GIF images on your behalf, removing the burden from your communicator. Upside, use of the proxy can be significantly faster than using local image support. Downside, the proxy actually converts GIF images to JPEG images, and these will have lesser resolution.

What does the "Presto!Plus" stamp do?

Currently nothing. Presto!Plus represents an optimization scheme for http servers that has not fully been realized.

Can I run the Presto!Links on my PIC-1000 or my Envoy?

There are some definite restrictions to running the Presto!Links on these limited memory devices, but in general they should work fine.

You probably will have to install all or some of the software packages on a RAM card. You should use a proxy server to process GIF images rather than attempting to process them on the device itself.

One of my packages seems like it's messed up. Can I just reset it?

That's not a very good idea. Often, if you reset one package, you would have to reset all of them. And note that resetting the data manager package will cause you to lose all of your provider data.

You should reset your packages only under the direction of technical support.

What are the steps to reset the Presto!Mail and Presto!Links packages to their initial state?

Go to the storeroom and tap on each of the Presto! packages in the following order, Links, Mail, PPP, Diner, and Data. Using the Magic Lamp in Magic Cap's tool bar, tap "reset package" for each software component. It's worth checking to see if things get back to normal again after resetting each package in turn, but our experience indicates that it's usually necessary to reset all of them.

Troubleshooting

Why can't I throw away pages from the Web Page Index?

This is a known problem. The icons in the Web Page Index are not actual representations of the Web pages. Web pages may be discarded only in the Presto!Links scene.

Why can't I go to (or reload) a URL I entered? I threw the original page away.

The trash must be emptied first.

Why did I get two error messages when my Web page download failed? First I saw a message reading "Your provider's Domain Name Server could not find an address for hostname...", and then I saw a message reading "I could not retrieve the URL. Please check the URL or the Presto!Links configuration and try again. The URL you requested was:", with no URL listed.

This is a known problem. You can ignore the second error message.

I have the rule "Retreive images from web pages automatically" turned off, yet an image was downloaded without my requesting it. Why?

Since image maps are used for navigation of Web pages, they do not follow this rule.

I'm reviewing my Web pages off-line. Why wasn't my history updated?

The history only tracks your movement when you're connected to the Internet.

While using Presto!Links, why did I just see the message, "You are about to download a large web page. This may result in technical difficulties"?

Your communicator has significantly less memory than the desktop computer with which you usually browse the Web. As a result, there are some limitations on how large a Web page you can download. If you attempt to download a Web page which exceeds these limitations, your device may run out of memory and perform a clean-up and/or it may not download the entire Web page.

I'd really like to download that image, but it's just too big.

Try dropping a proxy stamp on your provider card and reloading the Web page. Once you're done using the proxy stamp, you should remove the stamp from your provider card, as using the proxy is slower than having your device interpret the image for you.

I downloaded this Web page with an image on it a while ago and saw the image just fine. Later, I reloaded the same Web page but the image no longer appears. Why?

Your communicator may not have enough memory to draw the image the second time. Try discarding some Web pages and try again.

At times when I enter a URL which begins with 'ftp://' I get an error, but sometimes it works just fine. Why?

Some Web servers will provide ftp support for you, so you may or may not be able to access that file using an FTP URL.

I downloaded CNN's home page a while ago, and it's in my currently loaded stack of Web pages. However, when I went to it again by entering the URL, it reloaded. Why?

CNN like many other Web pages with current events information has its Web page set to be reloaded after some time elapses, even if it is in your queue. This guarantees that you'll have the latest information from their site.

I accidentally pulled my phone cord while downloading a page, and my device cleaned up and presented me with the "Technical Difficulties" message. Should I be alarmed?

No. In some cases, Presto!Links gets upset when you pull out the telephone cord. You can ignore the message and resume browsing.

What does it mean when I see "[Indecipherable image]" on my web page?

In general [Indecipherable image] means that you have not turned on GIF image support. To do so, tap on the Magic Lamp in the Magic Cap's tool bar and select the "rules" icon. There are two rules which affect image display. Rule 5 turns on Presto!Links GIF image translation capability. Rule 1 instructs the Presto!Links browser to retrieve all images automatically. Both of these rules are left off by default.

My communicator won't connect to my ISP any more. What can I do?

Occasionally the complex interaction between the Presto!Mail and Preso!Links applications, the ISP and the physical telephone line contribute to place the software in a state where one or both of the applications does not register the status of the telephone line correctly. The following hints will be of value in troubleshooting such an event if it occurs.

If the problem is that Presto!Links will not perform a retrieval even though the telephone icon is shown as being off-hook, try resetting things by tapping "hang up" and then "connect". Note that you should first check for any on-going retrieval by tapping on the globe in Magic Cap's top status bar, and check for any pending retrievals by option-tapping the "go to" button.

Go to the Desk scene and attempt to use the phone there to manually dial a number. This will tell you if the Presto! application still has control of the line. If it does, then try to collect a mail message or a mail summary.

If the mail collection succeeds, the Presto!Links problem will usually be fixed. If neither application works, however, remove the telephone line from your communicator. This will terminate any ongoing call and prevent any further phone charges. Unfortunately the next step is to reset the Presto! packages, which removes all Provider card information as well as whatever web pages are stored in memory.

Why can't I get the software to work with Netcom?

Be sure that you've correctly set up your provider information for Netcom; most importantly, be sure that there is a # sign in front of your PPP login, but not before your POP login. Netcom uses different login names for PPP and POP.

I go into Presto!Links and tap on "connect". My communicator dials and the modems connect, but nothing happens. What's wrong?

When you think about it, "connecting" is just the first part of the process of accessing the world- wide-web. Actually the top button on the Presto!Links screen is more often used to disconnect communications after desired information has been downloaded than to dial up. Instead, you will almost always use the second button, "go to", to specify the location (URL) of a web page. It's not necessary to "connect" first.

I'm still having problems. What can I do?

General Magic provides 30 days of free support for the Presto!Mail/Presto!Links product. The toll-free support telephone number is 888-CONJURE. For International call's, dial 00-1-408-774-4298.

I keep rule 2 off, and now I can't follow any links while I'm connected. Why?

This is a known bug. To work around the bug, you need to disconnect and reconnect.

I downloaded a page with an indecipherable JPEG image, and it had a big space around it. I left it in my cache, and when I returned to it, the space was gone. Should I worry?

No. This is an artifact of how we draw images and text on a card.

I touched a button on an image map, and I got an error telling me that it couldn't find the document associated with the URL. I thought it supported image maps?

Presto!Links does support server-side image maps, in which it send a coordinate touched to the server, and it determines the URL to send to you. The image map you're trying to use is a new HTML extension developed by Spyglass, called a Client Side Image Map, or a CSIM. In a CSIM, the client (Presto!Links!) is supposed to figure out what URL is associated with where you touched. CSIM's are a relatively recent addition which are supported on only a few browsers. For an example of a CSIM as of this writing (so you can compare your error with the error you'll see using a CSIM), see http://www.search.com and touch any of the search buttons in the image.