8
Troubleshooting
Performance Considerations
Many of the Web sites to which you will connect are thousands of miles away, and when you first begin to experiment with Quarterdeck Mosaic you may be in awe that you have nearly instant access to so much information from far away places. We quickly become spoiled, however, and before long you might become impatient with the length of time it takes for documentsparticularly those that include sound or videoto reach your browser.
Here are a few points to keep in mind if you find yourself losing patience:
t	Some files, especially those including sound or video, are very large. It can take a while to transfer large amounts of data, regardless of the speed of your Internet connection.
t	The faster your Internet connection, the faster documents will appear on your screen. A direct connection or ISDN line is much faster than a connection that involves a modem using standard phone lines. When dialing up via a modem, anything less than 14,400 bps will seem slow, particularly when transferring large files. If your provider allows 28,800 bps connections and you can afford a modem that supports this speed, go for it! 
t	The type of computer you use, the amount of memory and type of video card installed, and the resolution in which you run Windows all affect overall performance. 
t	Many of the images displayed by Web sites require a 256-color display. When viewed on systems running in 16-color mode, their appearance will be distorted.
t	Certain hoursnormally 5 to 10 pmare considered "peak hours" by service providers because they tend to be the busiest. More people online means slower performance. 
t	The Internet is growing in popularity at a phenomenal rate. As more people jump on the Information Superhighway, providers must often add new equipment to handle the increased volume. If you begin to experience performance problems that did not previously exist, send a polite e-mail message to your service provider asking if they are aware of the problems. 
Dialing Your Internet Service Provider
Quarterdeck Mosaic does not dial your Internet provider. This is done by the dialer component of a SLIP/PPP communications package such as Quarterdeck's QWinsock, NetManage's Chameleon Sampler, or Trumpet Winsock. (You can configure some SLIP/PPP packages to automatically dial your provider when a Winsock application such as Quarterdeck Mosaic makes a network request, but it is the dialer, not the Winsock application, that calls the provider.) 
If you experience difficulties in connecting to your service provider you should do the following:
1	Use another communications program (such as the Windows Terminal applet included with Microsoft Windows) to verify that your modem is working properly.
2	If the modem can successfully connect with another communications package, ask your service provider and/or the author of your SLIP/PPP software for assistance. (If you are using Quarterdeck's Qwinsock, refer to the Installation Guide and online help for assistance.)
If a Document Displays Improperly...
When you want to view a document, the remote server tells Quarterdeck Mosaic what kind of file it is sending. Quarterdeck Mosaic depends on this information when selecting the appropriate viewer for displaying the file. If a document fails to display properlyfor instance, if an HTML document displays with HTML codes visible or an executable (.EXE) file is displayed on the screen as gibberish when you attempt to retrieve it from a remote site, select Properties from the File menu and look for MIME Type. Most likely the remote server has mistakenly told Quarterdeck Mosaic to display the file as plain text. Quarterdeck Mosaic must receive correct file type information from a remote site in order to properly handle a file.
Error Messages
As you attempt to connect with various sites around the world you will, on occasion, receive error messages indicating that Quarterdeck Mosaic was unable to successfully connect to a site. Many of these error messages are generated by remote systems running the UNIX operating system, and the text of the messages may be cryptic and difficult to understand. 
"Connection Refused"
This error indicates that Quarterdeck Mosaic is unable to connect to a site, very often because the remote site is already accommodating the maximum number of connections allowed. If you receive a Connection Refused error, try again. Your next attempt may be successful. If you continue to experience difficulty connecting to the site, you might want to try later, perhaps during off-peak hours.
"Cannot Resolve Host"
In order to connect to a remote host, your Winsock application sends out a request to a Domain Name Server (DNS) asking for the address of that host. If your application cannot communicate with the DNS, the request fails and an error message is displayed by your program. Common error messages are Failed DNS Lookup and Cannot Resolve Host Name or Address. 
If you see such an error, it is possible that you typed an invalid (or misspelled) host name or that the particular site is not running at that time. It is more likely, however, that your Winsock driver is not loaded, your network connection has been interrupted, or your modem is not turned on or communicating properly. You can use Quarterdeck Winsock Ping (which was installed with Quarterdeck Mosaic) to determine whether Quarterdeck Mosaic is unable to communicate with any remote host or if the problem is limited to a single site.
Learning More about the Web
Continually updated text files on a wide variety of subjects are available on the Internet. These documents, referred to as FAQs (for Frequently Asked Questions), provide answers to commonly asked questions on a particular subject. With interest in the Web growing every day, it is not surprising that a WWW FAQ is available. 
As of this writing, you can obtain the latest version of the WWW FAQ by accessing the following URL:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/boutell/faq/www_faq.html
