MEDD Troubleshooting Guide
Thanks to Anne Beaubien and Richard D. Wisckol from the University of Michigan for allowing us
to adapt this FAQ for Minitex.
About Troubleshooting
Feedback has shown that over 95% of the documents downloaded from our website are
acquired trouble-free. This guide is geared toward helping you with the preliminary
troubleshooting and diagnosis of the situation if you happen to have trouble. At times
you may see references to things you're not familiar with in relation to your computer
and while we'll try our best to explain the item as it applies to website document
delivery, you may still need to contact your technical support staff or computer vendor
for specific "how-to's."
The Troubleshooting Guide is divided into sections, formatted as a series of questions.
Most of these situations have been experienced by patrons at one time or another. If you
like, you may click on any of the links and jump immediately to the section that may
supply the answers you seek. Otherwise, you can scroll through this document topic by topic.
If you are still having difficulty with your documents after reviewing this guide, please
contact your ILL office as soon as possible. There is an automatic purge function which
will remove any document that's been viewed or you've tried to view the maximum number of
times (5), or has been online past the maximum number of days (7). Please contact ILL
before you reach the maximums!
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What are the minimum system requirements?
There are some absolute minimums your computer must be able to achieve in order to
experience trouble-free use of the website delivery service. At the very least, your
system should have the following:
-
A computer of sufficient power to support the capabilities indicated below (Pentium
100 or above is suggested).
- Connectivity to the Internet using one of these methods:
-
University, college or library backbone—typically a direct connection from
offices and public workstations.
- A digital subscriber line (DSL) service.
- A broadband service (such as MediaOne Roadrunner).
- Dialup modem—the faster the better (56K is desired).
-
An Internet browser appropriate for your operating system with the indicated version,
or later. A couple of the most popular are:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.0+
- Netscape Navigator v4.0+
- Adobe Acrobat Reader v4.06 or later (or equivalent program).
-
Enough available space on your hard drive to store the downloaded documents (100 MB
is good).
- Optionally, an inkjet or laser printer capable of printing at 300 DPI (dots per inch).
If you try to use the service without achieving at least these minimums, you may
experience unpredictable results. Please contact the appropriate technical support staff
in order to update your workstation. If you have the ability, try moving to another computer
and attempting your download again. They are not all created equal!
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Where can I obtain the necessary software?
The two primary components you'll need are Adobe Acrobat Reader and an Internet browser,
such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. Go to the webpages linked below to retrieve the
software you need.
-
Adobe Acrobat Reader
(version 4.06 or greater)
While using an older version of Acrobat Reader may still enable you to view
your documents, only starting with v4.06 have they included some nice usability
features such as on-the-fly page rotation. This helps tremendously when you
encounter a page that's been scanned upside-down.
-
Microsoft
Internet Explorer
(version 5.0 or greater)
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It says "Invalid Login" – why?
Logging into the document delivery server requires two pieces of information:
- Your email address, complete with domain (that stuff after the @ symbol)
- Your PIN
Incorrectly supplying either of these will generate the "Invalid Login" error. If
you've tried to log in after verifying your password and PIN and still receive this
error, please contact your ILL office.
Also, be aware that recent versions of Internet browsers have an automatic "fill-in"
capability when it comes to supplying information online. They remember (or attempt to!)
what you may have entered previously. If you initially supplied an incorrect login ID
or password, your browser may attempt to send that erroneous information unless you
re-type it in full.
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I don't know my PIN!
When your account was established on the document delivery server, a four-digit
Personal Identification Number (PIN) was assigned to you. This PIN is always
included in the email notification that's sent every time we process an article
you've requested. If you don't have ready access to your email, please contact your
ILL office. They will be able to obtain your PIN from Minitex.
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How do I know how much drive space I need?
When you log into the server and are shown the list of documents you've requested,
there is a column that says "Size." This represents the amount of space any given
document will require when you download (or save it) to your hard drive. At times,
you may receive a very large file, depending on the type of material that was scanned
(text or pictures) and how many pages. It's always a good idea to check how large the
file is prior to starting the download.
To determine the amount of free space you have on your hard drive, follow the steps
appropriate for your operating system:
PC-based computers
-
Click on the <START> button on your desktop (usually the lower left corner).
- Select Programs.
- Select Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer!).
-
Click once on the drive letter where you plan to store your document (usually
somewhere on C:).
-
The amount of free hard drive space should be displayed in the bottom status bar
of Windows Explorer.
Mac-based computers
- Click on the drive icon that represents which drive you'd like to use.
-
Press <CTRL>+I (simultaneously), also called the "Apple I", to bring up a
list of information about that drive.
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It says my views allowance has been exceeded!
In order to ensure that Minitex adheres to United States Code, Title 17 (copyright
law), we have to limit the number of times a document is viewed (downloaded). If you
have trouble downloading an article, please contact your ILL office before
you reach the limit. An automatic daily purge routine removes all documents which have
been downloaded the maximum number of times. If your ILL office contacts Minitex soon
enough, there's a chance we can retrieve the document before it's deleted permanently
from the server. Doing so would save having to re-order your request.
Also, if you are using a dialup modem to connect to the document delivery server, the
time it takes to download an article could be considerable depending on the document
size. Resist the urge to cancel and restart a download because it appears nothing is
happening. Clicking on the download link again will needlessly increase your views counter.
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I get an "Unknown File Type" error...
If you receive this error (or one similar to it), it usually means that your workstation
does not have the Acrobat Reader plug-in for the Internet browser you're using and the
browser doesn't know how to handle this type of file. Normally the plug-in is installed
along with the stand-alone reader program, though it doesn't have to be.
If you are able, the best thing would be to re-install Acrobat Reader. This will not
affect any PDF files you've previously saved to your hard drive (unless you delete the
folder too!) and will usually clear up any problems related to missing plug-ins.
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What does "Unknown Application" mean?
This error usually happens when you click on or open a PDF file and Windows can't
find the program associated with the PDF file extension. It probably means that you
don't have Acrobat Reader installed. Please refer to the "Where can I obtain the
necessary software" section of this Guide to acquire a free copy of the reader
appropriate to your system.
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When saving, why does it say "Getdoc.pl"?
When you opt to save an article to your hard drive, you'll notice that Windows has
supplied a strange file name as the default. Please do not accept this as
the default. You'll need to type in whatever name will be easy for you to remember,
taking care to make sure that the file extension (last three letters after the period)
is PDF. Otherwise, Acrobat Reader will have trouble recognizing the file as a PDF.
We are working on ways to pass the true filename from the server to the download
function of the browser.
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Why does my browser "lock up" on me?
Even though the MEDD website has been developed to be compatible with nearly any
browser, there may be times when your browser appears to stop working, or lock up.
Before rebooting your computer, check some of the following to make sure it's truly
non-functional and not simply taking a long time to process your request:
-
Is the progress indicator (usually along the bottom of your browser window)
moving at all? Watch it for a few seconds to see if it moves.
-
Are you seeing activity in your other Internet-related applications? If you're
not running anything else at the time, try firing up your email program or
another copy of the browser and see if they're functional.
-
Are you using any other Internet-related applications at the same time? On a
dialup connection, all data that you access on the Internet must come through
the same finite amount of "bandwidth". The more you do, the slower the applications
will work. It's kind of like rush hour in Detroit... the more cars moving through
the same area = the slower you travel.
- Did you install any new software on your computer while the browser was running?
A few things you may wish to try if it appears your browser is "locked up":
-
If you have other Internet-related programs running such as email, instant
messaging, newsgroup readers or even a game, close out of these programs to
free up the bandwidth to your computer.
-
Try the refresh/reload command in your browser (bear in mind that this may
initiate another download).
-
If you've installed or updated any software while you've been online, disconnect
and reset your computer. It's generally a good rule of thumb to reset your computer
after introducing any new or updated programs whether or not they're related to
the Internet.
- If you have access to another browser, switch to it and try your download again.
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How do I save my file?
Once you've received your document and are viewing it in Acrobat Reader, all you need
to do is select the File option from the pull down menu and choose Save As. You will
be prompted for a name for your document. Please do not use the default "GETDOC.PL"
filename that appears. Type in a filename which relates to the actual document and
be sure to include the .PDF extension so that Acrobat Reader will recognize the file
type should you wish to view the document again.
It is suggested that you save any downloaded file prior to printing it. If you select
the print option from within Acrobat Reader, it will actually download the document
again and send it to your printer. Saving it first, then re-opening the document saved
on your hard drive will prevent this needless additional download.
Please keep in mind that it is against copyright law to make or forward copies of
articles to others.
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It says "Done" yet all I have is this blank screen!
There are quite a number of potential causes for this problem. We've addressed a few
of the most common below:
If a document does not appear, try the following "quick fixes."
Adobe 6.x and higher
- Open Adobe Reader
- From toolbar: Choose Edit > Preferences > Internet
- Uncheck Display in PDF browser
- Click OK
- Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
- Try viewing document again
Adobe 5.0
- Open Adobe Reader
- From toolbar: Choose Edit > Preferences > Options
- Uncheck Display in PDF browser
- Click OK
- Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
- Try viewing document again
Adobe 4.0
- Open Adobe Reader
- From toolbar: Choose Edit > Preferences > General
- Uncheck Web Browser Integration
- Click OK
- Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
- Try viewing document again
Incorrectly installed Acrobat Reader plug-in, or none at all.
If you're not sure that the Acrobat Reader plug-in or program is properly installed,
this could cause problems when trying to access your document. To verify this, see
if you can locate the Acrobat Reader program on your computer. For PC's this would
be looking in the Programs section in the START menu. Look for Adobe, then Acrobat
Reader. If you see it, try to start it manually. If you still have trouble, you may
want to re-install Acrobat Reader to make sure it's done properly.
Your session on the document delivery server was disconnected.
For whatever reason, the session you'd established on the document delivery server
is disconnected. If you're using a dialup modem, check your modem status and see if
you're still connected to the Internet. If you're using a public or office workstation,
try logging in again from another computer.
Not enough system resources available to display the document.
Even the most powerful or newest computers have a finite amount of resources available
to perform all of the tasks required of them. Normally you'll see a message similar to
"Low on System Resources" appear if you've got too many applications open, though this
is not always the case. Try closing some applications, particularly resource hogs such
as image processing, spreadsheet or database products.
Your download was cancelled for some reason.
Be sure you haven't accidentally clicked on the <CANCEL> button during your download.
Because this is often the last dialog box displayed on the screen, pressing <ENTER>
will have the same affect. A cancelled download can also be the result of a lost
connection to the Internet, or the document delivery server itself. Running out of drive
space may also cause your browser to terminate a download once it finds there's nowhere
to store the file!
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My printer messes up trying to print my document...
You've downloaded the document, saved it to your hard drive and now when you try to print
it, your printer doesn't respond? A number of things could cause this:
You're not printing to either a laser printer, or an inkjet printer.
While you may be able to print some image-based material with an older dot-matrix
printer (some times called an impact printer), it's not recommended. These older
technology printers simply are not designed to handle the sheer volume of information
that's required to print image-based documents.
The document is scanned at a higher resolution than your printer can handle.
Image scanning and transmission guidelines state that the sending institution should
scan a document at no more than 300 DPI (dots per inch). While this is usually not a
problem, at times we receive documents scanned at higher resolutions. The typical inkjet
printer can handle 300 DPI (with the newer ones even higher), so it may not be able to
print a document scanned at a higher resolution.
The printer may not be properly configured to function with the computer.
If you suspect this may be the cause, you'll need to reconfigure the printer, or contact
the appropriate technical support personnel. If you're in a networked environment with
multiple printers, try printing to another printer available to your workstation.
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It's taking FOREVER to get my document!
Normally, you will experience a lengthy delay in acquiring your document only if you're
using a dialup connection. Even at the "speedy" standard of a 56K modem, a large document
could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to download. Here's a general guide
in determining approximately how long it may take to download a document, given its size:
-
General Rule: It takes approximately 5 minutes to transfer 1 MB (1,000 KB) of
information using a 56K modem.
- Article = 3 pages (1,000 KB), approximately 5 minutes
- Article = 10 pages (3,000 KB), approximately 15 minutes
- Article = 50 pages (6,000 KB), approximately 30 minutes
It's very difficult to anticipate how large a file will be based on the number of pages
in the article. This is highly dependent on the scanning resolution (dots per inch) the
sending institution uses, as well as the content itself. Articles with graphics and
pictures tend to create larger files when compared to another article of the same length,
though with mainly text. Even then, the density of text per page (two-column vs.
single-column) can affect the overall file size of a given document.
If you like to surf the Internet while downloading your documents, this will add to
the time it takes to get your documents. Anything that shares the modem while you're
online (email, Internet games, instant messengers, etc.) can also directly affect
download times.
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My article no longer shows in the list, what happened?
There are three primary reasons why an article previously listed on the download page
will disappear:
You clicked on the <DELETE> button for that article.
While we encourage you to remove any documents which are no longer needed, you need to
be very sure of this prior to clicking the <DELETE> button. There is no un-do
feature incorporated into the software that will correct this. Once you click on this
button, the document is gone! Your only recourse at this point is to re-order the document.
The document was viewed the maximum number of times.
You are allowed one copy of the material you've requested. We've given you multiple
views of an articles to allow for any technical difficulties you may encounter while
viewing/downloading a document. Each time you click on the document link is considered
a view.
The document was online more than the maximum number of days allowed.
For the same reasons as stated above, we've also placed a limit as to the number of
days a requested article can remain on the server. In addition, this also prevents an
unnecessary accumulation of documents on the Minitex server.
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