This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions that we have compiled from users.
Click any of the questions below to see the answer:
1 I can't see myself in my Local AV window
2 I can't see others when I open their AV windows. Other people can't see me when they open my AV window.
3 I can't hear other people's audio.
4 Other people can't hear me
5 How does Record work?
6 My Firewall reports UDP attempts on my ports and Ping attempts from various addresses?
7 Can I connect through a Proxy, Router or Firewall?
8 Can I use iVisit on a home network all sharing the same static IP address using a cable modem?
9 How do I register ?
10 How do I activate my account?
11 How do I use Japanese, Asian, Korean or Other international Fonts?
12 I've just installed Windows XP and people can't see me?
13 I keep getting Timed Out?
14 Can I use Linux IP Masquerade?
15 How can I make iVisit work best on a broadband connection?
16 How do I keep my Addresses when upgrading versions of iVisit?
17 Will iVisit work with NAT (Network Address Translation)?
18 What does RTT mean in the Network Statistics Window?
19 Why the * next to H.263?
20 Can I have multiple users on one machine?
21 What's best - DSL, Cable or Satellite connection?
22 What's the difference between a Chat room and a Connections listing?
23 How do I prepare an image to use as a STILL in my AV window, How do I prepare an image to paste to my window?
24 Every time I press CTRL to Talk my Mac freezes.
25 what names can I register?
26 How does the incoming call handling work?
27 How do I create a Home - Chat room on iVisit?
28 I accidentally banned someone. How can I let them back in my room?
29 How can I boot someone from my room?
30 I am having connection problems under windows XP using a LAN.
31 How do I set my OS X 10 Mac to handle mime type IVB files for account activation?
32 What does User unknown mean?
33 Activating my account shows creation failed
34 How do I upgrade my account from Lite to Plus?
35 How do I divide my address into sections for easier use?
36 How do I make my individual home visible?
37 The Tool Buttons are missing from an individual’s Remote AV Window! How do I get them back?
38 How do I configure my Mac OSX Firewall for use with iVisit?
1 I can't see myself in my Local AV window
In your iVisit Settings > Preferences > Video Device Menu make sure the "Recording Device" is set to the correct camera driver. If no driver option appears then reinstall the software that came with the camera and reboot. (Review the manufacturer's web site for the latest driver; click HERE for assist in finding that web site)
Are you running NetMeeting or another software program that uses video such as Yahoo or MSN Messenger? If so, programs like these often grab the video input and will not release it for iVisit's use. If running NetMeeting, you can disable it at start up as follows:
With other video programs, make sure you are not running it before or with iVisit.
Make sure that your video camera is powered up and plugged into the right socket.
2 I can't see others when I open their AV windows. Other people can't see me when they open my AV window.
Some people run Firewalls like Zone Alarm which can block the ports iVisit uses to send video. With a Firewall you need to configure it so that UDP port 9940 is open. ISP's can also implement blocks so a call to them asking the status of these ports can never hurt.
If you are using a router that requires special configuration, iVisit will detect this and show an alert dialogue when you first log on. If you see this alert, but do not configure your router, then you will find that you cannot connect to some people (e.g., if they are also using this type of router). Click here for basic router information.
Some people run Firewalls like Zone Alarm which can block the ports iVisit uses to send video. With a Firewall you need to configure it so that UDP port 9940 is open. ISP's can also implement blocks so a call to them asking the status of these ports can never hurt.
For more detailed information, click iVisit Troubleshooting connections, logon, firewall and routers.
Click here for router manufacturer web pages.
Some users have Microsoft Internet Connect Sharing running on their machine(s) and this also can block ports. A special configuration is needed which will allow iVisit to work in these situations. Visit Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing configuration page to learn more.
Some versions of Windows 2000 and ME can also have their security level set so high that it prevents software like iVisit working. Try lowering the security level.
No Video coming (using Windows XP). Adjust Network Connections: Select relevant Dial-up, LAN or High-Speed Internet Connection Adjust Network Tasks: click Change Settings On Advanced, under Internet Connection Firewall, uncheck "Protect my computer and network".
If the stream of data leaving your system/connection is too slow, then iVisit will not attempt to send an image.
3 I can't hear other people's audio.
Click iVisit Settings > Preferences > Audio Menu, to ensure the Output Playback Device is set to your speakers or headset device and increase the output playback volume here.
On your Local AV window, if the speaker icon is red, click it so that it is blue. You may also adjust Speaker Volume by clicking the + button beside the speaker icon a few times.
On your Local AV window, click the black arrow to the right of the word Audio; ensure Speaker is not Muted in that window.
OSX users adjust their audio settings in the OSX Sound control panel. Also, be sure you are using the most recent version of QuickTime.
4 Other people can't hear me?
Test your audio by pressing the TALK button with your mouse (or holding down the CTRL key) - you should see the microphone audio meter bar under your own picture (on your Local AV window) light up in green.
On the iVisit Settings > Preferences > Audio Menu ensure the Input-Recording Device is set to your microphone and set the Mic Sensitivity to the upper half of the adjustment.
On the iVisit Settings > Preferences > Codec Menu, select VBR (44) or ADPCM4 (32kbps)
In your own AV window, if the microphone icon is red, click it so that it becomes blue. You may also adjust the microphone level by clicking the + button a few times (below 'Audio')
Using Mac OSX? Be sure to have downloaded the newest version of QuickTime.
Using Mac OSX (firewire)? Remember, you can listen with either USB or firewire; but you can only send on a USB microphone.
5 How does Record work?
It's easy to create a video of yourself, friends, family or colleagues using iVisit, methods similar for Mac and PC.
To play your saved recording, either select File > Play or Play to network (if you wish to play the file back to others you are connected with). You can search for it using a menu that pops up. Select your recording (it will have .IVB" at the end of the name) then click on "open". Your iVisit video will begin playing. You can also double click the file where it is located on your hard drive to have iVisit automatically open and play the file back locally. To stop the video, simply close the recorded video playback window.
To Play Video:
"Open iVisit, make sure you are NOT in a room when you PLAY the file.
"Go to FILE at top of your monitor, select "play file" on that menu. You can search for it using a menu that pops up.
"Select the recording (it will have .IVB" at the end of the name) then click on "open".
The iVisit video will begin playing. To stop the video at any time, click on the top left corner or go to FILE at top left of your monitor and select, "Disconnect all in that menu. If all else fails, go to File at top left down that menu to "Quit".
6 My Firewall reports UDP attempts on my ports and Ping attempts from various addresses? How secure is iVisit?
"UDP stands for "User Datagram Protocol." It is the protocol that iVisit (and most other delay sensitive software) uses for communication. So, the UDP notifications should not be cause for alarm, as long as they are destined for UDP port 9940 on your iVisit Host computer.
There is some security risk in using iVisit and all Internet applications in that other people can learn your current IP address. They can then direct various kinds of network attacks against you. This is a bit like giving out your telephone number; it exposes you to potential crank phone calls. There are many other ways to learn valid IP addresses; in fact, one could just guess them if you didn't care whose you found. The danger with iVisit is that someone could target you in particular (i.e., as you are known to them on iVisit).
7 Can I connect through a Proxy, Router or Firewall?
The latest versions of iVisit will work with many NAT/proxy/Firewall devices. Unfortunately, there are dozens of such devices, and each one seems to operate a little bit differently. Some will support iVisit out of the box; others may require special configuration; others may not work regardless of what you do. Others may only work partially, e.g., 2 iVisits behind the same NAT may not be able to connect to each other, or you might only be able to connect to people who are not themselves behind NAT's.
" Configure information as follows:
Click here for Port Forwarding info for routers
8 Can I use iVisit on a home network all sharing the same static IP address using a cable modem?
Whether iVisit will work in this situation depends on the details of how your DSL "router" implements NAT (Network Address Translation, what allows machines in a private address space to communicate with machines outside the private address space).
9 How do I register ?
For an account on the ivisit.net server you will need to Register and be emailed an Authorization code.
Install and run iVisit, on the Log in window click [ Account ] then click [ Register ]
10 How do I activate my account?
Please follow the instructions that came in the confirmation e-mail with your Authorization code.
11"How do I use Japanese, Asian, Korean or Other Fonts?
This should allow you to see the Asian fonts on your computer.
To type the Asian fonts:
Please remember to type in lower case only when using the Asian fonts.
Pressing the SPACE BAR once after entering a word will bring a primary choice and pressing the Space Bar a second time will open a list of choices to choose from.
You can press ENTER after any completed word and then put in a space if you choose.
(In iVisit, the characters may change to gibberish after pressing Enter to accept your choice but will look correct after you hit Enter again to send.)
がんばって ください
12 I've just installed Windows XP and people can't see me?
This typically is The built-in Firewall is blocking UDP port 9940.Sometimes the Windows XP Firewall is blocking your connection completely. Click here for XP Firewall configuration how-to.
13 I keep getting Timed Out?
iVisit will "Time-out" a connection if it's unable to complete a periodic packet exchange with the other party. This could be because:
1 iVisit is no longer running on the other machine
2 the other machine has lost its connection to the Internet
3 some link in the Internet which the data must travel over is broken or heavily congested so there is no room for iVisit traffic to consistently get through.
"In the immediate term, you can exit and restart iVisit to set a new path through the Internet. And in the long term, you can improve your Internet connectivity by upgrading your access speed (e.g., DSL or cable modem) or trying a different ISP. If you tend to communicate with the same people, you can expect the best performance if you both use the same ISP. Much of the congestion in the Internet occurs where different networks exchange traffic. In your case, though, it might just be that your access link (e.g., modem) is saturated by traffic."
14 Can I use Linux IP Masquerade?
If you are running iVisit on a Private Network using Linux IP Masquerade, make sure you Enable the Loose UDP option. Without Loose UDP, people who try to connect to you will get "Host Not Found," and you may have problems initiating connections to some people. For more info, see http://ipmasq.cjb.net/ and http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/peer-nat.html." Another link for a LINUX Router is http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/ is the site of this one-disk Linux distribution.
Also what may help is setting the IPChain Loose option to active.
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_masq_udp_dloose
15 How can I make iVisit work best on a broadband connection?
If you have broadband access you will generally be limited by end-to-end bandwidth across the Internet rather than by the performance of your local connection (unless you are connecting to someone nearby to you on the same ISP). I have heard that typical ISP back haul provisioning for DSL is around 1.5 Mbps per 200 subscribers. I imagine cable is similar. This means that if all subscribers are active at once, you can expect about 7 kbps through put. Of course, all subscribers will not be active at once, and ISP's will allocate more back haul bandwidth as demand increases (it's not that expensive relative to their other costs). But, the main point is that you cannot expect sustained data rates across the Internet anywhere near to your access speed.
However, there is some tuning you can do in iVisit to better take advantage of capacity when it is available. Under Settings > Connection Management (Network Settings on the Mac), you can increase the transmission and reception rate caps to e.g., 500 kbps. iVisit will transmit at whatever rate it appears the network can carry, up to the limits set by the caps (on each end of the flow).
Also, in the Codec settings, you should decrease the Quality setting until you see disturbing distortions in the image quality (make sure you have selected H.263* Codec). This will maximize your frame rate for a given data rate. Depending on the camera, you may find that good lighting allows a lower Quality setting and a higher frame rate with the same image quality. Facing a window with natural light is ideal. This can have a dramatic effect with some cheaper cameras.
16 How do I keep my Addresses when upgrading versions of iVisit?
When upgrading, select the option to keep current settings - preferences during the installation process.
17 Will iVisit work with NAT (Network Address Translation)?
Many Firewalls also implement NAT (Network Address Translation), either as a security measure, or as a means by which multiple machines can share a single globally routable Internet Address. Unfortunately, there is very little standardization on how different NAT devices operate or how they can be configured. Basically, the way that NAT works is if a process at (private address,port X) sends a packet to a Host outside the Private Network, the NAT chooses a random port, say Y, to forward it from, and then any packets that comeback to Y, are forwarded to (private address,port X). iVisit will work fine in this case, as long as the NAT maintains a single public port Y, for a given(private address,port X) that is currently active. Other iVisit's can discover(public address,port Y) from the iVisit Directory Server, and use that address to reach (private address,port X). Some Nat's will reject packets arriving at (public address,port Y) unless they originate at an address which the NAT has recently sent a packet to. That's okay. If a person in the public address space wants to initiate a connection to someone in a private address space, the directory server can tell iVisit in the private address space to send a packet to iVisit in the public address space, so their packets will be allowed in. The problem is that some Nat's choose a different public port for each remote endpoint that a private process is interacting with. This effectively enforces the rule that communication can only be initiated from the private side. It also means that if 2 instances of iVisit are each behind such a NAT, then it is logically impossible for them to ever establish a connection with one another.
18 What does RTT mean in the Network Statistics Window?
RTT stands for Round Trip Time. It is similar to PING, except that iVisit RTT measures how long it takes for a packet to get to the iVisit application and back, whereas PING measures how long it takes for a packet to get to the Host IP stack and back. On Windows systems, in particular, there can be some extra delay as iVisit waits for access to the CPU in order to process incoming packets (i.e. if other processes are running) and then perhaps some additional delay waiting to send the reply.
19 Why the * next to H.263?
The current iVisit Codec was adapted from the H.263 standard in order to perform better under conditions of packet loss as are typical on the Internet. That's why we call it H.263*
20 Can I have multiple users on one machine?
Any account can run on any machine that has iVisit installed on it. All that is required is to enter the desired user name and password at login. (Note: An account can only be logged in on one machine at a time.)
21 What's best - DSL, Cable or Satellite connection?
For best performance, iVisit recommends DSL or Cable Modem access from a National ISP. If there are certain people you plan to connect to most often, you can expect better performance if you are all using the same National ISP. Much of the Internet congestion occurs where different ISP's connect to one another."Avoid a Satellite System as they are typically optimized for 1-directional download, and may introduce significant delays in 2-way communications.
22 What's the difference between a Chat room and a Connections listing?
When you join a Room you are connected to everyone else that is in the Room with Audio, Video, and Text, up to 8 users When more people join the Room you are automatically connected to them as well. Currently there is no way to disconnect from anyone in a Room without leaving the Room. When you join a Chat Channel you are connected to everyone else that is in the Channel via Text chat only, up to 100 users. You are also making yourself visible to other users so that they may connect to you with Audio and Video if they enjoy chatting with you.
23 How do I prepare an image to use as a STILL in my AV window? Open the image in PhotoShop (or similar) and resize it to 160*120 pixels Change Mode from RGB to Indexed Color to flatten the image
Change Mode back to RGB
do a Save As (in PICT format)
Copy the file to the Mac ScrapBook and when needed, PAUSE your video and paste the image into your Local AV window.
If you have no camera attached then this paste will be in B&W. To get color stills you will need to install a vDIG Extension (such as Screen or Scrapbook) Once the Extension is installed you must restart the Mac. As well as fixing the lack of color these Extensions also give you additional options in the Settings > Video Device Settings > Source Menu such as displaying your Desktop or Scrapbook contents.
24 Every time I press CTRL to Talk my Mac freezes.
The Contextual Menu Extensions also uses the CTRL key and some Plug Ins for this may conflict with your audio or iVisit, Either; 1. Remove the Plug Ins from the System/Contextual Menu Items folder and restart Or 2. Move the Contextual Menu Extension in to System/Extensions (Disabled) folder and restart "If using a Firewire camera don't send both video and audio from the camera to the Mac, if possible use the Macs Built In mike or a separate microphone.
25 what names can I register?
iVisit identities take the form of Username.####@domain (i.e. Tim.1234)
click to find more information on iVisit acceptable Usernames.
26 How does the incoming call handling work?
You can select how you want your incoming calls handled by clicking the colored status indicator button at the bottom of the "Address Book" window This is applied to all incoming calls
27 How do I create a Home - Chat room iVisit?
One of the extras you get as an iVisit Plus User is a 'Home'
A home is your own place on iVisit which contain a chat room
You can create a link to your room on ivisit.net once it is placed in the correct area
To Create a link to your home on iVisit
"On PC, Right-Click on the Neighborhood you wish to place is in and choose ' Show my home here '
"On Mac, Option-Click on the Neighborhood you wish to place is in and choose ' Show my home here '
"After clicking, the "Places Edit" window will appear
Enter your desired Home name and Comment then click OK
An example of a neighborhood would be the 'Friends' Neighborhood located inside ivisit.net
28 I accidentally banned someone. How can I let them back in my room?
To allow someone back into your Home, you can open the "Banned Users" folder and drag their name to the trash.
29 How can I remove/ban "boot" someone from my room?
To remove someone temporarily, right-click (option-click Mac) on their name and choose "Remove from here." They will be allowed to re-enter in 15 minutes. You can also choose to Ban them as well for either 5 or 60 days.
30 I am having connection problems under windows XP using a LAN.
Click Start > Control panel
open network connections > go to the properties of your connection > see if QoS packet scheduler is checked. If it is, uncheck it!
This has helped solve some problems for people.
31 I have upgraded from QuickTime 5 to QuickTime 6 and my camera no longer works.
Some camera manufacturers do not yet support QuickTime 6 for their cameras. Upgrading to QuickTime 6 stops the camera from functioning. The solution is to download and revert to QuickTime 5 from Apple's web site.
32 What does User unknown mean?
User Unknown will appear in a video window when the wrong calling code been used with a Username.
The iVisit Calling Code is the four digit number at the end of the Username
i.e.. Jennifer.1234
Please ensure that you are using the correct iVisit calling code to solve the problem
33 Activating my account shows creation failed.
Be sure to have the latest iVisit software for PC or Mac then enter the following information EXACTLY as you did when registering:
CREATION FAILED invalid authorization code:
"check your Authorization code for the correct characters, especially the I i L l 1 T t ! some computers have font shapes that are difficult to discern between characters.
34 How do I upgrade my account from Lite to Plus?
If you have already created your iVisit Lite account, upgrading is done via the following steps:
Run your iVisit and logon with the Username you wish to upgrade. (At the Logon screen DO NOT click OK)
Click Account > Upgrade and a web page will appear asking for your payment details.
After your payment has been accepted, your Account will be upgraded.
To see the change take effect, logoff then logon.
35 How do I divide my address into sections for easier use?
The People section of your address book can be divided into sections (folders). You may wish to have a folder for business, and another for friends. Click “People” in your address book, then click in the lower area, beside the PLUS icon. Now, type in the title of the folder you choose to create, preceded by a forward slash (for example, /Friends). Press return/enter on your keyboard, and the Folder title will be added. Now, you can click/drag names to the folder of your choice. Names must be moved to the main folder before they can be removed by dragging them to the Trash.
36 How do I make my individual home visible?
Your Plus Account home.username.#### is private and secure by default. As soon as you place a link to your Home in the public neighborhoods, you have a variety of means at your disposal to maintain your privacy. To hide or make your home "invisible", do the following. Right-Click (PC) or Option-Click (Mac) on your Home shortcut inside the Neighborhood where it is listed. Then simply click "Hide this link". Alternatively, you can do the same on the Chat room inside your home and select "Lock". The Chat room is not truly locked but hidden from view and can only be entered if someone knows the name of your Chat room.
37 The Tool Buttons are missing from an individual’s Remote AV Window! How do I get them back?
Right-Click or click the arrow in the top right hand corner of their video and select "Show Buttons". You can select by default to have buttons hidden if you click Settings > Preferences > Connection Management and select "Open windows without buttons". On the Mac, this is located in Settings > Preferences.
38 Using internal Mac-Firewall on OSX: