SoliTaire! Network Help

Requirements

SoliTaire! Network games run on any Java enabled browser that uses Sun's Java Plug-in or the older Java 1.1 from Microsoft. It may run on others. The S o l i T a i r e! games should run fine on any operating system that supports the Java Plug-in, including Windows and Mac and likely others.

It is suggested that players use the latest browser technology, but the games should run just fine even using older browsers as far back as Internet Explorer 4, and other 4th generation browsers. Firefox 2 (or later) or Internet Explorer 6.0 (or later) using the Java Plugin is the recommended configuration.

If you are using Firefox, it is recommended that you upgrade to at least version 3.5 since earlier versions can cause problems when switching game sizes on SoliTaire! Network.

Make sure Java is installed and enabled:

SoliTaire! requires that Java be present and be enabled. Newer browsers may not directly support Java or you may have downloaded a browser without Java. In these cases, you can install the Java Plug-In by clicking on the link below.

To check to see if Java is enabled:

Using Internet Explorer, Find the the Tools > Internet Options menu. Next, find the Advanced Tab. Then scroll down until you find the Java options. Make sure that one of the Java options are checked. Experiment with the JIT option. Some people need it checked and others do not.

Using Firefox, Select the Tools menu, then Options. Choose the Web Features section and then make sure Enable Java and Enable JavaScript are checked.

Other browsers can be checked in similar ways.

The Game Pages take a long time to load:

If you experience game pages taking a long time to load, the best thing to do is to be sure that you are running the latest version of the browser that you are using, or try changing to a different browser.

Working Offline:

SoliTaire! requires that you are NOT working offline. Check to make sure you are working on-line as follows:

In Most Browsers, In the File menu, make sure there is not a check mark by Work Offline.

To force the latest version of the SoliTaire! game:

Try one of these things at a time in the following order:

1- On the Home page, Refresh the page while holding down the Ctrl key. This is a forced refresh. Then try the games again.

2 - Try clearing the Java cache.

3 - Try clearing the Browser cache.

Browser Cache:

You can try to clear your browser's cache. It could be that the browser is trying to use an old version of the game resources.

Using Internet Explorer, From the Tools Menu, select Internet Options. Then in the Temporary Internet Files section, press Delete Files.

Using Netscape, From the Edit menu, select Preferences. Next click on the plus sign or arrow to the left of the word advanced. Under Advanced, click on Cache. On the right side, click on Clear Disk Cache.

Using Firefox, Select the Tools menu, then Options. Choose the Privacy section. Within that section there is a line for Cache. Click the Clear button next to it.

Note: Clearing the browser cache might take a minute or more to complete.

Clear the Java Plug-in Cache:

Assuming you are using the Java Plug-in, the Java plug-in will cache various resources. It could be that it is trying to use an old version of the game resources.

Step 1 - To clear the Java Plug-in Cache (in a Windows environment,) go to the Windows Control Panel and open the Java link.

Step 2 - On the General tab in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the "Settings..." button.

Step 3 - Click the "Delete Files..." button.

Step 4 - Make sure the "Applications and Applets" checkbox is checked and then click the "OK" button. This might take several seconds or more.

The next time you launch a game it should download all of the latest versions of the game and resources and the games should work fine now.

Can you run other Java Applets?

You can test to see if you can run other Java applets at www.jars.com. If you cannot run applets from there, you will either need to install Java or it could be that you have your permissions turned off and that you will need to allow Java to run.

If you can run other Java applets at www.jars.com but not at SoliTaireNetwork.com then you may need to clear your browser cache. If that doesn't work, then you may need to upgrade your browser. Upgrading to Internet Explorer 8 or newer is recommended. IE8 is available at Microsoft's download page.

Playing for a Long Time:

If the game fails to load completely and you have been playing several different solitaire variants (or have been playing java games on other sites without closing the browser,) then the problem is probably related to a bug in all versions of Internet Explorer that use the old Java 1.1.

The only known solutions are to use the Java Plug-In for a permanent solution, or to close the browser window and the game window and then reopen to www.SoliTaireNetwork.com and then you will be able to play some more. This clears the memory cache that IE never seems to purge on its own. (For more information about this problem, you can see Microsoft's KnowledgeBase article on this subject.)

This problem does not occur when using the Java Plug-In recommended on this page. If you experience this problem often then you may want to convert to the Java Plug-In. Netscape and other browsers do not have this problem.

Wrong Sounds Playing:

Sometimes sounds are played for the wrong events. If this seems to be happening to you, clearing the browser's cache (temporary internet files) and then restarting your browser will fix the problem. See the section above Browser Cache for more information on clearing the browser's cache.

Sounds have a Clicking Noise:

This problem has been noticed on some older Macintosh computers. The only solutions offered are to upgrade to a newer Mac, or reduce the volume.

Cannot Change the Size of the Game:

In order to use the feature that allows you to choose your game and card size, you must have cookies and Javascript enabled in your browser. If either of these technologies are turned off, the likely effect will be that you will not be able to change to the smaller games. Cookies and Javascript are generally safe technologies and SoliTaire! Network highly recommends that you leave these on or enable them.

Other Problems:

If you are having other problems not mentioned here or these solutions did not work for you, please feel free to contact us for further support. Please include what actions from this page you have already tried and explain the problem as well as you can. It helps tremendously if you include information about what Operating System (i.e. Windows or Mac) and Browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and Browser version you are using.