Server SG uses a self-signed certificate which must be changed once a month. When it expires, you will get some kind of error message. Sometimes this shows up as a connection error when you try to access the secure server.

The solution is to go into your web browser security section. Look for web site certificates and find and delete any that say alamak. Then access the secure page on server #SG and accept a new certificate.

This problem can also arise if you use the secure change password page on Server #SG. To avoid the problem when you use SG to change your password, accept the certificate for the session only (click "for this session only").

You may have this problem if you use proxy with secure login. The chat server prevents IP switching and will kick you out if your IP address is different for the secure and the non-secure server.

You need to have the same proxy setting for http as for https or secure proxy setting.

In most cases, people have put in a http proxy setting but have left the https or secure field blank. The solution is to set your https or secure proxy setting the same as your http proxy setting. Don't forget to fill in the port number too.

This is normal. The secure login uses the secure server when transmitting password information. Then it switches to the non-secure un-encrypted page to save processing time. The popup warning tells you that you are leaving a secure page and going to a non-secure page.

Just click okay and keep going.

Secure servers use a lot of cpu time and the chat would be incredibly slow we ran the whole chat through a secure encryption.

There was a faulty "upgrade" to WebTV that prevented WebTV users from logging into Alamak. WebTV has now fixed this problem and released a new upgrade which works. If you're a WebTV user and can't login, try upgrading.

It is cpu intensive to open and re-read the password file every time an Op logs in, so the chat servers store accounting and password information and check this when an Op logs in. If you have recently changed your password or your account has just been renewed, you should TRY LOGGING IN WITH THE WRONG PASSWORD. This will cause the chat server to re-load the accounting and password information file. Then try logging in with the correct password.

If the information has been updated on the regional servers, your problem will be fixed.

The master database is currently held on Server_SG. All password and account information is updated on this database then the file is encrypted and sent to the US server. Changes on SG sometimes take a while to register on the other chat servers ... but usually less than 24 hours.

Currently the main Alamak Chat Ops database is kept on Server SG. When you change a password, or Alamak admin makes any other change to your account, it is done on the master copy at SG. These changes are then sent to the other servers using a special pgp encryption program. If the admin fails to send the updated master, the server automatically sends the current copy once every 24 hours.

The chat server checks a password and accounting information file when an Op logs in. If you login with the incorrect password (or the new password) and this does not match the one stored in the server, it will re-load and re-read the file. Try logging in again with the new password. Remember, if you have changed your password on Server SG, it can take as long as 24 hours to register on the other servers.

It is always best to check Ops Diagnostic first to see if your account is renewed before contacting us to report a problem. This link checks the Server SG master copy.

If your account is suspended, this will show up first on Server SG and later on the other servers.

Very rarely, there is an error in the encrypted transfer to the regional servers. If you think there may be a problem on your regional server, you can confirm your account is okay by testing a login on Server SG.

The other servers keep "last good" copies of the database. In the event the update transfer from SG to the other servers is botched, the "last good" Ops database copies on the other servers can be re-installed within 10 minutes. Some of you may recall those times we "lost" the Ops database for a few hours before this backup was installed.

As a final resort, you can use the Contact Us Page to get the office to help you with your problem.