Alamak Login Problems
Ops Account Diagnostic
Contact Us Page
 Server #SG secure server doesn't work
This includes the secure change password page on Server #SG. If you can, you should
use the secure change password page rather than the non-secure page.
Server SG uses a self signed certificate which must be changed once a month.
You must accept this certificate to use the secure pages on alamak.com.sg, if
you only use SG to change your password it is best to accept this certificate
for the session only, click "for this session only". This will avoid the folowing
problem in the future.
If you accept the cert forever "until it expires" then when it does expire and
install a new one. You will get some kind of error that doesn't really explain
what is the fault but we've discovered the fix. Sometimes this shows up as a
kind of connection error when you try to access the secure server.
The solution, go under your web browser security section. Look for web site
certificates and find and delete any that say alamak in them. Then you
can try again to access the secure page on server #SG and accept the new
certificate.
Kicked out first time using secure login?
There is an easily fixed problem if you use proxy with secure login.
If your regular proxy and secure proxy settings are different it will
make it seem like you have changed IP address, and the chat server will
kick you out if it seems you have change IP address.
If you have a proxy setting for http which is different from the
https or secure proxy setting, it seems like your IP address
changes during login as the server switches you from the secure to non-secure
server for chatting.
Solution is to set your https or secure proxy setting the same as your
http proxy setting. Most cases people have put a http proxy setting but
left the https or secure field blank, dont' forget to fill in the port
number too!
Security notice when using secure login?
This is normal, when you are on a secure page and leave to a non-secure page
you get a popup warning. Just click okay and keep chatting.
The secure login is setup properly to use the secure server when transmitting
password information. After the first page it switches to the non-secure
un-encrypted page to save processing time.
Secure servers use alot of cpu time and the chat would be incredibly slow we ran
the whole chat through a secure encryption.
WebTV Problems
At this writing it seems that webtv users can access secure web pages.
There was also a faulty "upgrade" to webtv that prevents webtv users from logging
into Alamak. WebTV has now fixed this problem and released a new upgrade which does
work. If you're a webtv user and can't login, try upgrading.
Why isn't my Ops account updated?
It is cpu intensive to open and re-read the password file everytime an Op
logs in, so the server stores the accounting and password information and checks
this when an Op logs in. If you think you have changed your password or that your
account was renewed in the master database you should TRY LOGGING IN WITH THE
WRONG PASSWORD. This will cause the chat server to re-load the file including
changed account expiration date and password. Then try logging in with the correct
password, if the information was changed your problem will be fixed.
The master database is currently held on Server_SG, when we update passwords or
any account information it happens there first, then the file is encrypted sent to
the US servers and un-encrpted. So changes on SG may take a while to register on the
other chat servers ... usually less than 24 hours.
Diagnostic Info
Currently the main Alamak Chat Ops database is kept on Server SG. When time is added
to your account, 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.
It is always best to check with the diagnostic first to see if your account is
renewed before contacting us with a program report since the
Ops Diagnostic
operatates on the Server SG master copy.
Additionally, to conserve cpu time the chat servers store a copy of your password and
accounting information and will not reload the new information out of the database when
you login normally. To get the running chat server to re-check/reload your accounting or
password, login with the incorrect password ( or new password ) and if this does not match
the one already stored in the server it will re-read the file. It will also reload the
accounting so if your account has been renewed, the server accounting with be updated as
well.
This means if you have changed your password on Server SG it may take as long as 24
hours to propigate to the other servers.
It also means if there is any error in encrypted transfer as rarely occurs, then you can
test the master database and confirm your account is okay by testing login on Server SG.
The other servers keep "last good" copies of the database and in the event the update
transfer from SG to the other servers is botched the "last good" Ops database copies on
the other servers will 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.
If your account is suspended, this will first show up on Server SG and then propigate to
the other servers.
As a final resort, you can use the Contact Us Page
to get the office to help you with your problem.
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