Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Tips and Hints

How can I make it easy to start this program in a classroom setting? What can I do to help my whole class see the material? What should I do first, if I have problems with the program?

Problems with Activities

An activity behaves oddly. The QuickTime movies are causing problems. The Organism Database doesn't work. I can't scroll down in the Ecoregions information pages.

Tips and Hints

How can I make it easy to start this program in a classroom setting?

The easiest way to start this program on a computer is to create a bookmark or make a favorite of the Welcome screen of the program, using your browser of choice.

You may also find it helpful to make aliases (Mac) or shortcuts (PC) to the program from the computer's desktop. Instructions for this are in your computer's help manual.

What can I do to help my whole class see the material?

Read the section Classroom Viewing in the CD-ROM User Guide for information.

What should I do first, if I have problems with the program?

When troubleshooting, try these steps, starting with the top one. If it doesn't solve the problem, work your way down the list.

1. Use the Check Browser feature to be sure your browser is set up correctly.
2. Quit all other applications.
3. Quit and restart your browser.
4. Restart your computer.

If the program worked before but you are using a different browser or a different computer, you may need to set up the new browser. Use the Check Browser feature, available from the Welcome screen and described in the CD-ROM User Guide.

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Web Browsers and Plug-ins

Testing browser versions released since December 2002.

Not every new version of a browser supports all the functions that previous versions did. In order to test whether a new browser version not mentioned on the Compatible Browser page will work for the FOSS Populations and Ecosystems multimedia, first use the Check Browser feature to verify that the required plug-in versions are installed. Next, try using the Organism Database search interface, and one of the food webs in the ecoscenarios. The requirements for these activities are representative of the program as a whole, and will test your new browser setup.

Plug-in installation didn't work! The plug-in still registers as missing in Check Browser.

If you successfully completed the installation process for a plug-in yet the plug-in appears to be missing when you use the FOSS Populations and Ecosystems multimedia, you may not have installed the plug-in in the correct browser. If you have two copies of one browser on your computer, the installer may find the one you don't regularly use and install the plug-in there. During the plug-in installation, be sure to specify which browser the installer should use.

Mac OS 10 and Internet Explorer 5.

When running the FOSS Populations and Ecosystems multimedia from the CD-ROM on Macintosh OS 10.1-10.2, Internet Explorer 5.0 through 5.2 has trouble displaying the shared library features of the Flash player used by the larkey activities and the ecoscenarios' foodwebs. The larkey activities behave strangely, while the foodwebs will remain a white square on the page. We hope that future versions of Internet Explorer or the Flash Player will resolve this issue.

To use the larkey and foodweb activities with Macintosh OS 10, we recommend either using another browser, such as Netscape 6.x or Mozilla, or accessing the activities from online. The larkey activities and the ecoscenarios, including the foodwebs, are accessible online at http://www.fossweb.com/popecoweb.

Mac OS 9.x or earlier: Netscape 6 or later.

Netscape 6.x for Macintosh is not recommended for viewing the FOSS Populations and Ecosystems multimedia when using a Macintosh running OS 8.5 to 9.x. Netscape 6.2 will not use the QuickTime plug-in properly when running the program off the CD-ROM. We recommend you use an older version of the Netscape browser, found in Netscape Communicator 4.7x, or Internet Explorer 5 or later. For more details, see the Compatible Browser page.

Mac OS 8.5 has problems installing QuickTime plug-in.

The QuickTime 6 installer on the CD-ROM does not support OS 8.5. We recommend visiting Apple's website, www.apple.com/support, to download either a QuickTime 5 installer or the update to OS 8.6. Both are free.

QuickTime 5 Installer: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120132

Update to OS 8.6: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60283

Windows 95: Default browser freezes on site entry page.

The default browser MS Internet Explorer 3.0 that comes with the Windows 95 operating system does not support JavaScript. The program requires a JavaScript-compatible browser. We recommend upgrading to MS Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.

Windows 95: The QuickTime 6 installer won't work.

The QuickTime 6 installer provided on the CD-ROM will not work with Windows 95. We recommend downloading an installer for QuickTime 5 from Apple's QuickTime support page at http://www.info.apple.com/usen/QuickTime/. The direct link is http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120133.

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Problems with Activities

An activity behaves oddly.

If the activity is either about larkeys or an ecoscenario foodweb, check the section on Mac OS 10.x and Internet Explorer. Other cases of strange behavior may result from incompletely loaded activities or earlier versions of plug-ins. Make sure each activity is loaded completely before pressing any buttons. Earlier versions of a plug-in, for example Flash Player 4, may display an activity but not support its proper behavior. Use the Check Browser feature to make sure you have the required versions of all plug-ins.

The QuickTime movies are causing problems.

If you already have the QuickTime Player 3 plug-in or later, your browser's preferred memory may need to be set higher. This applies only to Macintosh users with OS 9.x or earlier.

1. Choose Quit in the File menu in your browser to close the application.
2. Locate the original browser application on your hard drive. If you customarily access the browser using an alias and are unsure where the original application is, hold down the Control key and click once on the alias. Choose Show Original on the menu.
3. Click once on the application to select it. Under the File menu, choose Get Info and select Memory.
4. Type a larger number, such as 12000, into the Preferred Size box. Type the same number or less into the Minimum Size box. (If you can't type into the boxes, the application is still open. Using the application menu in the upper right corner, select your browser again and choose Quit from the File menu.)
5. Close the information window and relaunch your browser.

The Organism Database doesn't work.

This site makes extensive use of JavaScript. If JavaScript is turned off or your browser does not support it, you may notice this first when using the Organism Database. Try enabling JavaScript in your browser's preferences menu. If that doesn't work, check the list of Compatible Browsers and upgrade.

I can't scroll down in the Ecoregions information pages.

Netscape 4.7x on the Macintosh may have scrolling problems in Ecoregions. Grab the scroll bar and move it down to view the rest of the page.

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