Contents

Manual

Troubleshooting

If yDecode doesn't work or yEnc messages are not decoded, please go through this checklist to find your problem and see the solution. Most common problems are listed here. If you cannot find the solution please contact us.

1. Is yDecode running? ("Unable to connect to server" error)

2. Press Test Config button to verify if your configuration is correct

3. I get "This messages is not decoded in demo version" but I am registered

4. I use the demo and some yEnc messages and some multipart messages are not decoded

5. Multipart messages don't decode at all or decode with little success

6. Firewall specific issues (Norton) ("Unable to connect to server" error)

1. Is yDecode running? ("Unable to connect to server" error)

a) yDecode must be running in order to work! Take a look if yDecode tray icon is present just like on the picture below in the tray area (usually lower right area of the screen). This icon is always visible when yDecode is running even if it is minimized. Windows XP only - You can't see this icon? - Try to reveal hidden icons by pressing the "<<" button just like on the screenshot below. If you don't see yDecode icon, run yDecode by clicking on its desktop or Start Menu icon. yDecode must be running each and every time you read newsgroups. You can make it autorun on each system restart if you check Run on system startup option in Options tab. This icon indicates that yDecode is running in "standby" mode. If it doesn't change to any of the other icons like or when you are trying to read the newsgroups or download a message it means that yDecode is not receiving any traffic from Outlook Express (or other news reader) or from the newsgroups server. In this case Test Config may help you to troubleshoot the configuration problems. Note: This icon will not change unless you are trying to read some messages on the newsgroups - it changes only when the data (the newsgroup messages) is being downloaded or uploaded. In this case the icon will change to either or . Please take a look at the Indicators section for more information about these icons. b) "hosts" file corruption A rare but still possible reason for "Unable to connect to server" error may be corrupted hosts file (usually in C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts) on your computer. Try to replace localhost in your account settings in your newsreader with 127.0.0.1 - if this helps and yDecode starts working - we advise you scan your computer for malicious programs (viruses or spyware) as this may be the reason why this file is corrupted. The regular hosts file should have a line: 127.0.0.1 localhost The above line associates the IP address 127.0.0.1 with the name localhost and is normal for hosts file. c) Firewall / Server being down Please refer to Unable to connect to news.myserver.com... problem below.

2. Press Test Config button to verify if your configuration is correct	Pressing Test Config button will show window similar to this: If you have an error (printed in red color) look for the error and how to correct it in the list below.
Possible messages for "Test Config" button
OK: Outlook Express account 'Account' configured OK Account settings - Server: 'localhost' - Port = 119 - SSL: No	No error - you configured this account correctly. You can see account name and configured settings.
Connection test to News Server successful.	No error - you configured your NNTP server name, Remote Port and SSL in yDecode correctly. Also, firewall is not blocking yDecode to connect to the server.
Server requires authentication: (YES/NO)	Only an info message for you to remember to type in your username/password in your account settings of your news reader if you haven't already done so. Don't confuse this password with your yDecode registered user password as your news server requires different username/password!
Error messages for "Test Config" button (errors are printed in red color)
ERROR: Outlook Express account 'Account' will not decode yEnc or work with yDecode. Account settings - Server: 'news.server.com' - Port: 119 - SSL: No Required settings - Server: 'localhost' - Port: 119 - SSL: No Use Auto-Config button to configure this account automatically. Look at troubleshooting section of the help file for more info on this error.	You can use Auto-Config button to fix this error. If that doesn't work - you have to reconfigure your Outlook Express / Windows Mail account to access yDecode - press right mouse button on your newsgroup account just like on the picture below and select option properties. Windows Mail is identical. Now you will get a window like the one on the picture below. Press the Server tab (the tabs are the tabbed pages on the top - General, Server, Connection and Advanced - choose Server). Take a look at a Server name - does it show anything other than localhost ? If it does - put localhost here, like on the picture below. The server name that was here previously should be now in yDecode NNTP server name box. Press OK button to apply the settings and try to download some messages afterwards. Do not close yDecode - it must be running otherwise you will get an error like "Server not found". Windows Mail screenshot follows.
INFO: No Windows Live Mail accounts found - skipping test.	If you don't use Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird If you use any other news reader that is not supported by Test Config you should ignore this message. yDecode can auto-detect account settings only for news readers it supports. You have to configure other news reader settings manually. Please read quickstart section to see how to do this. Outlook Express users You need to create newsgroups account. In Outlook Express click on the main menu - Tools / Accounts. The following window will appear. Select Add / News... Follow the wizard steps to create new news account. You will need settings like server name and if required a username and password from your newsgroups service provider. Make sure you type localhost when you are asked for server name. The actual server name you need to type in into yDecode. After you are done, press Test Config in yDecode again to verify if the settings are correct. If you encounter different error then, look for it in this list.
Unable to connect to news.myserver.com. Error code XXXXX. Please check your server name/port settings, firewall settings and internet connection.	a) Make sure you typed in correct server name into yDecode "NNTP Server name" box If you don't know server name, your Internet provider knows it, just ask them for your newsgroups server name. For example, if your Internet provider is verizon.net then your newsgroups server may be news.verizon.net. It is usually in this form (news [dot] provider name [dot] com), but this may not be the rule with your Internet provider so if you are unsure, please ask them to tell you the name of your newsgroups server. If required, make a phone call to your Internet provider and ask them what is your newsgroup server name - they will know which one it is. When you find out this name - type it in the NNTP server name box in yDecode. Ask them to spell it out for you - to avoid typing errors. b) Is your firewall blocking yDecode? (very common problem) Try to disable the firewall and press the Test Config button. If it works with disabled firewall and you don't get this message anymore, then firewall is blocking yDecode - re-enable the firewall and set it to always allow yDecode to pass through. This is different with each firewall - but for the Windows XP firewall you must add yDecode to the "exceptions" list. To test if you configured firewall correctly - press Test Config button again until you make it work. c) Are you connected to the Internet? If you are not connected Test Config server test will not give you successful result!

3. I get "This messages is not decoded in demo version" but I am registered

Solution a) You haven't installed full version correctly and you are still running the demo. Check what the title bar of yDecode says - if it says something like "yDecode vx.xx - demo version" then you are running the demo. Please go back to the registered user pages and follow the instructions for download and install fully and completely (do not skip it after you read only the first step). Solution b) If you are sure you have full version installed - check if this happens only on old messages while you download new yEnc messages correctly. If this is the case - clear the cache of your news reader to let it re-download the messages again from the server. In any case this message will not appear on any new messages you download, only on old ones you downloaded when you were using the demo because they are not really downloaded but your news reader reads them from its cache. To clear Outlook Express cache, click using the right mouse button on the group you are reading and select properties from the menu like on the following screenshot: On the window that will open, select tab Local File and click on option Reset that will clear all the cache for the given newsgroup. Then try to download messages again using the full version and they should decode properly now.

5. Multipart messages don't decode at all or decode with little success

Make sure you enable multipart decoder to enable decoding of multipart messages. To do so, click on the checkbox Get multipart as single just like on the screenshot below. This will solve the problem of multipart messages not being decoded at all. To improve success rate do the following in Outlook Express: To improve success rate do the following in Windows Mail: If you use some other news reader, find similar option (should be called "download all headers" or similar) and make sure that you download all available headers at all times. Only if all headers are downloaded you will be able to decode as much multipart posts as possible as yDecode uses these headers to figure out which messages are multipart and which are not. If your news server has very few posts in specific newsgroup you like, it may be possible that your news server is not carrying all the messages that were originally posted (for example, you see the "gaps" in multipart post headers where certain parts are missing). First try the above option - to see if downloading all the headers will help to fill in the gaps. If it doesn't and if there are still many parts missing, look for better server with greater retention rate. Look at the links page of www.ydecode.com for recommendation of some good news servers. Important note for Outlook Express users: If you disabled the above option and multipart decoding stops at some point, please have in mind that Outlook Express has a storage limit of 2 GB of data per newsgroup. After it reaches this limit it will not download any further messages. On most systems this will never happen due to auto-maintenance, but if it does happen to you - you only need to clear the cache file for this group to allow it to download new messages - take a look at problem #3 (above) to find out how to do this. Outlook Express limitation does not affect yDecode operation in any way.

6. Firewall specific issues (Norton) ("Unable to connect to server" error)

Note: Setup may be very similar for other firewalls - just search for similar options like on example screenshots below. We're not affiliated with Norton products nor recommend any particular firewall product. The screenshots here just serve as an example. Due to problems some users may have with Norton products here is how you setup this firewall to let yDecode through. Open Norton main window and click on Settings and then on Firewall Control. Click on tab Program rules. Now find yDecode in the list and set it to Allow to make sure it can access the Internet. If you cannot see yDecode in the list perhaps it is not running - close this window, start yDecode and then open this window again. Next, go to tab Traffic Rules and make sure that the Outbound Loopback is allowed like on the picture below. After you've done that, restart yDecode and your newsreader. They should be working now. Even though the picture below may show different setup than the one you may have, you should probably leave the rest of the settings as they are and mess around with them only if this solution is not working.