Trouble Shooting

We are not computer experts but we are willing to share tips and tricks that have helped us with this program. Please use your own judgment when making changes to your home computer.

At what level is my child working?

The content looks too hard for my child.

My Internet is working but the error message says the server is not available

When I click on the START button next to the dog, the login screen does not appear.

After I type the username and password and click LOGIN, nothing happens.

I think pop-up blockers are off and the login screen still won't appear (Firewalls)

Check Java - better safe than sorry - new information February 16, 2007

When I click on the GO button the program never starts the math problems.

I fixed Java and the math problems still will not load.

What if I'm running new software such as:

Who do I contact for help?

At what level is my child working?
Please contact your child's teacher for more information about the level at which your child is working in the software.

The content looks too hard for my child
Some students have made very good progress in the program and the software is introducing them to math concepts that the teacher has not yet covered. This has been frustrating for some students - especially younger students or students who are not used to missing any questions. If the student is unable to answer the question, be careful not give him/her the answer or the software will progress him/her even further in a skill he/she doesn't understand. Allow the student to miss the question. The software will try to help the student understand the concept by presenting tutorials or maybe presenting a prerequisite skill. Also, please try to help your child understand that they will miss some questions and the software will try to help. Feel free to help your child with the concept after he/she exits the software.

My Internet is working but the error message says the server is not available.
The servers at Fayette County Public Schools are dependent upon the Kentucky Department of Education servers working in Frankfort, Kentucky. We will send email notices to ACE SuccessMaker home users when we are given prior notice of expected outages.

When I click on the START button next to the dog, the login screen does not appear.
This is often caused by a pop-up blocker. You might want to hold down the Control key (CTRL) while you click the GO button to see if this solves the problem. Some pop-up blockers won't let the Control key turn them off. If you have downloaded a toolbar (Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, etc.) that toolbar has a pop-up blocker that you will need to turn off. The Explorer pop-up blocker can be turned off under Tools, Pop-up Blocker.

After I type the username and password and click LOGIN, nothing happens.
This is often caused by a pop-up blocker. You might want to hold down the Control key (CTRL) while you click the GO button to see if this solves the problem. Some pop-up blockers won't let the Control key turn them off. If you have downloaded a toolbar (Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, etc.) that toolbar has a pop-up blocker that you will need to turn off. The Explorer pop-up blocker can be turned off under Tools, Pop-up Blocker.

I think pop-up blockers are off and the login screen still won't appear
If you are sure pop-up blockers are all off, then you might want to check firewalls. I Googled firewalls and thought that How Stuff Works gave a good definition. Windows comes with a Windows Firewall in the Control Panel. When I double click on mine it asks if I want to start it. This means mine is not turned on but if your Windows Firewall does open, there is a place where you can add the SuccessMaker web site we are using as an exception ( http://sme.fcps.net/index.html ).

Other Firewalls
You may have installed a firewall with something like Norton Internet Security or Zone Alarms. There should be a place in these programs to set an exception. Your Internet Service provider could have a firewall or your router (the box your computer hooks to to get the Internet) could have a built in Firewall. If any of these are the problem there is a way to fix it but it isn't something that can be explained here. Please make sure Java isn't the problem before tackling these.

Check Java - better safe than sorry
I'm finding that some computers have an older version of Java that isn't updating like it should or more than one version of Java. If you will look in Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and scroll down to the "J's" you may see Java or JSE or J2SE Runtime Environment - all that is Java. If you have two you definitely need to get rid of at least one of them and if you have one that is older than version 1.4 you will need to uninstall that. You can download the latest Java ( http://www.java.com/en/ ) which is version 1.5_10 (January 2007) and SuccessMaker 1.6 will use that when it installs or you can install from the SuccessMaker CD and it will put Java 1.4 on your computer.

February 16, 2007 information on Java - SuccessMaker @ Home is having some problems working with version 1.5_11. It does appear to work with Java version 1.6 which should be released soon - maybe by the time you read this.

When I click on the GO button the program never starts the math problems.
The software company tells us this is a Java problem. SuccessMaker version 1.6 installs with Java version 1.4.2_03 or, if you have a newer version, the install will use what is on your computer. At this writing, the current version of Java is runtime environment 5, update 10 and version 1.6 will work with this version. Special cases:

I fixed Java and the math problems still will not load.
We have recently discovered that the math problems will not load on computers running Office 2007. SuccessMaker has found that removing Office 2007 (maybe going back to Office 2003 for a while) will resolve this problem. SuccessMaker engineers are tackling this problem.

Internet Explorer 7
We have some users who have Internet Explorer 7 loaded on their computer. Although SuccessMaker says this version of Explorer is not yet supported, we have not have any reported problems.

Microsoft Office 2007
Service pack 2 for SuccessMaker 1.6 allows SuccessMaker to run on a computer that has Office 2007 installed.

Who do I contact for help?
Athens-Chilesburg Elementary is lucky to have Dayna Lykins as their Instructional Technology Leader (and she's not typing this!). Please email Dayna ( dayna.lykins@fayette.kyschools.us ) with your questions, concerns, and successes. There are others helping Dayna with this implementation so you may hear back from another team member but as head of the team, Dayna is your main contact person. Now, mistakes on the webpage would all belong to me, Julie Gaskin ( julie.gaskin@fayette.kyschools.us ) so if I've made a mistake, something is not clear, or you have a suggestion, please let me know.

Thanks for your patience!

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