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Troubleshooting

On this page we provide help for a number of common problems encountered with the OT. If you have any further questions or discover a new bug, please contact us via the ALMA Helpdesk. Please note that the following advice assumes that the user is running an up-to-date version of the OT.

Do I need to install Java?

For the OT that will be used in Cycle 10, no, you do not need to install Java as the OT will come with its own copy of Java 11.

If so, which version of Java should I install?

The Cycle 10 OT requires Java 11, but we recommend that you install a version of the OT (using the OT Installer or the tarball) that does with its own version of Java. A tarball distribution without Java is available and if this is used, a version of Java 11 must be installed on your computer.

Should I install the tarball version of the OT?

We recommend that you use the new OT Installer when running the Cycle 10 OT. Among other improvements, this allows the user to easily set the amount of memory that can be used by the application. The tarball distributions for Cycle 10  are available that include a copy of Java, but if you really wish to use your own installation of Java 11, then a tarball version is available without its own Java.

On Macs with Catalina/Big Sur/Monterey OSs, the Apple security mechanism will prohibit the use of the bundled JRE. In such cases, we recommend you to download the AlmaOT.tgz  tarball (without the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE for short) andto install your own version of Java 11 JRE independently (see “How do I install Java on a Mac?” below, for more information).

Important: If the OT starts but you are not able to see the main OT window on your screen, it may be that a “zero size” window was opened in a corner of your screen. Expanding that window should solve the problem.

I can't run the OT or the Installer on my Mac

On Macs, a message might be displayed saying that the OT or the Installer was prevented from running. The easiest solution here is to right-click on the application and choose 'Open' - this will then allow the OT to be run after a confirmation. Alternatively, open 'Security & Privacy' in 'System Preferences' and there should be a message relating to the OT having been blocked - select 'Open Anyway'. It is also important that the option allowing apps from 'identified developers' be selected. This is all part of a security feature called 'Gatekeeper'. Introduced in the Mountain Lion Mac OS release, this made it difficult to run applications that had either not been downloaded from the App Store or were not signed with an Apple Developer ID. The security was increased starting with the Catalina OS release and applications now can't be run at all unless one of these criteria are fulfilled.

It also seems that the installer will not work on older versions of macOS, although so far we only know that this is the case for 10.10 Yosemite. If this is the case, users will need to use the tarball.

How do I install Java on a Mac?

On a Mac, the JRE download will consist of a .dmg file that should be opened as usual. This will do most of the installation for you, but it will not set the path to the Java installation, which must therefore be done manually. On a Mac, the java executables should reside in '/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/bin/' and this directory should be added to your path. As the name of that directory implies, all browsers running on a Mac should automatically pick up the necessary plugin.

Important: Mac OS versions before 10.7.3 (Lion) can only install Java 6 or earlier - the OS should therefore be upgraded if at all possible.

Will the OT run on my new M1 Mac?

Yes, testing has shown that the new M1 Macs will successfully run the standard Mac OT distribution. However, it is necessary to install Apple's 'Rosetta' software first.In the future, it may be possible to distribute an OT that includes a JRE that is optimized for M1 Macs.

How do I install Java on Linux?

On a Linux system, the user will be able to choose where the JRE is installed. Afterwards, the installation's 'bin/' directory should be added to the user's PATH. In addition, the internet plugin must be installed manually. This is done by, in your browser's plugins directory, creating a symbolic link to the file 'libnpjp2.so' which can be found inside the JRE directory tree (probably in 'lib/amd64/'). In the case of Firefox, the 'plugins' directory is probably '$HOME/.mozilla/plugins'. Finally, you should also check to see that your browser is configured to use the correct version of Java Web Start. This can be important as some versions of Linux come pre-installed with 'Open JDK' versions of Java (e.g. 'Iced Tea') which we do not recommend. For Firefox, which version is being used can be set in the Applications tab of the Preferences menu - it should point to the 'javaws' executable in the JRE's 'bin/' directory.

What version of Java am I running?

If the above instructions for installation have been followed, the version being used by the OT can be shown via the command line i.e.
>java -version
java version "1.8.0_281"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_281-b09)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.281-b09, mixed mode)

As the Web Start version of the OT explicitly uses the internet, a more reliable test of which Java version is being used is done using a browser. Oracle host a web page which will inform you of the version.

Finally, the version can be viewed using the Java Console. On a Mac this is available via the System Preferences menu, but for all installations is available as an executable ('ControlPanel') in the 'bin/' directory of the Java installation. If this directory has been added to your path, just typing this at the command line should work..

The command-line Java version is different to the browser version

It can happen that the Java version reported using 'java -version' and by the browser are different. This should only happen on a Mac as this allows both a JRE and a JDK to be installed. The JDK also contains a JRE and it is probably this one that is being used for the command line, whilst the stand-alone JRE is used by the browser. As only the browser JRE is automatically updated, the version numbers can get out of sync. In principle, having different versions of a JRE installed is not a problem, so long as both are kept up to date. However, it is not necessary to install a JDK in order to run the OT.

Do I always have to start the OT from the Science Portal?

No, this is not necessary. It should normally be the case that installing the Web Start OT will cause a shortcut to be created on the user's Desktop. Starting the OT can henceforth be most easily accomplished by double-clicking on this.

My Java installation is not updating automatically

This probably means that you are running on a 32-bit Linux operating system. For some reason, automatic updates for Linux are only enabled on 64-bit installations. In fact, the update tab in the Control Panel is completely absent. Upgrading Java on a 32-bit Linux system therefore requires that the JRE be downloaded and installed manually each time an update is released.

What do I do if the OT fails to start?

Sometimes, the Web Start version of the OT will fail to start for no apparent reason whatsoever. Actually, simply trying again will often fix the problem. If this doesn't work, it may be necessary to delete the existing installation and re-install from scratch.

Problems can also arise with the user's preferences which are stored in the $HOME/.almaot directory. The 'splash screen' will appear as usual, but once the message "Initialising GUI" has appeared the splash screen disappears and the OT GUI does not appear. The solution is probably to delete the 'preferences.xml' and 'StoredPerspective_1.ser' in the $HOME/.almaot directory.

It seems that trying to run the OT on a 32-bit Java installation will fail without any warning whatsoever. The OT now requires a 64-bit installation of Java.

Finally, it seems that problems with graphics drivers can also lead to the OT failing to start - the "Java..." splash screen will appear and then vanish. This problem has so far only been reported by Windows 7 users, but we cannot rule out that other operating systems are also affected. The solution appears to be to update the graphic drivers and may also require that Java be reinstalled.

The OT freezes when I try and input text

It seems that operation of the OT can be affected if other Java applications are run at the same time. To date we only know of problems with the time-management software "RescueTime", but there may be others.

I can only run the OT on a 32-bit machine

If you have no choice but to run the OT in a 32-bit environment, you will need to use the tarball version of the OT. After installing this as normal, open the 'ALMA-OT.sh' file in a text editor and replace '-Xmx3072m' with '-Xmx1024m'. The OT should now run correctly, but it may not be possible to validate and submit complicated proposals that use many Science Goals and/or which make use of the OT's clustering algorithm (sources separated by >10 degrees).

How do I delete the Web Start version of the OT?

This is done via the Cache Viewer in the Control Panel. The most convenient way to bring this up is via the command line i.e.
>javaws -viewer

The OT GUI is taking forever to start

What may have happened here is that the GUI that requests the user's password has got lost under other windows.

There are problems with the PDF of the proposal

The OT uses software on the user's machine to produce the PDF of the proposal and sometimes this can lead to areas of the PDF being black instead of showing text. However, after the proposal deadline all PDFs are regenerated at JAO and so the PDFs seen by the review committees will not have this problem.