NCSA Mosaic for MS Windows User Guide: Frequently Asked Questions

The Questions

  1. Do I need to register NCSA Mosaic?
  2. Can I license Mosaic?
  3. Can I get the source code?
  4. Do I need PKunzip to unzip Mosaic?
  5. Do I need to edit or change the settings in the mosaic.ini file?
  6. Is OS/2 supported?
  7. Can I run Mosaic without an Internet connection?
  8. Why do my 16-bit Web browsers work under Windows 95 and Mosaic does not?
  9. Where do I get a winsock.dll?
  10. What does the error message "Cannot find winsock.dll" mean?
  11. What does the error message "Unable to load TCP" mean?
  12. I have a winsock.dll and Mosaic is not working. Why?
  13. What does the error code "Failed DNS Lookup" mean?
  14. How do I configure the Windows 95 winsock?
  15. What are external viewers?
  16. How do I install an external viewer?
  17. Can I use Mosaic from home?
  18. How do I gain access to the Internet?
  19. How do I set up proxy gateway support in Mosaic?
  20. Is NCSA Mosaic available on other platforms?

1. Do I need to register...

No, you do not need to register NCSA Mosaic. However, NCSA Mosaic software is copyrighted by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (UI), and ownership remains with the UI. The University grants you a license to use the software for personal, academic, research, government, and internal business purposes only, without a fee. If you plan to use the software in any other capacity, you will need to contact NCSA or Spyglass, Inc. for licensing information (see question #2).

2. Can I license Mosaic?

Yes, you can license Mosaic source code if it's for an academic organization or a United States government agency. For more information about the licensing procedure, see the following URL:

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/License/LicenseInfo.html
If you plan to use Mosaic in any commercial capacity you need to contact Spyglass, Inc. for information about commercial licenses. All commercial licensing requests must be made through Spyglass, Inc. NCSA forwards all commercial request to Spyglass, Inc. for their review.

 Spyglass, Inc.
 1230 East Diehl Road
 Suite 304
 Naperville, IL 60563
 email: mosaic@spyglass.com
 phone: (708) 505-1010

3. Can I get the source code?

The source code is only available through a licensing agreement. Refer to the licensing FAQ (#2) for more information about these agreements.

4. Do I need PKunzip...

No, Mosaic is a self extracting executable, which means you do not need the PKunzip software to decompress the files.

The PK software useful for decompressing other software. Files extended with .zip indicate that the file is in a compressed archive format. The extension .exe can also indicate a self-extracting compressed archive file. To decompress .zip files you must have the latest version of pkunzip.exe from PKWare software.

See "Compressed Files" on page B-3 for more information.

5. Do I need to edit the mosaic.ini file...

No, all user configurable settings are changed from Mosaic's Preferences menus. Open the Preferences menus from the Options menu or by selecting Alt + Enter from the keyboard.

Do not edit the Mosaic initialization file with an ASCII editor.

6. Is OS/2 supported?

Unfortunately not. NCSA does not have the resources to port Mosaic to the
OS/2 environment.

7. Can I run Mosaic without an Internet connection?

Yes. Mosaic will operate in stand alone mode if it cannot find a winsock.dll on your system or you invoke Mosaic using the -s switch on the command line. In stand-alone mode you can view local HTML documents and associated files. See "Mosaic as a Local File Browser" on page 6-5 and "-s" on page 5-14 for more information.

8. Why do 16-bit Web browsers work...

All 16-bit applications run in a 16-bit subsystem under Windows 95, including winsock.dlls designed for Windows 3.1x. Under Windows 95, a 16-bit winsock.dll doesn't have access to the 32-bit protected system, and 32-bit applications can't use their TCP/IP services. You must install a 32-bit winsock.dll, preferably the native Windows 95 TCP/IP (winsock) support.

See "Windows NT and Win95" on page C-1 for more information.

9. Where do I get a winsock.dll?

Windows 95 and Windows NT have built-in support for the winsock.dll and do you not need to install a third-party winsock software on these systems.

Windows 3.1x and Windows for Workgroups 3.1x do not have built-in support for the Windows Sockets Standard. If you plan to use Mosaic as a World Wide Web browser (i.e., not in stand-alone mode), you need a winsock.dll and an Internet access provider.

See "Obtaining winsock Software" on page C-3.

10. What does "Cannot find winsock.dll"...

This is the most common error message seen during the installation, and it is commonly misconstrued to be a Mosaic error. Actually it is a Windows system error telling you Windows cannot find a file.

The error occurs when Windows can not find the winsock.dll file. To correct this problem, make sure the directory that contains the winsock.dll is defined in the PATH= statement of the autoexec.bat. When Mosaic receives this error message from Windows, Mosaic opens in stand-alone mode. If you do not want to run in stand-alone mode and you intended to connect to the Internet, you need to correct your winsock configuration problem.

11. What does "Unable to load TCP"...

This is another winsock.dll error message caused when Windows can't find related .dll files on your system. Reinstall your winsock software to resolve this problem.

12. I have a winsock.dll...

Make sure you installed the winsock software according to instructions and that you have network connectivity. You can also try another TCP/IP application such as Telnet, news, ping, or FTP to verify you have network connectivity that is working properly.

If you receive the error message "Winsock is not 1.1 compliant" you need to upgrade to the latest 1.1 compliant version of your winsock software.

If you are using Windows 95 and a 16-bit winsock like Trumpet, Spry, or Chameleon, there is a known problem between the 32-bit system and the 16-bit subsystem. Win32 applications cannot communicate with 16-bit subsystem for winsock services. NCSA recommends you use the native Windows 95 TCP/IP protocol support. See "14. How do I configure the Windows 95 winsock?" on page H-4 for more information.

13. What does "Failed DNS lookup"...

The "Failed DNS lookup" s error stems from your network connectivity and the configuration of your winsock software. When you select a hyperlink, Mosaic passes the file's address to the winsock.dll. Then the winsock calls the Domain Name Server (DNS) to resolve the name of the machine into an Internet Protocol (IP) number (i.e., winsock takes the address and looks up the associated IP machine number). The DNS lookup fails if the winsock cannot find the DNS, there is a typing error in the requested address, or the DNS machine is down.

See "Troubleshooting" on page E-1 for additional information.

14. How do I configure the Windows 95 winsock?

See "Configuring Windows 95 winsock" on page C-2 for detailed information.

15. What are external viewers?

NCSA Mosaic uses other applications to display file types such as Microsoft Word, Postscript, MPEG movies, QuickTime movies, and images. These applications, called external viewers, can be commercial software, shareware, freeware, or copyright software.

For example, if you have Microsoft Word, you can configure Mosaic to pass all files that have the MIME type of "application/msword" or files extended with ".doc" to your Word application.

For more information about MIME types, available viewers and configuring Mosaic to use viewers, see "Setting Up Mosaic Viewers" on page D-1 and the following URL:

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/WinMosaic/viewers.htm

16. How do I install an external viewer?

See
"Setting Up Mosaic Viewers" on page D-1 for information and a sample installation.

17. Can I use Mosaic from home?

You can use Mosaic via a modem as long as you have an Internet Service Provider that can provide a Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point to Point Protocol (PPP) connection. NCSA does not provide these services.

Your Internet access provider will recommend and/or supply you with the proper winsock software. For information about National and International Internet access providers see "Internet Service Providers" on page E-2.

If you already have access to a networked environment such as America on Line, CompuServe, Delphi or Prodigy, contact the company to determine if it can provide you with SLIP or PPP access in your area.

18. How do I gain access to the Internet?

See "Internet Service Providers" on page E-2 for an incomplete list of providers. NCSA does not endorse any provider(s).

19. How do I set up Proxy Gateway support...

Proxy gateway services let Mosaic pass on a network request (e.g., a URL) to an outside agent that will act on the request for Mosaic, and return the results to Mosaic. The intended effect is to allow Mosaic clients that are behind firewalls to pass their network requests off to a machine that can access the Internet on Mosaic's behalf. A Mosaic client using a proxy gateway should appear directly connected to the Internet to the user.

For information in setting up proxy gateway support, see "Proxy" on page 4-14.

20. Is Mosaic available on other platforms?

Yes, besides the Microsoft Windows version, NCSA Mosaic is available for the Macintosh and X Window System platforms. More information is available on NCSA's FTP server. Mosaic for the X Window System-platform is available from the /Mosaic/Unix directory and Mosaic for the Macintosh platform is available in /Mosaic/Mac directory.

Before contacting technical support for assistance, check the online information. If you need help after reviewing the files, send electronic mail to:

mosaic-x@ncsa.uiuc.edu
X Window System help
mosaic-m@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Macintosh help