I am using the Update Service agent (agent.exe). To check for updates. Everything is file on a WinXP box. But on a Win98 box, when I do a "Check for Updates" I see the dialog :
"Update Service is searching for any available updates for your application".
It stays this way for about 3 min, and then the agent quietly dies without any error. I don't even see a message that there are no updates. So it must be a timeout somewhere. So there could be a communications issue here.
I've already tested connectivity from the Win98 box to the Update Service website by doing a telnet to updates.installshield.com Port 80 and I am able to type an invalid HTTP request in the telnet window and see an error message returned (HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request). So there is connectivity from my Win98 box to the update service website.
Of course, if I install the same application on an XP box, it finds the update and tries to go ahead with the install.
Is there something I am missing here ?
I guess I need help with this. Any help will be appreciated !
Your issue does seem like a timeout, but most of our APIs will timeout in 2 seconds if it cannot reach our servers. What API are you calling?
In any case, I would highly recommend that you post this through InstallShield's mysupport system. Our support group can give you a tool that will test for any connectivity issues. It runs through the same calls the Agent makes and gives status on each call.
I did post this through mySupport and somebody contacted me and recommended I try another Win98 machine, which I did, and it worked.
Here's the problem - it was an incorrect proxy setting in my IE browser. And it seems like the IS Update Service agent uses the browser proxy.
For some reason, if IE cannot go through the listed proxy, it tries a direct connection after the proxy times out. So, though I had an incorrect proxy, I could browse (albeit quite slow). So I did not realize this problem existed.
The IS Update Service agent on the other hand does not seem to default to a direct connection if the proxy cannot be reached. So it would just time out.
As soon as a different Win98 machine worked, it was simple enough to narrow this down to a network issue.
I've also updated and closed the "mySupport" support ticket.
