cannot connect to update service from single machine
Hello-
A machine at one of our customer sites is unable to connect to the update service servers. Whenever I try to check for updates, the agent tries for a minute and then times out with a message saying "Either you are not connected to the Internet or the Update Service servers are currently unavailable.".
The computer can connect to the internet (including http://updates.installshield.com). I am able to check for updates for the same product from two different work sites. The machine is running XP Pro. It is using the Windows firewall, but having that enabled or disabled doesn't appear to make a difference. There is no proxy server for the machine.
One helpful thing I've found in determining the cause of these errors is by viewing the transmission itself.
There is a tool to let you view the packets. The program is called Ethereal, and is found at http://www.ethereal.com
You will want to download both ethereal and a program called winpcap.
From there, you can set it up to start capturing network packets, run your program that should check for updates, and then see if it is actually downloading them. That way, you can at least rule out that the Update Service API is receiving info from Update Service's servers.
Again, this is just a simple idea to help narrow down the cause...it is kind of compliated at first, but it has been an enourmous help for me over time.
I have the identical problem -- never have managed to get Update Manager to work, with or without firewall, regardless of whether I have Firefox or IE running, etc. All other programs can connect to internet and every time I try to run UMgr -- automatically or manually -- I get the very same message: "Either you are not connected to the Internet or the Update Service servers are currently unavailable." Beneath that message is a link to go to consumer.installshield.com for assistance, which of course works just fine and immediately connects me to the website.
An update manager thatr equires me to download additional software andtrouble shoot it in detail to find out why it can't connect to the servers is an inconvienience, not a service. I'll wait a few months and see if UMgr hets the bugs out, and if not, I'll download the uninstaller software -- as, ironically, the major provider of installation software decided not to include an uninstaller without doing so. 😞
