bdt, What you need to understand is how a helpdesk work in "Real Life".
Oh, I have a few ideas all right and bitter, painful and more-or-less inevitable disappointment (across the board, this isn't specific to VM at all) has taught me that since the introduction of "callcentre operator" as a course, the odds of getting an intelligent, able-to-THINK, able to reason and actually *gasp* HELP voice on the other end of the line are somewhere around the odds of getting a good dodo steak.
My assumption is that they have people behind the handset with mainly “People Skills” and a basic idea of how things work, not necessarily data knowledge.
assumption eh? ..thanks, I'd rather deal in quantifiable facts and results if it's all the same to you. Still, much as they're, for me, largely functionally useless I'll concede our poor embattled VM nimrods one thing: I can at least hear what they're saying; as in they're usually clear and distinct enough of speech that I can understand them - one up on the even worse idjits at CellCraptaculicious.
They do however have the needed skills to handle a normal data query, “GPRS doesn’t connect” :: Check settings.
pfft! No, no and NO again! You leave instrument settings the HELL alone, or rather ask primary discovery questions like "were you previously able to connect?", "have you made changes to your phone since being able to connect last time?". I've had the singular joy of letting someone take me through changing what was a perfectly working setup - it took a week to get it BACK to working again.
They are taught to respond like “this” if “that” happens. Last year, I got through to a woman that “know stuff”, I got her name and line extension. My next calls were all directly to her, cause she seemed to be on the ball and was definitely data savvy as far as I recall (there was no need to call 123 again, had no problems after that).
Evidently you lead a charmed existence.
bdt, how can you get “just ...nothing” as an error? Maybe you need to tell us what you are doing Exactly.
OK, ask and ye shall receive; this time I've taken note: I've got an XP SP2 box running a default install of
IceChat 7.5. Note that this works perfectly well connected up via direct-connect iBurst or through a router (typically also on iBurst, but can vary)
Does your normal internet work on your PC?
See above.
This could be a DNS problem even. Do a nslookup (Start. Run. “nslookup”, Enter) of irc.shadowfire.org. What IP do you get?
Code:
Default Server: dns0.cmobile.co.za
Address: 196.38.218.6
> lancre.lagnet.org.za
Server: dns0.cmobile.co.za
Address: 196.38.218.6
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: lancre.lagnet.org.za
Address: 196.4.161.6
> irc.shadowfire.org
Server: dns0.cmobile.co.za
Address: 196.38.218.6
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: irc.shadowfire.org
Addresses: 65.110.62.93, 72.20.18.82
> estranged.blabber.net
Server: dns0.cmobile.co.za
Address: 196.38.218.6
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dns0.cmobile.co.za timed-out
> za.blabber.net
Server: dns0.cmobile.co.za
Address: 196.38.218.6
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: za.blabber.net
Address: 196.26.208.160
This could even be your Firewall blocking your IRC client,
No, it's not - IRC works perfectly fine under other conditions.
but I doubt that because you have this problem on your phone using jmirc as well?
I'm not sure how a Win32 app on my PC not working is connected to a midlet (yes..? Either way, something on an entirely different platform) on an N80 also not working, but do feel free to enlighten me. Worth noting, I've had jmirc work perfectly fine when I connected via WLAN to a router that was going through MyWireless at the time ..so much for my phone OR the app somehow being faulty (it was a shock to see it actually working)
Otherwise you could have the wrong port set, wrong settings, wrong IRC address, faulty irc Client……I can go on and on cause I know how IRC works.
I don't have the time or inclination to futz with the tools I need to use that enable me to get on with my life. What I DO have is a system I keep in a "known good" state - it IS what I use to earn a living, afterall - NOT working via VM and working in basically any other conditions. Oh, and while we're taking 'em out and measuring: I used to do call centre before it became a job description, with an outfit that had the claim to fame as being the first commercial ISP in the biz; for a timeline, this was mostly in the day of 33.6 modems; I remember the fun we had with the differing approaches to V.92 that US Robotics and the Rockwell-chipset camps implemented ..hell, I can even remember the different handshake sequences (yes, I'm old(er)
, cranky, know how this job CAN be done properly and have next to zero tolerance for stupidity being inflicted upon me). Oh, and the IRC server we had there was one of the founding ones that became the LagNet network on which I've been, one way or another, for years now ..as user and ircop, at various times.
The people trying to help you at 123 unfortunately doesn’t use IRC at all so the cannot help you with this. And teaching them all how IRC work Just to help the 2 people that Could have This problem each year, just is not worth it.
We hold VASTLY different opinions on this one, but that's not a discussion for me 'n thee to get into ..and I've already opined at Gerald about their craptacular decisions.
Care to elaborate a little so that we can try to Help you maybe, bdt?
..this help some?
