Troubleshooting Latex Viewing Issues: Dial Up vs High-Speed Access

[Doc Al]

Up until about a week or so ago, I had no problems viewing Latex from any of the three computers (at different locations) I use to access PF. But now I can no longer view Latex from my home PC. Yeah, it's an ancient laptop over dialup but still, it was working just fine for a long, long time--what gives? Has something changed recently that makes dialup unuseable for Latex? (I'm just guessing that it's something to do with dialup. My other locations have high-speed LAN and DSL access.)

At first I thought it was a general problem with Latex, but I've confirmed several times that the same posts that are unviewable from the dialup PC look just fine from the other locations.

If it's not the dialup, what else might it be? Are there minimum broswer/windows requirements for viewing Latex? As I said, this is a problem that just started recently, so I suspect something must have changed on the PF end.

 

[Doc Al]

Any comments on this? I'd like to know if this is a temporary glitch or a permanent situation. (I'm sure I'm the only sap still using dial-up... )

 

[hypnagogue]

Have you tried clearing your browser's cache and all that? In any case, whatever it is, I doubt it's something about dialup per se. Maybe try updating your browser if just clearing the cache and rebooting doesn't work.

 

[Doc Al]

Clearing the cache and rebooting do not help, but thanks for the thought. I have another (better) laptop just sitting in the corner, but I haven't had a chance to load all the software and files that I need onto it. (Maybe this will motivate me--but it will take hours/days to figure out what needs moving.)

What's killing me is that my trusty (but ancient) laptop has displayed Latex just fine until about a week or two ago. What happened? Something must have changed on the PF side.

 

[chroot]

The transparency handling was changed recently, because we switched to a new server with new versions of the programs involved in the LaTeX generation. It's possible that the transparency is causing problems on an older browser. Perhaps you should try updating whichever browser you use to the latest version.

- Warren

 

[Doc Al]

Now it's working again!

Don't ask me why, but Latex seems to be working again for me. (As of today.) Same crappy dial up, same ancient browser... I didn't change anything. (I was going to get around to moving to a newer laptop at home... but laziness got the better of me.) I'll take it.

 

[ZapperZ]

I think your computer is haunted, Doc Al. Shall we schedule an exorcism some time next week?

:)

Zz.

 

[Doc Al]

"new" laptop... same problem!

Don't ask me why, but Latex seems to be working again for me. (As of today.) Same crappy dial up, same ancient browser... I didn't change anything. (I was going to get around to moving to a newer laptop at home... but laziness got the better of me.) I'll take it.

Well, that only lasted about a day.

But a few months ago I finally moved my at home setup from my really old laptop to a not-so-old laptop. This one running IE6. And I could see Latex equations just fine--for a few weeks. Now I can't! This is really annoying, since it's very difficult to read some homework (and other) posts without being able to view Latex.

Can anyone take a guess as to what's going on or what I can do about it? What is required in order to view Latex?

(I may need that exorcism yet, Zz!)

 

[berkeman]

Do you know of any other sites that use LaTex the way we do for posting? I wonder if you would see the same problem with those sites. Whether you did or not might provide a clue as to what is going on (and what is varying) here.

 

[Doc Al]

I can see latex on another forum

Thanks, berkeman. If you can deduce anything from the following clues, let me know.

Clue #1: I can see the Latex in this thread (https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=905663&postcount=2) perfectly. Of course, I wrote these formulas when we were on the old server, so I don't know what to deduce from that clue. It's the newer stuff that I can't view.

Clue #2: A quick Google and I found this math-oriented forum that uses Latex. I have no problem viewing the equations here: http://www.mathlinks.ro/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=132593.

 

[chroot]

Try the usual: clear your memory and disk caches.

- Warren

 

[Doc Al]

Try the usual: clear your memory and disk caches.

Did that--no effect.

 

[vanesch]

(I'm sure I'm the only sap still using dial-up... )

No, you're not. When I'm with some family, my only possibility to connect is through dial-up (which explains sometimes my relative silence on PF...).

I don't remember ever having had a problem with LaTeX that way...
(and I also use a quite old laptop for that, from 2001).

 

[quantumdude]

Dial up? Time to move into the 1990's, man.

 

[Doc Al]

Yeah, yeah... I'm getting there. Just wait until I move (in about 5 months). I'm going to renovate my g/f's basement, turning it into the kick-ass library I've always wanted. And I'll be getting fiber-to-the-home!

As it is now, the main thing that gets me into the office during the week is having high-speed access to PF.

 

[Doc Al]

hey now...

If I didn't know better, I'd think Warren or someone was gaslighting me--toggling something on and off just to make me nuts. For whatever reason, I can see the Latex just fine now. Hmmm...

 

[Moonbear]

Is it your turn to be on the miserable users list?