The SciFinder Scholar client software on your Windows computer communicates over the Internet with server computers at CAS. SciFinder Scholar can connect through your university's network or firewall. Refer to these system requirements for more information. 2007 system requirements
Connecting SciFinder Scholar client on your computer to the CAS servers is, usually, easy in a university environment. It is important to know that, although SciFinder uses the Internet, it does not use the World Wide Web's HTTP protocol at Port 80. Even if you can surf the web, SciFinder might not be able to connect to the server (and vice-versa). SciFinder Scholar uses the Z39.50 protocol and Port 210 to communicate to the servers.
Following are some login error messages with codes that pinpoint the cause of the error.
Common Login Problems
- Login Failed: Too many concurrent sessions for this login id.
A certain number of researchers at your university can use SciFinder Scholar at the same time. This is determined by the number of "seats" available in your contract and apportioned to client use - if both SciFinder Scholar and the web version of SciFinder are in use. If you see this message, all the seats are in use. As soon as someone else logs off from SciFinder Scholar, you'll be able to log in. Wait a bit and try again.
The above message also applies to the SciFinder Scholar Share Program whereby the number of seats are shared among multiple academic institutions. Again, wait a bit and try again.
- SciFinder Scholar is unable to connect with the server at CAS. Please contact your Site Administrator. (2413) The site.prf file required to access SciFinder Scholar cannot be located.
The site preferences file, site.prf, is missing from the SciFinder Scholar installation. Site.prf must be present in the SciFinder Scholar program folder (C:\sfschlr\site.prf is the default path). The site.prf file is unique to each subscribing college or university and is normally created and maintained at the institution.
- If you were previously able to use SciFinder Scholar, find the site.prf file and move it to the current SciFinder Scholar installation folder.
- Contact your SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator to obtain a new copy of the Site Preferences file for your college or university.
- Site.prf files are created at your institution and are unique to each institution. If there is no site.prf file, then contact your library or institution's key contact. Your Institution's SciFinder Scholar web page may also have a download link for the site.prf file unique to your college or university.
- SciFinder Scholar is unable to connect with the server at CAS. Please contact your Site Administrator. (2401) Site Administrator: The login information in the site.prf file may be invalid.
- Possible causes are:
Your site preferences file is corrupted. Editing or opening the site.prf file with a text editor may cause corruption.
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- A site.prf file created on a Macintosh computer is being used with the Windows version of SciFinder Scholar
The site preferences file has a blank login ID, password, or both.
Contact your SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator for a copy of the Windows version of site preferences (site.prf) file or recheck your institution's SciFinder Scholar web page for a download link.
- SciFinder Scholar is unable to connect with the server at CAS. Please contact your Site Administrator. (2403) Site Administrator: The login information in the site.prf file may be invalid.
There are several causes for this error message:
- The login ID or password contained within the site preferences file (site.prf) is invalid (mistyped).
The login ID and password combination for your college or university has been changed, but site.prf has not been updated or an old version resides on your computer.
The login ID is not active.
If you have a choice of SciFinder Scholar services, be sure you are using the correct one. For example, the SciFinder Scholar Training Login will only be active on designated training days, at other times error code 2403 will be reported.
Report the problem to your SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator. It is possible you need a new copy of the Windows version of site.prf or recheck your institution's SciFinder Scholar web page for a download link.
- SciFinder Scholar is unable to connect with the server at CAS. Please contact your Site Administrator. (2407) Site Administrator: SciFinder Scholar is unable to traverse your organization's firewall.
- If your computer is located on campus, a local firewall, the campus network, or your organization's firewall or proxy server is preventing SciFinder Scholar from connecting to the server located at CAS. The cause could be the campus network (servers or routers) or an incorrect value in site.prf.
If your computer is located on campus, the campus network, firewall, or proxy server is preventing the SciFinder Scholar client installed on your computer from connecting to the server located at CAS. The cause could be the campus network (servers or routers) or an incorrect value for the firewall or proxy server in site preferences (site.prf). Firewall rules may be blocking Port 210 used by SciFinder Scholar. Your campus network administrators may need to make proxy or firewall server changes.
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- If you have recently successfully used SciFinder Scholar on the same computer, try logging-in from a different computer. If you cannot log in, the problem is probably in your organization's network or firewall.
- Was the network or firewall changed?
- Is your ethernet cable unplugged?
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- If you can use SciFinder Scholar on a different computer, then something about your computer or your computer's connection to your organization's network is different from the other computer and the difference prevents SciFinder Scholar from connecting to the server.
- Was the network or firewall changed?
- Have you installed or upgraded a local firewall program?
- Is your ethernet cable unplugged?
If your computer is located off-campus, you must first make a connection to your campus network. To connect to the SciFinder Scholar server, your computer must have an IP address that is part of your campus network.
- Contact your Site Administrator to report your problem. Reviewing Connecting from Off-Campus may be helpful.
- SciFinder Scholar Alert! Login Failed: SciFinder Scholar is not authorized for use from this network address.
To connect to the SciFinder Scholar server, your computer must have an IP address that is part of your campus network.
- If you have moved to a different location on campus, it is possible that your computer's new IP address is not within the range of IP addresses that were authorized for use with SciFinder Scholar. Contact your campus SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator to report this problem.
If you are trying to connect from off-campus and not using VPN (Virtual Private Networking) or an inbound proxy that supports SciFinder Scholar client, you will see this error message. Reviewing Connecting from Off-Campus may be helpful.
- Problem Report. "You are using a version of SciFinder Scholar that is no longer supported. Please contact your Site Administrator to obtain an updated version."
The version of SciFinder Scholar that you are using has been retired. Contact your campus SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator for information about upgrading to the latest version. The only currently supported versions are SciFinder Scholar 2007, for Windows, and 2007a for Mac OS X.
- SciFinder Scholar is unable to connect with the server at CAS. (2409) Site Administrator: SciFinder Scholar is unable to traverse your organizations's firewall.
This message means SciFinder tried to communicate with a SOCKS proxy server but was not successful.
- Check that the SOCKS proxy server is available and working correctly.
If the SOCKS proxy server's name, address, or port have changed, contact your local SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator about an update to the site preferences file (site.prf).
SciFinder Scholar SOCKS client is SOCKS 4 compliant. A SOCKS 5 server must be able to accept SOCKS 4 client requests.
If there is a proxy server but it does not use the SOCKS protocol, contact your local SciFinder Scholar Site Administrator for an update to the site preferences file (site.prf) to disable SOCKS.
- Your organization's firewall will not allow you to access SciFinder Scholar. Please contact your Site Administrator (2411)
This message means that the SciFinder Scholar client was unable to connect to the Scifinder server through the university's firewall or SOCKS proxy server. Your computer was able to connect to the firewall or proxy but further connections were denied. The firewall or proxy server denied access to the SciFinder Scholar server at CAS.
- This may occur if the firewall or proxy server maintains a list of internal IP addresses that are allowed to make an external Internet connection to SciFinder Scholar and your computer IP is not listed.
The hostname or IP address of the firewall or SOCKS server in site.prf is incorrect.
The firewall or SOCKS port in site.prf is incorrect.
The SOCKS information in site.prf is correct, but the SciFinder Scholar server is specified with a hostname instead of an IP address.
The firewall or SOCKS proxy server is down.
Contact your Site Administrator with questions about or changes to site.prf.
- SciFinder Scholar Alert! Login Failed: Attempt to log in outside service hours.
Your SciFinder Scholar account is limited to the operating hours shown in the message. Log in during the available hours. This error is rarely seen since most accounts are now 24 hours / 7 days for access. It can be seen when SciFinder Scholar servers are down for weekly maintenance.
Updated: 6/12/2009 12:23:03 PM
