What is causing the problem - I am not able launch JNLP aaplications using "Java Web Start" ?

Question

Up until recently, I was able to launch/open JNLP files in Firefox using Java web start.

Don't know what happened all of a sudden JNLP files stopped launching, a splash screen appears saying Java Starting... and then nothing happens. Even the Java Console in the browser and javacpl.cpl applet doesn't open.

Tried all possibilities: removed all older version and installed the latest JRE (java version "1.6.0_17"), still it doesn't work.

Done some googling for this problem, people suggested to start javaws.exe with -viewer option but same behavior (a splash screen appears saying "Java Starting..." and then disappears)

The problem is that I don't know any place (logs etc.) to look for to see what is causing the problem.

I am using WinXP SP3, and some of the screenshots below shows further info about my system. I can provide any other detail if required but please help me solve this problem.

Answer 1

I am not sure. But few possibilities...

• You might be having a 64-bit VM, 32-bit needed to work with JWS, AFAIK

• You should not install your JDK/JRE into somewhere having <space> in the path. Here there is a <space> in the middle of Program Files. This is more of a best practice thing, though

Answer 2

Have a look at what happens if you run javaws.exe directly from the command line.

Answer 3

Is this an application to which you have the code? Java 6u14 included a change to the way it handles jar security that for us caused very similar issues. If your jars are signed and work with Java 6u13 or below, you might consider either refactoring your code to work around this update or requiring Java 6u13 or below. Unfortunately I don't recall exactly what we did to resolve the issue - it was panic mode at the time.

Again, if you have the code you have tools to work with. You can put in System.out.println statements in your startup routines - anything console output is displayed in the command window when you run the JNLP from the command line. Otherwise you might consider using a nice logger like log4j to get a better idea of the point of failure.

You may also consider removing the application entirely and downloading it anew. Java Web Start has a Control Panel applet that allows you to see the URL your app is downloading from (could be the wrong one), uninstall the app, set security options, etc.

Answer 4

It may be irrelevant, but the referenced JAR had been signed with an expired fake certificate; it has recently been signed with a new fake certificate. Also, the .jnlp file specifies a superfluous request for full access, which may be removed:

<security>
   <all-permissions/>
</security>

The security specification makes it convenient to compare the responses from JWS versus a browser. For the latter, also check any NoScript (or similar) settings.