Enabling diagnostics for audio and video in the Sametime web audio-visual plugin

Enable diagnostics for audio and video for the Sametime® web audio-visual plugin to assist with troubleshooting.

About this task

The following logs help you and IBM® Support troubleshoot and debug issues with the Sametime Web audio-visual plugin:

  • UI traces
  • Client logs
  • Server logs

UI traces

To enable the UI traces for JavaScript™ processing, append the following parameters to the meeting or meeting room URL in the browser's address bar:

?stmeetingsDebugLevel=debug&stmeetingsDebugScope=all

Client logs

Logs for the Sametime web audio/video plug-in are stored in the following locations:
  • Windows™ Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IBM\Sametime WebPlayer\
  • ac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8: $HOME/Library/Application Support/IBM/Sametime WebPlayer/
Set the logging level for the Sametime WebPlayer with the LogFileLevel parameter in the WebPlayer.ini file, using the following options:
  • 0 (default - no log information)
  • 2 (errors only)
  • 8 (errors and traces)
  • 16 (maximum level of errors, traces, and notifications)
Set the logging level for the SoftPhone with the SoftphoneLogFileLevel parameter in the WebPlayer.ini file; using the following options:
  • 0 (default - no log information)
  • 2 (errors only)
  • 8 (errors and traces)
  • 16 (maximum level of errors, traces, and notifications)

Collecting Logs

Compress the Logs folder located in the Sametime WebPlayer folder and send it to the person diagnosing the problem.

Additional troubleshooting tools

Macintosh client running Firefox

Install XCode on the client computer, then install gdb, the GNU Project Debugger.
  1. In a command window, type gdb and press Enter.
  2. Type attach Firefox and press Enter.
  3. Type c to continue.
  4. When the browser crashes, type bt or backtrace and press Enter.
  5. Copy all the traces into a file and include it in a Support request.
  6. Type detach and q to exit.

Windows client

For Windows clients, running Internet Explorer 6 or 7, first try installing and using WinDBG, the Windows debugging tool available from Microsoft™.

  1. Start Internet Explorer.
  2. Start WinDBG and use the File > Attach to a Process menu command to attach to the Internet Explorer process.
  3. When a crash occurs, use View > Stack Trace to see the stack trace. Save the file as a .dmp file and include it in a Support request.

If WinDBG is changing the timing and not reproducing the crash, install and run the usercoredump.exe instead. Instructions are in this Microsoft Support article: How to use the Userdump.exe tool to create a dump file.

Install the program as described in the Microsoft Download Center.

Unless you have a specific need, disable the "dump on process termination" feature when you run the Setup.exe program.

Capture debugging information with one of these two methods:

  • Set up user dump rules in advance.
    1. Go to the Control Panel and double-click Process Dump.
    2. Click New.
    3. Add Firefox.exe.
    4. Select Firefox and click Rules.
    5. Add a custom rule with the following selections:

      Select c:\crashdump as the Dump file folder. Leave the default Exception Codes and select Ignore exceptions that occur inside Kernel32.dll. Set the MinDump Type as Complete and Save Mode as Overwrite. Do not select anything else.

    6. Repeat the previous steps to add a custom rule for Iexplorer.exe.
  • Capture process information after a crash.
  • When the program stops responding, move to the version of Userdump.exe for your processor at the command prompt, and then type the following command:

    userdump PID

    where PID is the process ID (PID) of the program that has stopped responding. To obtain the PID of the program, open Task Manager, and then click the Process tab.

The user dump file is generated in the c:\crashdump folder and can be included in a Support request.