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Special forum for Mercedes Benz IT problems???

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Hoib

Hoib

Rust & Dust
Dec 9, 2009
27
0
First Name
Hoib
#1
Hi - I'm just getting into this forum. Very nice.

I do some part-time computer work for a local MB dealership. Consisting mainly of administration, updating/configuring workstations, mounting anti-malware and antivirus suites, answering staff questions, and straightening out problems on Windows 2000 and XP. I like a challenge!

And after about 6 months I think I know their system well yet there are some facets of it that elude me. They primarily use AutoBase and MB's own web-based system: Netstar. I would like to find out if someone here might know of any other online forums/discussion groups (like this one) where I could bring up a couple of questions about these dealership-specific systems especially NetStar? When I get absolutely stuck, I find it terribly difficult to speak to their tech support staff by phone. Endless hours on hold and then not too much success in solving the problem when I do get through! Often enough, email goes unresponded to. So I'm looking for perhaps another way to "skin the cat" and I've been searching for an MB specific forum for IT support.

I'm in the US. Yes, I fully realize they're busy too but the level of service to me, leaves much to be desired. I will also say that I was not involved in any of the purchase decisions for these tech support bottlenecks.

So, how about a few leads, folks? Or maybe there's expertise right here, anyone?!

Thanks.

H
 
#2
Hoib, thanks for joining the forums!

"MB specific forum for IT support" :rofl:

Nah but seriously, I worked at a Benz store for a few years and they are about as lost as it comes when it comes to this stuff. I could never get any type of email responded to in regards to IT/NetStar.

Your best bet would be to find out who the dealers regional rep is and start asking from there. I do have a connection there (if he's still there). I'll email him to see if he could point you in the right direction.

As for another forum like this for an issue like that. I would have to guess you found the one and only.

If you have some general questions about NetStar..I might be able to help or at least help get you some answers.
 
#3
Jeff - thank you for the warm welcome and the information. I am going to keep this forum referral handy.

I have had so many problems with NetStar it isn't even funny. I've managed to work through them all save one. Working through them all means a lot of trial and error and a lot of wasted time.

I'm going to sit down later and try to accurately outline the one problem (above) that I can't seem to solve. When I get that ready, I'll start a seperate thread if I can keep it "general".

Thanks Jeff - I know there's a lot of knowledge out there that can benefit me and of course the client that I work for.

Hoib
 
#4
Maybe you can help me with a Netstar issue :)
I've started to migrate our dealership from IE6 to IE7 and noticed that when I've done that, the associated java file doesn't open automatically anymore. The user has to "save" it to their desktop and then they open it from their desktop to use the Netstar application. Any thoughts?
 
#7
Hi there. I just had this! What Netstar does at launch is pass you a file with an extension of .jslp - right? This javascript load package contains the needed code/features for things like the left sidebar and other internal visuals. It turns out that files with extension .jslp become disassociated from their launch app when you upgrade to IE7. Here's what I did (from memory now because I'm not at the shop today...)

Save the .jlsp file somewhere - desktop is a good choice. Right click it > choose Open with > Swing down the list and hit "Choose Program". Navigate through the Program Files tree to locate "java.exe". Just below the nav you should see a box to select "Use this program every time". Now, you've restored the association Windows uses to run java.exe when Windows encounters any file (downloaded or on disk) with extension of .jslp. Once this is working you can take the load package file off the desktop as you don't need it. And you should not need to save any .jslp files anywhere because they're really just temporary. You get a new fresh one each launch of Netstar.

And, one other thing in case you don't know, Netstar is VERY finicky about the java version. I've had java update to the latest only to break Netstar and I had to uninstall and drop back to their recommended standard version! So watch out! To prevent java from updating, go to Control Panel, click on the java control applet and go to the third tab in and turn off (un-tick) Check for Updates.

Give this a try. I don't quite understand why a web based app is so very sensitive. But I guess it has to be that way.

By the way, did you catch the recent announcement a few weeks back that Netstar is now finally Windows 7 ready?

Good luck.

Herb
 
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