Technical Support
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Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me support my mother-in-law's iPad
Dear Aunt TUAW, I currently provide remote support for my mother-in-law's 15 year old PC, frequently using TeamViewer to watch what she is doing rather than try to decipher garbled descriptions of what the screen is showing. This Xmas we are planning to buy her an iPad and so I wonder if there is an equivalent program that will allow me to continue supporting her and retain my sanity. Your loving nephew, Dave A Dear Dave, There are similar apps, but they aren't remote and only offered on jailbroken systems -- not a good match to your MIL's needs. On the other hand, most cats can operate an iPad. I'm pretty sure your MIL is smarter than a cat. Hugs, Auntie T. Dear Auntie, My MIL is smarter than a cat but most cats do not insist that she is incapable of learning something new ;-). We shall see. Love, Dave Dear Dave, You cannot solve relationship problems with technology. Your devoted, Auntie Auntie, Indeed, although the iPad has broken through my wife's resistance on the subject, I now have to ask permission to use it. Just hoping it does the same with MIL. Hugs, Dave
New Blizzard support site lets you track, edit, and update your GM tickets
Submitting a GM ticket has always been sort of an arcane process -- you're not really sure where your ticket goes, or to who, or what steps have been taken to resolve your particular issue. It's a pain! Thankfully, it's always been a long-term goal of the support department to demystify and improve the support process for players, and Blizzard has unveiled a big new step in that direction: a new support website. What's so great about it? Well, it collects all lines of communication for support in one place and attempts to provide automated help for your request where applicable, while you wait for a representative. The biggest improvement, though, is that the site lets you track the progress of your support requests. This includes tech support emails, billing inquiries, and yes, GM tickets. You can edit your ticket while it's in the queue, track it, and even update your ticket and place it back in queue after it's been closed if you feel it wasn't addressed properly. The full text of Blizzard's announcement is after the cut.
Momentus XT hybrid drive causing headaches, Seagate working to fix
All's not well in hybrid solid state storage land, as owners of Seagate's Momentus XT are facing serious issues with their drives -- despite glowing initial reviews, a number of long-term users claim that the drives chirp, crash, stutter, and freeze with alarming regularity, particularly when installed in a Mac. Seagate forumgoers speculate these are symptoms of the XT's magnetic platters spinning down inappropriately, due to an overzealous power management scheme. That's the bad news -- and it sounds pretty bad -- but the good news is this: Seagate's owning up to the issues, and is actively involved in getting them fixed. So far, a pair of new firmware updates have addressed some symptoms, a third is on the way, and a Seagate engineer known only as STX_NB is proactively chatting with affected customers about possible fixes. That's what we call technical support -- take notes, tech companies.
Apple support profile lists purchase history, sign up for VoicePass and SMS
Apple quietly released My Support Profile, which offers a hardware purchase history and access to Apple's VoicePass, its trademark filed shortly before Christmas. Once I signed in, I set up my iPhone to use VoicePass and receive SMS messages (available only in the US) from Apple Support. VoicePass will link Apple Support to your product history and allow them to provide personalized service. The right side of the page features a list of repairs and products that you've purchased and registered with Apple. You can also add nicknames to your purchases. The purchase history area is a bit spotty -- it registered my very first Apple product (15 GB 3G iPod from 2004), but missed the 5.5G iPod purchased two years later, iPhone 4 and iPad. But, it's easy to add your other products. Clicking on the product will show you if it's still under AppleCare and extend your AppleCare if it's available. The support profile is a handy place to update your contact information with Apple as well. It's worth taking a few minutes to go make sure your Apple profile is up to date and remind yourself of some of your past Apple purchases and repairs.
Patch 3.3.3a should fix issues for some Mac users
A heads-up for our Mac users, although there's a good chance you've already been painfully aware of this if you play on one of the affected systems -- patch 3.3.3 has been causing major issues for some PowerPC and Tiger users, which have (hopefully) been fixed by the mini-patch 3.3.3a. S4d1K -- 3.3.3 Known Issues for Mac players We are aware of 2 critical bugs that are affecting users with specific configurations. #1 PowerPC G4/G5 users get disconnected after login. #2 Users with a MacBook Pro GeForce 8600M and 10.4.11 crashes after entering the world. We are very sorry and we are working on these issues and hope to fix them as soon as possible. UPDATE 5:10pm: We have a fix for both issues but it will require a client patch. We don't have an ETA for now. UPDATE 3/24 12:15pm: We are currently testing a patch. We want to make sure that we do not break the game for another group of people. We are doing everything to release this patch as soon as possible. source The patch in question is (we think) 3.3.3a. With the patch, many of the affected users are now reporting that WoW is playable again, but while monitoring the official thread on the issue, it's apparent that a lot of players are still having problems. We had several people drop comments on Adam's earlier post on the mini-patch -- did 3.3.3a work for you?
Update: Keylogger source identified
Just a quick update from from our friends at World of Raids about the current situation regarding circumvented authenticators. It appears there are multiple websites being used for this malware. Be careful of which sites you go to in order to update your addons from; fake website addresses are being used to trick users. For example, one of the fake sources appears as a "Sponsored Link" right at the top of a Google search. Don't actually visit that site and be sure to warn players asking about addons where to go. What happens is the fake site will allow you to download a fake copy (did you see fake?) of the WowMatrix AddOn Manager which installs the emcor.dll. This Trojan (Malware.NSPack) can currently be detected by Malware Bytes. Thanks Kody!
Man in the middle attacks circumventing authenticators
It has been brought to our attention that Blizzard's technical support department is currently handling a security exploit that is, in a limited capacity, circumventing authenticators. Before we get into the details, please do not panic. This does not make authenticators worthless, and it is not yet a widespread problem. Do not remove your authenticator because of this, and do not base your decision on whether or not to buy an authenticator off of this. They are still very useful, and your account is much safer with an authenticator than it is without one. This is not the only report of this that we've seen, but it is the first time that a Blizzard representative has openly acknowledged that there is something afoot. For a full account of what happened, check the thread on the EU Technical Support forums. To sum up: There is a piece of malware (emcor.dll is what is being reported at the moment) that is being used as a hijacking tool to facilitate Man-in-the-Middle attacks on users. Kropaclus After looking into this, it has been escalated, but it is a Man in the Middle attack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack This is still perpetrated by key loggers, and no method is always 100% secure. source To explain in the simplest way possible, instead of data being broadcast directly to Blizzard when trying to log in to your account, that data is being broadcast to a third party via this malware. This includes your authenticator code. Rather than you logging into your account, the hacker on the other end does so. They log into your account, clear out your characters, and move around virtual funds to fulfill orders from players buying gold. This method of circumvention has been theorized since the release of the key fobs, but it has only now started to actually happen.
App Store Lessons: Picking an application name
iPhone developer Dan B. wanted to know if Apple would reject his application based on the name he wanted to use for his app. So he did what you'd expect a sane developer to do. He wrote Apple. He used one of his technical support incidents to speak with the Apple Developer Technical Support teams and waited for them to reply. They were quite prompt in answering, redirecting his question to the iPhone App Review Team. Thank you for contacting Apple Developer Technical Support. We provide support for code-level questions on hardware & software development, and are unable to help you with your app naming question. Please contact the iPhone App Review Team for assistance. You can contact them directly at [address redacted]. While you were initially charged a technical support incident for this request, we have assigned a replacement incident back to your account. I hope this information is helpful to you. So Dan contacted the App Review team. And they wrote back too. Thank you for contacting the iPhone Developer Program. This email address is for inquiries regarding status of application submissions. Apple is not able to provide pre-approval to developers for proposed application submissions. We ask that you please review the Program License Agreement details against the specific application you wish to develop and submit any applications for App Store consideration in line with the application submission processes for the program. If your application does in fact get rejected by the app review team, then we will notify you on what appropriate corrections/changes should be made. So what's a developer to do? It seems like the only way to vet an application (let alone an application name) is to submit it and see whether Apple rejects it or not. If the name is used in the application art, you might have to redesign your screens. If the application idea is not okay, you might end up throwing away all your development costs because Apple would not give a preapproval before starting serious development. Dan's problem reflects a wider problem with Apple's App Store black box. Developers should be able to pay for support incidents for exactly this kind of situation. It appears that Apple does offer this high level of consultation to partners and other companies that they work with (even to the point of having Phil Schiller call Google directly to discuss the progress for the Google Voice app review). Shouldn't they offer a similar kind of service to smaller developers? Have you been able to get these kinds of answers out of Apple? If so, how did you approach the matter? Let us know in the comments...
Aion 24/7 GM support 'coming very soon'
Aion has a lot of great qualities, although one of the biggest issues in-game towers above pretty much any others: 24/7 in-game GM support. Whether it's gold spammers, bugs or some issue that goes above and beyond asking for help in guild chat -- constant GM support is essential for happy customers.So you'll be happy to know it's coming very soon! At least, according to recent Twitter activities by the community team. As the weeks continue to churn for this newly hatched (at least in the west) MMO, having a quality support team is going to make or break many potential players' opinions when their hesitant friends ask, Aion"Should I pick up Aion?" Thus, this is good news. Not as good as it actually happening, but very close![via TTH]
Tech support open today
In the aftermath of one of the biggest patches WoW has ever seen, many realms are still experiencing some technical issues. Talents and items are going missing, world and instance servers are down, and I've heard at least one report of trash mobs in Naxxramas suddenly breaking out in song. Okay, I might have made that one up. The point still stands: problems exist in the realms right now. Blizzard knows this too, and they've decided to keep their technical support department open today until 7 PM Pacific time (10 PM Eastern). Usually they're only open on weekdays. Support will be available over the phone, through email, and in the tech support forums, as usual. Eyonix has posted a list of the methods to contact tech support, so check it out if you're having problems.
Urgent authentication database maintenance underway
The opening announcement on the login screen has just let us know that there is urgent maintenance being performed on the authentication servers. The maintenance will continue until 1:00 p.m. PDT / 4:00 p.m. EDT. During this time you may or may not be able to log into the game. Pretty much the luck of the draw and beyond your control. Account management and posting on the forums will be offline during this time as well, so the troll's trolling will have to terrifically terminate 'till temporally soon.We'll update this post when things are back to normal, or if there are additional issues.
ZeeVee technical support: now open at really weird hours
For anyone's who has tried to connect ZeeVee's ZvBox, we commend you if you've managed to avoid calling technical support at least once. Although we're (mostly) kidding there, there's no denying that the aforesaid unit is one of the more complicated devices to install and get running. Thankfully, ZeeVee has inked a contract with Inforonics to provide extended hours of tech support, meaning that you really can get your install issues dealt with at 3:17AM. As always, YMMV when calling in at such bizarre hours, but at least you'll have a warm body to talk with even if the troubleshooting is a bust, right?
Patch day resources from Blizzard
Vaneras over on the WoW EU forums put up a post today listing Blizzard resources for WoW players when the patch drops tomorrow. While the post doesn't say "Patch 3.0.2 is tomorrow" it does have the title "10/13 Patch Day Paradise!" But the fact that 3.0.2 is dropping tomorrow isn't really anything new.The Blizzard resources he provides includes an FAQ on connection and patching issues. Topic covered include being stuck on connecting, having problems with your firewall, game version validation, corrupt patch files, blizzard downloader issues (see our patch mirrors for a quick and easy solution to that), and general patching advice for your operating system of choice.He also points out the technical support phone numbers (US EU), but usually the fastest solution is to post on the technical support forums (US EU) and you'll get a response very quickly from a fellow player or from a blue.Thanks to Trevor for the scoop
Forum post of the day: Doomsprocket's Dilemma
I have this annoying habit of taking things for granted. For instance, have you ever really thought about how wonderful bone marrow is? My hands, feet, heart, and all the other parts work just the way they should. What would WoW be like if I couldn't use both hands? Doomsprockt of Mauradin faced just such a dilemma. He (Jaime) was in a struck by a car in an accident that left him paralyzed on the left side of hisbody. Among the challenges of recovery, Doomsprocket sought to regain access to WoW, but his first solution, a frog-pad failed to do the trick. He appealed to the Mac Technical Support forums for assistance.
Ask WoW Insider: WoW runs slow
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week Nick writes in:Hello to all the writers/columnists at WoWinsider! My name is Nick and I would greatly appreciate for your help/advice. My problem is that my PC, runs on windows XP home edition, is very VERY slow. I believe that it is because of an infestation of viruses, even though I run AVG free edition, Avast, and Spyhunter. I scan once a week and nothing comes up. My gameplay in WoW is very...laggy. If I am lucky enough, I'll get maybe, 10-20fps in Azeroth and 7-9fps in outlands/isle of quel'danas. It has been like this for a long time. I play a 70 bloodelf Mage, Evolves, on Lightbringer-US while I live in the east coast, even though its a west coast server. I understand that brings my latency up but still not as bad as 1fps EVERYTIME in shatt. I need some help to speed up my computer and maximize efficiency, any ideas/advice? Anything would help me because I'm desperate and am considering quitting WoW if this continues... :'(Sincerely,Nick
Take-Two's GTA IV freezing 'fix' for PS3
We've been trying to get answers this week for those GTA IV players who've been experiencing freeze-ups with the title. Our very unscientific poll has shown that although many of you are enjoying the game without issue, a small percentage are experiencing problems -- and a "small percentage" of the millions who bought GTA IV actually ends up being a lot of people. Although Rockstar has so far not responded to the issue, Gamespot received a "fix" from Take-Two's tech support team.The 12-part "fix" Gamespot received involves steps like: erasing the install data, deleting the game saves, disabling PS3 internet connectivity, disabling the console's information board, deleting the system's internet cache and much more. For its part, Sony says the issue is affecting "a limited number of PS3s" and its working with customers to resolve the problem. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge any freezing issues.
The Daily Grind: Should free/trial accounts get less support?
Some games offer two tiers of membership, free and premium. Some are free-to-play with microtransactions. Some are subscription-based, but have free-trial periods. Customer service and technical support costs the same whether someone's paying or not, though. Should the free-trials and free users get the same amount of customer care and technical support as the paying players? Should it not matter? If free/free-trial users get less or no support does that encourage them or discourage them from upgrading to paying for the game? Shower us with your collective wisdom!
Another blow in the keylogging experience
Thank you all for the encouragement I received in response to my recent keylogging experience. As a whole the experience was just dreadful. As I mentioned on last week's WoW Insider Show podcast, I am still afraid every time I log in that I will get the "The information you have entered is not valid" error. For the most part things have settled down, but the fear remains. The worst part of the keylogging episode was that my Shaman was transferred from a PvP to PvE server. After about a week in limbo my beloved Tauren was returned to her proper place. I was extremely relieved. Unfortunately that's the only thing on my account that Blizzard was kind enough to restore. They refused to return any of my gear or gold and did nothing about the items ninjaed from the guild bank. I appealed their decision with several emails. Those appeals were ubiquitously denied despite logical arguments and heart-filled plights. I thought it was all over, for better or for worse. I got more bad news in my email box the other day:
Solving recent connection issues
Many of us, both in and outside of the United States, have been having serious connection issues with the game recently. Not only can we not connect to the game, but we can't even get on the main World of Warcraft website. This can be particularly infuriating because we can't go and find help. When I got dropped in the middle of Kael'Thas (the real fight, not the weeksauce one in Magisters' Terrace), I wanted to take my computer out to a field and yell obscenities at it about PC load letter.WoW Insider feels your pain! After all, imagine having to write about WoW only to find out you can't get into WoW.I wanted to answer a lot of the comments about what people can do. First and foremost, we're not Blizzard. So we can't really say for sure what's going on. We can make educated guesses through. Continue reading after the break for what you can do and where you can go to solve this problem.
A fix for those "Pairing Record Missing" errors
Here's an annoying problem with a surprisingly simple solution. After upgrading to 1.1.3, many users found they could no longer properly sync their iPhones. If your iPhone or iPod touch develops a missing pairing record problem, you can fix things by...rebooting your computer. If this saves anyone else an hour or two of head-scratching, tech support and google-fu, then my job is, as they say, done.
