Chat error under linux and windows (in General)

There's a bug in chat that I've always seen under Firefox on Linux. The message window doesn't automatically scroll with new messages unless you manually move the insertion point to the end of the chat window. Then it scrolls automatically until you type in another chat control, at which time it stops scrolling again until you again manually move the entry point.

This only ever happened on Linux until recently, when I wiped my Windows machine clean and installed Firefox and the latest Sun Java runtime (v1.5.0, build 1.5.0_01-b08)--now the same thing happens in Firefox on Windows.

Any thoughts? I suspect the response will be "download the nfc client and send a patch"... :-)

the latest Sun Java runtime (v1.5.0, build 1.5.0_01-b08)
That part of your statement is the problem.
Revert to an older version of Java (1.4) and it should work.
I had to do the same myself.

>> the latest Sun Java runtime (v1.5.0, build 1.5.0_01-b08)
> That part of your statement is the problem.

No kidding. That much I figured out.

> Revert to an older version of Java (1.4) and it should work.
> I had to do the same myself

Going forward, "don't ever install anything beyond version X" is not a solution.

Well, up until recently 1.4 was still what java.com gave you. I was hoping they'd fix their bug before rolling out 1.5 to the masses, but they didn't. Sigh...

I have no idea how to work around this. Using Swing widgets would work but then the over 50% of CBers who still use the MS VM would be screwed.

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=5003402

Sun isn't interested in fixing it until 1.6, apparently. WTH?

Actually the 1.6 thing was from one of the commenters, it's actually fixed for 1.5 update 2. I downloaded build9 just now, but it's not on the download pages. Foolishly, I didn't get the offline installer...

I'll put a link to jre 1.4 in the chat FAQ until update 2 is officially released.

I've been getting this bug ever since 1.5, and now I know why :)
But seriously, Jonathan, do that many people use your site from Linux machines? I know I do, but that's because my box is also a web server. Seems to me that Linux isn't THAT popular, just yet. Poll, anyone? :-)

5.0 Update 2 is now available from java.com.

I'm pretty sure that there was an OS poll last Fall in CB1, you could check the results there...

I have just tested 1.5.0 v2 under Linux and I notice the following:
* Font sizes are all the same now, and much smaller than under 1.4. I think similar to what Windows users experience.
* Auto scrolling now works, but with a catch:
* It scrolls to the second last line, instead of the last line, so you need to scroll manually each time to read the most recent line.

This last one really is a show stopper, so I'm back to 1.4.2 v4, as this one only has 2 'minor' problems: auto scrolling needs to be started manually and it freezes once every day or so (another reason to keep CB1 running: a reload there unfreezes both chats ;)

If anyone knows a better Java for Linux, please tell me.

U2 autoscroll does work fine under windows. That sucks...

I installed the newest from java just now and it still doesnt scroll down....

Honestly the most likely explanation is you did something wrong...

if you open a command prompt, what does "java -version" say?