When you experience problems or have questions, it is important that you get the help you need as quickly as possible. The Support Troubleshooter is provided to help solve your problem as soon as possible. In addition, many of the functions performed by eB are recorded in the Activity Log. By viewing the Activity Log, you may be able to identify any problem you might be having.
When you experience problems or have questions, it is important that you get the help you need as quickly as possible. The Support Troubleshooter is designed to do just that. Ideally, the Support Troubleshooter will be able to solve your problem before you ever have to contact email support. If it can't, then by performing all the steps in the troubleshooter before contacting support, you can reduce the time it takes to solve your problem. Traditionally, a user will contact support with a problem and support will respond with several suggestions or questions to narrow down the problem. The Support Troubleshooter replaces these initial emails by helping you run through the suggestions before sending a support email.
The Support Troubleshooter performs the following tasks:
verifies your computer hardware to make sure you have enough resources to run eB.
helps you download the latest operating system updates to ensure you have the necessary software pre-requisites.
checks to see if you are running the latest version of eB and helps you download the new version if not.
checks your eB subscription and connection to eBay.
repairs your database
helps you search the documentation and discussion boards for an existing answer to your question.
gives you the option of trying the latest beta to see if it solves your problem.
if all else fails, it collects the necessary information about your problem and sends it to customer support.
From the main menu, select Help|Support. The Support Troubleshooter will appear.
Starting with the first tab, you will check your Prerequisites. This is to verify that you have the proper hardware and software for running eB. The Hardware group will check to see if you have a fast enough processor and enough memory to run eB. Ideally, you should have at least a 1.5GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. If you do not, then you may experience slow response times. Upgrading to more RAM will help reduce this if the performance is unacceptable.
Many problems can occur if you are not running the latest Windows updates. These problems include failing to start, slow responses, and program crashing. Clicking the Run Windows Update button in the Operating System group will take you to Windows Update. You should regularly verify that you are running the latest updates available. We recommend you check the "Turn on Automatic Windows Updates" box. When checked, your copy of Windows will automatically download the latest updates when you aren't using your computer.
If you are not running the latest version of eB, then your problem may already be fixed. The Latest Version group will check to see if you are running the latest version of eB. If not, click the Download Update button.
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You should always verify you are running the latest Windows updates and the latest version of eB before contacting support. If you are not, then the first thing support will recommend is to perform these updates. |
To use eB, you must have a valid subscription, and eB must be able to communicate with eBay over your internet connection. Click on the Connection tab to validate your subscription and connection.
Click the Check Your Subscription button to verify that you are subscribed. If you are not subscribed, you will be provided with a "Subscription check unsuccessful. Click here to subscribe" link.
Click the Test Connection to eBay button to see if eB can contact eBay. Even though you may have a working internet connection, this test may fail if you have a firewall that has not given eB permission to use. If your connection fails, click the link at the bottom to view the Connections KnowledgeBase to troubleshoot your connection.
From time to time, your database may be corrupted in some way. The Fix Database tab allows you to run a repair on your database.
Simply click the Repair the Database button to repair the database. A message will appear when it is complete. Repairing your database performs the following operations:
performs a compaction and a Microsoft Access database repair
fixes any missing indexes, primary keys or errors in the table structure
validates data relationships and removes dead links
fixes any missing default field values
rebuilds the sidebar tree views for all the modes, removing any incorrect nodes
Most common errors and questions will already have an answer in the documentation or on the Discussion Board. You can check for an answer to your problem on the Get a Quick Answer tab.
We are constantly adding more information to the documentation as we identify trouble spots to users. Click the Search the Documentation button to load the documentation. You can enter keywords or a question into the documentation search and it will provide you a list of related topics.
The most knowledgeable eB users hang out at the eB Discussion Boards. The Discussion Boards can be a great place to get a quick answer. Click the Go to the Discussion Board button to view the boards.
In addition to the released version that is available, most of the time, the next version is available in Beta test. The latest beta can be downloaded from the Try the Latest Beta tab.
A Beta test version of the software is a version that has not been fully tested, but may contain a solution to your problem. When downloading a beta version, you should be aware of the possibility that it may contain bugs and you may need to revert to a previous version if you have problems. You should also always backup your data before loading a beta version.
The Try the Latest Beta tab displays the latest release notes for eB. If you see the word "Beta" next to the Version as in the above example, then it means a beta version of the product is available. The bullets below indicate fixes made in that version. You may be able to determine if your problem is already fixed. If so, use the Install the Latest Beta button to upgrade to the beta version.
If none of the previous actions fixed your problem, then you should send an email to support. Please make sure you have checked everything on tabs 1-5 before emailing support since that is the first thing they will recommend if you haven't performed the checks. You can email support from the Contact Support tab.
Choose the Request Type. By choosing the most accurate type of request, your request will be routed to the correct queue and result in faster response times. Use the following guidelines when selecting a Request Type.
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Request Type |
Description |
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Inquiry or Bug |
Repeatable bugs that have a detailed description on how to duplicate the issue or questions on how to use the program, questions on error messages, installation issues or any general customer support questions. |
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Database Requested |
Blackthorne support has requested your database. Choosing this option will automatically attach your database to the support request. |
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Feature Request |
A request for a new feature in eBay Blackthorne |
Enter one of your existing email accounts in the From dropdown. This email account must be correctly setup and able to send emails.
Select an appropriate message Subject or enter your own.
Enter a Detailed description of question or problem. The more accurate and complete the information, the better we'll be able to help you.
Enter your Firewall software, Internet Connection type, and Network Environment.
If you check Include saved settings and logged information in email, then your settings files and activity log will be sent with the email. This can be very valuable to us in helping identify your problem.
If you would like to include screenshots or your database file, click the X Attachment(s) link.
To include your database, click the Compress and attach Blackthorne data files box. This will attach your Microsoft Access or SQL Server database.
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Compressing and attaching your database may take several minutes. You should only attach your database if you are sure the issue is data related, or if you have been asked by support to submit it. |
Click OK to exit the Attachments window.
Click the Send button when the form is complete.
If your email account is not properly set up, then you will not be able to send a request this way. Instead, you should use the "submit a support request from eBay Help" link to submit your request directly through eBay.
