Tuesday, February 12, 2008

BCM, Internet Explorer 7, Java, and the disappearing Telephone menu tree

So for a while I'd been having problems with IE7 and the Management Interface on the BCM (3.7). The tree below 'Telephone' would completely disappear but would show up fine on a box with IE 6 or an older version of Java. While I was talking with a Nortel tech about an RCC problem, we got into discussing the java problems and he mentioned that there’s a way to get the latest java to work with IE 7 and the BCM management interface.

Close all browsers, then go into Control Panel -> Java -> Advanced Tab -> Default Java for Browsers and remove the checkbox for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Yeah, it seemed goofy but I changed that setting and went into the system and voila, works fine now.

*Updated* For those of you who've been asking about the 3.6 version, the only way I found to make that work without downgrading IE or Java is to use Opera. http://www.opera.com

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This "tip" was invaluable and really helped me out at a couple of sites where I have older BCMs. Thank you.

Dan

Gnawgnu said...

Thanks man!

Nigel said...

I only get a blank screen after changing the Java settings.

Gnawgnu said...

hmm, a blank screen. Have you tried reinstalling Java? It may also help to have the BCM's IP listed in the Trusted sites in IE or as an exception in Mozilla. The only time I've seen a blank screen is in the pop up window when it can't load any controls. Normally it'll follow with the usual yellow bar at the top prompting to install.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately when I do this and click on "Configure" in the "Unified Manager" a blank screen comes up with an error message saying that the website requires Java.

It's annoying that I have to dedicate a machine running IE 6 to be able to access the BCM.

KR said...

Help! I too am having major probs with the disappearing telephone menu tree in BCM and java. I have tried all of your suggestions but I still can't access the Configuration page (blank page like the guy before) - any other suggestions? Thanks v much!

Gnawgnu said...

Sorry guys, I can't get it to not work with the above on my boxes here. The only other suggestion I have is to try loading Firefox on the same box and see if it also experiences the same problem. That will help narrow it down to a Java or IE problem.

Gnawgnu said...

Okay, I finally managed to replicate it but only on an old 3.6 version of the BCM. I installed Opera and it works fine in Opera on a Vista box.

Steve McNutt said...

3.6 can work under Vista/7 if you enable SSL on the management console:
http://www.stevenmcnutt.com/2010/02/10/ssl-on-the-nortel-bcm/