Can't Connect to Giganews

[Gill Bates]

Let me say this is a great program.

I have one problem though. When I use my ISP's news server, which doesn't require authentication, Altbinz connects easily. Problem is the news server is slow and allows only one connection.

For serious downloading I use Giganews. I've entered the necessary info for authentication; username, password, etc., and all I get is a 502 error, incorrect username or password. I've entered the info ten times. I've pasted it in, I've typed it in, the result is the same. I've re-installed the server several times, same result. I currently use Giganews with Outlook Express, 40tude Dialog, and Binary News Reaper (and on two computers), so I know Giganews works and I know the username and password by heart. And I know how to press the "Apply" button in Altbinz.

It's my suspicion that the log on strings aren't passed through properly. The password has weird characters in it too, brackets and the like. Maybe that makes a difference?

So any suggestions? Does anyone else have problems with Giganews authentication?

I'm using the very latest free version of Altbinz and Win XP Pro SP2.

[Hecks]

Giganews definitely works fine with Alt.Binz, so reallly all I can suggest if you haven't made the common mistake of leaving a space before username or password is to change your password in your Giganews account and try again.

[Gill Bates]

I'm positive I haven't left any spaces anywhere, particularly after the number of times I entered it. I thought of changing the password, but as I said, I'm using Giganews in six newsreaders on two computers, and someone has it on a least one other computer, so it'd be a royal pain to change it.

So thanks for the reply, but I guess this will go unresolved.

[Hecks]

Perhaps just change it temporarily to at least narrow down the problem?

This is the kind of thing that would keep me awake at night unti I knew exactly why it wasn't working as expected.

[Genepool]

Perhaps just change it temporarily to at least narrow down the problem?

This is the kind of thing that would keep me awake at night unti I knew exactly why it wasn't working as expected.

I'm exactly the same. I guess I'm a *need-to-know* kinda person. 

Anyway, I went up to GigaNews and changed my password back & forth without any problems. Here is the info I used.

Change Password

When setting your password, there are a few rules to follow. First, your password must be between six and eight characters. Secondly, it must contain at least one special character (e.g. a number, exclamation point, or a hyphen). Finally, your password may not begin with a hyphen (-). Your password is case-sensitive, so you are encouraged to use both uppercase and lowercase levels as this makes it harder to guess.

Since this page is on a secure server, your password is in no danger of being intercepted from this web form. Simply fill in the values below and click the "Change Password" button and your password is changed.

It may take up to 15 minutes to synchronize all servers with the new password, so you may need to login with your old password during that time period.

Since you said that your password works on another machine, but not on the current one, it may have something to do with one of your *weird* characters.

The password has weird characters in it too, brackets and the like. Maybe that makes a difference?

Sorry, I can't be more help.

Genepool