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Pima County Department of Transportation

Geographic Information Services Division

Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Compatibility Issues

This page describes computer, operating system, web browser, add-on, and network situations that can cause problems using the MapGuide Viewer. They are not problems for most users. If you are having a problem, though, one of these issues could be the cause. In addition, you may also want to review MapGuide Tips and Help.

New issue: 64-bit Internet Explorer is not supported. See 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer... below.

  1. Your computer may be configured to require ADMINISTRATOR rights for successful installation of the MapGuide Viewer. This applies to Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, and presumably other "protected" operating systems such as Unix and Macintosh OS X. On Windows, the lack of administrator rights prevents the automatic installation or upgrade of the MapGuide Viewer from completing. Without administrator rights, the process runs smoothly, but when finished, the map frame is blank, except for a small box with a red "X" in it. Most home computers are set up to give you administrator rights while many business computers are not. If you don't have or don't know if you have administrator rights on your computer, see your system administrator.

  2. Firefox, Opera, Safari and most other up-and-coming web browsers are not supported but may display the map using the Java Edition MapGuide Viewer or the plugin MapGuide Viewer intended for Netscape 4.x. See Autodesk MapGuide Viewer System Requirements for supported operating systems and web browsers.

    While the map may display on an unsupported configuration, some features of our maps do not work properly as these browsers are not supported by the MapGuide Viewer API (Application Programming Interface). We hope that Autodesk will add support for these web browsers in future versions of the MapGuide Viewer.

    We agree with our users who feel that MapGuide should work with Opera, Firefox, Safari, and other new browsers. Browser compatibility is out of our control. It's Autodesk's MapGuide Viewer software that doesn't support these browsers, not us. There's nothing we can do to "fix" MapGuide to work with other browsers. We support every browser and platform that Autodesk does (and we support them better than most MapGuide sites with our MapGuide MWF Wrapper technology). We don't lock out MapGuide viewing if it can work at all on other browsers, even though some important features of our maps may not work. Unfortunately, the fact is that Internet Explorer on Windows is the best choice for using our maps.

  3. If you set your web browser, security software (anti-virus etc.), or add-in tools to aggressively block pop-ups, then MapGuide reports, "double-click" map detail reports, and map tool dialogs may not be displayed. Pop-up blockers may even prevent you from getting as far as seeing our Disclaimer dialog box, blocking access to the MapGuide map.

    If you are getting a message saying a pop-up was blocked, the message box may give a hint of the program that generated it, perhaps along the top edge. The Google Toolbar is one example of an add-in that can be set to block pop-ups but there are other toolbars that can block pop-ups, including some you may not have realized are installed or you don't think would be involved. You or someone else may have installed something or set something to be more "secure" but prevents things from working that you need to do.

    Your web browser may be blocking pop-ups (See Your Internet Explorer security settings may be set too high below) or your anti-virus/anti-spam software may be blocking pop-ups. You may also be using security software or services provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

    The solution is to enable pop-ups or at least change to less-restrictive pop-up blocking settings. The Google Toolbar should be removed. See the following item for more on Google toolbar problems. While potentially risky, if you can't find what's blocking pop-ups, then you may want to briefly disable your Internet protection entirely as a short test.

    Use the pop-up tests on our plug-ins page to ensure your system is allowing "good" pop-ups. Look for "Pop-ups" near the bottom of that page.

  4. Internet Explorer add-ins or toolbars such as the Google Toolbar may interfere with the MapGuide Viewer, causing Internet Explorer to crash with an error when you close Internet Explorer (i.e. when Internet Explorer exits). The solution is to disable or remove the third-party toolbars. You may also be able avoid the problem by navigating away from the MapGuide map to another page (try the browser's Back button) and then closing Internet Explorer. Microsoft explains this Google Toolbar problem in Knowledgebase article 912945 as follows:
    You may experience an access violation in the Google Toolbar when you close a window that contains an inactive ActiveX control. Microsoft and Google technical teams have been working together to address this issue. Google is expected to fix this problem by using its automatic "servicing mechanism" for Google Toolbar users. This problem affects Google Toolbar versions before version 3.0.129.2. Visit the following Google web site to download the latest version: http://toolbar.google.com

  5. If you are using an old web browser "Favorite", "Bookmark" or shortcut to start MapGuide, you may need to update it to get all our map features and functions. For more, see Are Your Web Browser MapGuide Favorites or Bookmarks Up-to-date?

  6. Your Internet Explorer security settings may be set too high, although Internet Explorer's default settings should be okay. Under Tools, Internet Options..., Security tab, Internet zone, check that the Default Level is no higher than "Medium" and check to see that there are no Custom Level... settings for ActiveX controls and plug-ins that may have been changed from defaults that would block the installation of the MapGuide Viewer ActiveX control. Also check that the Custom Level... setting under Scripting, Active scripting, has not been set to Disable disabling JavaScript used by our site. There may be other non-default settings under Custom Level... such as "Use Pop-up Blocker" that may interfere.

  7. Layers and groups cannot be clicked on or off in the legend with some dual monitor configurations. This is only a problem when the "primary" display is the right monitor and the map is on the "extended" display on the left monitor. Most dual monitor users have the "primary" display on the left and don't have this problem. The easy solution is to use the other display for MapGuide. See our Dual Monitors page for more help with this problem.

  8. The MapGuide Viewer ActiveX control may be disabled in Internet Explorer. If the MapGuide Viewer ActiveX control is disabled, the MapGuide Viewer can be installed successfully, but Internet Explorer acts as if the Viewer is not installed. When you try to use a map, you may see an alert from Internet Explorer on the lower right and a warning icon on the status bar at the lower right of the Internet Explorer window. Check the enabled/disabled setting by choosing Tools from the Internet Explorer menu, then Internet Options..., Programs tab, and pick the Manage Add-ons... button. In the Manage Add-ons dialog, set the "Show:" drop-down at the top to "Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer". The "Autodesk MapGuide ActiveX Control" status should be "Enabled". If the status is "Disabled", select the "Autodesk MapGuide ActiveX Control" line and then pick "Enable" under Settings at the bottom of the dialog. Click "OK" until all the Tools windows are closed. You may need to restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect.

  9. 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer are not supported by our website's MapGuide Maps. With 64-bit Internet Explorer, the browser may appear to install the MapGuide Viewer, but our maps respond as if the MapGuide Viewer is not installed. This is a problem with the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer on both Windows Vista and Windows 7. The solution at this time is to use the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer with our website. We may be able to support 64-bit Internet Explorer in the future.

  10. Your organization's network may have a firewall that blocks access to our MapGuide server. In this case, you can access all our web pages and open a MapGuide map as far as seeing the legend on the left and the MapGuide toolbar on the top, but you get errors or other failures attempting to display the map itself.

    If you believe your firewall may be a problem using MapGuide, have your network administrator enable access to:

    • www.maps.pima.gov (159.233.156.200)
    • mapguide1.dot.pima.gov (159.233.156.20)

    You may want or need enable access to our other related webservers as well:

    • dot.pima.gov (159.233.156.30)
    • eim.dot.pima.gov (159.233.156.21)
    • arcgis1.dot.pima.gov (159.233.156.47)
    • arcgis1.dot.pima.gov (159.233.156.76)

    Also see the next McAfee security software problem with similar symptoms.

  11. Some versions of McAfee security software may interfere with MapGuide. Symptoms of this problem may include seeing just a portion of the MapGuide Viewer, such as the MapGuide tool buttons and the "autodesk" logo, very slow response, and finally a "Network request failed" error message instead of the map. MapGuide may be erratic, sometimes working very slowly and sometimes failing altogether. Hopefully, McAfee has fixed this problem in your version. If not, you can work around the problem as follows:

    1. From the Start button, click Run...
    2. Type "Services.msc" (without quotes) and hit Enter.
    3. The services window list will appear. Scroll down until you find the "McAfee Redirector" service.
    4. Right-click on the McAfee Redirector and choose "Stop". This should fix the problem for your current session.
    5. To prevent the McAfee Redirector service from starting the next time you restart your computer, right-click on the McAfee Redirector, choose "Properties", then change the Startup type on the General tab from "Automatic" to "Disabled".
    6. Contact McAfee support for further resolution of this problem. It's not a good idea to leave the McAfee Redirector service disabled permanently as this disables needed McAfee function.

    We don't have McAfee software and aren't knowledgeable in its use. If you find a better workaround, such as disabling a certain McAfee feature through its user interface, or if you have additional information or helpful experience with this problem, let us know using the webmaster contact on the Contact Us! page.

  12. Your security software's settings may be set to something too restrictive. Generally, the manufacturer's default settings should be OK, but you, someone or something may have changed one or more settings that prevent MapGuide from working. While it's easy to change settings thinking you want to be more secure, more aggressive settings aren't the default because too many things won't work. There are far too many different security programs (Norton, McAfee, etc.) for us to identify and list all the settings that could cause trouble. You may want to try TEMPORARILY disabling your security software.
    • A McAfee user reports that turning on "Mobile Code Control" in the Privacy File caused MapGuide to fail.

  13. A web accelerator such as the Google Web Accelerator may interfere with viewing MapGuide or our web pages with dynamic content. If you are using a web accelerator and are having problems, try turning it off or disabling it.

  14. Many users have problems viewing documents in TIFF format because Apple's QuickTime Interferes with TIFF Viewing. See Viewing TIFF Images for more help for viewing TIFF files.

  15. A very few users have reported problems printing from MapGuide with Internet Explorer 8. See Problem Printing from MapGuide with Internet Explorer 8 for more.

The following compatibility issues are not problems for the vast majority of users: