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LEAVING ALL OF THIS UP FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSE, BUT REALLY YOU CAN IGNORE ALL OF THIS AND JUST USE FLASHPOINT TO PLAY HATPC. SEE THIS POST IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS


Once again, I'm rewriting an existing guide. Or rather, instead of making a "How to open" guide, I'm making one solely focused on the problems you can face when trying to play Hannah and the Pirate Caves (HATPC). I designed this guide like a flowchart to make it easier and faster to work through.

STEP ONE: Try Again

Just open and close the game window until it finally works. If it still doesn't work after about three tries, move on to the next step.

STEP TWO: DGS Error?

If you get a DGS Error, it is most likely the fault of neopets.com. Although, this theory has never been proven. Wait a few hours or a day, and if you still get the error, move on to step three.

STEP THREE: Which browser are you using?

HATPC is a very old Shockwave game, so it does not work properly in all browsers anymore. We find that HATPC works best in Google Chrome (download: here) and Apple's Safari (download: here). Many users on this site prefer to use Chrome for HATPC. EDIT: Chrome has betrayed us. Use Safari.

If you are currently using a different browser, that may be the reason why you cannot play HATPC. Download either Chrome or Safari, then try opening HATPC from one of those browsers by clicking here. If you still can't play, move on to step four.

Side note: If you do not want to change the browser that you normally use, you may be interested in some added convenience in another of my guides, which teaches you how to create a desktop shortcut that will open HATPC from any browser.

STEP FOUR: Do you have the latest version of Shockwave Player?

http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/
Visit the above link and download the latest version of shockwave. Beware of any offers to download a free toolbar or security scan. I suspect them to be safe, since they are from Adobe, but they are an annoyance.

Try opening HATPC again, by clicking here. If still nothing, go to step five.

STEP FIVE: Try visiting the game files directly

Click here: http://swf.neopets.com/games/g349_v9_99392.dcr

This is known to work in every browser except Internet Explorer  9.

If it still doesn't work, see the next step.

STEP SIX: Try clearing your browser's cache

Your browser saves a cache for many web pages in its attempt to cut back on loading times. Some of our users have found that clearing their cache enables them to play HATPC again.

To clear your cache in Chrome, click on the wrench icon at the top-right corner of the screen. Then click on "Options". An Options window will open up. Click on the tab called "Under the Hood". Right under the "Privacy" heading, click on the button that says "Clear Browsing Data...". Another window will open. In this window, uncheck everything except for "Empty the cache". Under "Clear data from this period:", select "Everything". And finally, click the button "Clear browsing data".

To clear your cache in Safari, click on the gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen, and click on "Reset Safari...". A window will open. uncheck everything except for "Empty the cache". Then hit the "Reset" button.

Try opening HATPC here.

If it still doesn't work, you can also try deleting all other forms of browsing data, and this usually works for most people.

Finally, if it still doesn't work, try clearing it again! Surprisingly this does make a difference quite often.

If even that doesn't work, move onto the next step.

STEP SEVEN: Maybe it's not your fault

There have been times in the past when HATPC wouldn't work for anyone because something would go wrong with neopets.com's game servers. This is similar to the DGS Error problem in Step Two, but neopets is clever, always finding better ways of screwing up HATPC. While in the past, the game used to go down occasionally, it seems very rare these days. However, the possibility is still there. To make sure if something is only happening to you, try asking other Interguild members if they are having any difficulties opening HATPC. If they are having the same problems as you, then it's possible that something's temporarily gone wrong with the game.

STEP EIGHT: Try downloading someone else's cache

We've now moved on to a daring step. We will now attempt to get HATPC to work for you by downloading almost 290 MB 755 KB of my own cache so that HATPC will always work for you. However, this cache is for Google Chrome only, so if you do not have it, download it here. However, Chrome must be closed while you follow these steps.

This method was developed when I noticed that there was something in my cache that allowed HATPC to work for me, and when the cache was cleared, it no longer worked. Luckily, I saved a backup of my cache, and I tried to find out what file was in there that was allowing HATPC to work. However, because I did not know what I was doing, removing things from the cache made it very unstable, as Chrome would sense errors and automatically change things to fix them. Therefore, I was not able to reduce the file size of the overall cache that you must download.  However, so far this method has managed to fix HATPC for two people: jellsprout and Yaya.

Also, I am sorry I cannot provide any support for non-Windows users.

Here are the steps to successfully replace your cache with mine:
  1. If on Windows Vista or Windows 7, go to:
    C:Users[USERNAME]AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

    If on Windows XP, go to:
    Cocuments and Settings[USERNAME]Local SettingsApplication DataGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

    The [USERNAME] represents the name of the user that you are currently logged into on your computer. There will be a folder named after that user name.

    If you are having trouble finding some of these folder, it may be because they are hidden. Click on the Start menu at the very bottom-left corner of the screen and type in "folder options" into the search. Click on the "Folder Options" program that comes up. Click on the "View" tab, then look under the group of options under "Hidden files and folder" and select the option to "Show hidden files and folders". Now try again to find the above folder locations.

  2. Delete the following folders entirely:
    Cache
    Media Cache
    (if you don't want to lose your caches, for whatever reason, you may want to just rename those folders in case you want to keep a backup).

  3. Open this: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0By4BC80t6oOoNzQ5YjZhNzctNWY1NS00M2ZmLWEzNWYtNjk3NGI2Njk3YjY4&hl=en&authkey=CN3A8PAK

  4. Take the two folders inside that zip file and extract them to your "Default" folder, mentioned in the first step. Make sure that the Cache and Media Cache folders within the zip file are placed directly into the Default folder. You do not want them to be inside a new folder (which may be automatically called "ChromeHATPCcache").
Now that you have successfully replaced your cache, try to play HATPC here. If you have any problems with this complicated step, please ask for help in the comments below.

If this doesn't work, try going through this step again, but instead use this cache: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0By4BC80t6oOoNzlkNGIzMjktMWUwZC00YTgyLWJiOTUtNjk5YzMyMjAxYTZh&hl=en
Be aware that this file is nearly 290 MB.

STEP NINE: Ask for help

If you still can't get HATPC to work, just post a comment below. Try explaining in detail what happens when you try to load the game, and I or some other members will try to figure out what's wrong.
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User Comments (290)
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Silver
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Monday, October 4 2010, 7:54 pm EST

Karma: 121
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'Livio' said:
actually, I can't get HATPC to play at all on my Firefox.

Chrome says hi.
Bmwsu
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Tuesday, October 5 2010, 12:40 pm EST

Age: 28
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Jenniamelia...  That name sounds familiar...  But that's off topic.


Isa
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Tuesday, October 5 2010, 12:52 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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User I found on the NeoBoards asking for help on how to play HatPC.
Bmwsu
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Thursday, October 7 2010, 12:10 pm EST

Age: 28
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Ha!  It is somebody I know from Neopets.  I checked my Neofriends list, and I found her there.  I think from a guild a few years back.  Actually, I randomly made an image for her.

But back to the topic of this board..


KazeHaru_Hime
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Saturday, October 30 2010, 5:43 pm EST

Age: 29
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Okay, so, it works, but it's very laggy. Anyway to fix that or am I just gonna have to live with it?
Livio
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Saturday, October 30 2010, 5:46 pm EST

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laggy? Try going to the game options and turning off the background.
Livio
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Saturday, November 6 2010, 5:22 pm EST

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My chrome messed up, and now when I try to download the mega-upload file, I get this error: "The file you are trying to access is temporarily unavailable." The reason I'm downloading it, rather than taking the file I saved to my computer is because I heard they delete your file if no one downloads it after a month or something. And now I'm wondering if this "temporarily unavailable" thing is that, or if they're just having site problems. Anyone know about this?
Isa
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Saturday, November 6 2010, 5:30 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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Quote from Wikipedia: "Any file uploaded anonymously will expire if there are no downloads for at least 21 days. For free registered accounts, the file expiration period is 90 days. Premium accounts have no expiration period as long as the user remains a premium member."

Most probably gone. I suggest RapidShare, Wikipedia says nothing about files getting deleted.
Livio
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Saturday, November 6 2010, 5:35 pm EST

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I think I have a registered account, but what I hate is that I can't find any information for why it's down or how to get it back up. Assuming that they aren't lying to me by saying it's temporarily down, I'll just wait and see if they're having site issues.
Isa
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Saturday, November 6 2010, 5:44 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_hosting_services

Problems. I suggest that you sort these by file expiration and find something that suits you. This seems pretty good though.
Livio
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Saturday, November 13 2010, 3:15 pm EST

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no, Live limits it to 50 MB per file, and this cache is 288MB

Maybe I could upload it in parts? Or I could find something else.


EDIT: actually, I'm just uploading it to google docs now
Livio
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Saturday, November 13 2010, 3:34 pm EST

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Isa
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Tuesday, November 23 2010, 2:28 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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Location: Uppsala, Sweden - GMT +1
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DGS ERROR: Invalid Game Data!

I just got it, and I don't know why. I could play fine just ten minutes ago, so I don't think the problem's caused by me. Anyone experienced with this error?
Yaya
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Tuesday, November 23 2010, 3:03 pm EST

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Yep, I'm pretty sure this is TNT's fault. I remember this happening before.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
Isa
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Tuesday, November 23 2010, 3:10 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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If I can get a third member to confirm, then I'm adding a sentence about the DGS error under Step 4.
Livio
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Friday, November 26 2010, 10:53 pm EST

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it works for me, but it's probably a little late for that. Maybe we should still add that DGS error, since I can't remember a time when I ever got that and didn't blame TNT for it.
FlashMarsh
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 7:38 am EST

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My HATPC comes up with a Shockwave error on 80% Loading, and my Google Chrome flat out doesn't work.
Isa
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 9:42 am EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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What happens when you try to boot Chrome?

Eh, you should just redownload it, I think.
Yaya
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 10:18 am EST

Age: 28
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Location: Ohio (US)
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Yah, Hatpc decided to stop working again for me, this time I don't get it, though. Usually it only stops working when I have to reboot my computer, it just randomly stops working yesterday.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
Isa
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 10:21 am EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
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Location: Uppsala, Sweden - GMT +1
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Shockwave Error for you as well?
Yaya
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 10:29 am EST

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Yep, and like I said above, completely unprovoked this time, dammit.



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
canadianstickdeath
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 12:29 pm EST

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It'll keep working as long as you have it in your cache. It's possible that it was somehow automatically deleted after a period of disuse?
Yaya
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 2:57 pm EST

Age: 28
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Location: Ohio (US)
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The day Hatpc stops working in chrome, IE works. Suuuppiccciousss... (not really, just pure luck)



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.
Isa
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 3:01 pm EST
No. I'm an octopus.

Age: 31
Karma: 686
Posts: 7833
Gender: Male
Location: Uppsala, Sweden - GMT +1
pm | email
HatPC nowadays comes bundled with Google Chrome, eh?
Yaya
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Saturday, November 27 2010, 3:04 pm EST

Age: 28
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Location: Ohio (US)
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'Yaya' said:
The day chrome stops working in Hatpc, IE works. Suuuppiccciousss... (not really, just pure luck)

Arrrgh, confuse me, wording my gets damned. (fixed)



COMING SOON: A giant meteor. Please.
Give me +karma. Give me +karma.

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