I am having a problem with Rationale - what should I do?

If you are having a technical problem with Rationale, and you can’t find a solution here in the FAQ pages, there a number of things you can do. First, download and install the latest version of Rationale. Other people may have had the same problem and we may have already fixed it.

If you still have the same problem, please contact us. We will be more than happy to help you solve the problem. To help us solve any issues quickly, try and provide as much information as possible:

  • Include the steps you went through that caused the problem
  • If an error message appears, copy and paste the text and include it in your message

What are the minimum system requirements for running Rationale? How much RAM do I need?

Read all about the system requirements for running Rationale here.

I have an active version of Rationale V1. Will the trial download of V2 override this?

The Rationale Version 2 installer will default to installing Rationale 2 in a new directory, add a new group in the start menu, and add a new icon on the desktop. It will however override the double clicking on .rtnl file behavior: after installing Rationale 2, double clicking on a .rtnl file will open it with Rationale 2, rather than Rationale 1. Apart from that, they should co-exist quite happily.

When I try to download Rationale, Windows tells me the setup file is corrupted. What can I do?

An error telling you that files you downloaded are corrupted usually indicates the connection to the server was lost while you were downloading. This will cause your file to be downloaded only partially, even though the browser might think the file is downloaded completely (because it stopped receiving data). When you try to download the file again the browser will recognize the filename and retrieves the file from its cache instead of downloading it. Because of that the error keeps coming back, even if you try to download the file from a different server.

To solve this problem you need to clear the cache of your browser and then retry downloading the file. Clearing the cache will force the browser to download the file from the Internet again instead of taking the corrupt version from the cache.

The way to clear the cache varies depending on your browser.

  • Internet Explorer: click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options. Then select Delete Files and click OK twice.
  • Mozilla Firefox: click on the Tools menu and select Options. Then select Privacy, and click on the Clear button beside Cache. Click OK to close the window.

Although it’s not required by all browsers, restarting your browser after clearing the cache is a good idea.

When I try to activate Rationale, it tells me "the proxy on your local network requires authentication". What should I do?

Often networks will restrict access to the internet by forcing the internet request through what is called a ‘proxy’. Some proxies are set up so when you access the internet, the request must include a username and password. These are called ‘authenticating proxies’.

When the activation dialog appears, click on the Advanced button to enter your proxy details. If you are receiving this message, Rationale has automatically detected your proxy settings, so simply fill in the username and password details you would normally use when connecting to the internet. If you don’t usually enter a username and password when connecting to the internet for the first time, try using the username and password you use to log onto your computer.

NB: This requires version 1.0.4 or later.

When downloading Rationale, my browser stops at 99%. What is the problem?

There are a number of possible solutions to this problem.

  • Try our new installer, which looks after the entire download process for you. It works best if Internet Explorer is set as your default browser.
  • Try downloading Rationale from the download mirrors page. Alternatively, try downloading on a different computer.

Windows will often cache downloads. If the download fails or does not complete for some reason, redoing the download only retrieves the partial copy, not a new copy. This problem can also occur when downloading from behind a proxy.

  • If you have any anti-virus software running, try disabling it while downloading.

When the download reaches 99%, Windows copies the downloaded file from a temporary location to the location specified by you. If your anti-virus software is set to scan certain types of downloaded files, it will begin the scan when the download is complete and the browser begins to copy the file from the temporary location. The reason the download can’t complete may be because the anti-virus software is scanning the partial files and won’t release them as your web browser attempts to create the single file from the multiple parts.

  • Make sure you have sufficient hard disk and tmp disk space.

Microsoft Windows users need to have twice the size of the downloaded file in available space, half on the target drive and half on the drive containing the tmp directory, which may or may not be the same as the target drive.

My computer says RationaleSetup.exe is not a valid win32 application - what can I do?

This problem usually occurs when the file has been corrupted during the download. Delete the file, then try downloading and running it again.

For more tips on how to get around this problem, read the question above: “When I try to download Rationale, Windows tells me the setup file is corrupted. What can I do?”

Are upgrades included in the purchase price?

For a standard purchase, minor updates of the software are available free, but major version upgrades will generally require an upgrade fee.

Alternatively, you can purchase a subscription, which includes all updates and upgrades for the period of the subscription.

I just installed Rationale successfully, but when I run it it crashes, or says my trial period has expired. Why?

Rationale requires .NET Framework 2.0 to run, and if not installed, the installer will refuse to install Rationale. However, the installer can be tricked into thinking the .NET Framework is installed if there is a beta version already on your system. The beta versions of .Net 2.0 can be unstable, and may not have the full functionality which Rationale depends on. As a result, Rationale can display unexpected behaviour.

Check whether you have any beta versions of .NET Framework 2.0 installed on your machine, and if so, remove them and re-install the full version.

Will Rationale run with Crossover or Wine on Linux or Mac OS X?

Sadly Rationale won’t run with Crossover or Wine. To run, Rationale requires the .Net environment, and unfortunately the .Net environment does not run on Crossover/Wine.

We have investigated the viability of having Crossover/Wine developed to run .Net but it was a large project with little interest amongst the developer community.

When I try to activate Rationale I get the message "Unexpected error: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send...". What can I do?

This error occurs because when Rationale tries to activate, it establishes a connection over the internet with the activation server. Occasionally, the connection between the two computers can be closed, without properly notifying the other end.

Rationale versions 1.0.8 and later can deal with this situation and will successfully activate. If you experience this problem, upgrade to the latest version of Rationale and try again.

I get the message "The server committed a protocol violation..." when I try to activate Rationale. What can I do?

The .NET framework on which Rationale is built is very strict when it comes to how the http headers are formatted. Sometimes, when connecting to the internet through a proxy or firewall, these http headers can be modified slightly.

Rationale versions 1.0.5 and later can handle malformed http headers, and will successfully activate. If you experience this problem, upgrade to the latest version of Rationale and try again.

When I try to activate Rationale, I get the message "Unexpected error: Server was unable to process request. Could not find c:\temp\0iw9rkj.dll." Is there anything I can do?

This error occurs when the activation server has gone down and is unavailable. If you receive this error during activation, try again later.