i happened to see this info.
hope its of use to u all
Known WebCam Problems
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1.)The WebCam page loads but there is no picture, Why?
If you are getting a gray or black rectangle instead of a picture it means that you are not visiting during daylight hours. There are no artificial lights in front of the WebCams.
2.)Every once in the while the color goes very blue on the Old Faithful WebCam image. Why?
Every time a new prediction is posted the camera reboots. This results in a startup procedure that involves resetting colors. In the process, the image gets very blue for a few seconds. If those few seconds happens to coincide with the image being sent to the Washington D.C. server, you see a blue-tinted image on the WebCam page
3.)There is a bright blue streak across the tops of the trees at times. Why?
The technicians call this a "tear" and it is a recognized characteristic of the Sony block camera that is used in the NetCam Megapixel camera. It occurs when a large, extremely bright portion of the image is next to a considerably darker portion. This occurs every morning on the Old Faithful WebCam since the sun rises in front of the camera and off to the right. It also occurs at other times of the day when the sky is extremely bright compared to the treetops. This problem never occurs on the Mammoth WebCam since there are no extremely bright areas in that image.
4.)Two large, dark circles appear in the Old Faithful WebCam image every morning. Why?
This is the reflection of the lens in the window that is about an inch in front of the camera. Since the sun rises in front of the camera, the reflection appears for a short period each morning while the sun is shining directly on the camera. The Stardot Technologies technicians have asked us to move the camera forward until it touches the window. Since Old Faithful is nearly a two hour drive from the Web Office, this adjusment will take the best part of a day. It is very low on our priority list but will be taken care of the next time we are at Old Faithful for any reason.
5.)The WebCam keeps reloading the same image with the same time/date stamp. Why?
The most likely reason for this is that there is a break in communication between the WebCam and the Internet. The page will continue to reload the last image received by the server until communications are restored. Hit reload (refresh). If that does not work come back to visit later.
6.)The WebCam shows a white page, a partially loaded page, or an error message. What should I do?
This is a good time to hit the reload (refresh) button to start the WebCam images reloading again. If that doesn't work, try visiting again later.
7.)When I come back to the WebCam after being away, it shows an old picture. Why?
Your browser didn't update the photo because it was not the active window. When you first come back to a WebCam after being away, hit the reload (refresh) button to see the latest image. That will get the ball rolling once again.
8.)Problems with Netscape Navigator
There has been a long-standing problem with Netscape Navigator (Communicator) that seems to have been resolved by Netscape somewhere around Communicator version 4.03 and Navigator version 4.2.115. Earlier versions displayed the following misbehavior. Despite the fact that there is an html tag on the WebCam page that tells your browser not to cache the image, some versions of Netscape Navigator reload the image a few times (sometimes several times) and then cache it. Once it is in your cache, the cached image is called up instead of the image on the NPS server. The result is that you keep getting the same image with the same time-stamp on it. If you are using Navigator or Communicator, and you are experiencing difficulty, try upgrading to the latest version.
source:*www.nps.gov/yell/tours/livecams/oldfaithful/problems.htm
hope its of use to u all
Known WebCam Problems
****************************
1.)The WebCam page loads but there is no picture, Why?
If you are getting a gray or black rectangle instead of a picture it means that you are not visiting during daylight hours. There are no artificial lights in front of the WebCams.
2.)Every once in the while the color goes very blue on the Old Faithful WebCam image. Why?
Every time a new prediction is posted the camera reboots. This results in a startup procedure that involves resetting colors. In the process, the image gets very blue for a few seconds. If those few seconds happens to coincide with the image being sent to the Washington D.C. server, you see a blue-tinted image on the WebCam page
3.)There is a bright blue streak across the tops of the trees at times. Why?
The technicians call this a "tear" and it is a recognized characteristic of the Sony block camera that is used in the NetCam Megapixel camera. It occurs when a large, extremely bright portion of the image is next to a considerably darker portion. This occurs every morning on the Old Faithful WebCam since the sun rises in front of the camera and off to the right. It also occurs at other times of the day when the sky is extremely bright compared to the treetops. This problem never occurs on the Mammoth WebCam since there are no extremely bright areas in that image.
4.)Two large, dark circles appear in the Old Faithful WebCam image every morning. Why?
This is the reflection of the lens in the window that is about an inch in front of the camera. Since the sun rises in front of the camera, the reflection appears for a short period each morning while the sun is shining directly on the camera. The Stardot Technologies technicians have asked us to move the camera forward until it touches the window. Since Old Faithful is nearly a two hour drive from the Web Office, this adjusment will take the best part of a day. It is very low on our priority list but will be taken care of the next time we are at Old Faithful for any reason.
5.)The WebCam keeps reloading the same image with the same time/date stamp. Why?
The most likely reason for this is that there is a break in communication between the WebCam and the Internet. The page will continue to reload the last image received by the server until communications are restored. Hit reload (refresh). If that does not work come back to visit later.
6.)The WebCam shows a white page, a partially loaded page, or an error message. What should I do?
This is a good time to hit the reload (refresh) button to start the WebCam images reloading again. If that doesn't work, try visiting again later.
7.)When I come back to the WebCam after being away, it shows an old picture. Why?
Your browser didn't update the photo because it was not the active window. When you first come back to a WebCam after being away, hit the reload (refresh) button to see the latest image. That will get the ball rolling once again.
8.)Problems with Netscape Navigator
There has been a long-standing problem with Netscape Navigator (Communicator) that seems to have been resolved by Netscape somewhere around Communicator version 4.03 and Navigator version 4.2.115. Earlier versions displayed the following misbehavior. Despite the fact that there is an html tag on the WebCam page that tells your browser not to cache the image, some versions of Netscape Navigator reload the image a few times (sometimes several times) and then cache it. Once it is in your cache, the cached image is called up instead of the image on the NPS server. The result is that you keep getting the same image with the same time-stamp on it. If you are using Navigator or Communicator, and you are experiencing difficulty, try upgrading to the latest version.
source:*www.nps.gov/yell/tours/livecams/oldfaithful/problems.htm