Most of the time when this happens it is due to firewall settings that are blocking communications with the servers or ports that support the Self Service section of myUSI.

Many businesses use canned firewall products that will not allow communication on unexpected ports. Banner Self Service runs on port 8443.

You will have to ask your company technology guru to “white list https://sctssb.usi.edu:8443.

If you are having this problem with your home network, it may be your own firewall. Look at your firewall applications documentation about “white listing,” “safe listing,” or “allowing,” trusted sites.

Other sites to “white list” include:

  • my.usi.edu
  • mail.usi.edu

If you are still having troubles, please contact the myUSI helpdesk at (812) 465-1070

  • You must have cookies enabled (or at least per-session-cookies).
  • You must have JavaScript enabled.
  • You have to have pop-up blocking disabled for my.usi.edu and, if you are using the myUSI Start page for www.usi.edu
  • You probably want to “allow,” “white list,” or “safe listmy.usi.edu, mail.usi.edu, and sctssb.usi.edu in your (or your employer’s) firewall and/or web proxy.
  • The sctssb.usi.edu site talks over SSL at port 8443. This might be important information for your security software or your employer’s firewall or Internet proxy server administrator.

There a couple of reasons that you might see “action canceled” or “page cannot be displayed” when trying to access the myUSI login page or accessing services (like Banner Self Service) from within myUSI or off the myUSI start page or when just trying to access the USI homepage.

  • Unsupported Web Browsers: Check our up-to-date list of supported web browsers to make sure that you are using a web browser that works best with myUSI.
  • Insight Broadband or SIGECOM Internet Service Provider Network Problems: Both of these Internet Service Providers (ISP) have network problems that affect getting access to the myUSI Login Page or the USI homepage from time to time. If you also can’t get to the USI homepage (www.usi.edu) and you use one of these ISPs, this is most definitely your issue. To fix the problem, do the following:
    1. Turn off all computers on your network.
    2. Turn off your network’s router.
    3. Turn off your cable modem.
    4. Wait a couple of minutes.
    5. Turn on your cable modem and wait for the blinking lights to settle down.
    6. Turn on your network’s router and wait for the blinking lights to settle down.
    7. Turn on a computer and try to access myUSI or the USI homepage again.
  • Security Software Interference: Many Internet security applications interfere with the proper functioning of many websites. MyUSI is no exception. If you get strange responses such as “Dummy Text,” “DummyText,” or “Proxy Error” (to name but a few), it is highly likely that your security software is the cause of the problem. As there are thousands of these security software suites, we are unable to give specific solutions for configuring each. However, the basic premise is to “allow,” “permit,” “white list,” or “safe list,” (among others, they all use different terminology) the following sites:
    • my.usi.edu
    • mail.usi.edu
    • sctssb.usi.edu (port 8443 if it makes difference)
  • Corrupted Cache (Temporary Internet Files) or Cookies: There may been corrupted temporary files on your system from the last time that you visited the site. Take a moment to clear your Cache (Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer) and Cookies and then reload the page.
  • Clearing Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer 8. (step 2 on the page)
  • Deleting Cookies in Internet Explorer 8.
  • Clearing Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer 7. (step 2 on the page)
  • Deleting Cookies in Internet Explorer 7.
  • Clearing the Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer 6.
  • Deleting Cookies in Internet Explorer 6.
  • Clearing the Cache and Cookies in Mozilla Firefox.
  • Clearing the Cache and Cookies from Opera.
  • Resetting Safari.

Most likely the appearance of “Dummy Text” when clicking on the Self Service button of myUSI or on the myUSI Start page is the result of running the Norton Personal Firewall or Norton Internet Security software packages on your computer.

The security settings of these two programs can cause problems when trying to access myUSI’s Self Service application in its current configuration. If you have one of these two software products installed on your computer, you can fix this by following these steps:

  1. Open the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel. You can access it by right-clicking on the NIS icon in the system tray of your computer (down on the right by your computer’s clock) and then clicking Norton Internet Security, or by double-clicking the Norton Internet Security icon on the computer’s desktop or by finding the Norton folder in your Program’s menu (Start Button -> All Programs -> Norton).
  2. Next, click on Privacy and then click Configure
  3. You want to add the following addresses to the list of sites and you will need to set all the options to Permit
    1. Add www.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
    2. Add my.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
    3. Add mail.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
    4. Add sctssb.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
  4. Click OK, then close the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel
  5. Close all your web browsers and then try accessing myUSI and the Self Service tab again.
  6. If that doesn’t work, try right clicking on the Norton Internet Security Icon in your system tray (down by the clock on the right side) and then disable it. Now try logging in and checking the tab. As security and antivirus are IMPORTANT measures to take, if you use this option ALWAYS remember to re-enable Norton when you are done or else you won’t be protected.

It sounds like you have multiple popup blockers and/or firewalls installed.

You need to Permit access to myUSI’s web address (www.usieagles.org) in each of them.

This myUSI FAQ article might help. When you are done, you will probably need to clear your web browser’s cache (or offline files) and cookies. Then close your browser and then restart it and try again.

myUSI requires popups in order to work.

If you computer is using software to block pop-ups, you will not be able to access myUSI until you configure it to allow pop-ups for the myUSI website.

If you have any pop-up software enabled on your computer, you will get a page starting with Browser Problem: Popup windows have been suppressed when you try to go the the myUSI site (http://my.usi.edu). If you get this error, follow the steps outlined below to fix the problem.

What are popups?
Popups, or pop-ups, are small windows that open up automatically when you visit a web site or when you click on a link. Often they are used to display extra information or add functionality to a site.

Popups have received a bad name because they are often abused by websites seeking to push more advertising in front of your web browsing session. Also, many people have computers infected with worms and viruses that pop up advertising. If your computer constantly pops open windows even when you aren’t actively browsing the web, you probably need to scan your computer for viruses. A good free virus scanner that will work through the web can be found at http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

To address these problems many web browsers now include pop-up blockers to try and stem some of the annoying behavior. Also, there is a whole industry of software developers that create add-on software to aid computer users in blocking popups.

There’s only one problem.

Not all popups are bad.

As web applications move more and more towards mimicking software that exists on your computer desktop, they will increasingly mimic traits of those applications like popping up messages or opening items in a separate window. If your popup software blocks this behavior, those web applications won’t work for you. myUSI is an example of this and needs popups to be enabled for it to fully function.

How do I disable pop-ups?
Unfortunately, there are literally hundreds of popup blockers out there. Below, you will find a short list of instructions for configuring some of the most popular popup blocking tools and web browsers with popup blocking capabilities to work with myUSI:

You may have more than one of these installed and active on your computer. Please disable pop-up blocking in ALL of them before proceeding.

If you still get the Browser Problem: Popup windows have been suppressed error message after completing one or two of these sections, it probably means that you still have more pop-up blockers installed.

We have had users with up to 5 popup blockers installed and each had to be disabled before they could login successfully to myUSI.

Microsoft Internet Explorer
After Windows XP service pack 2 is installed, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer gains its own popup blocker. When it is installed it is turned on by default and set to the Medium security setting which will block most popups. Enable popups for myUSI by doing the following:

  1. Launch Internet Explorer
  2. Go to the Tools drop down menu
  3. Select the Pop-Up Blocker
  4. Then select Pop-Up Blocker Settings
  5. In the new window that opens, type my.usi.edu the Address of Web site to allow field.
  6. Then click the Add button
  7. You Should now see my.usi.edu in the Allowed Sites section
  8. Now click the Close button and shut down and restart Internet Explorer
  9. Now open Internet Explorer and try logging into myUSI again.

Google Toolbar
Many people have the Google toolbar added to their Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browser. This toolbar includes its own popup blocker. Unfortunately, there is no way to add an Allowed Site to this tool, so you will have to remember to disable popup blocking when you visit myUSI and re-enable popup blocking when you leave myUSI. Or you could just uninstall the questionably useful Google Toolbar.

The Google Toolbar looks something like this:
Google Toolbar

To disable Google toolbar’s pop-up tools when logging into myUSI:

  1. Open Internet Explorer with the Google Toolbar installed
  2. Go to myUSI by typing my.usi.edu in the Address field
  3. The myUSI “Disable pop-up blocker” warning should appear and the Google toolbar will state “some number” blocked next an icon of application windows.
  4. Click on the … blocked icon
  5. The pop-up blocker icon will now change to say Site Pop-ups Allowed or Pop-ups Allowed or Pop-ups OK
  6. Reload the page by clicking the refresh button in Internet Explorer
  7. You should now be able to access myUSI

Yahoo Toolbar
Many people have the Yahoo toolbar added to their Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browser. The Yahoo Toolbar is often installed without users really knowing it because it is bundled with lots of free software available on the Internet, including Yahoo Instant Messenger, and the Shockwave plugin for most web browsers.

Like most Internet Explorer toolbars, the Yahoo Toolbar includes its own popup blocker. Fortunately, there is a way to add an Allowed Site to this tool, so you can configure it to disable popup blocking when you visit myUSI from now on.

Or you could just uninstall the questionably useful Yahoo Toolbar.

The Yahoo Toolbar looks something like this (the Pop-Up blocker icon has an orange box around it):
Yahoo Toolbar

To disable pop-up blocking for myUSI in the Yahoo Toolbar, do the following:

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Go to myUSI by typing my.usi.edu in the Address field
  3. Click on Yahoo Toolbar’s PopUp Blocker tool (featured in orange box in the linked image above)
  4. Select Always Allow Pop-Ups From…
  5. Then select myUSI or my.usi.edu from the Sources of Recently Blocked Pop-Ups list and click Allow.
  6. Reload the page by clicking the refresh button in Internet Explorer
  7. You should now be able to access myUSI

AOL Toolbar
AOL’s client program includes a popup blocker as well.

To force AOL’s software to allow popups from myUSI do the following:

  1. Startup and Login to your AOL client program.
  2. Click Settings on the AOL toolbar.
  3. Click Pop-Ups in the Essentials tab.
  4. When the Pop-Up Control Settings window opens up, click on the Web Pop-Ups tab
  5. Then, select Allow Web pop-ups from these sites from the available options.
  6. Type my.usi.edu and click Add
  7. Then Click Save.
  8. Now, logout of AOL and then log back in.
  9. Now try logging into myUSI again, by going to my.usi.edu
  10. You should now be able to access myUSI

Firefox
Firefox is superior web browser that is available for free under an Open Source license. It has received numerous awards including PC World Magazine’s 100 Best Software Products of 2006 and comes in regularly updated versions on almost every desktop operating system including Microsoft Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X, and Linux. You can pick up a copy of the Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox browser for you operating system by going to http://www.getfirefox.com

To enable popups for my.usi.edu in Firefox, do the following:

  1. Launch the Firefox browser.
  2. Click on the Tools drop down menu.
  3. Select Options… from the Tools menu. Mac users should go to the Firefox toolbar menu and select the Preferences… option.
  4. Select the Content tab.
  5. Click the Allow Sites button across from the Block Pop Up Windows button.
  6. Type my.usi.edu in the Address of website text box.
  7. Click the Allow button.
  8. Then click the Close button to exit the Options or Preferences window.
  9. Now close the browser and restart it.
  10. Then try logging into myUSI again, by going to my.usi.edu
  11. You should now be able to access myUSI

Norton Internet Security
Norton Internet Security (NIS) is a suite of programs that works to protect your computer from a whole host of nastiness. Unfortunately, its privacy guard, popup blocker, and firewall have a tendency to be draconian in its enforcement and often catches perfectly safe applications, websites, and practices in its net all in the name of security.

MyUSI has particular problems with Norton Internet Security. In order to access myUSI with Norton Internet Security installed, you will need to make Norton Internet Security PERMIT actions from myUSI (my.usi.edu and myUSI’s mail server(mail.usi.edu):

  1. Open the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel. You can access it by right-clicking on the NIS icon in the system tray of your computer (down on the right by your computer’s clock) and then clicking Norton Internet Security, or by double-clicking the Norton Internet Security icon on the computer’s desktop or by finding the Norton folder in your Windows Program’s menu (Start Button - All Programs - Norton ).
  2. Next, click on Privacy and then click Configure
  3. You want to add the following addresses to the list of sites and you will need to set all the options to Permit
    1. Add my.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
    2. Add mail.usi.edu, then set all options to Permit
  4. Click OK, then close the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel
  5. Close all the web browsers and then try accessing myUSI
  6. You may also have to try these options if the instructions above don’t match your version.

  7. Open the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel. You can access it by right-clicking on the NIS icon in the system tray of your computer (down on the right by your computer’s clock) and then clicking Norton Internet Security, or by double-clicking the Norton Internet Security icon on the computer’s desktop or by finding the Norton folder in your Windows Program’s menu (Start Button - All Programs - Norton ).
  8. Select Norton Antispam.
  9. Select Status and Settings.
  10. Select Popup Blocking.
  11. Click on Configure.
  12. To prevent all pop-up windows, make sure there are ticks in Turn on Ad Blocking, and Turn on Popup Window blocking.
  13. Click on Advanced - to set Ad Blocking for individual sites.
  14. Click on Add Site - under the left hand window.
    1. Type in my.usi.edu and click OK
      (this may be sorted, and appear under the heading usi.edu)
  15. Click on Add - under the right hand window.
  16. In the new window that opens
    1. Type in my.usi.edu
    2. Click on Permit - this will permit pop-up windows for this site only
  17. Click on OK to save these settings.
  18. Click OK, then close the Norton Internet Security (NIS) control panel
  19. Close all the web browsers and then try accessing myUSI