If SCOhelp fails without an error message

If SCOhelp requests fail without displaying error messages, a server lock might be set.

SCOhelp uses a property of the root window to prevent users from invoking the help server more than once. Although this ``lock'' is only temporarily present, if something extraordinary happens (for example, an application fails when requesting help), SCOhelp might not start.

If SCOhelp fails silently:

1. Enter the following from an xterm command line:
   
   xprop -root | grep -y "lock"

2. If the result looks like the following, a server lock is set:

   _SCO_HELP_SERVER_LOCK for system_name
   

3. Remove the lock:
   
   xprop -root -remove "_SCO_HELP_SERVER_LOCK for system_name"

4. Restart SCOhelp.