The client is stuck on "Connecting…"

If the Polpo Desk client shows Connecting… or Offline and the ID appears as dashes: proxy, firewall, clock and certificate checks.

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Symptom

When you open the Polpo Desk client, the status line at the bottom stays on Connecting… or switches to Offline after a while. The Your Connection ID field shows dashes (— — —) instead of digits, no session password appears, and a warning asks you to check your internet connection.

This means the client can't reach our server. The client keeps retrying in the background on its own; as soon as the connection is made, your ID and password appear automatically.

Likely causes

To talk to our server, the client opens a secure WebSocket (WSS) connection to polpodesk.com on port 443. This connection:

  • Is made directly; it does not use Windows' system proxy settings (Internet Explorer / Internet Options). On corporate networks where the internet can only be reached through a proxy server, the connection can't be made.
  • Can be blocked by firewalls that perform SSL inspection. When a firewall opens the traffic and re-encrypts it with its own certificate, the client can't verify the server's identity and doesn't connect.
  • Cannot be verified if the computer's date and time are wrong or Windows' root certificates are out of date.

Apart from these, having no internet connection at all, security software blocking Polpo Desk, or a stopped service in service mode cause the same symptom.

How to fix it

  1. Check your internet connection. Make sure you can open https://polpodesk.com/ in a browser on the same computer.
  2. Look for the service warning. If the client shows Service stopped — remote access is off, click Start and give administrator approval.
  3. Correct the date and time. In Windows Settings → Time & language → Date & time, turn on setting the time automatically and click Sync now.
  4. Update Windows. Install pending updates with Windows Update; root certificates are also updated this way. Then close and reopen Polpo Desk.
  5. Test the port. Open PowerShell and run Test-NetConnection polpodesk.com -Port 443. You should see TcpTestSucceeded : True in the result. If it says False, outgoing traffic to port 443 is blocked. Even if it says True, a proxy or SSL inspection can still block the WebSocket connection; continue with the next step.
  6. Ask your IT team for an exception. On a corporate network, ask your network administrator to:
    • allow direct (non-proxied) outgoing WSS connections to polpodesk.com on port 443,
    • exclude polpodesk.com from SSL inspection.
  7. Check your security software. If your antivirus or endpoint protection blocks Polpo Desk's network access, add the app to its allow list.
Temporarily connect the same computer to a different network (for example your phone's hotspot). If the client connects there right away, the problem lies in the corporate network's proxy or firewall settings.

Checking the log file

The client writes diagnostic information to a log file:

  • Normal use: %TEMP%\polpodesk-native.log (you can open it by typing this into File Explorer's address bar)
  • Service mode: C:\Windows\Temp\polpodesk-native.log

Lines starting with ws ERROR show why the server connection couldn't be made. When the connection succeeds, you'll see ws OPEN followed by a registered id= line. The log file never contains the session password.

When to contact support

If the client still can't connect after these steps, contact us and include:

  • the polpodesk-native.log file (or its ws ERROR lines),
  • the output of the Test-NetConnection command,
  • your Windows version and whether the network uses a proxy or SSL inspection.

To open a support request, see Creating and tracking a support request. For the full network requirements, see System requirements and network settings.

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