Hei,
After I updated my java version from 6u31 to 7u4 on a windows 7-64 bits, applets stopped working. I use java-32 bits and the browsers are also 32 bits(tried IE9 and Firefox 12.0) , and the only cause was updating the java.
I used the test from http://www.java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp, and got this as result:
security: property package.access value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.
security: property package.access new value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws
security: property package.access value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws
security: property package.access new value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy
security: property package.access value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy
security: property package.access new value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp
security: property package.definition value null
security: property package.definition new value com.sun.javaws
security: property package.definition value com.sun.javaws
security: property package.definition new value com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy
security: property package.definition value com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy
security: property package.definition new value com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp
security: property package.access value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp
security: property package.access new value sun.,com.sun.xml.internal.ws.,com.sun.xml.internal.bind.,com.sun.imageio.,com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.utils.,com.sun.org.apache.xalan.internal.utils.,com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp,org.mozilla.jss
security: property package.definition value com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp
security: property package.definition new value com.sun.javaws,com.sun.deploy,com.sun.jnlp,org.mozilla.jss
basic: Added progress listener: sun.plugin.util.ProgressMonitorAdapter@1cc55fb
basic: Plugin2ClassLoader.addURL parent called for http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
java.net.SocketException: Permission denied: connect
bla bla bla
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/TestVM2-test.jar with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
java.net.SocketException: Permission denied: connect
bla bla bla
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/, version: null]
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/testJava2_1/TestVMApplet.class, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/testJava2_1/TestVMApplet.class with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
network: Cache entry not found [url: http://www.java.com/applet/testJava2_1/TestVMApplet/class.class, version: null]
network: Connecting http://www.java.com/applet/testJava2_1/TestVMApplet/class.class with proxy=DIRECT
network: Connecting http://www.java.com:80/ with proxy=DIRECT
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: testJava2_1.TestVMApplet.class
bla bla bla
basic: load: class testJava2_1/TestVMApplet.class not found.
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: testJava2_1.TestVMApplet.class
bla bla bla
Ignored exception: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: testJava2_1.TestVMApplet.class
basic: Dialog type is not candidate for embedding
basic: Removed progress listener: sun.plugin.util.ProgressMonitorAdapter@1cc55fb
basic: Loading Java Applet Failed...
security: Reset deny session certificate store
I already tried a lot of different alternatives like disabling the firewall, disabling the next generation plug-in on Java Control Panel, clearing the cache, uninstalling and re-installing (both JRE and JDK), playing with mixed mode security verification, and maybe some more I don’t remember.
I have no idea what else I could try to make it work.. Anyone experienced the same and solved it?
Ah, as company policy we have to stick with the latest version if possible due to security updates.
Ok, the problem was that I was connected on VPN (CISCO) while accessing pages with java. Since Java 7, there is a problem due to Ipv6 (http://jonathangiles.net/blog/?p=1126). So I disabled it from the VPN connection and added this line to the java runtime parameters:
-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
Now it’s working fine.