# Fix a Support code that does not work

## Symptoms

Your customer enters the code you gave them and sees one of these:

- On the join page: **That code was not found or has expired. Ask your technician for a new one.**
- On the join page: **Too many tries. Wait a few minutes, then enter the code again.**
- On the join page: **The support tool is not available yet. Ask your technician for another way to connect.** (on a Mac: **The Mac support tool is not available yet.**)
- On the join page: **Could not reach the server. Check your connection and try again.**
- In the Blink support tool on their computer: **Code expired or not valid. Try again** or **Code expired or not valid. Enter a new code**.
- In the support tool: **The server could not start the session (ref …). Enter a new code**.

## How Support codes work

- A code works **once**. As soon as the support tool connects with it, the code is used up.
- An unused code **expires 15 minutes** after you create it. The session's details in **Sessions** show when it expires (**Expires**) and whether the customer has downloaded the tool yet (**Downloaded**).
- The support tool the customer downloads is tied to that code. It has to be started before the code expires.
- The code format is an instance setting: digits, or letters and digits, in a fixed length. Customers can type it with or without spaces and dashes, in upper or lower case. The letters O, I and L are read as 0, 1 and 1, so a misread character still works.

## Check the code

1. In the console, open **Sessions** and find the session. If the session has ended or its code has expired, click **Support code** to create a new one and give the customer the new code.
2. Read the code to the customer again, group by group, exactly as the console shows it. If the code contains letters, ask them to read it back to you.
3. Make sure the customer is on **your** Blink address. Codes only work on the Blink address that created them. Use **Copy join link** on the new code to send them the right page.
4. If the customer opened the page on an iPad, it shows **Use a computer**: Support works on a Mac or a Windows PC only.

## "Too many tries"

Blink blocks an address for a few minutes after repeated wrong codes, to stop people guessing codes. Everyone behind the same office internet connection shares that address.

1. Ask the customer to wait five minutes, then enter the code once, carefully.
2. If it keeps happening, an administrator with the **Manage security settings** permission can open **Instance** › **Security**, check **Bans** for the customer's address and click **Lift**. The ban source shows as **Join codes**.

## The support tool refuses the code

The support tool reads its code from its own file name (`blink-….exe` on Windows, `Blink-….app` on a Mac). If it cannot use it, it opens a window that asks **Enter the code from your technician**. The tool accepts three codes per start, counting the one in its file name.

1. If it says **Code expired or not valid**, the code was used, expired, or mistyped. Create a new code and have the customer type it into the same window. If the window has closed, have them download the tool again from the join page with the new code.
2. If the customer renamed the downloaded file, the tool cannot find its code in the name and asks for it. That is fine: they can type the code.
3. If it says **The server could not start the session (ref …)**, the code is used up. Note the ref, create a new code and have the customer enter it. If it happens again, contact IZT with the ref.
4. If it says **This version of Blink is out of date. Download Blink again from your technician.**, or **This copy of Blink belongs to another Blink server. Download Blink again from your technician.**, the customer started an old download. Create a new code and have them download the tool again.
5. If it says **Blink is already running.**, a support tool is already open on that computer. Use that one, or close it and start again.

## "The support tool is not available yet"

Your Blink server has no support tool to hand out for that kind of computer. This happens when the instance is not activated yet, or before the server has fetched the support tool. An administrator should check **Instance** › **License**. See [Fix license expiry and renewal problems](/troubleshooting/license/). If the license is active and the message stays, contact IZT.

## "Could not reach the server"

The customer's browser could not load your Blink address. Ask them to reload the page. If the join page itself does not load, the problem is their internet connection or a firewall in front of it. See [Fix a Blink agent that will not connect](/troubleshooting/agent-wont-connect/).

## When to contact IZT

Contact [IZT](https://izt.app) if a fresh code is refused on the first try, or **The server could not start the session** keeps coming back. Send the session id from the session's details in **Sessions**, the ref the tool showed, and the time it happened. See [Collect logs for IZT support](/troubleshooting/collect-logs/).