java.net.MalformedURLException: unknown protocol: socket

Forgot where I found this.

Linux

Enable ‘Direct Connection’ on the java console.

• Run “jcontrol” from command line
• It pops up a window with 4 tabs “General”, “Java”, “Security”, “Advanced”. The tab “General” has a section “Network Settings”.
• At the end of “Network Settings” section, there is a button “Network Settings…”.
• Click on it. “Network Proxy Settings” dialog pops up.
• Select “Direct connection” radio button and click “OK”.
• Click “OK” to close jcontrol.

If jcontrol is not found in your search path, you can find it here (or somewhere similar) on a RHEL Linux system:

/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-sun-1.6.0.21/jre/bin/jcontrol

Windows

• Go to Control Panel -> Java
• Click the Network Settings Button
• Select “Direct Connection” then click ok to exit,

Donations appreciated. Every little $ helps. Or click Google +1. Or play the short video on the upper right of this page.