John: Have you gotten any responses on this issue? I am experiencing the exact same issue with applets that I have signed using a valid code signing certificate issued to me by a valid CA (Certification Authority).
For my applets, the ClassNotFoundException occurs when one (or both) of the following Java security settings are enabled:
- Check Certificated for revocation using Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
- Enable online certificate validation
My Java Console log output is almost exactly the same as yours; the online certificate validation appears to succeed, but the ClassNotFoundException occurs shortly after, when the class loader attempts to load the applet class.
Again, like you have experienced, everything works fine if both of the above Java security settings are disabled. I have tried various combinations of Java versions: compiling with 1.6.0_24 and signing with 1.6.0_29, compiling with 1.6.0_19 and signing with 1.6.0_17, compiling with 1.6.0_29 and signing with 1.6.0_29. All combinations yield the same ClassNotFoundException when the above security settings are enabled.
This is a real puzzler and I would appreciate any additional information you have on this issue. FYI: I have other resources working on this and we may contact Oracle for assistance. I will update this post if we gain any traction in resolving this.