Hi,

If your connection entry is unusual you could try these simple things that may cause variation/different code paths:

1/ORACLE_HOME being set /unset by for example a bat script before launching sqldeveloper see in see in sqldeveloper help/about/properties/ oracle.home and jdbc.library to see what oracle sqldeveloper is using
(you could be using sqldeveloper or other oracle install jdbc)

2/Tools/preferences/database/Advanced Parameters/Use oci thick driver set/unset
(you could be using 'pure' jdbc thin or 'mixture of c & java' ie. thick oci driver using another Oracle Home or instant client)

3/use Connection type=advanced then you can enter a fancy description (these descriptions are simple but you could have load balancing for example):
thin is pure java
jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=MACHINE_NAME_OR_IP)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=dev11gr1)))
oci8 is thick/c/oci-java
jdbc:oracle:oci8:@(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=MACHINE_NAME_OR_IP)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=dev11gr1)))
(or get SQLDev to look up tnsnames.ora, connection type = tns might work)

Please post your findings and put in an enhancement request (see sqldeveloper forum for details) for particular connection feature support, documented with a test case.

-Turloch