Unable to post

[flux]

proxy test

[Tranz]

I see there have been changes to the forum, but I still have the same issue with the semi-working desktop, where I can do Quick Replies, but not regular ones, so I can't edit posts.

[Tranz]

After several minutes of "Loading", my attempt to edit a post resulted in a blank white page.

[Gizmo]

At least you can get on. Ummm... I hope this doesn't take... well... maybe I do so that I can post a new theme.

[Joachim Müller]

hey folks,

as you have noticed, I have updated smf to the most recent version, apparently to no avail. As I said before, I'm unable to replicate using the PCs I have access to, so I'm not sure what to recommend nor do. I would appreciate suggestions.

[Tarique Sani]

Looking at the complaints and talking to Aditya and Abbas - this looks more like a server bottleneck. How about culling  the old forum messages?

[Joachim Müller]

hm, maybe we should get rid of the sub-boards of the crap bin for a start and check if things improve then...

[Stramm]

I can't confirm that it's a server bottleneck. I have no problems at all with the forum.
I've tried:
2x WinXP SP2 all MS patches IE6, FF 1.5.0.2
W2k IE+FF
FreeBSD FF

Server issues most likely would affect all board users (sooner or later) and not a handful all the time.

[Aditya Mooley]

Looks like the European users don't have problem with the board.

[flux]

i'm in france and can't post 99% of the time, no matter how short my post is..

@gaugau
i've sent you a pm to help you track down this problem, i can assit you with placing requests on the server with a static IP

- edit test -

well quick edit seems to work, i'm trying to edit thru the main editing page.
I'm using my ISP web proxy, i'l test again with a direct connection to the internet to see if it fails..

[Gizmo]

My reply yesterday was the only time I could get on in 4 days. I have a direct connection (cable modem) and a static ip. Windows XP SP2 using Firefox and IE.

[Gizmo]

And it seems I can only access this particular post with Quick-Reply and I can't edit. I tried to post in other areas but no-go.

[Tranz]

I wonder if it could be a matter of time of day. When I visit the forums on my work computers, it's around lunch time in the US. When I use my personal computer it's after hours. I don't know what the traffic pattern is for the forums since it's international.

It's just odd that my two work computers are on the same corporate network and both have varying degrees of difficulty in posting.

[Paver]

In my case, the time of day doesn't matter because I sit here and can post on my laptop but not on my 2 desktop computers.  I fixed the Windows update issue on the laptop (it wasn't related and besides the laptop is working).

The work-around for ACTIVE mode on FTP for the non-working computer is intriguing.  On the laptop, I can use ACTIVE mode as well (go SmartFTP I guess), but there is no 10-second pause as there is on the non-working desktop.  That pause is intriguing.  I wonder if it's a ports issue on the server side.  I would think web pages wouldn't use any other ports because then web browsing wouldn't be so easy.  On the PASSIVE-mode FTP, it seems the working laptop uses ports around 40000 and the non-working computer uses ones around 59000.  I should be able to tell my client to ask for different ports and see if that points to any solutions.

[Joachim Müller]

@Paver: do you have any ideas what to suggest to our webhost - I'm going to start a trouble ticket on their support hepdesk, but you know how it is with such issues that come and go and exist for some, but not for others. As long as there is a random pattern only, they will run a short test, find that everything is working as expected and close the ticket.

@Flux: sent you a PM back.

Joachim

[Paver]

@GauGau: I know what you mean about trying to get support for such an issue.  But to be clear, in my case, this problem is completely reproducible.  It might be seemingly random for whom it affects, but for me, it is constantly a problem since April 25th (when I first noticed it).  Since I figured out my laptop works, I haven't checked my desktop as often, but every time I have checked the desktop in the past week, it gives the same error.  I mentioned (in a post above) that last week, the problem went away - for that time, I was sitting at the computer trying every few minutes or so for about 15 minutes, then the problem went away, all 3 things worked (FTP, PHPMyAdmin, and SMF), then 20 minutes later, it stopped working.  I was probing before & after with a simple "try to export a table" and during the time it worked, I was uploading files, posting on the forum, and modifying MySQL tables.  I didn't change any settings or anything else.  That made me think it really was a server issue . . . until I followed Thu's suggestion and tried my laptop to find that that worked, which is beguiling.

Except for that one case, the problem (and lack thereof) is reproducible on both computers - the desktop and the laptop.  If the problem is going away once in a while, it's very infrequently and so multiple tries would give a high percentage of errors on a problematic computer (like my desktop).

My wife's desktop computer was never used on Coppermine's server and the time I tried it yesterday, it did *not* work.  It gave the same set of errors on FTP, PHPMyAdmin, and SMF as my desktop computer.  All 3 computers are on the same LAN (through a router with a cable modem as the internet connection).  My desktop computer is wired directly to the router, my wife's desktop and the laptop are on wireless.

I wish I could think of any specific ideas to suggest to the webhost.  If anyone has anything they want me to try on my laptop and desktop, please let me know.  The best I can do is summarize what I know so far:

Desktop Computer:
- FTP, Passive or Active Mode, Download:
--- works for all files
- FTP, Passive Mode, Upload:
--- files <= 1456 bytes : works fine
--- files >= 1457 bytes : client timeout (40+ seconds), 0-byte file created
- FTP, Active Mode, Upload:
--- files <= 1456 bytes : works fine (no delay)
--- files >= 1457 bytes : stalls for 10 seconds, then transfers fine
- PHPMyAdmin:
--- View Pages : works fine
--- Submitting Form Data, small amount : works fine
--- Submitting Form Data, medium-large amount : server connection reset
- SMF Forum:
--- View Posts : works fine
--- Quick Reply, short (few sentences) : works fine
--- Quick Reply, medium-long : server connection reset
--- Regular Reply : server connection reset
--- Modify Post : server connection reset

Computer OS: Windows XP SP2, with all updates
FTP Program: SmartFTP 2.0.996
Web Browser: FireFox 1.5.0.3 and IE 6.0

In general, the web issues were the same between FireFox and IE.  The only differences are reproducible, for example, I can export tables in PHPMyAdmin on IE but cannot on FireFox.  I'm guessing there is something "larger" about the form data between the two browsers although I'm not sure why.

On the laptop computer, I have the same software and everything works fine.  No timeouts, no stalling for 10 seconds, no problems whatsoever.

edit: Don't ask me why it's 1456 bytes.  Anyone have any ideas?  I wonder if I count the number of bytes allowed for form data and quick reply messages, it would be the same.  Since I don't know what that would tell me, I don't plan to unless someone thinks it's useful.

[Paver]

Around 22:30 GMT today, I noticed things are working again on the problematic computer.  Let's see if it keeps up . . .

edit: Still working 90 minutes later . . .

[Abbas Ali]

Editing a post seems to be working fine now.... Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best

[flux]

seems that the problem is fixed, i've just made a "long" reply in the 1.4 testing/bugs forum..

i'll try to create "bridge" plugin thread later tonight, hope it works, been waiting for it for quite some time :)

[Tranz]

I was able to post on the non-working laptop.