SPWAW Depot down
Moderator: MOD_SPWaW
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Korpraali V
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:52 am
- Location: Finland
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Korpraali V
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:52 am
- Location: Finland
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Well, the site is up, but the forum is down.
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Here's 'the latest' I have:
The Depot's current 'downtime' is truthfully explained in the message displayed: maintenance.
GeekStorgae contacted Bernie a little after midnight Saturday and asked him to close the forums so that they could move our account from its 'temporary location' and onto the brand-new server. When I noticed this and e-mailed him (~2:30AM), he explained the situation, and then asked if I could 're-start' the forums (once our host finished moving/configuring everything) since he and Cheri were driving to VA later Sunday morning. As it turned out, the move went quicker than expected and he was able to re-start it himself before he turned-in.
Then last night Bernie discovered a bunch of problems caused by files that were corrupted (and 'settings' that were changed) when our account was moved ...that thread about the 'flood control settings' involved one of these problems. The repairs required taking the forums offline, which he did early this AM ...part-way thru fixing things exhaustion set in (Bernie sleeps?!), and he packed it in for the night.
Here's his latest e-mail:
So, barring unforseen problems, I'd say "later today" is a good estimate .
The Depot's current 'downtime' is truthfully explained in the message displayed: maintenance.
GeekStorgae contacted Bernie a little after midnight Saturday and asked him to close the forums so that they could move our account from its 'temporary location' and onto the brand-new server. When I noticed this and e-mailed him (~2:30AM), he explained the situation, and then asked if I could 're-start' the forums (once our host finished moving/configuring everything) since he and Cheri were driving to VA later Sunday morning. As it turned out, the move went quicker than expected and he was able to re-start it himself before he turned-in.
Then last night Bernie discovered a bunch of problems caused by files that were corrupted (and 'settings' that were changed) when our account was moved ...that thread about the 'flood control settings' involved one of these problems. The repairs required taking the forums offline, which he did early this AM ...part-way thru fixing things exhaustion set in (Bernie sleeps?!), and he packed it in for the night.
Here's his latest e-mail:
We had some problems with the name servers, and the IP address was still
pointing to the old server. I had to lock it down for a couple of hours
while that was changed and the database reuploded to the new server... then
all the file permissions went to hell in a handbasket because the new server
does not seem to like anything to be writable by the group, which is the
only way the forum uploads, avatars, etc can work. I think I trashed some
files trying to get it fixed (I'm exhausted) so I'm shutting down for the
night and I'll work on it tomorrow.
So, barring unforseen problems, I'd say "later today" is a good estimate .
Jim NSB 
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Korpraali V
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:52 am
- Location: Finland
RE: SPWAW Depot down
ORIGINAL: Korpraali V
[&o]
Up and running
Hmmm ...I'm still getting the 'server unavailable' screen. Bernie must be in the process of making repairs and/or re-starting the site.
Jim NSB
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Yup, we're 100% back now. Sorry for the up-down-up routine, but when working with moving databases it helps if they aren't being added to at the time.
There's a full report posted online at the Depot in the General Discussion area. In addition, the president of our new hosting company is now a member of the Depot, and willing to answer questions in public. How's that for customer service? 
There's a full report posted online at the Depot in the General Discussion area. In addition, the president of our new hosting company is now a member of the Depot, and willing to answer questions in public. How's that for customer service?
What, me worry?
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Depot wrote:Sorry, but this forum is currently unavailable while we work on the servers. We may be down for just a few minutes, or as long as a couple of hours. Please try again later.
RE: SPWAW Depot down
ORIGINAL: Whitmire
Depot wrote:Sorry, but this forum is currently unavailable while we work on the servers. We may be down for just a few minutes, or as long as a couple of hours. Please try again later.
I suspect your ISP hasn't updated their DNS records and is still pointing at the old server. Try using just our new IP address 207.210.116.165 and see if that works. Just cut and paste that into your address bar and hit enter. It'll take you directly to the new server.
What, me worry?
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Korpraali V
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:52 am
- Location: Finland
RE: SPWAW Depot down
I've reported the trouble and we're working on it Korp.
I'm up to my elbows in virtual server guts right now.
I'm up to my elbows in virtual server guts right now.
What, me worry?
RE: SPWAW Depot down
The forum was working at around 15.00 GMT yesterday, but I didn't have time to actually log in.
I tried the direct IP but it's not working. Now I can't even get to the Depot main site, let alone the forum. I'm hoping it's due to your attempts to resuscitate the forum!
I tried the direct IP but it's not working. Now I can't even get to the Depot main site, let alone the forum. I'm hoping it's due to your attempts to resuscitate the forum!
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Korpraali V
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:52 am
- Location: Finland
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Really? I haven't been able to log in all day. I've tried the direct IP and logging onto www.spwaw.com but to no avail...
It keeps giving me the default error message. "Sivun lataamisvirhe." That's all I get.
As to the IP, it only shows the c-panel and states "Great Success":
"ATTENTION!
If you are seeing this page instead of the site you expected, please contact the administrator of the site involved. (Try sending an email to <webmaster@domain>.) Although this site is running cPanel, WebHost Manager, and Apache software it almost certainly has no other connection to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group. Please do not send mail about this site or its contents to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group."
Say what?
It keeps giving me the default error message. "Sivun lataamisvirhe." That's all I get.
As to the IP, it only shows the c-panel and states "Great Success":
"ATTENTION!
If you are seeing this page instead of the site you expected, please contact the administrator of the site involved. (Try sending an email to <webmaster@domain>.) Although this site is running cPanel, WebHost Manager, and Apache software it almost certainly has no other connection to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group. Please do not send mail about this site or its contents to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group."
Say what?
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Most odd... the site, and the forums, have been up and running for two days now.ORIGINAL: Whitmire
Really? I haven't been able to log in all day. I've tried the direct IP and logging onto www.spwaw.com but to no avail...
It keeps giving me the default error message. "Sivun lataamisvirhe." That's all I get.
As to the IP, it only shows the c-panel and states "Great Success":
"ATTENTION!
If you are seeing this page instead of the site you expected, please contact the administrator of the site involved. (Try sending an email to <webmaster@domain>.) Although this site is running cPanel, WebHost Manager, and Apache software it almost certainly has no other connection to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group. Please do not send mail about this site or its contents to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group."
Say what?
Okay, let's try something else. I'm assuming your ISP's DNS records are fubar, so let's force them to refresh by making them look up an address not in their records.
Try one of our alternate domain names like www.spwaw.org or www.spwawforums.com or www.thedepotinc.com
There's also:
spwaw.info
spwaw.net
depot-hq.com
depotforums.com
spwaw.us
spwawforum.com
spwawonline.com
One of them has to get you to the Depot again.
What, me worry?
RE: SPWAW Depot down
This is odd indeed.
The problem, as I see it now, is this:
1. www.spwaw.com always produces an error message. (See #5 below for the only exception.)
2. The direct IP takes me to the c-panel, which is not a "great success".
3. I can get in the Depot using an alternate address, such as www.thedepotinc.com. (Thanks for the tip!)
4. However, I cannot access the forum using any of the addresses. It always gives me the error message that the page cannot be loaded.
Now brace yourself for the weird thing. Please allow me to introduce number five:
5. I can get in the Depot and the forum using www.spwaw.com at around 15:00 - 16:00 GMT, but not in the mornings or during the day (in Finland, which is GMT+2). I could also access the forum last night at around eight (18:00 GMT) and the day before, just never during the mornings or the days, which is a problem since that's when I'm using the internet, and I do believe your intention is for spwaw.com to be available 24/7 whenever possible.
So what's the situation this morning? Well, I can get in using an alternate address, but the forum won't open.
The problem, as I see it now, is this:
1. www.spwaw.com always produces an error message. (See #5 below for the only exception.)
2. The direct IP takes me to the c-panel, which is not a "great success".
3. I can get in the Depot using an alternate address, such as www.thedepotinc.com. (Thanks for the tip!)
4. However, I cannot access the forum using any of the addresses. It always gives me the error message that the page cannot be loaded.
Now brace yourself for the weird thing. Please allow me to introduce number five:
5. I can get in the Depot and the forum using www.spwaw.com at around 15:00 - 16:00 GMT, but not in the mornings or during the day (in Finland, which is GMT+2). I could also access the forum last night at around eight (18:00 GMT) and the day before, just never during the mornings or the days, which is a problem since that's when I'm using the internet, and I do believe your intention is for spwaw.com to be available 24/7 whenever possible.
So what's the situation this morning? Well, I can get in using an alternate address, but the forum won't open.
RE: SPWAW Depot down
This has to be one of the weirdest problems I've ever heard of when it came to connecting to a site.
Okay, I can understand why using an alternate domain name gets you to the site but not the forums. Most of the links, including internal links from one page to another, use spwaw.com as the domain. I prefer to use absolute addresses when I write code, but in this case a relative address would have enabled you to get to the forums.
As for the IP number problem, the only way that should be taking you to cPanel is if there were a port number included. I assume there's nothing added on your address bar? It should show http://207.210.116.165/ and that's it. (Just tried this myself and I'm getting the same thing you do... weird! I'll have to check our DNS entries)
#5 just baffles me... 1500-1600 GMT is 10 AM to 11 AM here, and there isn't anything "scheduled" to run on the server at that time. No backups, upgrades, nothing. It's not even a particularly busy time on the Depot, so that's our first clue... it's when the server is least busy... hmm... I'll have to check some settings on the server...
First though, let's see if we can resolve the problem of spwaw.com not working for you.
In your Windows directory you'll find a file named "hosts" (no extension - possibly a hidden file) That contains a hosts table of IP addresses that your browser uses to connect to the internet. Open the file with a regular text editor (notepad will do) and search it for "spwaw". When you find it, delete the entire line, or all the lines if it's in more than one, then resave the file. (You should probably make a copy of the file before you do this - just in case) Make sure that when you save it there's no extension added. Notepad will often tack a .txt extension on files and we don't want that. Now, reboot the computer and try connecting to www.spwaw.com
What we've done is removed any saved IP address for the Depot in your hosts file. That's the first place your browser looks for an IP address when you try to go to a site. If there's no entry there for it then it gets the fresh data from your ISP. We're going to force your system to do that and see if it corrects the problem.
Okay, I can understand why using an alternate domain name gets you to the site but not the forums. Most of the links, including internal links from one page to another, use spwaw.com as the domain. I prefer to use absolute addresses when I write code, but in this case a relative address would have enabled you to get to the forums.
As for the IP number problem, the only way that should be taking you to cPanel is if there were a port number included. I assume there's nothing added on your address bar? It should show http://207.210.116.165/ and that's it. (Just tried this myself and I'm getting the same thing you do... weird! I'll have to check our DNS entries)
#5 just baffles me... 1500-1600 GMT is 10 AM to 11 AM here, and there isn't anything "scheduled" to run on the server at that time. No backups, upgrades, nothing. It's not even a particularly busy time on the Depot, so that's our first clue... it's when the server is least busy... hmm... I'll have to check some settings on the server...
First though, let's see if we can resolve the problem of spwaw.com not working for you.
In your Windows directory you'll find a file named "hosts" (no extension - possibly a hidden file) That contains a hosts table of IP addresses that your browser uses to connect to the internet. Open the file with a regular text editor (notepad will do) and search it for "spwaw". When you find it, delete the entire line, or all the lines if it's in more than one, then resave the file. (You should probably make a copy of the file before you do this - just in case) Make sure that when you save it there's no extension added. Notepad will often tack a .txt extension on files and we don't want that. Now, reboot the computer and try connecting to www.spwaw.com
What we've done is removed any saved IP address for the Depot in your hosts file. That's the first place your browser looks for an IP address when you try to go to a site. If there's no entry there for it then it gets the fresh data from your ISP. We're going to force your system to do that and see if it corrects the problem.
What, me worry?
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Just letting you know that I am attempting it now.
Edit1: Wow, that was quite an episode.
Results: Internet blindness for 15 minutes. I couldn't connect to anything at all.
Reason: HOSTS doesn't take lightly to being edited. You're right: definitely save a backup before tinkering with HOSTS files. Luckily I did.
Other: There was only the local host IP in the HOSTS file, so I wasn't able to delete anything. Neither SPWAW nor the forum working.
EDIT2: OK, I tried accessing the SPWAW forums from my other computer, which hasn't had an internet connection for months (and the last time I tried, the forum was working perfectly).
Guess what happened?
No, unfortunately it didn't work. I could get in the Depot main site using an alternate address, but I couldn't access www.spwaw.com OR the forums.
Conclusion: The problem isn't on my computer. Two computers can't have the same problem, especially since the other one hasn't been online for months.
Something's seriously wrong, and it's not me!
Edit1: Wow, that was quite an episode.
Results: Internet blindness for 15 minutes. I couldn't connect to anything at all.
Reason: HOSTS doesn't take lightly to being edited. You're right: definitely save a backup before tinkering with HOSTS files. Luckily I did.
Other: There was only the local host IP in the HOSTS file, so I wasn't able to delete anything. Neither SPWAW nor the forum working.
EDIT2: OK, I tried accessing the SPWAW forums from my other computer, which hasn't had an internet connection for months (and the last time I tried, the forum was working perfectly).
Guess what happened?
No, unfortunately it didn't work. I could get in the Depot main site using an alternate address, but I couldn't access www.spwaw.com OR the forums.
Conclusion: The problem isn't on my computer. Two computers can't have the same problem, especially since the other one hasn't been online for months.
Something's seriously wrong, and it's not me!
RE: SPWAW Depot down
Since yesterdaymorning I wasn't able to get to the Depot... [&:] All I got was the following message:
[font=helvetica]
[font=helvetica]
[/font]Network Error (dns_server_failure)
[/font]
[font=helvetica]Your request could not be processed because an error occurred contacting the DNS server. [/font]
[font=helvetica]The DNS server may be temporarily unavailable, or there could be a network problem. [/font]
[font=helvetica]
BC01.