Thread

Once in a while I have a user who reports this - have even seen it myself on occasion, but no big deal because I usually assume the “infinite number of monkeys” somewhere is causing it.

I tried reading some of the old threads about it, but none of them seem to relate closely to my situation. Most were on local setups or using special forms…not just trying to reply in standard forum rooms.

1. EE 1.6.8
2. Occurs on FORUM only (really the main place we have input from members)
3. Seems to happen during very busy times - very busy being well over 15,000 visitors per day (maybe 60,000 page views on the forum) and server being at loads of over 4 (dual core). We are at that level for a lot of the time at this time of year.
4. 22,000 forum members.700,000 forum posts
5. Occurs when a regular member who is logged in tries to reply to a post. They write the entire reply then hit the button and get that message.

I’ve had about 1/2 dozen reports of this in the last day, which is more than usual. A few of the users tried to fix it by flushing the cache on their browsers, quitting and reopening the browser - and even using a different browser. No luck.

I finally got one user working right by moving them to a group outside of the main members group.

I read the old threads about certain setting of cache and secure forms, etc….but does that relate to discussion forums? It does not seem there are settings on that!

Any hints? Any Discussion forum settings which may relate?

Nothing has really changed in any setup….for years really….other than the small updates to EE over that time.

Is this more likely a problem at the far end and of the net in general (cache issues, etc. etc.)?

Hi, Craig. Yes, the secure forms and cache settings apply for the forum too. What changes if any have you made to your config.php file?

None…...

The secure forms has always been off…......
as to the cache settings, could you elaborate? Where exactly are these settings? I see them for specific templates in the template tab (CP), but want to make certain we are talking about the same thing!

I suspect something here related to the infinite number of monkeys….because the guy who reports the biggest problem (cannot get it to work, no matter what) is in Alaska! My server is in Philadelphia. Although that in itself should not be a problem, it just seems strange that the biggest problem is the furthest away!

But any more specific hints about where those settings are would be really helpful.

Cookies only for User Sessions
Require IP is no
Require IP for comments is no
Deny Duplicate data was set on yes, I changed to no just in case EE was somehow being fooled by this.

I guess I first wonder where the cache settings are?

Craig,

Under your Database preferences what do you have set for both?
Admin > System Preferences > Database Settings

Under your Throttling preferences what do you have set?
Admin > System Preferences > Throttling Settings

Ah, that sounds relevent

Non-Persistant
Yes (caching)

Throttling screen enclosed - it seems as if a problem there would generate the custom message…...not the one we are getting.

Craig,

What is the link to your forum? Is it http://www.hearth.com?

Answers to all your Burning Questions

Love it 😊

One last thing to check before digging deeper. Can you goto your Forum Preferences and tell me what your Post re-submission Time Interval (in seconds) is under Topics and Post Preferences

Can you also tell us if you have any extensions installed?

Forums at at:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/

Post prefs enclosed…

I think we are getting a bit closer to the problem!
I’m wondering if the person who logs in from work….and then goes home….is allowed to still log in, but yet cannot post? That is, somehow the work IP is stuck in somewhere…...

I often log in from multiple computers and other locations while my home computers are still logged in, but then again I am Superadmin.

From the settings:
“Allow multiple log-ins from a single account?
Determines whether more than one person can simultaneously access the system using the same user account. Note: If your Session Type above is set to “Cookies Only” this feature will not work.”

My session type IS cookies only…...then again, if setting it differently causes another problem here and there, I don’t want to do that!

Security settings enclosed….

Extensions? Nothing fancy…nothing related to the forum, but I have member utilities, custom field in tags and tracker…..and videoplug and user. Videoplug is the only one used in the forums, and also this problem occurred before installation of user, member util and tracker, so I don’t think they are responsible.

Hi Craig,

Which version of the Forum module do you have installed?

Cheers

Greg

2.1.2

Anyone have any hints yet?
I have a couple more reports - and asked the last one if he was logged in from another computer - he was, although logging out from that one did not solve the problem - and, my settings should allow multiple logins!

It appears from the small amount of data I have, that it seems to be happening more to folks who have multiple computers…either in the same house, or one at home and one at work. But, as I said before, I often am logged in from multiple computers…...

So, first question is whether anyone has a long term answer?
Second question is for any advice that I could get to fix them one by one! The client tried to log out and log in, etc…..any hints on something I might do to their account to flush out all this stuff? One even tried deleting cookies and using another browser…no luck.

Help!

Hi, Craig. Is there any sort of commonality in the browsers, operating system, etc?

Have you tried setting yourself up a general Member login to test with?

No commonality - various browsers and computers tried - even in the same household (PC and Mac) - problem persists.

I have some regular accounts, but since this is a 1 in 100 or less, that would not indicate much - that is, most people can post most of the time.

I know this is reaching, but I asked the people to try to plug directly into their cable or DSL Modem to eliminate any wireless burps!

Another hint is that it seems to happen more when our server is busier - that is, at this time of year we run server loads of 5-6 quite often (dual CPU)....which is not too bad. In general, our forum is as quick or quicker than this one, however, that has not been true for the last couple days….or maybe even weeks, because we get a spurt when it first gets cold.

I may try a server restart at some point….but will at least restart the processes today and see if that flushes anything.

Yet another possible hint is that, so far, the reported cases are a slight distance away from the server. This could be coincidence - but one was Alaska, one is Winnipeg - one was Midwest….server is in Philly!

Our heaviest readership is in the NE, so it stands to reason we would normally get more complaints from close by…....

Problem is getting worse and worse. Lots of reports of similar problems today. Some of them are right around the corner from me, so scratch the idea that it is only far away.

Having run out of options….and having not even a hint of what exactly that message applies to, I’m going to try a server restart and pray….