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No problems here using Win2003 and Firefox 3
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When I went to reply to Smokie just now... I got the old problem again. The odd thing is I know it's partly a PC problem and not a site problem...
It often happens when I try to reply to a post, as happened just now but:
- This site will not respond at all for me on that PC when it happens for a few minutes
- Any other website is fine and works
- If I go to another PC (or even a virtual PC on the same desktop) they work for this site
- Try any other browser on the PC (IE6, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) and none work
But still I cannot access this site. It is very odd. Then after a few minutes it is fine. It also happens on my laptop. So not just a particular PC.
I was wondering with smokie and myself being on Virgin Media if that is anything to do with it. What is frustrating is I work in IT and have not figured out why the problem happens yet...
Now it seems to be affecting more people I will investigate.
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Im on virgin ADSL if that helps. Been getting problem off and on all day, all other sites ok.
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Tiscali, Linux, Firefox - no issues
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I'm on Virgin too. Curious.
And every now and then it posts my replies one message below that intended. I thought it was me, but now I'm not so sure.
Edited by bathtub tom on 29/01/2009 at 15:19
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FWIW it's happening on my desktop PC now (or was a couple of mins ago) so I switched to the laptop and it seems OK. Will mail some tech info...
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Thanks - always appreciated.
Turns out no server had actually crashed as we could reboot normally. However something had clearly knackered the network interface stopping any outside access. Then because it hasn't been rebooted in a while it forced a disk check. Being virtualised we can't see that but only that the guest virtual machines aren't responding. So after the disk check all was ok and nothing lost.
We happened to notice that all our other servers were having real go slows at around the same time - so clearly some network issues going on at the time which maybe caused the problem on the HJ server.
----------------------------------
Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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Has anyone ever raised this problem before, as I have had this intermittent problem for quite a while ??
Maybe useful for people to post ISP, Date & Time when it occurs.
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.. Turns out no server had actually crashed .. >>
Clearly that was the problem in the period after 12 noon and before 13.00 hrs today.
The original problem and the one which backroomers on Virgin/NTL isp are reporting is something different. May I suggest that those affected try to change their dns server over to
www.opendns.com/homenetwork/start/
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Don't believe it's a DNS problem. I can perform a successful tracert even when the problem is apparent. If it was a DNS problem it wouldn't know how to route me.
A short while back it appeared to be happening again, so I shot across to my work lappy (connected via same router etc) intending to fire up the VPN (which comes out in Belgium) but it was fine, on my regular Virgin connection.
I'll try your alternative DNS anyway. It certainly used to be true that the NTL ones were flaky.
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It is not DNS because I can resolve the IP address when it happens. Also my work laptop, iPod Touch, Nokia e51 will work using the same Internet connection when it goes wrong. Likewise if it happens on the laptop the desktop (and virtual machines) is fine.
I still think something happens which stops browsing and it eventually "times out". When this site stops responding to HTTP requests for me, all other sites are fine.
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Just happened again.
ISP/Date/Time: Virgin Media Thu 29/1/09 17:50
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And again - virgin ADSL, 29/1, 18:50
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And I had a problem earlier... around 16:50 (ish). Virgin Media. And I had the temporary "ad free" connection to try as a mod. Same problem.
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Been fine for me for weeks now. Had problems back along as some others did with login memory being lost but no recent problems at all. I don't understand some of the jargon, initials and other Swahili being quoted above which might be why mine still works......
;-)
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May I suggest that those affected try to change their dns server over to www.opendns.com/homenetwork/start/
Due to the stunning reliability of AOL's dns servers I have been using open dns
for a while:
208.67.222.222
208.67.222.220
The HJ site problem still stands.
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I have been using open dns for a while: 208.67.222.222 208.67.222.220 The HJ site problem still stands. >>
So that chucks my theory down the drain.
I use ad-filtering [via ip address blocks in my firewall] as per Steven Khoo's hint, but the same filter applied by rtj70 did not stop him getting the error. So that theory does not work either.
I am on talktalk and AOL is now part of talktalk too.
However, I have not seen any errors while using Vista or XP with IE7. [Firefox freezes/hangs on all sites including HJ on all my PCs after 30 minutes use regardless of XP, Vista, wireless or wired connections. So I do not generally use Firefox].
I have pop-ups stopped via IE7.
Until a common theme is found in all those who are getting the error, it is going to be difficult to pin down the cause.
Edited by jbif on 29/01/2009 at 21:12
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I wonder if it's anything to do with IE and the cookies used by the honestjohn site? Might be worth deleting the honestjohn cookies when it happens and see if that makes the site load again. If not then I would try restarting IE after deleting the cookies and see if that helps.
I don't normally use IE but I'll try using it to see if I can reproduce this issue.
Edited by merlin on 29/01/2009 at 21:59
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Happens in other browsers too...
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Well that's another idea gone up in smoke...
Seems very odd but could it be some sort of locking issue deep within the bowels of Windows? That's the only way I can think other browsers would be effected at the same time. So if you reboot Windows does that fix the issue?
Anyone know if you can ping honestjohn.co.uk when this happens?
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It effects windows mobile as well, it really isnt a good idea having access to the forum on a mobile.
Which leads me onto this error message which I sometimes get on the phone but more importantly I just got the message on the PC.
Windows Internet Explorer
Error: the xajax Javascript file could not be included. Perhaps the URL in incorrect?
URL: /js/xajax_js/xajax.js
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Microsoft have a knowledgebase article that might be worth going through when this happens - see tinyurl.com/2e8sso
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Anyone know if you can ping honestjohn.co.uk when this happens?
Yes I know the answer. It is pingable and therefore not a name resolution problem via DNS.
Not done the reboot (why would I have to other web sites work as does Linux or Windows in VMWARE... and other devicees like my laptop).
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That web page might help some merlin if they use IE7, but for me it can fail for IE6, Firefox, Safari or Chrome. Keep thinking of ideas though,
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> Not done the reboot (why would I have to other web sites work as does Linux or Windows in VMWARE... and other devicees like my laptop).
Agreed - you shouldn't have to. Rebooting is not a long term solution. It's just a way of trying to get more clues as to what is causing the issue. Judging by other peoples comments it sounds like it's within the O/S and not DNS/router/internet etc. If rebooting fixes it then that's more evidence that it's something within the O/S.
Edited by merlin on 30/01/2009 at 00:53
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Other websites work so it is an HJ site issue. That is how I see it.
I am also a moderator here and as of tonight have an ad free link to try. Nope same problem. So not ads.
Over to Khoo Systems for ideas then.
Edited by rtj70 on 30/01/2009 at 01:00
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Other websites work so it is an HJ site issue. That is how I see it. I am also a moderator here and as of tonight have an ad free link to try. Nope same problem. So not ads. Over to Khoo Systems for ideas then.
If you're a moderator, it must drive you NUTS !!
It disappears & you lose contact for an indefinite period.
When it happens to me, I'm not sure what's going on & when I will be able to continue with what I was doing.
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> I am also a moderator here and as of tonight have an ad free link
> to try. Nope same problem. So not ads.
>
> Over to Khoo Systems for ideas then.
The IE No Add-ons mode is worth a try IMHO as described at tinyurl.com/2e8sso. I know many problems I've had in the past with browsing have been caused by add-ons. I'm curious about deleting the browser history too. I doubt that will help but if MS are suggesting it then they must have had problems in that area.
Another thing to try for someone technical is to install cygwin including wget. Then try using wget to download the honestjohn home page and see if that has the issue too.
Edited by merlin on 30/01/2009 at 01:20
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Well that's another idea gone up in smoke... Seems very odd but could it be some sort of locking issue deep within the bowels of Windows? That's the only way I can think other browsers would be effected at the same time. So if you reboot Windows does that fix the issue?
No, that points to a problem with honestjohn website & servers.
Edited by peter973 on 30/01/2009 at 00:41
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> No, that points to a problem with honestjohn website & servers.
Assuming you are dismissing my point about a problem in Windows and not saying that rebooting doesn't fix it, then I think this is unlikely given the comment above:
"- If I go to another PC (or even a virtual PC on the same desktop) they work for this site"
Having said that there must be something odd about what the honestjohn site is doing to cause the browser to be unable to display the page in the first place.
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Rebooting or going to a different Pc creates a different setup.
If you're getting a regular problem with only one website across a number of users with different PCs, it points to a problem possibly with that website.
That's why I started the thread as it was annoying me & I wanted to see if others were getting same problem.
That way I could more likely say it was a problem with HJ than my Pc.
Because there are so many variables with Pcs & the internet it can be difficult to pinpoint the problem & it's easy to wrongly start changing things on your Pc, when the problem is elsewhere on the internet or at the website.
Other forums have similiar problems.
I don't know how many users HJ can handle at same time, but would think it's a problem with website, servers, forum software.
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It seems likely to me that there is a problem with the honestjohn website that is getting your system into a state where it cannot display the page.
> Rebooting or going to a different Pc creates a different setup.
Going to a different browser should have the same effect but people are reporting that when they try a second browser it is effected too. This suggests the problem is something common used by all the browsers. The honestjohn site works ok when moving to a different computer or even a virtual machine on the same computer. This IMO suggests an issue with the underlying O/S caused by something the HJ site is doing.
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an issue with the underlying O/S caused by something the HJ site is doing.
OR caused by what HJ is NOT doing.
HJ Website/Servers/Forum Software vs Microsoft O/S
You're misiing out the connection to the internet & problems handling possibly thousands of user interrogating/searching the website & forum.
Edited by peter973 on 30/01/2009 at 02:40
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Yes it's something along these lines.
it seems:
1) it isn't browser specific - so not at that layer
2) it is OS specific - as Macs don't seem to have the issue. Don't know about Linux.
3) it happens periodically - so an underlying network issue in the PC regarding that site.
4) only happens on HJ site for most users - as that is probably what they are looking at most and that has the issue.
5) HJ site pingable when problem active. The question here is did you ping the IP or the web address.
It may be a DNS issue with IPV6 where the OS is trying to either lookup or do a reverse lookup on the domain. Some posts on the net suggest looking for this in Network connections and disabling. Don't do all IP connections or you will lose the lot!
Will keep looking in the meanwhile.
----------------------------------
Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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Edited by Pugugly on 30/01/2009 at 22:18
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Agree with most of this although not sure about 4). I have a wide variety of sites that I visit including HJ. Recently I have been researching a possible new car purchase so I have spent a lot of time on HJ and never seen the issue - but then I do use Firefox.
Edited by Pugugly on 30/01/2009 at 22:19
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5) HJ site pingable when problem active. The question here is did you ping the IP or the web address
Site name. (www.honestjohn.co.uk)
Edited by smokie on 30/01/2009 at 10:36
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Stephen,
I was just about to post the following re the OS-
//
For what its worth I have been viewing this site on a pre-intel Mac running OSx 2.8 using Firefox say a over several years couple of times a day, not in the wee small hours tho', and have never had this particular problem. As an experiment I used Safari with no apparent problems either.
As a non-techie not sure if that that helps!
//
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For what its worth I have been viewing this site on a pre-intel Mac running OSx 2.8 using Firefox say a over several years couple of times a day not in the wee small hours tho' and have never had this particular problem. As an experiment I used Safari with no apparent problems either.
Thanks for info. We are using Intel Macs here and have never encountered the problem.
Mind you our "virtual" pc with IE6 doesn't seem to have the problem either. But that machine doesn't have firewall or any other third party virus or internet filtering software installed. It's a vanilla pc with vanilla IE6 just for checking out the HJ site and anything else we are working on. We also have a similar vanilla 'virtual' XP SP2 IE7 machine that also doesn't seem have any issues. Having said that, we don't use the PC day in day out for browsing the HJ site, so maybe the problem would appear if we did that.
----------------------------------
Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
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2) it is OS specific - as Macs don't seem to have the issue. Don't know about Linux.
Any Linux users seen it? I haven't.
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Nope - never seen it at home (Debian Linux), but lost the site briefly at work yesterday (WinXP). That was the first time I've seen the problem though.
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Seem OK today, if it has been fixed please tell us great unwashed how. Words of one syllable for us non IT literates please.
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No viruses, trojan or incompatible software here. We will no doubt get to the bottom of this at some point.
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Like I said earlier, mine works fine but I am so much of an IT dinosaur I couldn't begin to speculate why. If anyone wants to ask me questions about my system to try to establish what it is causing it to be efficient I would be happy to try to answer them. Please do though bear in mind that I do not understand IT jargon or initials etc.
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Thanks HJ, This laptop is only used for browsing and email and has an anti virus and spyware system installed which updates every 3 hours. I have changed nothing at my end for weeks. Scans reveal no problems.
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Are you sure the problem is not hardware related? - a faulty ethernet adapter / cable/ router..............
Hardware is reliable but not 100% reliable.
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Hardware is reliable but not 100% reliable. >>
I have a wifi network at home, all the oily bits check out. (Motoring link?)
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>> Hardware is reliable but not 100% reliable. >> I have a wifi network at home all the oily bits check out. (Motoring link?)
I did not mean the hardware on specific PCs but the Khoosys servers = Ethernet cards, SCSI drives, adapters, backplane etc - hanging, delayed response can be hardware based!
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I did not mean the hardware on specific PCs but the Khoosys servers = Ethernet cards SCSI drives adapters backplane etc - hanging delayed response can be hardware based!
FB - You lost me after PCs.
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Except for me, when it stops working on one machine it still works on another using the same Internet connection. And works for a virtual machine on the affected PC too. And any other webiste still responds. It's as if this one stops responding to a particular MAC address (all machines share the same IP via my router).
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I would be tempted to bing the machine down. Unplug and re-plug all SCSI adapters, disk connection cables and then re-boot!
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Is that a suggestion to me or all? No problem on any other website at all. So no need to "fix" anything on my PC. When this website fails all others still work. Not sure what you are really suggesting FB.
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My problem seems to have fixed itself, so I will put it down to IT magic, smoke and mirrors.
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It happened to me again (XP and Firefox) a few minutes ago. Always a glitch, never lasts too long. Traffic jam perhaps.
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Old Navy's problem may well be that his anti virus and spyware updates are not compatible with something on the site.
That is the wrong way at looking at the problem. The website may not be compatible with PCs. I say this as someone who has worked in IT for a long time and been involved for about 30 years. Cars I might not know so much about the technical bits but computers I do.
Edited by rtj70 on 30/01/2009 at 20:33
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Should this now be moved to 'computer related questions'?
Mods?
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Thought about doing this earlier, but it's a bit too long, it's be a volume in it's own right.
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I suggest we lock this as read only for now. We know there is a problem and as a mod I am also affected. So want it fixing and will work with the site admin to work out the problem. No promises in time frame etc.
So at 100 replies it's about to be read only. We know there is a problem which may or may not be site related.
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