could not connect to error

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jezza

could not connect to error

Post by jezza »

Been getting this quite alot over the past two weeks. Using chrome and FF on linux mint 9.

Screenshot-1.png
kata

Re: could not connect to error

Post by kata »

Try taking out your last software or apt, something may be causing a conflict,

icon_cheers
Kristen

Re: could not connect to error

Post by Kristen »

My thought is that if it was something on Jezza's machine it would be effecting more than just the one site.

I've not had any problems connecting (and I tend to check in several times during day and evening) so I don't think the site has been down (or I've been lucky!)

So on that basis it is more likely to be something downstream from Jezza

Other possibility is that DNS is getting mucked up (which could be "halfway" downstream). I've had that happen before where I could not connect to a single specific site because the DNS was wrong at my ISP. However, that type of error is normally permanent until fixed. I discovered it by doing

ping domainname.com

and discovering I got a different IP address [resolved] to other people. Might be worth trying that when it is "down" and comparing to when it is "up". I dunno didly-squit about Linux etc. but on Windows there is a HOSTS file in which I can put domain name + IP address, and it will use that to resolve a name in preference to the DNS server downstream, but that is presupposing that the problem you have is DNS ... no doubt there are a million other things it could be.
kata

Re: could not connect to error

Post by kata »

No site 404 here at all for some weeks.

As I said Kristen, it could be a dodgy install of 'something'...apt or programe.

Also is the linux mint 9 still in beta.

Can you not go back in history like in Windows ?

icon_cheers
flounder

Re: could not connect to error

Post by flounder »

Try manually typing the HTUK address, could just be a dodgy link
GoggleboxUK

Re: could not connect to error

Post by GoggleboxUK »

^ What he said ;)

It looks as though you have bookmarked a page which may no longer exist. This can happen if you bookmark a View New Posts page or after clicking a particular forum page using a Show New button.

Google HTUK, select the Forum Home location option (2nd one down) then update your bookmark. That should sort it out.
Kristen

Re: could not connect to error

Post by Kristen »

GoggleboxUK wrote:It looks as though you have bookmarked a page which may no longer exist.
Don't think so - the screen print isn't a 404 error, its looks more like a DNS error (or a physical connection problem of some kind)

But as with all such IT things the manifestation of the error might not be related to the actual problem!

However, if the intermittent nature of the error is in some way related to "how" the connection to HTUK is attempted that might point to a solution.

If possible worth trying another PC on the same ADSL connection [when the first PC is showing the site as "not available"]
jezza

Re: could not connect to error

Post by jezza »

Goggle found the problem, the bookmark was an old one which had the url as .co.uk/forum/index.php, It's the bookmark that i backed up when i first joined here in 2008 so is 4 years old :lol: After going through google and re-bookmarking the url is now .co.uk/forum/ the 'index.php' is no longer there. It's been fine this morning.

icon_thumright
flounder

Re: could not connect to error

Post by flounder »

icon_cheers
Kristen

Re: could not connect to error

Post by Kristen »

jezza wrote:Goggle found the problem, the bookmark was an old one which had the url as .co.uk/forum/index.php, It's the bookmark that i backed up when i first joined here in 2008 so is 4 years old :lol: After going through google and re-bookmarking the url is now .co.uk/forum/ the 'index.php' is no longer there. It's been fine this morning.
/forum/index.php
and
/forum/

are synonymous (in this context) ... so wait&see I guess.

Re-saving the bookmark may well have tickled the DNS, if nothing else, so that might be a cure in&of itself icon_thumleft

Fingers crossed :)
jezza

Re: could not connect to error

Post by jezza »

It would go for days with no problems then i'd have a few days in succession with the problem. However click 'forum list' in any topic and it takes it back to 'index.php'. It would happen more often after clearing the cache, or maybe that is just coincidence.
Kristen

Re: could not connect to error

Post by Kristen »

jezza wrote:It would happen more often after clearing the cache, or maybe that is just coincidence.
Might indicate that the DNS was part of the information cached, and clearing cache would then "lose" that and force a fresh lookup - which then failed for whatever reason.

If clearing cache doesn't delete a whole bunch of other stuff (your passwords and the like) you could try inducing the error by doing the clear-cache thing as often as you can be bothered, for a bit; if that does induce the problem its not fixed ... if not, or if its too much faff, all you can do is see if it reoccurs again anytime soon.

Hopefully it was a side effect of something that has now gone away.

Any of your COMMs kit (router / ADSL thingie, etc) changed recently?

Other devices been added that are using your router (wirelessly, probably)? They might have decided they should be in charge of DNS in some fashion ...

But anything related to the DNS being bust would normally manifest itself with lots of [different] sites behaving in the same goofy manner - if its just the HTUK site, and other folk on HTUK don't have the problem (**), its either something corrupted on your PC (but then I would expect it to fail 100% of the time) or something [most probably the DNS] mucked-up downstream from you.

For example, it is likely that the folk that provide the DNS Resolution to you (well, to your ISP and then to you) have a Primary and a Secondary computer to handle the load; lets assume that the secondary has a duff copy of the IP address for HTUK - so when your computer asks your ISP for name resolution of "HTUK" then if it happens to get the answer from the Secondary DNS Server you are hosed :( (And your PC will cache that IP address for some time ...)

That's the thing you could work-around by putting the IP address in your "HOSTS" file, but I'm afraid I have no idea what the equivalent is on Linux :( and it might not even be that specific problem.

(**) if people have recently disappeared from HTUK they may have the same problem but no means of connecting to say so! :(
jezza

Re: could not connect to error

Post by jezza »

Virgin are my isp. They have recently doubled the speeds but i can't see how that would cause issues on just one site icon_scratch I was with BT until last year and their service was horrendous. I would get these errors and 404 errors on all sites.

My eldest son runs his macbook wireless and the mrs with her iphone, neither have any problems. Only myself on mint 9 and my other son on mint 11 run on ethernet cables. My son running ethernet does get the occasional hang where pages take a while to load but he's always playing online games.

I'll see how it goes this week and report back icon_thumright
GoggleboxUK

Re: could not connect to error

Post by GoggleboxUK »

I think the reason why it worked intermittently could be that whenever new posts were made within the forum you bookmarked it had something to point to, otherwise it dodn't know what the hell you were asking it to show you and so it just crapped out.

:lol:

Not a system or a server error but more of a content malady. Kind of like the lightswitch being redundant when the bulb has been taken out.
jezza

Re: could not connect to error

Post by jezza »

To report...not had a single problem since changing the bookmark. All appears good.
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