Simple Machines Community Forum

SMF Support => SMF 2.0.x Support => Topic started by: Angelotus on August 11, 2008, 08:09:09 AM

Title: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 11, 2008, 08:09:09 AM
Hi there. In this casus remind that I use Internet Explorer.

This is the problem:

My website www.weeklyfun.nl (http://www.weeklyfun.nl) is hosted at one.com. At home I have no problems reaching my site, but at work my I can not reach my site on various of occasions. I have asked one.com an explanation, but is is not a issue of their servers. There are no misconfigurations or what so ever. I have given them times of my encountered errors, but on their server they can't find a thing. Which already suspected.

All other websites using SMF I have no problems encountered at my work.

But before I used SMF I didn't encountered any problems at work.

When the site is 'offline' and I wait a few minutes then it works fine, but after a few minutes it get 'offline' again.

I have checked the network at work, and that is fine to. So what is wrong, what could be the problem, and most of all, how can it be solved???
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: NickC on August 11, 2008, 10:13:48 AM
Can you ping the IP and the domain name? Sounds like a DNS issue to me.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 11, 2008, 10:40:00 AM
Uhm, how do I do that?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: NickC on August 11, 2008, 10:49:00 AM
Assuming you're using Windows, from a Command Prompt (Start, Accessories, Command Prompt):

C:>ping your IP site's address (e.g. 192.168.0.1)

That will almost certainly work.

Then:

C:>ping yourdomainname.com

If that can't be resolved on the DNS server your company is using, then you're on to something. It should come back with the IP address.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 11, 2008, 11:38:58 AM
Ok, thanks, I'll try that out tomorrow!
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 12, 2008, 04:38:00 AM
Well, my host has turned off the ping function, so pinging is not a option. I have send them a email with the problem, although I don't think it is theirs.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 12, 2008, 06:40:30 AM
Hi, I found out that whenever a form (like a login, or quick reply or edit theme) is in the document then the site goes offline at work. Could that have to do something with this problem?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 12, 2008, 10:56:07 AM
Why not do a tracert?
I believe you type in the comand prompt "tracert www.yourdomain.com" but I don't have access to anything here at school to find out.

Do it on the time it's down, and send it to your host. They may have changed something that caused it (and hopefully be able to fix it).
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 12, 2008, 04:49:04 PM
I have no clue what you are talking about but I will try that out tomorrow :P I hope it helps :( I'm pretty desperate on this now...
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 12, 2008, 07:53:14 PM
I know how that can feel!

I dunno what a ping is, but if I have any idea I'd reckon a ping would show the time, not the route like a tracert does.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 15, 2008, 02:56:21 AM
Well, strange thing. I turned of the WYSIWYG editor and now it all works fine. So my guess is that it has to do with the wysiwyg editor.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 15, 2008, 10:21:31 AM
That IS rather strange. Perhaps your work was blocking some script or code it uses or something?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 15, 2008, 10:51:25 AM
Well, although the site works better now, the problem is not fully solved. The issue still remains, not quite as often as before, but it still remains...
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 15, 2008, 05:24:39 PM
Does your office have any blockers or firewalls?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 16, 2008, 02:44:37 AM
Yes it does. And my guess is also that it has to do something with that firewall...
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 16, 2008, 02:54:10 AM
What version/software is it?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 17, 2008, 08:21:46 AM
McAfee, but which version I am not sure.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 17, 2008, 01:46:01 PM
Hmm....

Does it seem to only block parts of your site? Like the PM screen, admin screen, or the entire thing?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: SwapsRulez on August 17, 2008, 01:57:35 PM
Add the exception of your site to the Content filtering section or something similar and try out after that. It generally happens when Firewall or Antivirus blocks some sites depending on the contents or word filter. :D

See if that works. If you are not sure where to add exception, disable your antivirus for few seconds and quickly try for opening the site. :D
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 17, 2008, 02:20:29 PM
Quote from: SwapsRulez on August 17, 2008, 01:57:35 PM
Add the exception of your site to the Content filtering section or something similar and try out after that. It generally happens when Firewall or Antivirus blocks some sites depending on the contents or word filter. :D

See if that works. If you are not sure where to add exception, disable your antivirus for few seconds and quickly try for opening the site. :D

If he can, it's at work :(
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: SwapsRulez on August 17, 2008, 02:33:09 PM
Quote from: Jade on August 17, 2008, 02:20:29 PM
If he can, it's at work :(

Problem is solved ? Can we know the solution. :P
Also @Jade, will proxies work in these case ? I think YES. :D
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: NickC on August 17, 2008, 05:19:36 PM
I had this problem a couple of years ago. It didn't happen at home using the same notebook, so that rules out anything on the client, such as antivirus software, and it was intermittent, so it was unlikely to be a firewall rule.

I eventually put it down to a DNS problem, because it went away when I changed host (again ruling out the possibility of it being a firewall issue), but that's just a guess.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 18, 2008, 02:50:45 AM
I´ve been to a Maiden concert, sorry for not responding. Problem is not solved. I have no sufficient access to edit the firewall settings at work. What NickC tells me is what I think it is. At home I use the same firewall and settings and have no problems there.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 18, 2008, 10:28:41 AM
Okay then, onto a new host :)
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 19, 2008, 10:49:25 AM
Because of the fact the issue still exists I am still trying to find out what it is causing it.
I have set the theme into the default core theme (only for the forums, not outside the forum using ssi).
It all works fine now. No issues anymore. Only when I go outside the forum (ssi) I get the errors.

This seems that the issue is caused by my custom made theme. I am no wizzkid in PHP so the things I have done in my theme could cause these problems.

Maybe (I really hope) I can make someone here admin on my site so he/she can take a look at my theme (modified classic Yabb theme)???
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Rumbaar on August 26, 2008, 08:28:58 PM
The fact it works at home 100% and not at work I would hazard to guess it has to do with the configuration at work.  I know many business have proxies, cache systems and server side firewalls they content filter, ad block and other protections.

Have you tried it at other locations other than work?  If it's just work, it's your network configuration and little we can do to alter/fix blocks they have in place.  They should have logs at your work, can you ask for the logs of your traffic to see what is the issue?
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Jade Elizabeth on August 26, 2008, 08:43:00 PM
Yeah good idea Rumbaar. Try at a library, or a friends house. A wifi cafe even :D.
Title: Re: HELP NEEDED Site not available
Post by: Angelotus on August 27, 2008, 04:39:55 AM
Thanks for the tip Rumbaar. I have indeed tried it at other places and there no troubles there. I have checked the logs and it does seem to have to do with some of the firewall settings. However, my work won't change these settings just for my website ;D lol
So, the problem remains and have to deal with this annoying thing :P