Database Error Last Night & This Morning

[aislin]

Hi all,

I got an email last night from a member saying they were seeing a database error,  I was on my phone and tried the site... and didn't see the error so I thought the error had probably sorted itself out. (You'd be surprised how often that is the case.) I was looking into it this morning and was able to reproduce the error as well as get the forum to give me the error information.

Basically? It wasn't a database error. Thanks super misleading message! An anti-spammer add on that the forum has been using for years apparently errored out. I'm not entirely sure why, but I uninstalled it and everything now appears to be back to normal.

If you want the long technical explanation, we were using a honey pot as a first level filter for spammers. We don't actually store the honey pot database, it is all run through a large repository that many websites and developers use and contribute to. Something somewhere either in the add on's code or on the repository's database intake system, caused the program to error out because it didn't like the input the add on was sending it. Why it couldn't have just submitted this into the forum error log and not cause EVERYONE to see it, I don't know. It's not world endingly important to the forum's operation, it just helps stop 200 random bots from China from suddenly being on the forum all at once. I may poke at it tonight or try to reinstall it and see what happens, or I may just see how we do without it.

aislin

[Emer Dreamer]

 Thanks  Lindsey. I  thought  there  was  something  maybe  wrong  with  my computer. I'm glad  this  is  not  the  case  and I'm  glad  you  got  it  sorted  out.   

[CWazyTom]

I've been getting errors posting most of the day.

A common one is:

"Session verification failed. Please try logging out and back in again, and then try again."

 If I try logging out, I also get an error.

I flushed my browser cache and it appears to be working fine for the moment.

[aislin]

CWazyTom,

A session verification error is almost universally the sign of a bad cookie. Basically, the login info stored in your cookie is corrupted in some way or was malformed last time it was updated. As you've cleared your cache (and probably your cookies in the process) you shouldn't see anymore errors.

If you start seeing any other errors, please let me know.

aislin

[Jim M.]

I have 2 laptops which WERE working fine for the forum, but NOW don't.  I can't get anything.  Both were using Internet Explorer. 
I recently put Google Chrome on this one and it took me here on the first try.  I'm not a computer guy so I don't know why it works this way.
My tablet has Chrome and it let me on the forum, also, but with a small touch screen and large fingers it is hard to navigate the pages.

[CWazyTom]

I have 2 laptops which WERE working fine for the forum, but NOW don't.  I can't get anything.  Both were using Internet Explorer.  
I recently put Google Chrome on this one and it took me here on the first try.  I'm not a computer guy so I don't know why it works this way.
My tablet has Chrome and it let me on the forum, also, but with a small touch screen and large fingers it is hard to navigate the pages.

Hey Jim,

When you're using Internet Explorer, what's happening. Blank page? Error message?

I take it the problem is still happening on Internet Explorer after clearing the browser cache / cookies?

Do you have a mobile device or computer that has an Internet Explorer instance that hasn't been to the forum before? I suspect that will work. Internet Explorer works for me.

[Jim M.]

I get an error message.  "Website down for mtce. or server problem".
I don't know how to clear the browser cache.  IE will not let me go to the forum.
All my computers have been on the forum before.

[CWazyTom]

I get an error message.  "Website down for mtce. or server problem".
I don't know how to clear the browser cache.  IE will not let me go to the forum.
All my computers have been on the forum before.

The steps differ a bit depending on the version of Internet Explorer, but here's one set of steps (there are probably better ones somewhere):
https://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=15141

If the steps above aren't working out because the settings and menus are in different spots, I can probably find more accurate steps knowing the version of Internet Explorer you're running:
https://www.lifewire.com/what-version-of-internet-explorer-do-i-have-2617990

[Jim M.]

OK, thank you.  I will try them later.

[CWazyTom]

I'm still getting session verification errors frequently.

It seems to happen most often if I try to quote a post or Mark a post unread. It happens when replying to posts too, although sometimes I can reply when I can neither mark a post unread or quote the post.

It's been happening in multiple browsers and on multiple mobile and desktop devices this week.

Flushing the cache and cookies, then re-launching the browser works consistently as a workaround, but the issue does seem to re-occur after a few hours within the same browser for which the workaround was applied.

Anyone else running into this?

[Jim M.]

Yes

[Emer Dreamer]

Yes

ME  ... very  frequently ...   

[Jim M.]

I have now added Google Chrome to the 2 laptops I use the most.  This seems to be the only way I can access the forum.

[Emer Dreamer]

I have now added Google Chrome to the 2 laptops I use the most.  This seems to be the only way I can access the forum.

I found  that  if  I  hit  "preview"  first, then the bug  works  itself  out. I have  chrome  as  well.   

[Jim M.]

My oldest laptop -- 11+ years old with Windows XP -- still goes to the forum with no problem (with IE).
My 2 newer laptops both have Windows 7.