Unusual Problems

Bird · Mar 28, 2008

Last night and tonight, TBN seems slow, and when I've clicked on the "Submit" to post a message, I frequently get

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, you@example.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

The "back" button is not an option, but when I go back to the thread in question, my post is there.

Inspector507 · Mar 28, 2008

Bird,
I have been getting them all this week when just trying to view a thread. The back button takes me back and another click takes me to the new post, most of the time. Sometimes it shows them as already viewed.

RobS · Mar 28, 2008

I've been getting the same thing Bird, and noticed the slowdown as well. I have observed that the error message only comes when I reply using the "quote" button, not when I use the quick reply option.

Bird · Mar 28, 2008

RobS said:
I've been getting the same thing Bird, and noticed the slowdown as well. I have observed that the error message only comes when I reply using the "quote" button, not when I use the quick reply option.

The last time I got that error message, I was not using the "quote" as I am now, and since then I've been unable to get back to the message I posted.

OK, now I'll edit this post. I did not get that error message when I posted the above message.

RobS · Mar 28, 2008

Bird said:
The last time I got that error message, I was not using the "quote" as I am now, and since then I've been unable to get back to the message I posted.

OK, now I'll edit this post. I did not get that error message when I posted the above message.

Test, using quote reply...

... edit: That worked just fine, though it was slow to respond.

RobS · Mar 28, 2008

Another test, quick reply...

... edit: again, fine. Not slow to respond this time.

Bird · Mar 28, 2008

Must be those gremlins at it again, Rob. A few minutes ago I could not get back to see a message I had posted, so I did a "search" for messages posted by me since yesterday and got the same error message. However, I then went to the main index, to related topics, then to the thread I had posted in and the message was there.

Pushing_Tin · Mar 29, 2008

I was not posting, just browsing and got the message.

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, you@example.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

billbill1 · Mar 29, 2008

I work nights and use TBN for entertainment on my nights off work. Every night at around 2:00 am, that message will pop up and after 15 minutes or so, everything is back to normal. I wondered if the system is "backing up" at that time every night?

Skyco · Mar 29, 2008

Ditto on the problems of late. I've even been unable to get to the site at all a few times recently...get a timeout. Then a minute later I connect.
Hope this isn't a predictor of a future system crash.......

Hakim · Mar 29, 2008

Thanks to all reporting these issues. They are somewhat intermittent, but we have been able to reproduce them in various circumstances.

Our top troubleshooters are investigating, and we hope to have the matters resolved soon.

Thanks for your help.

Hakim · Mar 29, 2008

billbill1 said:
I work nights and use TBN for entertainment on my nights off work. Every night at around 2:00 am, that message will pop up and after 15 minutes or so, everything is back to normal. I wondered if the system is "backing up" at that time every night?

Bill,

Yes, various maintenance routines are performed each night. It can last for a couple of minutes to a half an hour. During that time, if you happen to cross paths with a heavy load routine, you might get a timeout, or an error message. But it appears that some other tweaks are needed, since the reports of errors are more numerous that would normally occur during rebuilds and backups.

We will soon be making various major updates to the basic software engine, plus some new user and moderator features that, we think, will be sure to delight all.

In the "good old days" dealing with problems like those mentioned in this thread were a matter of a couple of minutes to fix. Now with the size and complexity of things, we have to tread more lightly.

But rest assured that we are looking into it, and do truly appreciate your telling us about your problems. It helps.

Pushing_Tin · Mar 29, 2008

Thanks for keeping us updated Hakim!

Wayne County Hose · Mar 29, 2008

Boy, a sigh of relief. I thought I had issues with both of my computers.

Hakim, I was on another forum that had this issue. The servers crashed and all info was lost. this actually happened twice. Any chance of that here? This was about 5 years ago, I'm hoping programs have improved.

billbill1 · Mar 30, 2008

Hakim, thank you for the responce.

Hakim · Mar 30, 2008

Wayne County Hose said:
Hakim, I was on another forum that had this issue. The servers crashed and all info was lost. this actually happened twice. Any chance of that here? This was about 5 years ago, I'm hoping programs have improved.

Actually we have had a couple of hard drive failures that required a full rebuild of all data. Fortunately, we have always had good backup systems and procedures --- and we use them! As I recall the most data we ever lost was a few hours of posts. But ... it sure is SCARY.

It has been several years since such episodes, but we pay special attention to server errors for which it is not easy to pinpoint the cause.

Backups...you just have to have them.

Muhammad · Mar 30, 2008

We hope to have corrected the internal server error problem. If you get it again or experience any slow loading or things out of the ordinary, please report them.

Ibrahim · Mar 30, 2008

We have a few more things to check up. So the slow loading might not be all gone just yet. But hopefully the Internal Server Errors _are_

Let us know if they pop up anywhere.

-Ibrahim

Inspector507 · Mar 30, 2008

I have only gotten it twice today, but also got a "Database Error" earlier today. I didn't do a screen shot because I know you're working on things over there.