Author Topic: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage  (Read 26960 times)

Offline Phillip Dampier

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[Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« on: May 25, 2008, 11:59:44 am »
Last evening, a planned upgrade of our server by the web hosting company led to the unintended consequence of an IP address change for BetterMost.  We were not warned about this in advance, and since we can't fix it, we're just going to have to stand it for the next 24-48 hours.

Every website name you type into your web browser has a unique numerical address.  It sort of works like a telephone directory.  You know the name of the person you want to reach, but you need to also know the telephone number in order to reach them.  In our case, you know you want to reach BetterMost, but you don't know our "number" in order for your browser to connect with us.  Behind the scenes, when you type in bettermost.net, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is quietly connecting to its own "directory," looking up BetterMost's number and connecting you to it.  These directories are updated by most ISPs several times daily, but many regional and smaller ISPs only do updates every day or two.

Last night, BetterMost's "number" was changed as a consequence of moving us to a new server, and this cut off everyone from being able to reach us because no ISPs knew about our new number.  But as the night progressed into morning, we're seeing more and more of you able to return because your ISP has updated information about how to connect to us.

For many folks, if you look up in your browser's address window, instead of "http://bettermost.net" you are probably now seeing "http://72.233.7.161/forum...."  It's all part of the process of this update now underway.

If you have friends who still cannot reach us, you can tell them our new number until their ISP updates their directory.  Just tell them, for the time being, to reach us at this address:



Everything will be back to normal by late Monday evening, and I'm sorry for the downtime.  The plus side of all of this is we're now on a more powerful server with a faster processor and more memory, which gives us further room to expand.

Thanks!


P.S. - The BetterMost Status site, where you can find updates and report problems is always available at: www.bettermoststatus.info
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Offline Phillip Dampier

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2008, 04:26:30 pm »
If you are having trouble staying logged in or are experiencing other strange errors, it is probably related to the resetting of your cookie here on BetterMost tied to the new IP address.  You should be able to reset it after logging in (it may take two times to do so).  Please report any other issues here for individual help.
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Offline optom3

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2008, 09:50:46 pm »
If you are having trouble staying logged in or are experiencing other strange errors, it is probably related to the resetting of your cookie here on BetterMost tied to the new IP address.  You should be able to reset it after logging in (it may take two times to do so).  Please report any other issues here for individual help.

I cannot get into the chat room.It says I have to install avtive x and then windoes says it has blocked the installation.Help ????
Fiona/optom3

Offline BelAir

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2008, 10:34:37 am »
It usually asks me for my password a second time now.  Seems I could be mistyping it, but it's happen every log in for a few times now (and seems slightly odd that i would always be mistyping it...) 
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2008, 10:53:42 am »
First time I logged in this morning here at work, it asked for my password twice.

Here's the big change for me. Before the server change, I could log in here at work first thing in the morning, and then, no matter how many times during the day I left Bettermost, when I returned to the site I was still logged in, until I logged out at the end of my workday. As of this morning, every time I return to the site, I have to log in.

This is a nuisance, but in the broader scheme of things only a minor nuisance, I guess. But I thought I should report it.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Shasta542

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2008, 10:57:19 am »
There is a place where you log in that lets you put in how long you want to stay logged in, Jeff. That might need to be reset. I don't know if that's what you are talking about, but may be.

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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2008, 11:29:45 am »
There is a place where you log in that lets you put in how long you want to stay logged in, Jeff. That might need to be reset. I don't know if that's what you are talking about, but may be.

Good thought. Thanks.  :D  I'll give it a try, although none of my other settings have changed.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline jstephens9

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2008, 11:42:47 am »
First time I logged in this morning here at work, it asked for my password twice.

Here's the big change for me. Before the server change, I could log in here at work first thing in the morning, and then, no matter how many times during the day I left Bettermost, when I returned to the site I was still logged in, until I logged out at the end of my workday. As of this morning, every time I return to the site, I have to log in.

This is a nuisance, but in the broader scheme of things only a minor nuisance, I guess. But I thought I should report it.

Jeff, It seemed that my log on was doing this too; however, it is now keeping the log in just like it used to.

Offline jstephens9

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2008, 11:50:24 am »
I cannot get into the chat room.It says I have to install avtive x and then windoes says it has blocked the installation.Help ????
Fiona/optom3

It may be that you will need to click on the tan bar right near  the top of the page and allow the browser to install active x. Try that and see if it works.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2008, 12:08:12 pm »
There is a place where you log in that lets you put in how long you want to stay logged in, Jeff. That might need to be reset. I don't know if that's what you are talking about, but may be.

Jeff, It seemed that my log on was doing this too; however, it is now keeping the log in just like it used to.

That doesn't seem to have solved the problem for me just yet. Without logging out, I left the site to actually do some work  :laugh:  and when I came back just now, I had to log in.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Shasta542

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2008, 12:15:56 pm »
That doesn't seem to have solved the problem for me just yet. Without logging out, I left the site to actually do some work  :laugh:  and when I came back just now, I had to log in.


 :laugh: :laugh:

That work crap just gets in the way sometimes!  ;D :P
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2008, 12:20:35 pm »
:laugh: :laugh:

That work crap just gets in the way sometimes!  ;D :P

It sure does!  ;D

Now, here's something interesting. When I came back to the site just now, I needed to log in again. However, when I clicked on the "Log In" button, it logged me in automatically!  :o
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Shasta542

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2008, 12:21:22 pm »
YaY!!  ;)
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Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2008, 12:35:26 pm »
Seems to be an asence of email notification of pms, but it is no biggy.
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Offline optom3

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2008, 01:17:39 pm »
It may be that you will need to click on the tan bar right near  the top of the page and allow the browser to install active x. Try that and see if it works.

I tried that, but it just gives me an error message saying windows has blocked the installation.I think this may be a Mr. computer man fix it problem,unless anyone else has any ideas.I hated windos before,now I really hate it !!!!

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2008, 06:34:18 pm »
Hiya.

I'm no longer permanently signed into the forum here.  It always asks me to log in, and when I start to type my name, the fields fill in with my username and password,  but I must do it each time I come here.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Shasta542

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #16 on: May 27, 2008, 06:37:10 pm »
Did you check that deal that asks if you want to stay logged in forever or always -- something like that? I checked that box for my home computer.
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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #17 on: May 27, 2008, 09:55:47 pm »
Yes.....

In fact, I signed in before and made sure the box said "forever", and then left the site but didn't log out.  When I came back just now, I had to log in again, and once again made sure it said "forever".


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #18 on: May 27, 2008, 10:08:05 pm »
That doesn't seem to have solved the problem for me just yet. Without logging out, I left the site to actually do some work  :laugh:  and when I came back just now, I had to log in.


you did real work?


stop that! You are showing the rest of us up!!  >:( >:(

Offline Shasta542

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #19 on: May 27, 2008, 10:15:21 pm »
Yes.....

In fact, I signed in before and made sure the box said "forever", and then left the site but didn't log out.  When I came back just now, I had to log in again, and once again made sure it said "forever".

:-\ Well, that stinks. It worked for me -- sorry you're having trouble with it. I haven't tried to get into chat yet.
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Offline BelAir

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #20 on: May 27, 2008, 11:19:42 pm »
i had to type the password a second time again tonight...

where is that "forever" thing Shasta?   can I find that button now that i'm logged in, or only in the midst of logging in?
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Offline BelAir

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #21 on: May 27, 2008, 11:21:48 pm »
oh yeah, i also just noticed that at the top where it used to say "you've been logged in for x days hours months" - there's nothing...

 ::)

hmnnn....

so all that time i had accumulated, all gone??? 

 ::)
"— a thirst for life, for love, and for truth..."

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #22 on: May 27, 2008, 11:58:03 pm »
oh yeah, i also just noticed that at the top where it used to say "you've been logged in for x days hours months" - there's nothing...

 ::)

hmnnn....

so all that time i had accumulated, all gone??? 

 ::)


nope! your stats are all still there....dont worry, Phillip and John will fix it! Just give them a little time...

in the meantime we are really sorry for the hassle and are sure glad ya'll are sticking with us!

 :-* :-*
« Last Edit: May 28, 2008, 07:57:31 am by injest »

Offline John Passaniti

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #23 on: May 28, 2008, 02:03:33 am »
Starting *now* (2:00am, Eastern time), I've reverted BetterMost back to using our domain name. 

So, you should no longer see the "http://72.233.7.161" in the address bar of your web browser.  You should now again see "http://bettermost.net".

The system may log you out.  If it does, simply log in again and everything should be back to normal.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #24 on: May 28, 2008, 08:42:02 am »
The system may log you out.  If it does, simply log in again and everything should be back to normal.

Seems to be for me!  :D

Thanks, John!
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Offline Phillip Dampier

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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2008, 05:06:05 pm »
For those who either don't stay logged in, or it seems to forget who you are, please try these:

1) Log in (if not already).
2) Click the Logout button.  You may get an error the first time.  If so, try it again.
3) Log back in, checking the box to stay logged in.
4) Close and then reopen browser window.

Does it work now?

Option 2 is to delete the BetterMost cookie you now have.  Here is how to do that in IE:

Logout from BetterMost before trying.  It may also be helpful to delete your Temporary Internet Files, but there is no need to delete all of your cookies as we'll be singling out just one.

1) Click Tools, Internet Options, Browsing History->Settings
2) Click View Files
3) Sort by Filename
4) Look for "cookie: [email protected]/"
5) Select filename
6) Delete it.


Close browser, and then reopen and log in to BetterMost and click the box to stay logged in, which should set the cookie.

Firefox has some different ways to get to the same place.  You are looking to view the files in your temporary Internet cache and then locating and deleting the old BetterMost cookie and it will create a new one next time.

As to the issue of entering a password twice, this is a common problem across many SMF forums, and there has never been an absolute tracking down of why it happens.  The first time you enter your password, it claims it was incorrect, but the second time it works.  It is an internal programming issue that they've never absolutely found.

If the login issues continue, I will regenerate a new cookie for everyone by changing the name of our existing one.  That can create issues for the entire community so I am going to hold that option and use it only if these other options don't work.

The e-mail notifications should resume working by now - the e-mail server requires some time to catch up with our IP address change.
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Re: [Announcement] Server Change Leads to Server Outage
« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2008, 08:16:43 pm »
For those who either don't stay logged in, or it seems to forget who you are, please try these:

1) Log in (if not already).
2) Click the Logout button.  You may get an error the first time.  If so, try it again.
3) Log back in, checking the box to stay logged in.
4) Close and then reopen browser window.

Does it work now?


This seems to have worked for me.  Thanks, Phillip!


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!