One user Having problems. Can't figure anything out

[Reycer]

Hi all, I have a user that has sent me multiple emails over the last 8 months (or so). He is complaining that only when he is on my forum, when he clicks on "Post Reply" or "New Thread" that the page just sits there and spins and then eventually says "Failure to Connect"

The problem is, that he is the ONLY person to have ever complained about this, and I eventually sent out a mass email asking if anyone else was experiencing these problems. Guess what, he was the only one to respond with a problem. Today, I got yet another email from him.

I never have problems, except on your forum..I use Firefox and open 3 or 4 windows at a time, everywhere..

As an example, on brand x I will open the main page, click on "general" and open 3 or 4 "tabs" to read and reply to various threads..
Never a glitch..I often "clear my data" before moving on to another site..

I open your forum, open "general" and click on 1 thread to read..If I want to make a reply, I click on "quote" or "reply" and if the window takes me there I type in my comment.. Most always, the page will sit and spin and finally give me a page stating "failure to connect"..

It is very frustrating and I don't understand it because it happens no where else..

Anyone have any thoughts as to why this one person would be having this kind of trouble.

[Lynne]

Do you have his IP? (You can probably get it while he is online or ask him for it). Go search your error_logs (if you don't know where they are, ask your host) and see if anything shows up there. You can also look at your logs for mod_security (if it's on - and again, ask your host where they are if you don't know) and see if he shows up in there.

[Reycer]

ok, checked the logs and here's what I'm getting from it, but it dosen't really make sense.

[Sat Nov 21 14:22:33 2009] [error] [client 64.xx.xx.xxx] File does not exist: /var/chroot/home/content/m/d/e/mdelcour201/html/forums/shoutbox/clientscript/vbulletin_important.css

[Lynne]

I doubt that is it because it has to do with a shoutbox.

Do you have mod_security enabled? Did you check those logs?

[Lynne]

Other things to try....
Create a new style with no parent:

• Styles & Templates > Style Manager > Add New Style
• Parent Style: No Parent Style
• Title: Default vBulletin
• Allow User Selection: Yes
• Save

Tell him to browse the site using that totally default vbulletin style and see if he still has the problem.

Do you have a test site that is a copy of your live site? Have him login to the test site and see if he still has the same problem. If so, disable all the modifications on the test site and see if he still has the same problem.

Create a test account. Have him login using the test account. Does he have the problem then?

[Reycer]

Doing that now, I had the same idea about the style, so I'm trying that now. Thanks for all the help.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Ask him to try accessing the forum from another PC/internet connection. It might be a local problem to his setup.

[Reycer]

Originally Posted by Marco van Herwaarden

Ask him to try accessing the forum from another PC/internet connection. It might be a local problem to his setup.

Yeah I asked him to do that, but the problem is that he is in the middle of no where with no internet connection so he is on "Hughes-Net" Satellite Internet. He has no other computer. I thought about that too, because he is the ONLY one to complain about it. I even changed styles for him, and that didn't help him. I've tried explaining to him that it might be his browser, internet connection or even his computer, but he refuses to beleive that.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

A satellite connection is a very special connection in such a way that downstream (ie from your site to the user) is sent over a satellite link, and the upstream (ie. from user to server) sent by a seperate phone connection. This unless he uses a very rare full-duplex satellite connection.

But it is very likely that his connection is the problem in this case, most likely the upstream timing out for some reasons or never reaching the destination.

But as he is the only user with this problem it is 99.99% sure that the problem is local to him and probably it is not possible to troubleshoot from your end.

Guess this is a case of tough luck.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

1 thing that could be tried is not to use Quick Reply or editor and only use the Basic Interface (not the WYSIWYG). If you are willing to try this for this single user you could also try disabling all AJAX features from the vBulletin Settings, but that would effect all your users.