If PF Is Slow...

If PF is slow??? When isn't it???

 

Just wanted to let you know that advanced mode is working fine since I updated to the latest version of Firefox. And, frankly, I think the speed is improving, so keep up the good work.

 

Its fine for me, and seems fine for most people. Must be your computer.

 

Input from others?
Any problems needing attention? Seems the speed has improved, and I haven't noticed any hanging or DBEs. Might be different at other times.

Anyone?

 

Thanks for the feedback.
Is FF the only browser, or have you tried others? It seems Chrome has some benefits as well. Sometimes I have both open, one for staff duties, one for posting and such, both working fast for me at the moment.

 

I'm a computer guru, it ain't my computer.

 

well , yes , as a matter of fact , I've had trouble with losing pm's & postings.


FireFox screwed up my PC , I'm not going back . the browser itself was ok , but way too many up-dates that made too many changes that just screwed my other stuff up to a fubar condition .

FireFox , no way . You like it , that's you .

With all respect , didn't we have the same trouble with the 'old PF' ?

 

But if other people are having no issues with the site, it isn't a problem with the site or else everyone would be having the same problems...

 

Might still be Mak, if something (program, search engine...) isn't compatible with the site. Might be some sort of application, and it would be great if those who encounter the most problems could make a note of what they use, so we can compare.

 

HB,

I agree, Firefox can have it's quirks, and the many updates (constant reminders) can certainly be aggravating and potentially cause issues.

If you should decide in the future to try it again, I suggest settling on a version that you like/is stable, then turn off the update reminders. Then, you will not be constantly annoyed with the silly notices.

If you want to turn off the updates, in the Tools menu select Options, then in the Options dialog go to the Advanced panel. Select the Updates tab and uncheck the option to look for updates for Firefox.

Good luck

 

I agree.

I use an older version of FF (4.0.1).

For the past week or so, the site has worked fine for me. I've no idea what may have been addressed behind the scenes here, but it's better. And I have made no changes to my PC.

Thanks for the attention to issues.

 

If we pinpoint the problem, we might find a solution that works for all. My money is on some incompatibility.

 

*sigh*

"Waiting for www.politicalforum.com"

"The Political Forum database has encountered a problem."

"The server is too busy. Please try again later."

Mon. June 4th. 9:25 AM EST ---- ? (whenever this may post)

 

Work is being done. Thanks

 

Thanks Shang. It seems to be working fine for me this morning.

 

I am a network engineer and a system administrator. I have literally run the technical side of an ISP, and I can say with complete confidence that the issues are on PF's end. Since I am an outsider and do not have direct access to the system, I can only determine so much, but the problem is almost certainly not enough bandwidth and/or system resources on your server.

Yes, any users with old computers and/or using old browser versions will certainly see some improvement by upgrading. However, all that will do is bring their end up to a technological par with the rest of the connection. In addition, the recent upgrade to a more modern forum software may have helped slightly. Although, neither will alleviate the root of the issue.

I can provide some suggestions, though since PoliticalForum.com is not independently hosted, but rather with a hosting company on what looks like a shared server, some of your options may be limited. All of these suggestions will probably require contacting the hosting provider (servint.net) to make the changes, however, they will most likely charge additional fees to do so.

The number of available connections to both the web server (Apache in your case) and the database (can't tell this directly, but since the server is Apache, it's most likely a Linux based host, which would mean the database is probably MySQL or PostgreSQL) need to be increased. Allowing this will most likely also mean a bandwidth cap increase is necessary to handle the additional traffic.

Doing all of this will probably require upgrading your hosting package with the provider. But isn't that what the donations should be for?

 

Thank God it finally worked!

((( hey guys, the new IT guru stepped into the trap. For free help contact Nullity. )))

lol

jk, jk


Thanks for the informative post Nullity. I've suspected as much, but certainly lack the technical knowledge you demonstrated.

Regards

 

Lol, no problem.

I forgot to mention that there is also a slight possibility that the hosting provider has too many domains crammed onto the same server PF is hosted from and is in need of a physical upgrade, mainly more RAM. Though providers usually do a decent job of planning these things out, some overextend while trying to reduce costs by hosting more websites on each server that what the hardware can handle. I only hope this isn't the case for PF, but on the off-chance that it is, good luck trying to get them to upgrade.

 

Just wondering if anyone passed this message along to the administrator? Could we get confirmation it's been seen before it fades off into oblivion? Sounds like the guy knows what he's talking about... which is more than we've seen in the last year or two.

 

I've thought about it some more and there are a couple things that the PF administrator should be able to check/try without having to contact the hosting provider...

In the vBulletin "config.php" file, make sure the persistent connections setting is turned off (by setting it to "0")

Code:

$config['MasterServer']['usepconnect'] = 0;

Also, in the vBulletin Admin Control Panel, go to "Settings" -> "Options" -> "Server Settings and Optimization Options". There are a couple settings in here that can cause problems if they are not properly configured for each particular site. First, the setting "Simultaneous Sessions Limit" can be increased (or set to 0 to disable the feature). Second, you could change the setting "*NIX Server Load Limit" to 0 to disable it.

(Google can tell you more about what these options do.)

A couple things of note - One, depending on how the provider has the server configured, changing these settings may have no effect. Two, it is my opinion that the possibility of these being set incorrectly is only a secondary issue. The matter of web server/database connections and bandwidth should be looked into first.


Finally, if backups are being done regularly on the database, make sure the schedule is configured so that it doesn't happen during peek usage hours. When a database backup is being done, it becomes locked for the duration and nothing can access it. Those connections are not lost however, but queued up until the backup finishes. Once the backup is complete, it starts processing the queue, but if there are more requests in the queue than connections allowed, problems can occur.

If the provider is doing the backups (possibly of the entire server, not just PF) and you have no control over it, they may have to be contacted about it.

My guess is that unless the backup schedule is set too aggressively (e.g. every hour or half-hour, etc), which is a bad idea for a high-traffic website (replication would be better), this is not the cause of the problems. I only mention it to be thorough, just in case.

 

Sure is nice of Nullity to give all this free info and advise to the forum/admin. Don't think it will do any good, since this place is held together with tape and bailing wire.

Honestly, I have never seen a forum using V bulletin that has so many problems and the same data base problem that we've had for 2 years prior to the upgrade. Upgrade, I use that term loosely.

 

Loose lips sink ships.

I don't know why I said that really....it just seemed appropriate.

 

LOL... good one Viv. Something poetic about mentioning loose lips on a public forum.

 

Ya know, I'm surprised to hear the unhappiness with FF!
I've used IE plenty but too many tracking cookies, and I don't trust Google so Chrome has never been run on mine. (Anyone who says one of their cardinal rules is "don't be evil" should not be trusted. Just like claiming you are "Fair and balanced" Makes me want to keep a hand on my wallet...)

As I said I am using FF with both AVG and Windows Defender. All current. All set to update and scan late every night. And with the "Resident Shield and "Real time" turned off on both respectively.
The "Go Advanced" works fine for me.
The only time I have any problems is during peak traffic times.
I'll take that as a sign I probably need to Donate to the Buy More Bandwidth fund....

 

I also agree - overall, I find the speed of the new version appreciably better than the old. I used to just give up with the old version, and I am a (not very active) member of a couple of other boards as a direct result thereof. But now, it doesn't seem to just hang arbitrarily and for no apparent reason, and I post more often. So thank you administrators! I am using FF 10.01, and it seems quite stable.