joegib
Seasoned Member
Posts: 123
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Post by joegib on Nov 26, 2009 9:29:51 GMT
Hi, Don't know if its bad form to raise a query about another forum involving hobby engineering but I imagine some of our members here are also members there. The URL I have used for several years is: bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forumdisplay.php?f=3— but over the last few weeks I've had increasing difficulty reaching the site. Initially the problem was a 50/50 thing with half my attempts resulting in a "Server not found" error. Over the last few days I've not been able to reach the site at all. I've tried googling for other workable URLs which, again, initially worked and then failed with the same symptoms. I usually use Firefox but have the same trouble if I use MSIE. I have a dual-boot computer with XP and Windows 7 loaded but get the same result on both operating systems. None of my other longstanding links seem to be affected. Any members here had the same trouble, please? Joe (Note — The above site shouldn't be confused with "The Home Machinist" site presided over by 'Harold' which is working fine.) |
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pondok
Part of the e-furniture
My 5" gauge SAR class 15F
Posts: 359
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Post by pondok on Nov 26, 2009 9:59:28 GMT
Hi Joe,
Works fine for me. Could it be your ISP is not fulfilling it's side of the bargain, ie providing you with access to any site of your choice?
To find out if the request sent out from your PC to this website gets as far as your provider, go to Start > Run, then type in "cmd" and click run. You'll get the black 'command line' window, then just type the following:
tracert bbs.homeshopmachinist.net
You should then get something like this:
Tracing route to europa-0.villagepress.com [69.223.24.78]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 2 ms <1 ms <1 ms 10.40.6.1
2 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.26.3
3 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 195.66.81.1
4 39 ms 40 ms 40 ms 149.15.32.154.intl.telstra.net [154.32.15.149]
5 52 ms 39 ms 40 ms 195.50.112.69
6 52 ms 39 ms 43 ms ae-34-52.ebr2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.139.97]
7 112 ms 113 ms 122 ms ae-42-42.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.137.70]
8 110 ms 109 ms 110 ms ae-2-2.ebr1.Newark1.Level3.net [4.69.132.98]
9 118 ms 109 ms 111 ms ae-14-51.car4.Newark1.Level3.net [4.68.99.8]
10 110 ms 108 ms 110 ms ex1-tg2-0.eqnwnj.sbcglobal.net [151.164.89.249]
11 129 ms 130 ms 132 ms 151.164.99.133
12 139 ms 146 ms 144 ms gar3.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.79.85]
13 107 ms 107 ms 107 ms cr1.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.122.133.218]
14 134 ms 133 ms 135 ms cr81.dtrmi.ip.att.net [12.123.139.158]
15 141 ms 144 ms 154 ms gar5.dtrmi.ip.att.net [12.122.102.5]
16 164 ms 151 ms 152 ms 12.86.46.130
17 156 ms 156 ms 154 ms 69.223.24.78
Trace complete.
So from here it took 17 "hops" to reach the website, and you can find out more about what's going on by seeing how far your request gets. If it fails for you, the last "hop" will be the "router" (equivalent of telephone exchange) that can't pass on the request, and the company that owns it has some explaining to do. They may have legitimate reasons for not passing it on, but at least they should explain it.
If this is your ISP, then you have a right to an explanation.
hope this helps
andy
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Post by jackary on Nov 26, 2009 17:43:27 GMT
Joe
I have been having similar problems. I have said to plusnet my supplier that it seems slow and threatened to change esp and that fixed it for a while but it seems to have drifted back to being difficult to access. I will try the test suggested and see if it shows up anything
Regards
Alan
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Post by Old Biker on Nov 26, 2009 21:30:53 GMT
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Post by arch1947 on Nov 26, 2009 22:17:00 GMT
G'Day Joe,
Just tried the link off the 2 postings and it works fine.
Cheers
Arch
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joegib
Seasoned Member
Posts: 123
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Post by joegib on Nov 27, 2009 7:23:12 GMT
Hi,
Andy (pondok):
Inputting the command you proposed yielded the response — 'Unable to resolve target system name bbs.homeshopmachinist.net". I used the procedure correctly because applying it to other URLs produced full traces. In the light of Alan's (jackary) comments below your diagnosis of my ISP as the likely culprit seems to be dead on. Nice to have a techhead on board!
Alan (jackary):
Interesting that you've had the same problem with Plusnet. My ISP is Madasafish which I understand is a stablemate of Plusnet, both using the same network infrastructure. Funnily enough, I've just asked Madasafish for my MAC (as I intend to migrate to O2) so I won't raise it with them but see how I get on with my new ISP.
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Thanks all for your helpful comments — you've pretty much nailed my problem down.
Joe
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Post by garethp on Nov 27, 2009 9:24:01 GMT
Morning,
If you're getting unable to resolve then try this from a command prompt (click start, then run and type cmd before pressing enter)
ping bbs.homeshopmachinist.net
and you should normally get something like;
Pinging europa-0.villagepress.com [69.223.24.78] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 69.223.24.78: bytes=32 time=122ms TTL=48
Reply from 69.223.24.78: bytes=32 time=125ms TTL=48
Reply from 69.223.24.78: bytes=32 time=129ms TTL=48
Reply from 69.223.24.78: bytes=32 time=122ms TTL=48
Ping statistics for 69.223.24.78:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 122ms, Maximum = 129ms, Average = 124ms
If you get something along the lines of 'request timed out' 4 times then try
ping 69.223.24.78
If you get the above sequence of replies then you've got a dns issue which means your pc is having problems converting names such as bbs.homeshopmachinist.net which humans understand to the network address's such as 69.223.24.78 which computers use. The ping statement simply bounces a small bit of data off the address specified, it works on pretty much any website or network address (some do block it)
If you still get request timed out speak to your ISP
If you suspect DNS problems try looking at your ISP's home page help section, search for DNS settings.
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pondok
Part of the e-furniture
My 5" gauge SAR class 15F
Posts: 359
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Post by pondok on Nov 27, 2009 11:31:23 GMT
Hi Joe, Yes, as Gareth surmises, the response you get "'Unable to resolve target system name bbs.homeshopmachinist.net" is indeed the simple fact that Madasafish cannot find the name bbs.homeshopmachinist.net in the "internet telephone directory" (dns). This could be Madasafish's fault for not looking in the right places (in tech terms: having perhaps cached incorrect name servers for this site) but it could also be the destination's (Villagepress') fault for not having proper directory entries that conform to convention. Actually, I've just looked up this site and the trouble is the latter, their internet address book entry is shot to pieces. Just go to ths site (one of very many that will do this for free): www.dnscolos.comand paste and sibmit bbs.homeshopmachinist.net You'll see lots of red! entries which mean all is not well with this domain name. Whoever has an interest in making this site available should knuckle down and repair these serious errors. The person in question appears to be a certain (no hokus pokus needed, just look up the domain on, say, http://whois.domaintools.com): Registrant: Village Press Andy LePere 2779 Aero Park Dr. Traverse City, MI 49685 US Phone: +1.2319463712 Email: rbeer@villagepress.com I think you can reasonably let your ISP off the hook..... ;-) cheers andy |
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Post by garethp on Nov 27, 2009 12:49:53 GMT
I'd disagree with the dnscolos results, most of the failures are to do with MX records which are email related and the only ones which I think are relevant are the WWW records which are ok. If you run the domain name for this site through the dnscolos site you get similar results as running the homeshop site.
According to the site they are currently 156 people looking at it and there are plenty of posts from today and yesterday, I would say it’s definitely ok.
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pondok
Part of the e-furniture
My 5" gauge SAR class 15F
Posts: 359
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Post by pondok on Nov 27, 2009 15:14:12 GMT
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Noddy
Statesman
Posts: 672
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Post by Noddy on Nov 27, 2009 23:03:41 GMT
One thing that may help is to go to wattproxy.info and type the url into their box.
It's a handy site,I use it to fool google books into thinking I'm in the US, so I can download their out of copyright scans.
It's also supposed to be good for getting around blocks on things like facebook on workplace networks.
Hope it helps
Keith
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joegib
Seasoned Member
Posts: 123
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Post by joegib on Nov 28, 2009 5:53:05 GMT
Hi, Andy/Gareth: Trying the procedures proposed by Gareth produced the following:  As you'll see, pinging the the URL produced 'Ping request could not find host' whereas using the IP address worked and showed no error. I'm not sure where that leaves us. (Incidentally, the blanks before the cursors are just personal path info I've blanked out). Keith (Noddy): I've had a look at the the wattproxy.info site but I'm not clear how the info displayed there helps in this case. Admittedly, while I vaguely understand the principle of proxies, the mechanics are over my head. Joe |
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Post by drjohn on Nov 28, 2009 5:59:23 GMT
Hi Joe
It even works from this 5th world backwater.
Have you tried cleaning your cache with ccleaner or whatever?
Otherwise, your internet service depriver is playing games with you thinking you're downloading porn or whatever! ;D
DJ
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russell
Statesman
Chain driven
Posts: 762
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Post by russell on Nov 28, 2009 9:36:58 GMT
Noddy,
Sorry for drifting off topic but is it possible that wattproxy.info will enable me to fool the BBC iplayer into thinking I'm in the UK? The wattproxy site is down at the moment returning "Bandwidth limit exceeded"
Joe,
(back on topic) Why not just type "69.223.24.78" into your browser and bookmark that?
Russell.
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joegib
Seasoned Member
Posts: 123
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Post by joegib on Nov 28, 2009 10:07:42 GMT
DJ:
As it happens I use CCleaner fairly regularly. Unfortunately, it didn't solve the problem on this occasion. But it may have helped what followed.
Russell:
That did the job, thanks very much!
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Thanks all for the trouble you've taken. Looks like I'm sorted.
Joe
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