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serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738


0 posted 2002-10-17 02:24 PM



I just received an e mail from the dynamic doreen, and she asked me to post this question for her. It seems that she is having problems connecting to the forum via her Macintosh--she said that it's just with Passions too--and she was wondering if any other mac users out there were encountering similar problems. (It did occur to her that if they were indeed, having the same problems, that they wouldn't be able to read this post...grinning at doreen---I gotta love her!) But if you should happen to KNOW of anyone, please enlighten her via this post, which I will send to her, or you can e mail her...does any of this make any sense? I swear after I read ANYTHING by doreen, I find myself suffering from brain fuzz...

© Copyright 2002 serenity blaze - All Rights Reserved
serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

1 posted 2002-10-17 04:31 PM


and of course...chuckling again...still more from doreen! with 's from me to her, I just copied and pasted as I'm not even supposed to be on this thing right now...
I listen SO well, yanno!

but here ya go:

hey, could you go back in there and tell them i emailed you again and i'm actually looking to hear whether anybody using any platform, not just mac, is having trouble accessing the forums..

the only way i can get in is through a link to "daily topics" and i can't get a post window or reply window to open at all.

And Doreen? should you access this, I'll e ya later, lovie...sigh. gotta run.


Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley
2 posted 2002-10-17 06:48 PM


What browser is she using? Remember the thread where Ron asked us which browswer we use as he is updating the software but it will work best with IE5.5 or better. Perhaps her browswer is the problem?
serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

3 posted 2002-10-17 07:14 PM


sigh..I didn't even know what browser I was using myself---groan...but she is supposed to access the forum via another pc later...so she can answer any questions others ask for her...which reminds me, I have a list from the other RON guru daddy:

"ok so we know she connects to the internet fine and gets other sites, so her connection is fine.(?) What is the issue i.e. what error message is she getting when it fails to connect? server not found? etc. These tend to be pretty general but can point to areas that may be causing issues. MAC's are not my specialty...I'm a pretty hard core PC person... but more than willing to offer what I can to help.

How does she connect?
who is her ISP
does she have a secondary ISP?
what browser is she using?
Have any changes been made to her computer recently like software additions,
has she changed any settings in the computer?"

and sighs...I wish I knew what everyone was talking about...



NewEnglandlazurlu
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-01-04
Posts 7470
A Mountain Paradise
4 posted 2002-10-17 07:54 PM


Hi, I'm a Mac user and I'm not having any trouble. Have her email me and I'll see if I can help her...

Marti

lazurlu@rcn.com

doreen peri
Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812
Virginia
5 posted 2002-10-17 08:18 PM


hi. i'm here. in my kitchen. on a laptop. no, not his laptop.. hehe.. unfortunately... one i borrowed from work. it's a pc .. a really really old pc.. geesh

i use IE Mac version 5.1 with an aol ISP from home. From work, i use IE version 5.0 on a dsl network connection. I never had a problem getting to these forums until about a month ago. All of a sudden, the pages stopped loading properly. For a while it took about 5-10 minutes for the posting or reply window to open and that was very annoying but at least eventually i could post. I would just do other things online while waiting .... write emails, open another browser window and go elsewhere...

starting about a week or so ago, i occasionally couldn't get the reply or post window to open at all.

now it's not at all.

i'm totally baffled. I have to return this pc to work so the answer isn't to use this one.

i spoke with nan and asked her to ask ron about it after sending several emails without answers ... she said he doesn't have an answer but is aware of the problem and said that he thinks there is some hang up on a server in between my computers and his server..

thing is, if that were the case, i wouldn't be able to post from this pc in my own kitchen...

thank you all for any help you can give me.. i've tried everything i know to do... if it were a problem with my machine at home, it wouldn't be happening also at work. i tried deleting my cookies at both locations and starting over. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling IE 5.1 for Mac.

Clay (LRbaba) and I both use the machine at home and he said he read a thread recently where someone said they were having problems because two people were posting from the same machine. I didn't read that thread and don't know where it is. But as long as we change our posting name and password, how could that cause an inability to connect to a posting or reply thread?

I also can't connect to the main pages of any forum. The only way i can get in (and only to read, not post) is to access a "today's topics" link which i've saved for myself.

could this problem have anything to do with IP #'s? that's been mentioned to me but i don't understand it.

i've been coming to passions for 3-1/2 year... since they opened... and i'm so used to this community and posting my poetry here, i'm feeling a loss... of course i've been told that i'm obsessive and overly patient... *smile*..

help!! ron?? any clues? anybody! any hints for fixing this problem?

doesn't seem like anybody but me is having this problem... are there others? *bigsigh*

thanks all for your help..

Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648

6 posted 2002-10-18 11:35 AM


Doreen, I was having problems awhile back. I had to do a disk cleanup and defrag. I also deleted all my temporary internet files, etc. If I do this on a regular basis I don't have any problems.
Cpat Hair
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

7 posted 2002-10-18 05:10 PM


Well..I've already stated I am not a MAC guru.. things to try:
1. Delete all temporary files including internet files saved.
2. Check your hard drive for disk space. This should not casue you any problems in connecting but you need to make sure you have enough free space on your disk anyway.
3.reboot the darned thing about three times in a row without connecting to anything. This may free up any locked memory (RAM) that is causing issues by your machine actually having to try and write the information being accessed to your disk instead of using the RAM memory to store it.
4. Increase the size of your swap file or memory. NOt sure what the procedure is in a MAC, but in a pc it is found by right clicking on the my computer icon on your desktop and selecting properties. You'll get a dialog box with tabs across the top select the advanced tab and click on performance options. that should bring another dialog box up that shows you a virtual memory setting. there should also be a change button there. click it and adjust the virtual memory allocation up to the max allowed.
5. Go to your desktop and right click on the IE icon, select properties, and in the dialog box that comes up chose the tab saying privacy. make sure you are set to med security or med high security. There are instances where high security settings will render some sites not viewable due to the use of cookies and or the number of servers/ way you access the sight. This is in part or can in part be due to P3P policies being used by some ISP providers now.
6. Along those same lines actually type the address http://www.piptalk.com into your browser navigation bar and make sure you are accessing the sight directly not through some other path, or forawrding agent. This will in some cases be the only way you can access a site that is not P3P compliant if you ISP is heavy on the policy.
7. Change ISP. Ron could well be correct in there being a problem with a server your ISP is using.The problem may or may not happen all the time as all servers lean on a DNS server that translates the IP address where the site is hosted into a domain name such as www.piptalk.com. If the server loses connection with or there are problems with the DNS source then the site can not be found as there is not translation in place.
Changing ISP is pretty radical but if you have been experiencing this problem for several weeks and none of the above fixes help, then chances are you have an issue beyond your control.
9. Before you do change ISP however, make sure your computer setting in the dial up and network connections match what the setup instructions told you when you first signed up. There are cases where they may have updated or changed some setting in their requirements and you haven't been notified. If all else fails here..call them and ask them to walk you through a set up. Usually they will either assign a DNS server IP to you and tell you where to enter it in or they will tell you to set the computer up so it is dynamic and searches for a DNS server each time you connect.
10. I would also go out to the web site for your browser and upload any new versions available ( as long as they are not listed as beta) and or any updates. Microsoft.com has a place you can go check on the newest updates and service packs for their software. Sometimes the updates fix known issues and once they are fixed in a number of servers used to connect you to the internet, can create conflicts witholder versions thus not allowing you full access to web sites if the conditions are just right..


Try those things...if they don't fix the problem...let me know..or sell that MAC and buy a pC so I can really help


Cpat Hair
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793

8 posted 2002-10-18 05:16 PM


Oh yeah.... you did say you were both using the same machine... that is indeed a problem... or can be. Your machine is identified each time it connects to the internet by having an IP address attached to it. This is a unique set of numbers that allow your machine to be identified by the servers you access and request a page from or information from. Ron has, as I understand it, coded the "bump" feature so it will not allow one of you to post a poem for example and the other to jump on, sign in and then comment on it aand that action bump your poem to the top of the list. Ron is in effect reading the IP number of your machine and tying it to a user name each time you log in. This should not cause you an issue with connections....but you may see some odd results... only Ron could tell you if there was anything in his code that would lock a person out of posting under two names using the same IP.


doreen peri
Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812
Virginia
9 posted 2002-10-18 06:54 PM


cpat hair -

i  got your email .. thank you so much for all your input.. also, thank you to Marti who also emailed me and has been trying to help. ......

i'm working on it... amazingly, i got a reply window on my mac in my office to reply to this

you said ron has made it so we can't use the same machine to reply in order to "kick up" another's posts? i'm really confused...

Clay (LRbaba) and i have been using the same machine since august 1st and it's only been recently that i've had these connection problems... we never had any problem before....

PLUS, the very same exact connection problems are occuring on my machine at work which has an entirely different ISP and which i share with nobody....

a lot of what you wrote here is associated to PC not Mac, but there are similar settings located elsewhere on the mac so as I said, i'm working on it

i emailed Ron and asked him to reply to this thread directly.... Maybe he has some info or ideas to add to yours to try to correct this..

I'm waiting for his reply..

THANK you very much for taking the time to try to help me... I appreciate it very much!!

doreen peri
Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812
Virginia
10 posted 2002-10-22 09:29 AM


*sigh*




doreen peri
Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812
Virginia
11 posted 2002-10-24 06:42 AM


i've emailed ron several times about this but he still hasn't answered me. I also requested by email that he answer to this thread.

Ron, wassup? I know you're busy, but if you can spare a moment, I'd appreciate an answer as to whether you know what the problem might be

thank you very much

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