Osnabruck classrooms can access SignPuddle again ;-)

Wed Nov 3 16:46:21 UTC 2010

SignWriting List
November 3, 2010

Hello Thor, and Stefan and everyone -

Thor - I am writing to thank you for all your efforts helping Stefan and all of us. This was a great deal of effort for you and we appreciate it.

Today we had success. Stefan's classroom can now work in SignPuddle again. I am not sure if the problems that got fixed today are exactly the same issues you were investigating below, but nonetheless, I just want you to know that Stefan's classroom computers can access SignPuddle again. We are very fortunate.

Today's fix had nothing to do with SignPuddle software, nor with Firefox, nor with the ISP in Germany, but instead, it was connected with security software that protects our servers, so we were able to fix it on our end.

If anyone else has problems accessing any of our web sites, please tell me immediately, and we can work together to fix the problem - All of your work on SignPuddle is important to us -

Val ;-)

Valerie Sutton
Sutton at SignWriting.org
858-456-0098 California time

------- 

On Oct 13, 2010, at 4:32 PM, Thor Malmjursson wrote:

> Hi Valerie and Stefan. 
>  
> After much searching and several long hours speaking with my seniors, I think we have found the solution.  
>  
> I forwarded a copy of the error message Stefan sent to the list for my attention to my test manager, Mike Rayment, who has informed me that this is not an error generated by firefox, but by the domain name server (DNS) at Osnatel, which may not be receiving the request correctly from firefox.  Therefore, there are a couple of options available:
>  
> 1: To contact osnatel directly via their "Kundenservice" (Customer service) in Osnabrück - the telephone number is 0800 600 0777, or to contact their Technical support service at 0800 600 0234
>  
> 2: Try using an alternative DNS address - such as pns.DTAG.de (IP 194.25.0.125) or the alternative atsecondary006.DTAG.de (IP 195.244.245.25)
>  
> 3: If these fail, he will need to speak to the school administrators and report it directly to them, since they may need to take the action themselves.
>  
>  
> I am sorry that it's taken so long to sort, but hopefully it can be resolved now that we have a fairly definitive answer.
>  
> With best regards / Mit freundliche grüße :)
>  
> Thor
>  
> From: lightningstrike35 at live.nl
> To: sw-l at listserv.valenciacc.edu
> Subject: RE: AW: AW: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 00:05:11 +0000
> 
> Hi Valerie :)
>  
> I will be honest with you, from the error Stefan is receiving, it mentions a proxy on the local ISP. Sometimes when the proxy gets overloaded, it can need to have the ISP clear its own cache.  It doesn't look like a Software problem with SignPuddle itself, rather an issue with firefox.  From the UK, osnanet.de and its servers look fine.   I'm still looking at it though, and I'll get back to you and Steve as soon as I find anything out.
>  
>  
> Hi Stefan :)
>  
> This is really long, and I'm sorry for that - i've broken it into sections,  but sometimes you can't explain technical stuff, without getting technical :)
>  
> ******************************
> I am really at a loss as to what is causing the issue.  One more thing you could help me with, can you tell me from the time you enter the URL for signpuddle and click to go to the site, how long does it take before you receive the error?  
> ******************************
> First though, clear your cache and the whole browser history from firefox - as Steve Slevinski mentioned.  Go to Tools > Options > Advanced and click the Network tab in the small window.  There is a part marked "Offline Storage" - click "Clear Now" at the side to empty the whole cache.  
>  
> In that same box, you will see an area marked "Connection"- click the "settings" button, and look at the box which appears.  If anything other than "No proxy" is selected, change it to "No proxy" and select "OK".  Close firefox, reopen it and try again to access the signpuddle.
> ******************************
> An alternative option is to try to run firefox from the command line (I assume you run windows - if not, please let me know) - open your command prompt, and go to the folder where the firefox.exe file is stored. Type firefox.exe -P   : this will start firefox without a local profile, so all the settings will be default and unedited.  Try to get to signpuddle from this copy of firefox.  If you can, please let me know :)
> ******************************
> As a last resort, if you are allowed to, remove firefox 3.6.10 and downgrade to an older version - you can get firefox 3.5 here >> http://www.oldversion.com/download_Mozilla_Firefox_3.5.html
>  
> After installing it, if you're prompted to upgrade it, don't :)
>  
> Greetings to you both, and best wishes.
>  
> Thor
>  
> > Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 14:51:34 -0700
> > From: sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG
> > Subject: Re: AW: AW: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> > To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> > 
> > SignWriting List
> > October 8, 2010
> > 
> > Hello Stefan and Thor!
> > 
> > Thor is the expert when it comes to Firefox, and Thor, you may want to discuss this with Steve Slevinski later, if it involves SignPuddle software issues...
> > 
> > But meanwhile, Stefan, just use other web browsers for now...For example, not only Internet Explorer, but also Google Chrome...have you tried that new web browser?
> > 
> > Google Chrome in German for Windows
> > http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/de/landing_win.html?hl=de&hl=de
> > 
> > download it for free and try it...
> > 
> > Val ;-)
> > 
> > -------
> > 
> > On Oct 8, 2010, at 2:36 PM, Stefan Wöhrmann wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi Thor,
> > > well I have to ask at school – I do not know.
> > > 
> > > What I do not understand – some weeks ago we could connect to signpuddle but after working for some minutes the connection broke down. That never happened at home. But now the same thing at home. Contrary to that we cannot even get in first contact with SignPuddle at school. Very disappointing ... 
> > > 
> > > And Valerie you are right – I start to use more often Windows Internet Explorer...
> > > 
> > > “Does the page take a long time (more than 15 seconds) to load when you use Internet Explorer?” No within seconds everything is fine!!!
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Stefan
> > > 
> > > Von: SignWriting List: Read and Write Sign Languages [mailto:SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU] Im Auftrag von Thor Malmjursson
> > > Gesendet: Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010 22:52
> > > An: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> > > Betreff: Re: AW: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> > > 
> > > Thanks for the information, Stefan. 
> > > 
> > > Could you tell me if your school connects to the internet through a proxy, or is it directly to the internet? It looks like there is a proxy which is possibly causing the loading to fail, because the server is taking too long to answer.
> > > 
> > > Does the page take a long time (more than 15 seconds) to load when you use Internet Explorer?
> > > 
> > > I will check what is happening - it may be that the network cache needs emptying.
> > > 
> > > Cheers,
> > > 
> > > Thor
> > > 
> > > Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 20:26:10 +0200
> > > From: stefanwoehrmann at GEBAERDENSCHRIFT.DE
> > > Subject: AW: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> > > To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> > > 
> > > Hi Thor,
> > > 
> > > thanks for your message. Well again and again the following problem occurs with Firefox Version 3.6.10
> > > 
> > > No connection after some time. ...
> > > 
> > > This does not happen with Windows Internet Explorer -
> > > 
> > > I paste a coppy of the error message : 
> > > 
> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 
> > > FEHLER
> > > 
> > > Der angeforderte URL konnte nicht geholt werden
> > > 
> > > Während des Versuches, den URL
> > > http://www.signbank.org/SignPuddle1.5/canvas.php?
> > > zu laden, trat der folgende Fehler auf:
> > > • Verbindung schlug fehl
> > > Das System gab:
> > > (110) Connection timed out
> > > zurück.
> > > Der Zielrechner oder das Zielnetzwerk könnten deaktiviert sein. Bitte versuchen Sie die Anfrage noch einmal. 
> > > Ihr Cache Administrator ist info at osnatel.de. 
> > > Generated Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:18:06 GMT by proxy3.osnanet.de (squid/2.7.STABLE3)
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Von: SignWriting List: Read and Write Sign Languages [mailto:SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU] Im Auftrag von Thor Malmjursson
> > > Gesendet: Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010 05:06
> > > An: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> > > Betreff: Re: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> > > 
> > > Stefan, 
> > > 
> > > I am working as a beta tester for Mozilla, and currently testing newer versions of Firefox. Can you tell me please, what happens when you try and load signpuddle? Do you get messages on the screen, like server timeouts, or are there problems with the links to the page please? 
> > > 
> > > Could you also tell me, which version of Firefox your school runs and which signpuddle language you are trying to access?
> > > 
> > > If there are problems, you can click "Tools", then "Error Console" (or press CTRL + SHIFT + J) and any messages which the browser is generating as it attempts to load will be shown there.
> > > 
> > > Any information you can provide me would be very helpful.
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > 
> > > Thor
> > > 
> > > > Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 16:28:14 -0500
> > > > From: slevin at SIGNPUDDLE.NET
> > > > Subject: Re: cannot reach SignPuddle with Firefox but with Explorer
> > > > To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> > > > 
> > > > Hi Stefan,
> > > > 
> > > > I'm not sure what's wrong, but 2 ideas come to mind.
> > > > 
> > > > You can try a direct link to a puddle:
> > > > http://www.signbank.org/SignPuddle1.5/index.php?ui=8&sgn=53
> > > > 
> > > > You can try clearing the Firefox cache:
> > > > Tools >> Clear recent history
> > > > 
> > > > Let me know,
> > > > -Steve
> > > >
> > 
> 