The wrong kind of snow ??

[Mike Hodgson]

Yesterday I was unable to get into the site for most of the day, though I did get in later and have no problem now. I just assumed it was some technical problem which had been fixed, or possibly a temporary problem at my end although it had not affected other sites.

However Richard Pike tells me this morning that he, Dave Holden and Alistair Larter have also been having trouble and still cannot get in. In my case the problem had manifested itself as a rather implausible message to the effect that my PC didn't know what program to run to load a .exe file. I didn't pursue that further as I wasn't expecting it to load any programs.

I wonder whether it might be related to the seasonal "snowing" effect on the home page?
But I did notice that last year, and it didn't cause any trouble then.

[MRFS]

For most of yesterday my computer decided that whenever the 'Signalbox Forum' book mark was visited on both Chrome and Internet Explorer it would download a file called 'index.php' and nothing else.

I attempted to access the forum on my Nexus One phone in the 'pub after ringing for a nativity service: different OS and different means of getting it to the 'phone (using 3G and not home wireless) - no problem!

When I left the nice warm cosy pub I went home and ran 'CCleaner' which is as originally called 'CrapCleaner' (apologies to the DI and others who might be offended, but that was the original name and neatly explains what it does) which is a free utility that gets rid of needless stuff LINK. Since then I've had not had a problem accessing the forum. However, I only reboot this machine once a week, and I've not yet rebooted it after the ccleaner scan.

No problem since. What snow - none on the Southern? (we'd better not mention the goings-on at Orpington of late).

[signalman]

Folks - there was a configurational problem with the server which was fixed Sunday morning.

Everything is working correctly now. Anybody who is still receiving the curious download boxes is accessing old data. The solution is to empty their browser cache.

Please pass this information forward to anybody who you know is still experiencing problems.

John

[Blair Robinson]

In Europe it's the wrong kind of Ice. The Main-Danube canal has frozen, and all the traffic between the Black Sea and the North Sea via the Danube-Main Rhine connection has ceased unil the ice melts. I'm stuck on a ship the wrong side of the canal, and, while the railways seem to be running, although with delays, The river traffic, which is usually considerable, is confined to short journeys only. One ship, at least is stuck actually inside one of the locks, and may not move until February, as there are more cold blasts forecast. It was -14C the other day, during the day!

Still, I'm hoping the DB ICE trains haven't frozen up yet before I get home next week!

Blair

[signalman]

Not sure what that last posting has to do with issue. I repeat that if anybody still experiences this, they should empty their browser cache but I would be very surprised if they are at this late date.

John

[Steve]

Not sure this is related to the works, but I seem to have a problem with "View New Posts". The system doesn't seem to be registering that I have already seen them, so the folder is getting larger each day! Anyone else having this problem or is it just me?

Possibly related:
On attempting this reply, I received a "not logged in" message and was invited to do so. At the same time I was able to tick the "log in automatically each time" box, which I think I have done before (some time ago). I wonder whether the works may have unticked this feature, and my effective failure to log in had caused the "View New Posts" function not to work properly....
If that was the cause, the solution is simple enough.

SJG.

[signalman]

Yes, if you aren't logged in, it doesn't know who you are so it will assume you haven't read any posts.

John

[Danny252]

I wonder whether the works may have unticked this feature

I noticed that the works did this two or three times to me - not too much hassle, mind!

[Steve]

Yes, looks like that's the issue. Easy now I know how to fix it thanks!
Anyone else with the same symptoms likewise.
SJG.