ftp malfunction

Discussion of bugs and problems found in Altap Salamander. In your reports, please be as descriptive as possible, and report one incident per report. Do not post crash reports here, send us the generated bug report by email instead, please.
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

ftp malfunction

Post by deanahmad »

A couple of days ago my ftp suddenly stopped working. When I try to connect to an ftp site with servant salamander, after initially connecting I get a message "downloading the list of files and directories from [site]" but it just hangs giving an ever increasing estimate of the download time. This sudden failure occurred at about the same tie that number of upgrades were made to tyhis computer including the new version of servant salamander, the IE7 pgrade and other Windows XP critical upgrades as well as an upgrade of v-com's system suite and the new firefox. Removing ss 2.5RC@ and replacing it with RC1 doesn't solve the problem.

Help!

I. Dean Ahmad
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SelfMan
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Post by SelfMan »

I assume that you are behind a Firewall.
What you should do is:
- Open FTP connection dialog CTRL+Shift+F
- Click Advanced
- Check "Use passive transfer mode (may help if you are behind a firewall or proxy server)"

Check it for every connection you've created.

The permanent default can be set via:
Options > Plug-In configuration > FTP Client
On "Defaults" TAB check "Use passive transfer mode (may help if you are behind a firewall or proxy server)" and confirm.
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

Passive transfer mode

Post by deanahmad »

Thanks ofr the suggestion, but I'm already using the passive transfer mode. In fact, it's never been unchecked, so that;s not the problem.
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SelfMan
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Post by SelfMan »

Have you tried some other FTP client to verify that the problem is within Salamander or is caused by something else?
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

Other FTP attempts

Post by deanahmad »

WebFTP (under Firefox) does work but the Microsoft web folders doesn't. This suggests that some change that I made to my computer is incompatible with some, but not all of the FTP programs. I tried removing IE7 to see if it was the problem (since IE7 is notorious for incompatibility) but the problem remained the same. I continue to use WebFTP under Firefox until I can get this problem fixed. I find servant salamander's ftp more convenient, but, of course, only when it works.
Petr Solin
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Post by Petr Solin »

If you are using passive transfer mode, try to switch to active transfer mode, sometimes it helps. If not, send me FTP log (menu Plugins / FTP Client / Show Logs, menu Log / Save All) to my email address (petr.solin at altap.cz).

It may be also problem with proxy server or your personal firewall.

If you can get FTP log from other FTP client which works well on your computer, please send me this log too, it may help to make this problem clear.
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

FTP log

Post by deanahmad »

When I check the menu as you have indicted there is no ftp log showing. I get the message "There are no logs to view."
Petr Solin
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Post by Petr Solin »

Try to connect to the FTP server, then try to show logs. If there is still no log, check your options in FTP configuration on the Logs tab.
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

ftp log

Post by deanahmad »

I can't generate the ftp log because every time I log on to a site the aforementioned error message stays on the screen until I press <escape> to end the connection. It then asks me if I want o abirt the downloading of the list. If I say yes, the program freezes and I have to forcibly terminate it using the task manager. When I reopen it, there is no log record as, presumably, it was not saved before the termination.
Petr Solin
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Post by Petr Solin »

OK, try to do following. Open Logs window (menu Plugins / FTP Client / Show Logs). Switch back to panel. Try to open FTP connection. When it starts downloading, switch to Logs window and try to save logs (menu Logs / Save All As).

Moreover when Salamander hangs, run another Salamander, go to menu Help / Task List, select line without "current process" suffix, click Break button. It should generate bug report in hung Salamander. Please send it also to my email address (petr.solin at altap.cz). Thanks!
deanahmad
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 04:19

Bug report and log are on their way

Post by deanahmad »

Thank you, Petr! That seemed to do it. I look forward to your analysis of the problem after you have seen the bug report and log.

Best,
Dean
Petr Solin
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Post by Petr Solin »

From FTP log it seems that data connection for getting directory listing was established and transfer was successfully finished at least from the server side (the server sent "226 Transfer complete." reply to the client). It seems that the FTP client is waiting for closing data connection (it's needed as signal that client received all data sent by server). Maybe the data connection is not closed or is closed after some long timeout, but I have no idea why (maybe some problem with firewall).

Could you please test if some other FTP client has the same problem? E.g. Filezilla (freeware): http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

Both bug reports you sent seem to be taken when FTP client was not hung (frozen), it waits for closing data connection or pressing ESC key or clicking on close button in small window showing listing status. I have no idea what can be wrong, sorry. We will wait if more users experience similar problem, then we will continue in solving it.
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