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Server Existential Crisis


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11 minutes ago, janneman36 said:

They just wan’t to affect as much of the internet as possible and destabilise the world somehow ...

As far as I can see on the evidence to date, the best way to “destabilise the world” is to keep the internet running smoothly... 😜

best,

M.

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20 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Though there was no guarantee that would work. Something about the other end recognizing when your computer was connected to the web.

You could probably have low-level formatted the HDD or just replaced that with a new one, and if your IP isn't permanent (i.e. static), they'd have been none-the-wiser.  Some viruses install bits of code on the boot sector of your drive which can re-activate themselves and reinstall the malware when you reload your OS.  They're the nasty ones, but thankfully fairly rare.  Some viruses also corrupt your BIOS (Basic Input Output System), which is the software on your motherboard that glues everything together and allows them all to talk.  They install some extra code in a space and that can be used to do the same thing as the Boot Sector virus.  Flashing your BIOS should kill those however, as long as you got your new BIOS from the manufacturer's own site. :wacko:

 

Shame you can't get back to the dump really, as it could have been fixed. :(

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15 hours ago, hendie said:

been getting a whole load of these today

 

Capture.png

That's being generated when the server's a bit tied up due to "things".  I can't be more concise with that at the moment, but it's a known thing and I'm discussing it with Support. :) Usually hitting F5 clear this and bring the site back, but if you can put up with it for now, that's appreciated :yes:

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The 'existential crisis' thing* pops up for me regularly in the last 24 hours too but just reloading the page seems to bat it aside each time.

 

*The server one that is. The other crises are just part of getting older....

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I've been having those 'crisis' pop up too. I'm also finding that BM access is running slower than usual or is that my imagination? Is it a coincidence that this has happened since the last BM upgrade? I know that reloading the page can get rid of the problem but can/ is anything be(ing) done to improve the situation?

 

Stuart

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On 8/3/2019 at 2:27 PM, Mike said:

That's being generated when the server's a bit tied up due to "things".  I can't be more concise with that at the moment, but it's a known thing and I'm discussing it with Support. :) Usually hitting F5 clear this and bring the site back, but if you can put up with it for now, that's appreciated :yes:

Does that mean that it is being generated by Britmodeller and not some naughty person?

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1 hour ago, John R said:

Does that mean that it is being generated by Britmodeller and not some naughty person?

The error message is being generated by the server, but it started when the attack began, so it was caused by the attack. We've done some digging and a setting may have been messed up by the attack, so that's been reset to the proper value, and for me yesterday the site didn't generate any more errors. Anyone else still getting them?

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29 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Got it again today.  Just trying access again works for me.

Keep an eye on things, and if it keeps happening we'll look into it again.  From my feeble corner of the internet (no special "admin" connection) it's fast enough to bring a smile to my face after the last few days. :)

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18 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Yes getting them quite often actually. 

Care to guess how many times, or how often? Is it happening every page, or every 10 pages sort of thing :)

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Hello Mike ... If i had to guess id say about every 4th or 5th time i go backwards or forwards in the Notification list, or sometimes when i switch pages in a thread. I usually just recycle the page and it solves the problem temporarily. Annoying yes but not enough to stop me from looking. The whole flashing grey screen with the super sized photo's thing is more annoying TBH

 

Dennis

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

The whole flashing grey screen with the super sized photo's thing is more annoying TBH

The what now? :blink: What's that about? Can you send me some links and screen shots please, as I've never heard this one before... Unless my memory's had a bit of a lie down of course. :unsure:

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

This ⬇️

 

@Mike, I believe this is connected with the way lazy loading is working.

  1. Images are re-downloaded every time a thread is opened in a new session. {edit}i.e. not being cached by the client browser{/edit}
  2. I suspect that images are being passed to the BritModeller host before being passed on to the client.

The flashing may be a feature of the way the script is written and reserves real-estate in browsers while waiting for the image to come through.  Images in different posts by the same author within the same thread have different effects :

  • a short line or dashes represents the image until it arrives
  • a small square is reserves space until the image comes through
  • most noticable, the whole image space is reserved, and the flashing is very noticeable.

In all those cases they show as grey until the image is displayed. 

 

These effects are very noticable in picture heavy threads (I spend most of my BM time in the Group Builds area)

 

If both beliefs are correct, then a lot of concurrent users, browsing at busy times (Saturday say) will load the server and impact the site adversely.

 

FWIW, I use FireFox as my PC browser, though I see similar problems on my, rather old, iPad (Safari).

 

OT: There are other odd features associated with images: banners in signatures can be stretched while scrolling through a thread (the D-Day banner is a case in point - subjectively, I only notice it in other people's  signatures, not my own).

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On my Android tablet I got two "500"'s in short succession around 20:30 this evening - just normal browsing. Now 21:45 onwards no problems. 

 

One  point about the message the "Antiques Roadshow" is the start of two hours modelling /Britmodeller time on a Sunday evening for me as Mrs 821 settles down to said programme and Poldark

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14 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

This should illustrate the flashing problem mentioned above:

Not surprised those take an age to load, each image is nearly 2Mb, 5 megapixels.

eg:

Location:-       https://i.imgur.com/HJYnGyV.jpg

Type:-             JPEG Image

Size:-              1,928.87 kB (1,975,165 bytes)

Dimensions:-  2,592px × 1,944px (scaled to 1,133px × 850px)

 

If the OP reduced the picture size to say 1200*900 pixels file size would be around 400kb, the photos would load 5 times faster, use much less storge space, and no-one would know the difference with image quality as the forum software appears to be loading the full image and then scaling it down.

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