[SOLVED] Unable to connect do database when accessing forums

Message

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:35 pm

I'm having a really strange problem and I don't have a clue of what to do. I can only access this forums when I'm on windows. If I try to access the forums from gentoo, I get an phpBB error. Something like:

phpBB error:

Unable to connect to database

Every single time I try to come here using my gentoo instalation I get this error. I tried using firefox, konqueror and lynx. I get the same error with every browser from gentoo. It was fine some weeks ago.

Every time I boot windows to read the forums, I don't encounter any problem.

What could be wrong? Where should I start looking for this problem.

Thanks!

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:29 pm

*bump*

No ideas??

Ateo · Post by **Ateo** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 7:14 am

Does this happen when you visit *any* phpbb forums or just the gentoo forums?

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:35 pm

Only Gentoo forums.

When I don't feel like booting windows to check the forums for something important, I ssh to my gateway and access the forums from their using lynx. But that sucks

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:40 am

It's getting worse. Now I get "connection refused".

This problem may have something to do with this other thread:

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=224054

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:37 pm

*bump*

I can't live without the forums

Post by **pjp** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:32 pm

Have you tried clearing your cache? Do you have an ISP that changes your IP address while you are actively using the internet?

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:18 pm

pjp wrote:Have you tried clearing your cache? Do you have an ISP that changes your IP address while you are actively using the internet?

I cleared cache and cookies. Tried 3 different browsers. I even used telnet forums.gentoo.org 80 and always got the same response.

My ISP changes my IP address but I'm not sure when. But I don't think that could be related. First because this has been hapening for weeks now. Always!! It's not like I can connect sometimes. I can't ever connect unless I'm using windows or another computer in my home network. I can connect from my gateway using lynx on gentoo!!

I also tried emerge -e mozilla-firefox (suggestion from a friend) hoping that the problem was in some package needed by firefox. Maybe after a recompilation... but no go

I'll be updating my kernel version tomorow. Maybe it's something wrong with my ip stack.

ian! · Post by **ian!** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:42 pm

Please send me your IP (via PM, email) and the date/time when you're experiencing these problems.

Edit: Moved from 'OTG'.

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:50 pm

New kernel (2.6.8.1) but the problem is still there...

Qanii · Post by **Qanii** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:43 am

Same problem here, just for this site, only in my linuxbox's browser(whatever the browser is... firefox,lynx,w3m, etc...).

I've tried with M$ windows based browser(firefox, iexplorer) in vmware,
and my linux based browser(firefox,lynx,w3m), at the same time.

I got the same phpBB error ( Unable to connect th database ) in my linux based browser,
but in my vmware box i could access to this forum normally...

I'm now using ck-2.6.8.1-r9(udev) kernel, and have tried with

gentoo-dev-2.6.8-r3 udev
mm-2.6.8.1-r3 devfs
mm-2.6.8.1-r3 udev
mm-2.6.8.1-r4 udev
mm-2.6.7-r4
mm-2.6.4-r2

kernels, and also tried the code bellow, but the problem is still there.

Code: Select all

sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_moderate_rcvbuf=0 
sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_default_win_scale=0

any idea???

darkless · Post by **darkless** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:25 pm

I had the exact same problem. I got the "phpBB error: Unable to connect to database " reply all the time.

Finally, I found the cause. It turned out that I hard hard-coded forums.gentoo.org in my /etc/hosts file at some point where the forums resolved DNS very slowly.

After removing the entry in my /etc/hosts file, everything worked again. So, it just might be a DNS issue.

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:08 pm

/me bangs head against the wall violently

That was it... I added some of my favourite sites to my /etc/hosts and forgot all about it. The Gentoo forums was one of them...

Thanks darkless

PS: I'm writing this using gentoo again

Clansman · Post by **Clansman** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:45 pm

excuse me... i didn't follow...

why would you put an "external" (external as in outside your internal network) website in your /etc/hosts?

what insurance do you have that the ip does not change?

really, i don't see de advantage... only some can&mouse fun

i'm glad you found out your problem. that, i know, was hard!

codemaker: i hope the wall is hard!

cheers!

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:57 pm

Less latency when visiting my favourite sites. Subtracting the dns query latency

amne · Post by **amne** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:27 pm

You could install dnsmasq. It acts as a cache/proxy for dns queries and should improve your latency without getting outdated entries.

codemaker · Post by **codemaker** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 11:10 pm

I know. This was just a fast workround I used when my ISP's nameservers were working very slowly. It was a pain in the arse to browse forums like that. They seem to be working better...