FYI

February 13, 2009 6:12 AM

Sorry if it's just something on my end, but I am having trouble loading the site. About a third of the time, it won't load at all (ask, meta, and mefi itself). And I just reloaded a thread and got this.
posted by prefpara to Bugs at 6:12 AM (78 comments total)

I've been getting this, too.
posted by SteveTheRed at 6:14 AM on February 13, 2009

Same here. Mefi would only load about half the time yesterday.
posted by octothorpe at 6:21 AM on February 13, 2009

Same here.
posted by trip and a half at 6:21 AM on February 13, 2009

I can report various and hard to replicate wierdness on Opera mini running on Symbian.

And am aware that this more or less means I should totally get an iPhone
posted by Jofus at 6:23 AM on February 13, 2009

I get it too sometimes, and you really need to catch up on your news feeds.
posted by Science! at 6:25 AM on February 13, 2009

same here. I chalk it up to the inevitable teething issues new servers have. computers are fun in that even if you do everything exactly the same as you did it before in a new environment/server something inevitably borks up.
posted by zennoshinjou at 6:26 AM on February 13, 2009

Yeah, it's all taters sometimes.


And am aware that this more or less means I should totally get an iPhone

Or an iTouch.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:28 AM on February 13, 2009

Same here.

(Is this another thread where we all agree? Cool!)
posted by rtha at 6:33 AM on February 13, 2009

Me three.
posted by peggynature at 6:33 AM on February 13, 2009

I glanced at that screenshot and saw "Request timed out waiting to exist."
posted by lucidium at 6:34 AM on February 13, 2009

Me four.

I'd appreciate it if you would not touch my taters.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:39 AM on February 13, 2009

same here, and I'm using IE but have also had problems on my MacBook in Firefox. Guess it's the new server.
posted by Wilder at 6:39 AM on February 13, 2009

I've been having some problems viewing the 1080P live stream on the Metafilter Breaking News channel. I've had to switch over to the 720p stream and use the close-captioning because the audio is so messed up. I've tried pointing my dish at the other Metafilter satellite, but that doesn't seem to help. Is this related to the shutdown of the Metafilter Undersea Data Center? Because I thought the new dedicated fiber-channel links to the back up center in Brazil would take care of any additional load.

Anyway, I've got to get some work done, so I'll probably just listen for updates on Metafilter Radio 1.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:41 AM on February 13, 2009 [3 favorites]

Is this another thread where we all agree?

Not me!

Actually I am having this problem too, I just wanted to be difficult.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:48 AM on February 13, 2009

If I hit reload over and over again, that'll help to diagnose the problem, right? Right?
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 6:49 AM on February 13, 2009

My special cabal access is working fine.

THERE IS NO CABAL.

Message brought to you by Comcast cabal internet
posted by explosion at 6:50 AM on February 13, 2009

blue_beetle, if you have a MetaFilter Cabal-class headjack you can plug your ethernet connection directly into it (the adapter is only like 10 Euro at the MeFi Pro Shop) and it will resolve all the MetaFilter Network data feeds into STMDP (Short-Term Memory Data Protocol). It's a little disorienting remembering threads that you've never read, but if you manually adjust your headjack's Temporal Offset (just telnet into the headjack from any computer on your LAN) you can make it more manageable. The Plab-class headjacks can even handle S-video.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:52 AM on February 13, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm having a strange bug where it looks like there's a thread where we spent almost 400 comments trying to figure out what a "tator" is.
posted by DU at 7:13 AM on February 13, 2009 [6 favorites]

Same problems here in the UK. I suspect server weevils.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:26 AM on February 13, 2009

Isn't there a big statue of a server weevil in some town square in Alabama or someplace?
posted by box at 7:28 AM on February 13, 2009

Sorry about the recent trouble everyone. We're aware of the problems and we're still working on getting the new servers running smoothly. Obviously they're not so smooth at the moment.
posted by pb (staff) at 7:39 AM on February 13, 2009

Noticed site-search is working again, and my last.fm recently listened is as up-to-date as last.fm deems necessary. Which is rad!
posted by carsonb at 7:53 AM on February 13, 2009

Freakin' weevils.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:04 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

People, pay your yearly subscription fee.
posted by gman at 8:04 AM on February 13, 2009

Server down messages illustrate the banality of weevil.
posted by DU at 8:07 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Getting a JRun error (twice) this morning was weirdly nostalgic.

Ah, JRun, how we've missed you so.....
posted by anastasiav at 8:12 AM on February 13, 2009

just been told:-

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, [e-mail] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

it's been particularly bad today, I've lost a few comments (well really it's Metafilter's loss ;) and had trouble loading all day.
posted by Wilder at 8:18 AM on February 13, 2009

I don't know if this is relevant to the complaints in this thread, but it turns out I couldn't access the New Improved MetraFilter (TM) on one of my computers due to an outdated list of non-routable addresses used by my firewall, which included 174.0.0.0/8. It might be that some of the equipment between Here and There is relying on a similar list.
posted by ghost of a past number at 8:40 AM on February 13, 2009

I've been doing voodoo rituals all week trying to get this to stop happening with my connections to the site. Unfortunately, it hasn't seemed to accomplish much, and my cubical is now full of dead cockerels and spilled rum.

Though, if I'm completely honest, this is pretty much par for course with regard to how I typically keep my workspace decorated.
posted by quin at 8:43 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

THERE IS NO CABAL.

Well, not if you don't have a cabal modem, there isn't.
posted by pjern at 8:45 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

JRUN RUN
JRUN RUN

^ lyrics to an upcoming cortex song
posted by dmd at 8:52 AM on February 13, 2009

Crud, still getting a bunch of server restarts this morning. Thankfully, they're brief, so if you spot any errors or downtime, wait 30-60sec and hit the refresh button, and things are usually back to normal.

It seems like for some reason the configuration we've got is susceptible to getting crushed by search bots. Things will go fine for hours, but the moment the Yahoo bot shows up and asks for thousands of old Ask MeFi threads, the server just up and dies.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:23 AM on February 13, 2009

I lost a really important comment that ended the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stopped world hunger, cured cancer, and solved the tater mystery.
posted by desjardins at 9:29 AM on February 13, 2009

Can't you give Yahoo a crawl-delay?
posted by dmd at 9:32 AM on February 13, 2009

Oh, you already have.
posted by dmd at 9:32 AM on February 13, 2009

MetaFilter: wait 30-60sec and hit the refresh button
posted by DU at 9:32 AM on February 13, 2009

the moment the Yahoo bot shows up and asks for thousands of old Ask MeFi threads, the server just up and dies

It's hard not to picture this anthropomorphically; perhaps in the style of the marching, dancing concession food in the old drive-in movie intermission reels.
posted by yhbc at 9:33 AM on February 13, 2009

dmd, yes we did give Yahoo (and others) a crawl-delay a few days ago. They're just not following it yet.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:38 AM on February 13, 2009

I had a 503 error while reloading this page. That was ..confusing.


"I met him on a Monday and my server stood still, jrun run run run a jrun run run."
posted by The Whelk at 9:44 AM on February 13, 2009 [3 favorites]

We wouldn't have a problem with the weevils if you guys didn't leave your taters all over the place.
posted by ardgedee at 9:45 AM on February 13, 2009

Me too. You can jrun but you can't jhide.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 10:04 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Me too! Me too! And here I was just going to blame our transition over to some new servers...

Oh, I left my tater out and the weevils got to it? Sorry about that. I'll be more careful with my tater next time.
posted by rand at 10:33 AM on February 13, 2009

wait 30-60sec and hit the refresh button

I haven't got all day!
posted by Mister_A at 10:33 AM on February 13, 2009

Come on favorite that already ^^
posted by Mister_A at 10:33 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Look on the bright side: while MeFi is down you have time to catch up on your feeds!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:08 AM on February 13, 2009

Oh, I left my tater out and the weevils got to it? Sorry about that. I'll be more careful with my tater next time.

Around this crowd, it's probably okay to leave the softcore tators out, but you should NEVER leave the hardcore taters where someone can see them.
posted by Night_owl at 11:40 AM on February 13, 2009

Why not try streaming audio? The mods could take turns reading to us.
posted by Cranberry at 11:41 AM on February 13, 2009

Thanks Rock Steady! I'll buy you a drink next time we're both at the Metafilter Luncheon on the Metafilter Zeppelin during Metafilter User Appreciation Week in Maui.

You know, I never realized how much value I would get for my $5, but Mathowie really knows how to make someone feel welcome. I mean, the free unlimited flights anywhere in the world were nice, but when he bumped everyone up to ultra-first class just for kicks? Wow, that was nice. Plus, I'm really looking forward to my 1 free week in the Metafilter Timeshare this summer. Total class act!
posted by blue_beetle at 11:49 AM on February 13, 2009

I'm having problems leaving a comment that I was getting the 503 error or a network connection problem. A little help plz?
posted by Pronoiac at 11:57 AM on February 13, 2009

Actually, blue_beetle, the Timeshare is kind of a dump. I think some of the smaller cabins on MeFisland still have offseason availability next year, though.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:50 PM on February 13, 2009

I just got a 500 error: there is no web application configured to serve your tater.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 12:51 PM on February 13, 2009

Dammit guys, the site was down so I couldn't make a joke in this thread about who laid the trap and who caught the clap!

Get your shit together, would you? There are puns and snark going to waste here!

Also, LOL @ sluts
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 12:53 PM on February 13, 2009

Ok, now we might be getting some stability, after a morning of hair twisting and teeth gnashing. We've changed a few settings and done a critical upgrade of java. We'll have to wait and see though.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:01 PM on February 13, 2009

So, the stuff we were just about to post in the sluts thread, it's OK to post them here? Maybe I'll wait for confirmation on that.
posted by jfuller at 1:08 PM on February 13, 2009

My feed is just fine. Makes me glad I paid the extra $10 for MetaFilterPlatinum.
posted by shothotbot at 1:18 PM on February 13, 2009

It's the Metafilter 500. Restart your web engines.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:34 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Still fuckin' up here.

(Likely, this is Yahoo's way of driving traffic to Answers, with their new motto "Stupid, but up!")

Oh, hai, this comment just got JRun Run Run…
posted by klangklangston at 1:50 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yep, still not working.
posted by middleclasstool at 1:51 PM on February 13, 2009

May be a known error, but I'm now seeing (via the Greasemonkey deleted thread script) a bunch of non-deleted posts as deleted on the front page.
posted by one_bean at 1:56 PM on February 13, 2009

About every third or fourth page load it seems that live squid tentacles are growing from my keyboard.

They're delicious, but a little messy.
posted by loquacious at 1:58 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

the moment the Yahoo bot shows up and asks for thousands of old Ask MeFi threads, the server just up and dies

It's hard not to picture this anthropomorphically; perhaps in the style of the marching, dancing concession food in the old drive-in movie intermission reels.

"Lets all ping server, lets all ping the server, lets all ping the server and request ourselves a page!"
posted by The Whelk at 1:58 PM on February 13, 2009

Looks like the deleted thread script is screwy now. Must be something up with the post numbering.
posted by dead cousin ted at 2:10 PM on February 13, 2009

It's not just you, one_bean -- both this Microsoft post and this Dark Knight post have been disappeared from the front page, though you can still find them by typing in the URLs manually and they're not closed to new comments.

The next thread numerically, the one about the Firefox art add-on, show up, though. I guess it's sporadic.
posted by Rhaomi at 2:15 PM on February 13, 2009

My awesome breakdancing post is gone from the front page too.
posted by swift at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2009

yep, deleted threads is going mad. MAD I tell you.
posted by patricio at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2009

Everytime I refresh MetaFilter, different posts show up and some disappear. Is this a new feature?
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 2:21 PM on February 13, 2009

Look for the pattern in the "deleted" threads. Once you figure out the key, you're allowed in the cabal.
posted by mrnutty at 2:22 PM on February 13, 2009

I was tickled to see that JSon error message back again! <3
posted by nitsuj at 3:01 PM on February 13, 2009

Look for the pattern in the "deleted" threads. Once you figure out the key, you're allowed in the cabal


*looks*

Oh!

It's you? I'm sorry. I had no idea.
posted by The Whelk at 3:14 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Those "deleted" threads are on the front page now.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:33 PM on February 13, 2009

Works again, so clearly there is no cabal.
posted by dead cousin ted at 3:43 PM on February 13, 2009

clearly.
posted by The Whelk at 3:48 PM on February 13, 2009

I'm getting extreme slowdown and a whole bunch of 503 and 500 errors.
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:50 PM on February 13, 2009

Which is the error with the buttons not the zipper?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:07 PM on February 13, 2009

When I use my hardcore tater browser I have no problems.
When I use my softcore tater browser, I repeatedly receive timeouts.
I am now experimenting with straight and gay tater-browsers to see if there is any difference in response times.
posted by terranova at 8:02 PM on February 13, 2009

The strangest problem that I am having is that this appears on the MetaTalk page:

11 new links and 914 comments posted since your last visit

That can't possibly be right.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:29 AM on February 14, 2009

The Bodacious Tata browser is a big, bouncing improvement.
posted by lukemeister at 9:21 AM on February 14, 2009

I haven't been able to get mefi/meta/ask on mobile since the server move. My craptastic samsung phone uses t-mobile and all I get are timeout messages.

Now my commute really sucks.
posted by Space Kitty at 10:06 PM on February 16, 2009