talkmagic.co.uk

During the last couple of days I've noticed that trying to preview a reply posting gets me the message 'Invalid Session'. If I log out, come back in and try again I get exactly the same message. However, I can post replies to other messages (or start them off as in this case) with no error messages. Any clues as to what I'm doing wrong here?

Has anything changed on your PC? Upgraded/installed an operating system for example?
Are you saying that you cannot preview but you CAN simply post without the preview?

As far as I know, the computers here haven't had any changes. On the occasions I get that Invalid Session message, I can neither preview nor post - clicking either gives the error message. If it's a long posting, I usually do it in Word, spell check it, then copy and paste into the response box and this always worked OK until recently (and worked fine for this message!). If I get the error message I can go straight to a totally different message, click response and preview it. OK, I have to cancel all that, obviously as it would be an inappropriate response but it shows that the system works OK, except for minor glitches.

I’ll just keep an eye on it for the time being in case it’s something at our end. Computer guru due in on Wednesday so will ask him!

Cheers,

Paul

Ok! While you are waiting, may be worth checking your Internet Settings (usually tools/settings) to make sure that you are allowing cookies and session cookies on your PC

It is because the bulletin board uses your IP address in conjunction with a cookie to keep you 'logged-in'.
Changes such as dialling up or using a router, which dynamically re-assign you a new IP number, will cause the server running the php script which powers the Talk Magic forum to give the 'invalid session' link, because your IP address does not match the previous one.

In real speak:
1: If you're in the middle of a post and disconnect from the internet, you'll not be able to resume, because the next time you connect (or dial up) your dynamic IP address will change and the Talk Magic server will no longer recognise you.
2: If you're on broadband or ISDN connection via a network (i.e. you are not DIRECTLY connected to the network access point) and you 'idle' for a while, you may be logged off. When you press 'submit', you may be logged back in and consequently assigned a new IP address.

These are my best guesses. It could be the fact that nothing is wrong with your machine or the Talk Magic server, it is just one of those oddities that annoy you!
I design websites for a living, and during the course of setting up online shopping baskets, forums, bulletin boards and chat rooms, we've come across this problem quite a lot.

Almost everyone (except for people with their own internal webservers or people who specifically request it) is using a dynamic IP address.
Every time you dial up to your service provider, you're given an identifying number (e.g. 192.158.33.22). This number is how you're recognised across the net. In the case of static IP addresses (i.e. webservers have static IP addresses - when you visit a website, the nice posh names like 'www.emagictricks.co.uk' are merely masks for the ugly IP numbers), the numbers are consistant.

I don't really know much about the php script which serves this forum, but I'm quite happy to offer to look into modifying it a bit for Laurence if the problems persist (it should be relatively easy). It is an open-source php script, so I won't be breaking any copyrights!!!!

Anyway, the composing in Word and cut-n-pasting is the best solution for lengthy postings anyway.

Of course, I should have logged in first there, shouldn't I? Guest was me - honest!!

It's not so much logging in/out... you need to quit your browser and re-launch it for the cookie (a small message left by an external webserver in your browser's file system) to re-instate.

Otherwise, the message will re-occur, and you'll start losing sleep again.

Sorry about the huge convoluted message previously, I've been working all weekend (fool!) on websites, and my brain is feeling all weird and messy. I ranted in tech-speak without considering it may be gobbledeguk to the more sane and normal folk out there, who actually have a life.

I don't watch Star Trek, though.

Honest.

As my old Grandmother used to say, ‘Work is the curse of the drinking classes.’

Actually, I sort of got the drift of your message! My PC allows Cookies etc. but the ‘errors’ seem to arise at random. I’ll keep a proper log (with star date, Captain) and see if I can gather more details.

(Mandrake gestures hypnotically, adopts Leonard Nimoy guise, spreads finger of one hand into a ‘V’ shape and says, ‘Live Long and …oh b*gger – me ears have fallen off again!’)

Seige puts down his jargon dictionary and decides to speak like a normal bloke, not through choice, but through the necessity to gain the repsect back that he lost by previously talking like a badly programmed android

Mandrake... I canner tekker enny fester... ????

It is caused by your internet connection being disrupted (probably by clingons on your starboard bow?)... that's the bottom line (I think?). That's the logical solution (captain?)

Anyway, the solution is to either:
Not let your connection idle while you are writing your replies OR
Type your replies in quicker ( ) OR
Set your internet connection to NOT DISCONNECT AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME OR
Recharge your dylithium crystals and try again, but if we pushher enny herrder she's gonner blowwwww......

Hope this helps...

Kind regards,
Scotty (the bloke in the engineering room?)
Somewhere in space aboard the Starship Enterprise

(SEIGE is interrupted by the arrival of men in white coats...)

adjusting the hizenburgh compensaters seems to work for star treck

this ones a noodle scratcher and no mistake, your modem may discide your taking to long doing the message and time out, something in the modem settings is nagging me but its to early in the day for me to think straight yet maybey after my medication it'l come back to me.

my cable modem can sometimes time out at the server end, i soveld this my end by tingering with the power / sleep settings at my end oddly enough.

if something dawn's on me (proberbly at dawn) i'll let you know.

Ah, yes, well. Having spent a good deal of my supposed Bank Holiday Monday at work on the @#*%$ computer, I find that there may be some transient conditions which may, or may not, affect Internet access. As far as I can see, the connection isn't lost at all but, as all is not well with ‘umble works system – Server C Drive full thus having problems. Attempts to swap files to E Drive partially successful but insufficient space to do a proper increase in C Drive capacity. Will reserve judgment until after guru visit Wednesday.

Will probably spend Tuesday drooling over RRCM etc as there’s not a lot else to do!

Hmmm...

Work is now over for me for the weekend... AH!! Back to work tomorrow????

Life's a ... erm, ? err, box of chocolates???

Anyway, I think the modem timing out seems more likely.

Am off to the pub now to celebrate having no Bank Holiday weekend, and to stop her indoors hassling me over her IQ score. (something she did on TV...?)

Last May (see above) I mentioned occasional problems in posting messages where I kept getting the 'Invalid Session' error report. At long last I've discovered why!

In case anyone else gets this message just check the date setting on your computer. For the first 3 or 43 days of the new month we reset the dates to the last day of the previous month as it helps speed up data entry and saves having to change the date each time. If I try to post a message during this time, it doesn't work. If I put the date right it works a treat. Just thought you'd like to know!

since most of my problems arise when i post after midnight then this tracks.

also if i leave a post half done for coffee or loo break, then i sometimes get an invalid session so that the server timeout reset also tracks.

my nagging thought was about cable modem idleing so it seems its a bit of both, i cant offer any real solution but i find if i use the back button i can usualy recover my post copy it for later and restart the internet thingy then paste mostly.

probably clear as mud now.