Okay I spoke to Adam briefly about this and I thought maybe it was just my puter..... Now I am not so sure.

I have noticed several times when I am sending a PM that once I type out an nice long PM and hit enter that I get an error message telling me that the user name is not found. I then need to amend the user id as requested and once I click on this to go back wallah.... message body is gone. Arrrrgggghhhh.... Crap!

This has happened to me on PM replies and PM's that I choose a member from my buddy list. So in saying this me thinks it is not me that is making the mistake because I am choosing a prexisiting user name that has previously worked before.

With some luck Adam and Norsky or any other puter guru's here may be able to find a fix for what is seemingly a problem.

Another reason I am bringing this up is because I know of another couple of members now who have been experiencing the same issue.

I have had this happen frequently enough that I now resort to copying the message prior to hitting the send button in the advent I receive the dreaded error message.

Soooooo, how about it? Any of youuse (sorry, borrowed that werd from Joel) guyz & galz havin this or a similar problem? Enquiring minds shore do want ta know! Tuxblacray2008-10-01 12:30:14

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Yes. During the past two weeks or so I have had the same result when using the PM function.

Exactly Tux. More than once I've typed out a big ole PM, and had the same error message and lost it. I thought maybe there was a size limit to the PM space or somethin. It pizzes me off pretty good. I too copy before I attempt to send, if I remember. 

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Yuper's it happened to me also, thought it was my piece of junk.

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Yes Tux, it's standard practice for me to copy text before hitting send.  cilrah2008-09-30 20:21:18

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MARK
LIFETIME MEMBER #117

Click here to see my new friend P-Racer
"Keep up the Pace"

Ditto - I can't count how many times I've had that happen.  Most of the time it is related to my session "timing out" and I need to log in again to complete the message.  I too have gotten in the habit of copying/pasting the message into NotePad before clicking the Send button.

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Jim Olson 

"The Toys"...!!!  Save the Wave!

Where I've been in a Corvette...!!!

Yep,same for me,and with my"advancing" ageI thought it was just me having a "senior moment" huh ,what were we talkin about ?

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C3VR Lifetime Member #93
 

Add me to it.

Like Ron, I thought it was just a senior moment, happening every 3 or 4 PM's.  I had convinced myself that I was not clicking exactly on Submit and then hit Home or something that got me out of it.  That was for the last few months. 

In the last few weeks, it has come with the message Tux speaks of. So, I'll take the rap for the last few months, but now I can play the blame game and rest comfortably in the assurance that it's SEP (somebody else's problem). 

Yep, happened to me before too. Ive been copying my message before going back when I get the error message.

Exact same thing happened to me in March of this year.  I was trying to send a PM to Adam and got the error message.  After several e-mails back and forth we determined that the problem was with my computer because no one else was having the problem.  Like Ron and Dennis, I thought it was me having a senior moment.   I have not had the problem recently.  Misery loves company!

 

Dean

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It has happened to me a couple of times.

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Tux, you uncovered a hornets nest. I also have had a ton of issues like that. Thanx for binging it up.......I got burned many times corvette440hp2008-10-01 11:09:02

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[QUOTE=Norsky] Ditto - I can't count how many times I've had that happen.  Most of the time it is related to my session "timing out" and I need to log in again to complete the message.  I too have gotten in the habit of copying/pasting the message into NotePad before clicking the Send button.[/QUOTE]

Jim, why is it the session times out? Was there a change made somewhere along the line? I don't remember previously my session timing out. But, since you bring this up I notice that mine does now as well.

I know that up until recently (this year) I had never experienced the issue.

I am not sure if this is the common factor or not. I guess I was hoping through this thread that enough conversation would be generated to pinpoint a root cause from a list of possible varibles.

At this point it appears I was not the Lone Ranger. Tuxblacray2008-10-01 12:37:17

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Yep. You said a mouthful Tux. Guess I've experienced it all, to the point of avoiding PM except for one liners or so. Very frustrating.

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Jimmy B.
Just can't wait to get on the road again.

 
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I am absolutely steamed! That's pissed off!  I just spent an hour typing a PM to Lukes Vette and got the error message and lost it all.

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Well, thank God I'm not going crazy!  Same thing has happened to me too!

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�����
My Link


MICK - C3VR Lifetime Member #113

I wasn't really POed.  Just a little frustrated.  Sorry for the outburst.  Is there something that can be fixed?

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Until the source of the problem is identified and corrected, just be sure to "copy" all of your P/M text before hitting the "send" button. I've run into similar issues when posting in the forums, and it's always after spending 20-30 minutes on a reply. I have learned to "copy" it all before posting, just in case.
I have only had the issue with the P/M once or twice, as far as the "user unknown" deal, but I get e-mails for a lot of folks that try to P/M me and they get the same error message....

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Joel,

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This is more than my nerves can take!!!!!!!! It happens all the time, i

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Joel your PM issue seemed to be related to the ' location in Adams' Apple as I remember it. My most recent issue was with a reply to a message that Adam had sent to me through a PM. I didn't type in or choose the user id I simply replied so therefore the issue shouldn't have ever been related to the the user id. (as I see it).

So far 16 folks have admitted to having the issue occur to them. (including the site administrator Norsky) Hopefully that warrants some suspect that there is an issue that needs to be defined.

The copy paste is a good temporary bandaid but I would hope is not the fix. Somewhere in the software there exsists this little gremlin that needs to be quarantined.

I kinda liken this to one of our Stingray mysteries that we all gather round to help work out. At least that is why I poised the original post. Hopefully in the end the issue will be no more..... no more.....   

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To all that don't know how, to "Copy" your text, put your cursor(mouse thingy) at the end of the text, and LEFT click, hold the left button down, and move the cursor over the text to "highlight" the entire text. Then, once it is all highlighted, RIGHT click, and a window opens up. In that window, you'll see "COPY"...LEFT click on that. You have now "Copied" the message, and saved it for the time being.

Then, if for whatever reason, the message doesn't get sent, go back to the post-P/M box, and do a RIGHT click. The window opens up, and you'll see "Paste". Click on the "Paste with the Left button, and presto-chango, your message is inserted.
Then hit the "Send" button, and yer done.
Hope this kinda-sorta helps, at least until Adam can see whazzup with the issues in the P/M system.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

thanks joel ,   good info  fer us puter dummies !

Thank you Joel------I didn't have a clue.

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Well, nice to see Joel got his PROBLEM fixed and he provided Dean with the know how to do the copy paste work around fix for this issue.

But I still would like to have the Adam put this issue on his priority list of "Things To Do". Simply because it is a PITB!

Psssssst...... "Hey Butch" maybe Adam could shadow you and Terry on Chat night and figure out what is up with your - In & Out- issues!

So how about it Boss, can we have this issue checked into?Tuxblacray2008-10-15 04:57:30

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First of all, thanks to Tux for bringing this thread to my attention. I think I have mentioned to you all before... if something needs my immediate attention the best thing to do is PM or email me.  I do not get a chance to read all the threads.

It sounds to me like this is, as mentioned as a possibility, a "session timeout" problem.

For those that don't know what that means, when a person browses to a website, the computer that the website is on (the "Web Server") starts a "session" for them.  A session helps the Web Server keep track of who is who.  So if two people go to the site, it knows, among other things, that user A has been on for 5 minutes while user B has been on for 10 minutes, for example.  Another thing a session can do is keep track of who is logged in, like with C3VR.com.  This keeps the user from having to log in on every page.  They log in once, and as long as their "session" is active, they will stay logged in as they move from one page to another.

Sessions have a "timeout" which means after a user's session has become inactive for a certain amount of time, the Web Server will close their session to free up memory on the Web Server and keep it from being overloaded.  Typically, a default timeout is 20 minutes.  So if the user comes to the site, browses to a bunch of pages then stops (or goes to another website) after 20 minutes, the Web Server will close their session.

Here in lies the problem.  If a user browses to a site, like C3VR.com, and goes to a page where they enter text on a form (like a thread or PM), the Web Server has no way of knowing if the user is typing or not.  So as far as the Web Server is concerned the user is no longer active.  So if it takes the user more than the session timeout to type their message (like more than 20 minutes), when they go to submit their entry, the Web Server has lost track of who they are so it starts a new session and clears everything out to reset it.  This is why you lose your text entry and can cause strange errors like the one you get with the PMs.  Technically, you are trying to submit nothing to the PM, since the form has been reset, so it gives you "user unknown" error.

So, I checked what C3VR's session timeout was (which I thought I had done in the past), and it was set to 20 minutes.  Apparently, many of you take longer than 20 minutes to type some PMs and thread posts. 

So I have changed the timeout to be 60 minutes, for now.  I can't make it unlimited or much longer than 60 minutes because it will hog up too much memory and resources.  Eventually, what I'd like to do is set it back to 20 minutes with a "timeout monitor" that will present you with a little pop-up window letting you know that your session is about to expire, and if you click a button you can continue it and not lose your form entry.

So basically, here's what you need to know... Don't take longer than 60 minutes to write a PM or thread post.  If you start typing one and have to walk away for awhile, copy it and paste in into Notepad or Word or something so you don't lose it.

Thanks.


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-Adam Wartell
NCM Lifetime Member #1222
Founder: C3 Vette Registry 
C4 Vette Registry, C6 Vette Registry

My first Vette, now owned by JB79:

Thanx Adam,some of us with only one hand do take a little longer to type,and some of us with advanced age (senior moments) can't remember what we typed or even who we were sending the message too,take longer ,as always you da man Adam

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C3VR Lifetime Member #93
 

Ron you are soo funny!!!!

Thanks, Adam I appreciate your fixing this!!!
Tuxblacray2008-10-15 07:48:13

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Thanks Adam. But maybe for Ron's sake (and mine) you should have set the session timeout for around 2 days...................??

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[QUOTE=Bossman Adam]So, I checked what C3VR's session timeout was (which I thought I had done in the past), and it was set to 20 minutes. Apparently, many of you take longer than 20 minutes to type some PMs and thread posts.
[/QUOTE]

Ya think?!?!?!?



I type fairly quick, but....I'm long winded....

I remember you did up the time-out value a while back....seems like it was two minutes or something like that before.
Thanks for checking into it, and taking care of the deal....you da MAN!

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Thanks Adam, very much appreciated .

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Jimmy B.
Just can't wait to get on the road again.

 
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Thanx Adam and Tux

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So...did the change seem to make a difference?

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-Adam Wartell
NCM Lifetime Member #1222
Founder: C3 Vette Registry 
C4 Vette Registry, C6 Vette Registry

My first Vette, now owned by JB79: