I own a forum running 1.9.3. The software has almost completely shut down and I don't know why. Users are unable to log in, and when they do log in, they get logged out when they try to post. Even my administrative account is only working sporadically.

I have emailed YAF a couple of times now asking for support (I am willing to pay someone to fix this for me), but I am not getting a response. Can anyone suggest a YAF expert who will be able to help?

Ideally I want someone who can upgrade me to the latest version and ensure that none of these bugs are repeated.

Thanks

W

http://forum.yetanotherforum.net/yaf_postst3656_Asking-for-help--PLEASE-READ-BEFORE-POSTING.aspx 

Please offer information needed in above post. We cannot begin to diagnose problems without details and error messages. See above link for details --

Actually I just need the contact details of someone who can diagnose this problem and sort it out for me, outside of the forum. I don't have the time to do this myself.

Are there any professional YAF developers who you could direct me to?

Thanks

W

The question is what is happening now, and what is your end result you want?

You mentioned you are on v1.9.3 YAF and need an upgrade. Currently, the 1.9.6 and above YAF versions require ASP.NET v4.0 - if your host does not support this, you will need to upgrade your hosting to support YAF. As for the issues, we cannot begin to troubleshoot without knowing what the problems are --

The details in my account say ASP.Net 2.0/3.0/3.5, but I just checked and it can be easily upgraded to 4.0. Hosting is via actnowdomains.com, which I believe is basically GoDaddy.

Here are the problems that I am experiencing:

- Searches time out.

- Users often get error messages like 'there has been a serious error loading the forum' when they try to log in or perform another operation.

- If users are able to log in, they are frequently logged out very soon after. Or they get the 'serious error' message.

- Even my administrator account experiences these problems. It took me 5 attempts to get to the event log just now.

The event log has this error message every 12 seconds (exactly):

System.FormatException: The specified string is not in the form required for an e-mail address.

at System.Net.Mime.MailBnfHelper.ReadMailAddress(String data, Int32& offset, String& displayName)

at System.Net.Mail.MailAddress.ParseValue(String address)

at System.Net.Mail.MailAddress..ctor(String address, String displayName, Encoding displayNameEncoding)

at System.Net.Mail.MailAddress..ctor(String address, String displayName)

at YAF.Classes.Utils.SendMailThread.SendMailThreaded(Int32 uniqueId)

I went back a few pages and found this error message which looks more serious:

System.Web.HttpException: The state information is invalid for this page and might be corrupted. ---> System.Web.UI.ViewStateException: Invalid viewstate.

Client IP: 193.169.86.29

Port: 54365

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Synapse)

ViewState: 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 dqo8ehm6c2nozw1hihhtbg5zpsiiihhtbg5zonhzpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdaxl1hntfnjagvtysigeg1sbnm6bxnkyxrhpsj1cm46c2nozw1hcy1tawnyb3nvznqty29tonhtbc1tc2rhdgeipg0kica8ehm6zwxlbwvudcbuyw1lpsjuywjszteipg0kicagidx4czpjb21wbgv4vhlwzt4nciagicagidx4cz... ---> System.FormatException: Invalid length for a Base-64 char array.

at System.Convert.FromBase64String(String s)

at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.Deserialize(String inputString)

at System.Web.UI.ObjectStateFormatter.System.Web.UI.IStateFormatter.Deserialize(String serializedState)

at System.Web.UI.Util.DeserializeWithAssert(IStateFormatter formatter, String serializedState)

at System.Web.UI.HiddenFieldPageStatePersister.Load()

--- End of inner exception stack trace ---

--- End of inner exception stack trace ---

at System.Web.UI.ViewStateException.ThrowError(Exception inner, String persistedState, String errorPageMessage, Boolean macValidationError)

at System.Web.UI.ViewStateException.ThrowViewStateError(Exception inner, String persistedState)

at System.Web.UI.HiddenFieldPageStatePersister.Load()

at System.Web.UI.Page.LoadPageStateFromPersistenceMedium()

at System.Web.UI.Page.LoadAllState()

at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)

I have been seeing errors and timeouts on an infrequent basis for several months, but in the last month they have started to appear more frequently. For the last few days the forum has been virtually unusable.

Thanks

W

Getting into the database and checking the YAF tables for notifications will most likely reveal an address with thousands or even millions of attempts to send.

As for the viewstate error - that is caused usually by an invalid session cookie of a user, that when the user returns to the forum, causes the generic error, which YAF (and most other .NET applications) will spit out that error message, then re-create the cookie (a page refresh sometimes might be required).

While GoDaddy hosting might be suffecient for YAF under a small site, we have found many times that it does not keep up with demand, and causes many issues with YAF stability over time. Until we stabilize the other errors, this issue cannot be addressed to see if the hosting is an issue.

I can take on this project if you want -- I am generally available in the evenings, but depending on the urgency of your issues, I can make better time available.