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Meneldor
Doriath
Dec 25 2024, 6:41pm
Post #1 of 79
(10007 views)
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Slow forum issue today?
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Is anyone else having problems with the boards running very slowly? Starting last night, it's taking a minute or two for every page to load, and on 3 or 4 occasions it timed out and went to a page that said theonering.net is not responding. Everywhere else I go on the web is working fine, so it must be either TORN or the way my computer accesses just this one website.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Dec 25 2024, 9:01pm
Post #2 of 79
(9887 views)
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Yes, the pages are loading slowly for me, too.
[In reply to]
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Perhaps the server ate too much at Christmas lunch?
There's not much we can do about it until one of the Powers That Be pop in to see what's up, except cross our fingers that it doesn't get worse in the meantime.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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squire
Gondolin
Dec 26 2024, 2:58am
Post #3 of 79
(9888 views)
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Glad to know it' s not just me.
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Yes, TORn has been very odd today, regarding load time for a clicked link on the site. Hoping our tech folks can figure out what it might be.
squire online:
Unfortunately my longtime internet service provider abandoned its hosting operations last year. I no longer have any online materials to share with the TORn community.
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Dec 26 2024, 4:19am
Post #4 of 79
(9889 views)
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My guess is the extended family of whomever hosts the TORn server computer in their residence has been streaming all their new Digital Copy movies to several different TVs all Christmas day, saturating their available bandwidth.
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Meneldor
Doriath
Dec 26 2024, 6:35pm
Post #5 of 79
(9860 views)
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It's a relief to know I'm not crazy.
... Right?
Somewhat better today but still a bit slower than usual, I think.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Meneldor
Doriath
Dec 29 2024, 7:16pm
Post #7 of 79
(9695 views)
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At least it hasn't crashed lately
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But it's still quite slow.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Meneldor
Doriath
Jan 2, 5:02pm
Post #8 of 79
(9658 views)
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Very very slow today. It hasn't crashed in a while, but there's definitely something wrong.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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sevilodorf
Dor-Lomin
Jan 3, 6:43pm
Post #9 of 79
(9643 views)
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It's only this site--- everything else loads fast.... it's really dragging.
Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Inferno
Superuser
/ Moderator
Jan 7, 1:43pm
Post #10 of 79
(9495 views)
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Do you mean tOR.N as a whole, or just the forums? Do the main page and news articles load slowly as well?
I suspect what may be going on (without have any access to the server itself to poke around, so it's just a guess) is that the slowness is a symptom of the age of the board software and hardware and there's not much that can be done about it until we can get a replacement in place. But if the entire tOR.N site is slow, then that's not the cause, and TPTB will need to look into other reasons for the problem.
Inferno.
======================
Good night, tOR.Nados. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely delete you in the morning.
======================
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 8, 8:27pm
Post #11 of 79
(9435 views)
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It's just the boards. The main page and articles seem fine on my end.
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And it is persisting, although not as bad as over Christmas/New years.
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sevilodorf
Dor-Lomin
Jan 9, 3:13am
Post #12 of 79
(9427 views)
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Boards only -- main and articles load quickly//
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Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Altaira
Superuser
Jan 10, 5:12pm
Post #13 of 79
(9245 views)
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----> Looks like things have sped up again
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Of course, 'sped up' is relative with our slightly antiquated forums. 
Getting into posts and replying to posts is back to normal for me. Posting pictures takes a bit of patience but is also working.
Thank Calisuri and/or Corvar. I contacted both of them, so one of them must have tweaked something.
Also thanks back to you all for posting about it here, as I too was wondering if it was just me.
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Jan 10, 6:36pm
Post #14 of 79
(9221 views)
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I see no difference.
If they actually found something to tweak, it would be interesting to know what the issue was and how it was fixed. Or if it's just somehow, eventually healing itself...
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Jan 10, 7:14pm
Post #15 of 79
(9200 views)
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I take that back. Sometimes it's quick now. Sometimes it's as slow as a trek into Mordor. It was quick getting to this discussion. It was slow to respond to this reply screen.
Edit: Slow to post the above. Quick to get to this edit. Slow to bring up the forums home screen in a new browser tab. Luck of the draw, I suppose.
(This post was edited by DGHCaretaker on Jan 10, 7:16pm)
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 10, 8:55pm
Post #16 of 79
(9170 views)
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I'm getting the same mixed results as DGH.
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Some things are definitely quicker than they have been since Christmas but others are as slow as ever.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jan 10, 9:09pm)
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Lissuin
Doriath
Jan 11, 12:50am
Post #17 of 79
(9158 views)
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Same here, just improved from this morning,
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and we're out in the wop wops.
Thanks, guys!!!!!!!!
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 11, 1:24am
Post #18 of 79
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for everything on the boards.
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Annael
Elvenhome
Jan 11, 9:07pm
Post #19 of 79
(9071 views)
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At least 30 seconds to load.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Jan 16, 3:35pm
Post #21 of 79
(8205 views)
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I've started opening two tabs in my browser, so that TORn can churn and churn and finally produce a page on the one, while on the other I can scroll through several screens and follow several links.
If TORn is simply feeling its age, boy, do I sympathize!
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Meneldor
Doriath
Jan 17, 1:03am
Post #22 of 79
(8178 views)
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shunted off to the "TORN took too long to respond" page multiple times today. Including 3 times so far just trying to post this.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 17, 1:36am
Post #23 of 79
(8173 views)
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The last 2 days have been at least 50% worse.
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I've been doing exactly the same thing as you have! 
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Jan 17, 3:40am
Post #24 of 79
(8169 views)
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Respectfully, it would be nice to hear from a (the?) site tech wizard about what's going on.
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Silvered-glass
Menegroth
Jan 17, 2:22pm
Post #25 of 79
(8129 views)
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I wonder if the slowdowns are because the forum database has grown large over the years and now has problems fitting on the server RAM? If that is the case, upgrading the server with more RAM could keep the problems at bay for a good while.
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Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Jan 17, 3:30pm
Post #26 of 79
(3540 views)
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It's working perfectly this morning! //
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Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 17, 7:48pm
Post #27 of 79
(3535 views)
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Yep, just as I used to do back in the days of dial-up internet. /
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Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 17, 7:48pm
Post #28 of 79
(3536 views)
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Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 17, 8:37pm
Post #30 of 79
(3533 views)
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Yep, better this morning, and now back to watching glaciers grow---
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Jan 18, 2:13pm
Post #31 of 79
(3506 views)
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz *fidget* zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
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*startled snort!* I keep forgetting what I was doing ;) Going to 2-screens is a great idea... but I'd be doubly lost!!
At least our Beloved Boards haven't ditched us altogether! *grateful smile*
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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Altaira
Superuser
Jan 24, 3:39am
Post #32 of 79
(3349 views)
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----> Sorry this has been so frustrating
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Like many of you, I thought: Wheee, the problem's been fixed when the boards moved faster, only to have it last only a minute or two before slowing down again.
I've been doing some research on my own and have come to the following conclusions. I'll pass them on to Calisuri and Corvar (who it's optimal to communicate with over weekends because they are volunteers and have RLs too):
1 - nothing I can see on the 'back-end' (i.e., board administrative functions) has been changed, so don't seem to be related. In fact, they're moving slowly too.
2 - delays aren't browser-specific, which points to the problem being ancient server the forums reside on, and/or the server configuration, and/or any recent changes, and/or all of the above.
3 - 'something' caused the boards to slow down almost 24/7 around Christmas, and 'something else' briefly and rarely causes them to go back to normal speed.
4 - I ran some publicly available site testing specifically on the forums and, sure enough, it showed problems and offered some ideas. Not being a web-designer or administrator for the site, I'll pass the results on to those who are.
One thing that might be helpful - if you notice the boards speeding up temporarily, could you post here with the time of day and your time zone? That would help me to tell exactly when the speed-ups occur. It may not be important, but might be helpful even if tangentially.
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 24, 6:43pm
Post #33 of 79
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if Inferno might be available to help?
You sure don't want me messing with it . . . 
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Altaira
Superuser
Jan 24, 7:05pm
Post #34 of 79
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want to be 'messing' with this. Having run the 'back end' of the boards for 17+ years I think it's safe to say I know what I'm doing, and the more information I give to Calisur and Corvar, the higher the chances that they'll be able to identify the problem and fix it.
As my post said, I'm now 99% sure the problem isn't with the back end, administrative part of the boards. For one, nothing has recently changed in that environment. The issue is with the site/server and how it's processing board activity. Neither myself or Inferno can do anything about that. We're 100% dependent on help from Calisuri and Corvar.
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Jan 24, 7:08pm
Post #35 of 79
(3326 views)
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Despite RL, and other nicely supportive and understanding posts above, I'm disappointed that the techs have made no appearance here. I do volunteer maintenance and support and feel obligated - a responsibility - to provide thoughts and status when there's an issue. I treat things professionally even if it's volunteer work. It might even be more important in volunteer work.
That said, I also tell people I want solutions offered along with their complaint so:
I thought maybe TORN was self-hosting in someone's residence, but I did a tracert, ping, and domain lookup to check your hosting , DNS, and response. Pings and traces returned in reasonable time. Outside of my region, responses from newboards.theonering.net (or theonering.net) were consistently 32 to 35 milliseconds - the same as responses from microsoft.com. It appears you are hosted in or near Chicago. DNS is provided by Tucows. Hosting appears to be public (i.e., not in someone's basement) via PowerUser and PowerUser's DNS servers show in Tucows as PowerIsp.com.
I was going to suggest, and still do, contacting both your DNS provider and host, presumably Tucows and PowerUser, to check for any issues with the DNS and on to the website. DNS looks good from the tracert and pings, so that indicates the problem is not along the way to your actual website, but I'd still make the call. If they deny any issue, that moves the problem somewhere into your domain - something involving or changed in your database or hosting configuration maybe. Maybe Apache, PHP, and the database (MySQL/Postgres?) was upgraded by the host to a newer version. That can cause issues and delays with error logging and recovery. Check all your hosting logs.
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 24, 7:51pm
Post #36 of 79
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Oh, I meant me, literally, not you.
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I know you can handle it. I just wondered if Inferno could help, too. I was just saying you wouldn't want me personally working on it--that I'd leave it to you experts. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
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Altaira
Superuser
Jan 24, 7:55pm
Post #37 of 79
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Thanks for taking the time do do some research (which I can see you're good at). 
If a DNS provider was the problem, it would be affecting the entire site, and it's not. Adding to the complexity is that there is more than one TORn server. The whole impetus for having to find new board software is that the forums are on the oldest server which is past the time it should have been retired.
The board software is so antiquated, if the boards could be updated enough to move to a newer server, one change to Apache, PHP, SQL, etc. could bring them crashing down. Believe me, when I was going through my 'denial phase' of having to move to a new platform, I tried pursuing that option. Opinions varied about whether it is technically possible to do. One very capable and wonderful person even volunteered to see if it is possible. But, even if it is, we'd need someone dedicated to patching and fixing the board software after every change, not to mention figuring out which change did what. Realistically, it's not going to happen, so I've moved on to the 'acceptance' phase.
But I digress. I suspect it *was* an update, or updates, that caused the boards to slow down. Thus, providing Calisuri and Corvar as much information as I could to help them zero in on it. I'm the liaison from the forums and they depend on me to alert them if something is awry. They might come and read related threads, or I sometimes link them. But once they find a problem and fix it, they move on. They obviously haven't found the problem yet, but I know that they know everything you suggested, so hopefully the extra specific information I provided will help them get there.
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Altaira
Superuser
Jan 24, 8:05pm
Post #38 of 79
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So no worries.
In any case, as I said there's nothing Inferno or I can do at this point, other than me testing things on my end, and conveying that info, plus everyone's feedback, to Calisuri and Corvar.
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Lissuin
Doriath
Jan 25, 2:50am
Post #39 of 79
(3306 views)
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Today 25 January 2025, 3:25 pm, Wellington, NZ
Logging on takes approx. 30 seconds, as does posting a reply. That is marginally better than a week ago.
Cheers.
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Lissuin
Doriath
Jan 25, 3:04am
Post #40 of 79
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If not for the dedicated volunteer service of Calisuri and Corvar and others to TORn, and therefore to the many Tolkien enthusiasts who have read and posted here, there would have been no "here" ever. Any knowledgeable information, such as yours, that might help in this situation is welcome.
And any volunteer work that has lasted for over 20 years to maintain this site has earned more respect than upbraiding from those who have benefited directly from that work. Acknowledgement of RL and all nicely supportive and understanding posts are what is, in fact, called for.
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Jan 25, 6:13pm
Post #41 of 79
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Check Error Logs. Check Downgrade Options On Recent Upgrades..
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This is the sort of attitude that promotes mediocrity. I'm more of a "what have you done lately" sort of person. We can be appreciative and critical at the same time while offering solutions in a helpful spirit.
What I see above is dismissive. It's diplomatically saying don't bother the experts with things they already know.
I gave it a try.
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Meneldor
Doriath
Jan 25, 7:40pm
Post #42 of 79
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at many things. Talking about how volunteers provide mediocre service is not an effective way to make them feel motivated to keep volunteering.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 25, 8:34pm
Post #43 of 79
(3251 views)
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25 Jan 21:30 NZ Summer Time - notably fast, as good as I've ever seen it.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Lissuin
Doriath
Jan 26, 2:07am
Post #44 of 79
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"Dismissive" isn't how I'd describe my or others' replies, DGHC. If you took mine as such, however, consider it as turn about being fair play. 
You gave your frank opinion of the workings of TORn along with technical solutions, and helpful your suggestions will no doubt prove to be. The point I was trying to make was that while it would be nice to regain instantaneous response times once again, there is something far more important for me about this unique website, the only social media-ish website I subscribe to. (Yes, really, in 2025. Everything else out there comes with booby traps.)
I am grateful for the perseverance of the builders and maintainers of this site who, as was pointed out, generally work behind the scenes as problems arise. Then there are the tireless moderators of TORn, who valiantly see to the work of maintaining an atmosphere of civility day to day, film after film, face to face as it were.
The ongoing presence for over two decades of many of these Companions has maintained a community through much social change and ongoing technical adaptations that boggle my liberal arts mind. I marvel, frankly, that they have all continued to show up to keep the lights on.
Those of us who benefit from all this seen and unseen work, whether posting or reading and perhaps less frequently than in ages past, can be assured of a reliable level of civil discourse when we arrive, kindness that might not always be available in RL. That is what I've come here for these 15 years.
Now back to my cuppa. I am patient. I can wait.
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 26, 7:58pm
Post #45 of 79
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almost exactly 24 hours later, again very fast. Perhaps related to 21:30 NZ Summer Time being the early hours for much of North America.
A few minutes ago (08:55 NZ, 27 Jan) the site was briefly fast but slow before and after that.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Starling
Gondolin
Jan 27, 5:44am
Post #46 of 79
(3157 views)
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Since the boards first slowed down I have barely been able to get on the message boards at all, and when I do, the average page loading time is 20-30 seconds.I haven't noticed any improvement at all, but that might just be my bad luck.
Although I don't post much these days I am definitely missing the ability to do my regular lurking!
Thanks everyone behind the scenes as well for working on the issue.
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 28, 12:12am
Post #47 of 79
(3133 views)
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Tracking time of day and board speed:
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Morning around 10:30 to noon seems the fastest, EST, but still very slow.
The last 2 days, nothing has been fast, any time of day, but loading time is a tiny bit faster, consistently for those 2 days, but only by about 10 seconds.
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Inferno
Superuser
/ Moderator
Jan 28, 3:30pm
Post #48 of 79
(3103 views)
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Don't have the necessary access
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so I can't do any more than has already been done by Altaira (mostly) and me (a little). It requires actual server access, not just boards superuser privileges. That's Corvar and Calisuri's domain exclusively.
I am digging into new forum options, although I realize that isn't helpful in the short term.
Inferno.
======================
Good night, tOR.Nados. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely delete you in the morning.
======================
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Jan 28, 11:26pm
Post #50 of 79
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Just about 5 minutes ageo (6:20, EST),
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a couple of navigations in the RR went almost normally, and then everything slowed way down again. Don't know if this will help, but I thought I'd mention it.
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Annael
Elvenhome
Jan 31, 5:45pm
Post #51 of 79
(3738 views)
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I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Meneldor
Doriath
Feb 1, 6:13pm
Post #52 of 79
(3721 views)
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While it takes a long time to load anything new here, once you've been there, if you've moved on and then use the back button on your browser, the second time you go there it will open up immediately.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Altaira
Superuser
Feb 3, 11:21pm
Post #53 of 79
(3683 views)
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Corvar said he blocked more scrapers and bots that were hitting the boards. We *do* have a horrible problem with rampant bots which are impossible for me or Inferno to block from the board side.
If it slows down again, at least we'll know where to look! Thanks to those who recorded times and dates. It turns out any slower or faster reaction time was due to a bunch, or only a few, bots on the boards at a time.
For now, enjoy the faster speed!
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Meneldor
Doriath
Feb 3, 11:32pm
Post #54 of 79
(3666 views)
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Working much better now. Thank you all!
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Lissuin
Doriath
Feb 4, 12:21am
Post #55 of 79
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Got them bots!
Cheers, All!
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Feb 4, 12:42am
Post #57 of 79
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Back to normal! Thanks to you and Corvar;
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Praise them with great praise!
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Otaku-sempai
Elvenhome
Feb 4, 2:00am
Post #58 of 79
(3640 views)
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Thanks. Good work!
“Hell hath no fury like that of the uninvolved.” - Tony Isabella
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Feb 4, 2:57am
Post #59 of 79
(3632 views)
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Corvar said he blocked more scrapers and bots that were hitting the boards.
I decided to stay away until the site responded within my lifetime, which it just did, consistently.
I would NOT have guessed "scrapers and bots" though it makes sense in these days of AI stealing content without respecting robots.txt. Kudos to the site engineers. Seems to me the hosting service itself could improve their monitoring to block violators ahead of everyone's websites, including yours.
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Starling
Gondolin
Feb 4, 7:20am
Post #60 of 79
(3595 views)
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Thank you all. 
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Feb 4, 2:57pm
Post #61 of 79
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Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Zoom! Powie! :D
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OH WOW! You shoulda seen my eyes bug OUT! THANK YOU SO MUCH Corvar and all who helped make this happen! *FLYING TACKLE HUG*
I was JUST making a list of a timeline and how long it took to do a TIME post TODAY! Normally it was 2-3 mins... more if including pics. BOOM!
*bows deeply*
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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Lily Fairbairn
Gondolin
Feb 4, 3:11pm
Post #62 of 79
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Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Silvered-glass
Menegroth
Feb 4, 8:02pm
Post #63 of 79
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Good to see how much the things have improved. I also didn't expect that bots and scrapers would have been the problem. They must have been querying the same pages over and over to cause such an effect. The bot programming may have been confused by the quirks of the rare forum software to waste resources on their end too.
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squire
Gondolin
Feb 5, 2:13am
Post #64 of 79
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What an improvement today. Thanks so much to Corvar, and all the TORn staff for responding to the problem, and keeping us informed while the problem-solving took its necessary time.
It's good to have the normal TORn back. Again, thanks to all who helped fix it, from posters giving response data to the skilled backstage folks who understand how these boards actually work.
squire online:
Unfortunately my longtime internet service provider abandoned its hosting operations last year. I no longer have any online materials to share with the TORn community.
= Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
(This post was edited by squire on Feb 5, 2:14am)
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Eldy
Dor-Lomin
Feb 5, 5:00am
Post #65 of 79
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Running beautifully for me today!
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Thank you to everyone who looked into this, especially Corvar!
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Feb 5, 11:57am
Post #66 of 79
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Oh dear, a "Tragedy of the Commons"*
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In this case, such is the number of robots (or the speed with which they guzzle human-written content) that they make the site un-usable to the humans. Humans, who if let be, would write more content for the robots to parasitise.
*"Tragedy of the Commons"
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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DGHCaretaker
Nargothrond
Feb 5, 4:37pm
Post #67 of 79
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The same sort of effect was described by Don Henley in his song "The Last Resort" on the Eagles' Hotel California album:
Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye."]/quote]
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CuriousG
Gondolin
Feb 8, 2:33am
Post #68 of 79
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it's all the people using chat AIs, typing in the same query over and over, which directs all the AIs on Earth to scrape and rub and crawl all over TORN, because like Rivendell we have the most authoritative lorebooks and final answer on everything. The question? Obvious: "Do Balrogs have wings?"
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Ethel Duath
Gondolin
Feb 8, 6:15pm
Post #69 of 79
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we know the answer!
(This post was edited by Ethel Duath on Feb 8, 6:16pm)
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Feb 8, 8:05pm
Post #70 of 79
(3000 views)
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"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves,...
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... or the formidible musings of the forum members, the forum is gnawed by nameless bots. Even Sauron knows them not."
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Feb 8, 8:06pm
Post #71 of 79
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But don't tell the robots that you have to divide by zero to work it out. That's a secret only known to us humans.
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Feb 9, 12:12pm
Post #73 of 79
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"Those wraiths are still out there!"
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Looking at the 'whos's online" just now I'm the only logged-in member and most of the first 50 Guests are performing 'bad actions'. I imagine that's more of those naughty robots.
[sigh]
But the servers are still currently holding up.
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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noWizardme
Gondolin
Feb 9, 6:28pm
Post #74 of 79
(2825 views)
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Bot parasite load might be something to consider wrt to the upcoming new software choice
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Obviously on this site with its old software and all its public pages there is only so much that can be done about rougue robots.txt-ignoring bots. Or their human owners*.
But perhaps there can be better defences built in to the new site?
I suppose this is just going to get worse, and however valiant you admins are, I doubt it will work for you to be the John Henrys of the piece fighting the drilling machine with sheer human grit.
---
*If the owners are human of course- I look at names like Alt-Man, eLAN, Bees-OS and Sucker-Borg and think that might be a bit of a givaway. Maybe the robot takeover has already gone further than I realised...
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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Eldy
Dor-Lomin
Feb 9, 7:30pm
Post #75 of 79
(2811 views)
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As Treebeard never said, "He has a mind of silicon and circuits. He does not care for original content, except as far as it serves as training data for neural networks."
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Meneldor
Doriath
Feb 9, 9:44pm
Post #77 of 79
(3101 views)
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that we'll be better prepared to deal with the intruders if they get out of hand again. Hopefully we've learned what it takes to get rid of them and be back up to speed quickly.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Feb 10, 5:35pm
Post #78 of 79
(3025 views)
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Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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NottaSackville
Doriath
Feb 11, 4:35pm
Post #79 of 79
(2852 views)
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Thank you Corvair and the PTB!
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Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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LOL //
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