[ZendTo] Re: Upload stalls and connection resets

Tue Jun 19 16:51:51 BST 2012

Unfortunately browser versions change fairly fast, so results are not 
valid for very long.

Currently on a Mac running Mountain Lion Developer Preview 4 update 1.
Uploading a 4.8GB file.

Chrome uploads the file once, then silently starts over and the Chrome 
progress counter in the status bar shows the amount uploaded reset to 
0%. It does this repeatedly without ever apparently either stopping or 
completing.
Safari uploads the file correctly. It doesn't show the ZendTo progress 
bar (the onSubmit to show the progress popup never gets executed due to 
another bug in Safari).
Firefox shows the ZendTo progress bar but never updates it. It sends 
lots and lots of data, but the Apache receiving it never stores anything 
anywhere. So heaven only knows what Firefox has told Apache to do!

:-(

Not a lot I can do about all these problems, they are caused by the 
browsers.

Jules.

On 19/06/2012 16:16, Mike Brudenell wrote:
> Hi, all -
>
> I'm new to the list, but just picking up on a problem reported 
> previously about uploads stalling and/or getting connection resets.
>
> In Jules' reply of Thu May 31 10:25:59 he finishes by saying (with the 
> full quote at the end of this message):
>
>     It works beautifully on a Mac, as the apps are properly 64-bit as
>     well as the OS.
>
>
> Sadly our experience here at York is different. :-(
>
> We are running ZendTo 4.08 and I have been using various browsers to 
> try and upload a 4.74 Gbyte test file to our DropOff Service, from my 
> Apple Mac running OS X 10.7.4 with an on-site wired LAN connection 
> running at 100 Mbits/sec:
>
>   * *Safari* /(version 5.1.7)/ --- the upload works and the drop-off
>     successfully created :-) and...
>   * *Opera* (version 12.00) --- the upload works and the drop-off
>     successfully created :-) BUT...
>   * *Chrome* /(version 19.0.1084.56)/ --- uploads to 99%, locks up
>     Chrome for a while, then usually Chrome unlocks (the alternative
>     is it freezes and needs a Force Quit) but fails saying the
>     connection was reset
>   * *Firefox* /(version 12.0)/ --- starts upload but fails soon
>     afterwards, asking whether you want to navigate away from the
>     page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset, answering No
>     just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial drop-off
>   * *Camino* /(version 2.1.2)/ --- starts upload, goes further than
>     Firefox but then it, too, asks whether you want to navigate away
>     from the page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset,
>     answering No just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial
>     drop-off
>
> Safari and Firefox both have their /Open in 32-bit mode/ checkboxes 
> _unticked_ in their /Get Info/ boxes; neither Chrome nor Camino offer 
> this checkbox.
>
> I've tried with a smaller test file of around 2.8 Gbytes from my Mac 
> and that went up from Chrome OK. (So perhaps there might be a 4 Gbyte 
> (rather than 2 Gbyte) barrier affecting Chrome on OS X?)
>
> One of my colleagues has been experimenting with a 7 Gbyte file and 
> browsers on Windows 7 and Linux with these results:
>
>   * *Chrome* /(on Windows 7 64-bit)/ --- did full upload then failed
>     with an error (which unfortunately we can't remember!)
>   * *IE 8 */(on Windows 7/ 64-bit/)/ --- starts upload but fails soon
>     afterwards, asking whether you want to navigate away from the
>     page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset, answering No
>     just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial drop-off
>   * *IE 9 64-bit* /(on Windows 7/ 64-bit/)/ --- starts upload but
>     fails soon afterwards, asking whether you want to navigate away
>     from the page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset,
>     answering No just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial
>     drop-off
>   * *Firefox* /(on Windows 7/ 64-bit/)/ --- starts upload but fails
>     soon afterwards, asking whether you want to navigate away from the
>     page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset, answering No
>     just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial drop-off
>   * *Opera* /(on Windows 7/ 64-bit/)/ --- uploaded an empty file (but
>     probably because Opera is still 32-bit?)
>   * *Chrome* /(on Linux/ 64-bit/)/ --- the upload works and the
>     drop-off successfully created :-)
>   * *Firefox* /(on Linux/ 64-bit/)/ --- starts upload but fails soon
>     afterwards, asking whether you want to navigate away from the
>     page; answering Yes reports the connection was reset, answering No
>     just seems to stop the upload and deletes the partial drop-off
>
> These tests were done on Windows 7 and Linux running in VMs. Again, 
> small files of less than 2 Gbytes seem to go through fine.
>
> Is the problem purely a browser problem? How come we we are seeing 
> problems with Chrome and Firefox when Jules isn't? (We're not using 
> any proxies etc between the web browser and the server: they're all on 
> our LAN.)
> Me confoozed!
>
> Cheers,
> Mike B-)
>
> -- 
> IT Services, The University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
> Tel: +44-1904-323811 <tel:%2B44-1904-323811>
> Disclaimer: <http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/email.htm>
>
>     <rant subject="buggy browsers"> :-)
>
>     Make sure you are running on a 64-bit OS for starters, and running a
>     64-bit browser (i.e. *not* the standard IE9 in Windows 7 x64 but the
>     64-bit version that you can't make your default browser for some
>     utterly
>     braindead reason) if at all possible. IE9 64-bit does the job pretty
>     well, as does Chrome.
>
>     And yes, Firefox isn't good enough.
>
>     Unfortunately, uploads over 2GB isn't a feature a lot of users make a
>     fuss about, so the vendors can't be arsed to fix the horribly buggy
>     upload code they use.
>
>     In short, use a better browser. Sorry if that doesn't help when
>     you've
>     got several thousand managed desktops all using 32-bit IE7 or
>     something
>     like that. :-(
>
>     There really isn't a lot I can do about this, other than resort to
>     Flash
>     (yuck! I'm not doing that) for the upload process. Sorry there's no
>     better news.
>
>     </rant>
>
>     It works beautifully on a Mac, as the apps are properly 64-bit as
>     well
>     as the OS.
>
>
>
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Jules

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