Windows or browser failure on certain Koha functions
Our small public library is learning Koha on a test system hosted by Bywater. We will go live in June. Although almost all Koha functions - staff and OPAC - work fine for us, we have found two staff functions that consistently fail on two of our computers but not on the others. So far we have not been able to identify the cause. The details are: Koha version 3.06.02.000 Host: Linux The two computers where functions fail: Hardware: IBM Think Centre and Lenovo Think Centre (both 4+ years old) OS: WIndows XP SP 3 up to date on patches Browsers: Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 10 (current) Java: 6 Update 31 (current) The Koha functions that fail (that we've found so far) are changing the overdue actions and triggers (Home -> Tools -> Notice Triggers) and adding or editing an item record (Home -> Cataloging -> Edit <record info> -> Items). Failure mode: The Koha pages are rendered normally and all the blanks and buttons and drop downs on the pages function normally. Failure comes when you hit the Submit button (triggers) or Add Item button (item editing). The browsers' connection to the host times out after about 15 seconds. This results in errors such as "Server reset the connection," "Error 500," or simply a completely white browser window. You can use the browser Back button to return to the failed page and otherwise continue your session. These functions fail most of the time, but occasionally one will succeed. They fail only on these two machines. They fail whether you are using IE or Firefox. A public XP computer (HP with AMD processor) with the same versions of XP and the browsers never fails; our Lenovo Windows 7 all-in-ones never fail. Our Macs never fail. We have checked network connections, firewall settings, AV settings, software. Nothing we have tried cures the failures. If you know the answer or have any suggestions, we would be most grateful. Steve Campbell Trustee, Converse Free Library Lyme, New Hampshire, US
At 01:16 PM 3/11/2012 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Our small public library is learning Koha on a test system hosted by Bywater. [snip] These functions fail most of the time, but occasionally one will succeed. They fail only on these two machines. They fail whether you are using IE or Firefox. A public XP computer (HP with AMD processor) with the same versions of XP and the browsers never fails; our Lenovo Windows 7 all-in-ones never fail. Our Macs never fail. [snip]
Can you access the Apache logs on your test system? If so, what do they say? If you can't, please ask Bywater. Best - Paul
Problem solved: The culprit turned out to be Symantec Endpoint Protection's Network Threat component (firewall). Disable that, and the failing Koha functions work normally. I was tripped up on this because I had disabled SEP days ago for testing. What I didn't know was that SEP re-enables itself when you reboot the computer. I can understand the reason for that, but it caused me some serious head-scratching before I discovered what was happening. For now, we will disable SEP's firewall for testing. Long term, we will look for a different AV product. Steve Campbell Trustee, Converse Free Library, Lyme, New Hampshire, US On Mar 11, 2012, at 2:02 PM, Paul wrote:
At 01:16 PM 3/11/2012 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Our small public library is learning Koha on a test system hosted by Bywater. [snip] These functions fail most of the time, but occasionally one will succeed. They fail only on these two machines. They fail whether you are using IE or Firefox. A public XP computer (HP with AMD processor) with the same versions of XP and the browsers never fails; our Lenovo Windows 7 all-in-ones never fail. Our Macs never fail. [snip]
Can you access the Apache logs on your test system? If so, what do they say? If you can't, please ask Bywater.
Best - Paul
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