Login doesn't work

[JohnP]

Can anyone explain why I can login to the forum using my work PC but not my home PC? Is it something to do with Internet settings? I have cookies enabled.

Thks,  John.

[Ian]

John,

there is a small configuration problem I've been unable to track down. Basically the most reliable method of logging on is to use the login link (top right corner) and click the remember me button.

Hopefully this problem will go away when I upgrade the board. I've only been talking about doing it for a year

[Rick]

I've noticed that a few browsers seem incapable of providing any referrer information. When actions are context-sensitive (as they're likely to be on a BB system like this, and as they definitely are on the OAS membership form) the lack of referrer information is going to lead to failures and other strangeness.

The prime culprit on the gallery archive is a browser that identifies itself thus:

"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)"

which is being used by someone on zen.co.uk.

Ring any bells?

[Rick]

In a fit of desperation, at work, I installed Firefox on the PC that's on my desk...

You remember that problem some folk had with staying logged in?

Yep, I'm seeing it here... :/

[Rick]

Hmmm... Definitely something odd with this version of FireFox on Windows. It works as I expect at home on Linux....

[Rick]

Anyone else (a) using FireFox on a Windows platform, and (b) having trouble with logins?

[Sue]

Yes. I tried Firefox yesterday (still have it alongside explorer to compare) and it wouldn't keep the loggin.. and the folders were all pink!

[Rick]

Definitely something odd going on with Windows version of FireFox, but the Linux version doesn't seem to have trouble. As far as I can tell all the cookies that phpBB has stored do make some sort of sense....

[Ian]

which version of FF for Windows are you using Rick?

[Rick]

That'll be this version:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0

[Rick]

Sometimes login works, usually if I get to the login panel via the main panel, and shift-reload both the main panel and the login panel along the way. If I manage to get myself logged in there's still no guarantee the login will persist for more than (maybe) an hour or so. This suggests there's possibly some strange cache effect behind the problem...

[Rick]

It'll be all those connection attempts from dhcp-230-2e118.gatwick.eur.slb.com (136.250.230.118) or maybe from gw186.gatwick.eur.slb.com (136.250.228.186).

[Rick]

Hmmm... Here's a Firefox experiment. Let's see if cache checking is the problem...

type about:config
search for browser.cache.check_doc_frequency.
change its value to 1

Here's a list of possible values:

0: Check the cached page is current once per browser session
1: Check every time I view the page
2: Never check (always use cached page)
3 (default): Check when the page is out of date (automatically determined)

[Rick]

Nope. That didn't work...

[Ian]

I've just "upgraded" to v1.0 from RC1. Let me have a play see what happens.

[Rick]

Good Luck

[Delphine]

I have just managed to log in using my old computer and windows 98.  I wonder if the problem is with XP - can't login with that at all.

[Rick]

I didn't have any problems until I installed Firefox 1.0 on the W2K system at work. It has terrible difficulty logging in, but the old Netscape 4.78 on the same system had no trouble at all ever, so my guess is the problems are almost certainly entirely down to the browser settings (and especially how it handles cookies) and phpBB's interpretation of them.

Ian said he was going to look into it...

[Ian]

and I'm getting no fault found on any of my systems. I think the individual browser and security setings are the only remaining place to look.

What to do about it is something else... I'm not entirely sure that upgrading the board will make any difference, but I'll start looking at doing it anyway.

[Rick]

It's very odd. There must be some setting somewhere. Firefox has a handly little URL about:config which can reveal quite a lot. I wonder whether the "signon.rememberSignons" option is fighting with the cookies?

This morning was really weird; I logged in and it refused to admit it. The bbs demanded my name and password for two posts I made in "Upsets...", but then suddenly it decided it would let me into "Behind the Scenes" without a challenge. When I got back to the main index I found I was logged in....

Another thought; check the date and time on your system. Sometimes time-drifts can cause trouble...

[Rick]

...and then I'm logged out again, for no obvious reason. Weird.

[Rick]

...and back in, possibly as a result of having to enter name and password to make that post. Weird indeed are the ways of Firefox.

[Rick]

Havn't been having any obvious trouble with the login this week, so whatever you did fixed something...