Giganews "timed out"

[mickyp]

Hi,

Apologies and thanks in advance if the answer is simple, or already answered elsewhere.  I have been searching for a few days and I'm lost for an answer.  I am new to SABnzbd+ and usenet.

Version: 0.4.11 Final
OS: Windows XP SP3
Install-type: Windows Installer
Skin (if applicable): Default
Firewall Software: Norton 360 v3
Are you using IPV6? No
Is the issue reproducible? Yes

I installed SABnzbd+ and setup my giganews account in the server tab, using SSL over port 563.  This is the only server which I have specified.  I also changed the download folders.

When I load NZBs (I have tried various ones), the data doesn’t actually download.  Under the connections tab, I get:

2009-09-07 08:23:53,671 WARNING [downloader] Thread [email protected]:563: timed out
2009-09-07 08:23:55,046 WARNING [downloader] Thread [email protected]:563: timed out

I installed NewsBinGN (downloaded from Giganews).  I found I had to disable Norton antivirus and firewall, but once I did I was able to download.  I tried SABnzbd+ again, with firewall and antivirus off, but still no luck.

I uninstalled SABnzbd and reinstalled – just in case I made a mess of settings, but no luck.  The other thing I notice is that when I make a change to the server settings (i.e. update server to non-SSL) the browser hangs – when I hit reload the changes have been made.

I have tried using non-SSL connection over port 119 to Giganews, but this produces the same results.

I would appreciate any help offered – I would much prefer to use SABnzbd+ (open source + web interface) over NewsBin.  Please let me know if there is any additional information that you need to help.

Cheers,

Michael

[shypike]

I still suspect Norton.
Isn't Norton one of those programs with "privacy features",
in the sense that it is suspicious of any program that sends out user names and passwords?
For obvious reasons, SABnzbd does that.
Also security suites tend to be suspicious of programs that setup web-servers (which SABnzbd does also).

Your system spec is OK for SABnzbd and should not present a problem.

It's very difficult for us to test compatibility with security products.
There are too many, most cost money and you cannot mix them on a single system.

Isn't there any logging info to be found in Norton?

[mickyp]

Thanks for prompt reply.  I will uninstall Norton when I have the chance and let you know if this helps.  I turned debugging on in the SABnzbd+ logs and I noticed:

2009-09-07 16:54:34,233::DEBUG::[downloader] [email protected]:563 last message -> 200 News.GigaNews.Com
2009-09-07 16:54:34,515::DEBUG::[downloader] [email protected]:563 last message -> 381 more authentication required
2009-09-07 16:54:34,780::DEBUG::[downloader] [email protected]:563 last message -> 281 News.GigaNews.Com
2009-09-07 16:54:34,780::INFO::[downloader] Connecting [email protected]:563 finished

I switched logging on for SABnzbd+ in Norton (which means I had to switch the firewall on also), it produces a pattern of entries:

7/09/2009 5:03 p.m.,Info,"Rule \"SABnzbd\" permitted (192.168.1.1, Port (53) ). Outbound UDP packet.",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,
7/09/2009 5:03 p.m.,Info,"Rule \"SABnzbd\" permitted (216.196.97.131, Port (563) ). Outbound TCP connection. ",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,
7/09/2009 5:03 p.m.,Info,"Rule \"SABnzbd\" permitted (192.168.1.1, Port (53) ). Outbound UDP packet.",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,
7/09/2009 5:02 p.m.,Info,"Rule \"SABnzbd\" permitted (192.168.1.1, Port (53) ). Outbound UDP packet.",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,
7/09/2009 5:02 p.m.,Info,"Rule \"SABnzbd\" permitted (216.196.97.131, Port (563) ). Outbound TCP connection. ",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,

192.168.1.1 is the modem IP.

Would this be similar to: http://forums.sabnzbd.org/index.php?topic=2322.0

Have other Giganews users had a similar issue? 

Interestingly, SABnzbd+ sporadically does download some of the files...  But it isn’t constant and stable like under Newsbin.  And it still generates the time out errors in the logs.

Thanks,

Michael

[shypike]

7/09/2009 5:03 p.m.,Info,"Rule "SABnzbd" permitted (192.168.1.1, Port (53) ). Outbound UDP packet.",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall -
7/09/2009 5:03 p.m.,Info,"Rule "SABnzbd" permitted (216.196.97.131, Port (563) ). Outbound TCP connection. ",Detected,No Action Required,Firewall - Activities,,,,,,

Port 53 packets are DNS requests to lookup the Giganew's IP address.
Port 563 packets is regular NNTP traffic to Giganews.
Nothing special.

The only thing I can think of is that Norton changes the behavior of sockets
in a way that SABnzbd cannot handle.
So far the only problem we have seen is with ZoneAlarm, but that was only
for the WebServer port, not for NNTP traffic.

A tip maybe: use the Giganews Accelerator: http://www.giganews.com/accelerator.html
Their program sits between the Giganews server and SABnzbd and
is supposed to speed up communication.
Maybe it can handle Norton better.

[mickyp]

Thanks.  I have installed Giganews accelerator.  From its log:

8/09/2009 4:27 p.m.: (10) Unexpected I/O error handling 'body': Unable to write data to the transport connection: An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine.
8/09/2009 4:27 p.m.: (10) Connection closed: Unable to write data to the transport connection: An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine.
8/09/2009 4:27 p.m.: (10) Closing server connection 1116-6170

Does this help at all?

Thanks,

Michael

[mickyp]

I have uninstalled Norton, and am still getting the same problems.  Even with Windows Firewall switched off.  Could there be any reasons / settings / permissions causing these symptons?  Thanks for taking the time to respond. 

Cheers,

Michael

[shypike]

You cannot deny that there's something odd with your system.
I would try a mainstream program like Grabit, just to see if that works.
Other than that, I can think of nothing else to help you.

[mickyp]

Thanks for your help.  I'm thinking about moving to a linux server, so this may accelerate this change.  Fingers crossed a complete strip down of my system will help!

Michael

[mickyp]

Hi,

As a follow up, I changed my OS over to Ubuntu Desktop 9.04 64-bit.  I am still experiencing time-outs and slow download speeds.  Files do download, at times the average speed gets to about half of the speed which I have experienced with other programs.

To me this suggests the issue either lies:
1.  With SABnzbd+ (maybe likely because Newsbin worked well)
2.  With my router - are there any settings I must check to ensure SABnzbd can operate?
3.  With my ISP (less likely as Newsbin worked well)

The only other issue would be conflicting software; but given the complete OS change this seems unlikely.  The other common application is XBMC - this wouldn't cause I problem I presume (as there are SABnzbd plugins...)

Cheers,

Michael

[shypike]

I'm out of suggestions now.

If you suspect SABnzbd, you could sign up for the test program for release 0.5.0.
See "Beta Releases" board.

[mickyp]

For anyone that stumbles across this thread, it appears I have found a resolution.

I am in New Zealand and my ISP is Slingshot.  I am running ubuntu 9.04 and SABnzbd+ 0.5.0Alpha5.  I changed my server to news-europe.giganews.com and changed my SSL port to 443 (instead of the default 563).  I have had one day of successful, near full speed without timeouts.  Fingers crossed this does the trick.

Cheers,

Michael

[shypike]

Downloading from Holland (that's where europe.giganews is located) to New Zealand with full speed?
Impressive!
How high is that full speed?

[mickyp]

Sorry - to clarify - full speed for our line.  Our broadband top speed (at least in my experience) is about 6Mbps (800 KBps).  I would imagine that is pretty slow by international standards?  Do you know what the maximum speed for a giganews connection is?

Michael

[domianx]

I live in Germany and get 50mbs from both giganews servers with ssl...
Never had a timeout with SSL & Port 443 on news.giganes.com.

[shypike]

Our broadband top speed (at least in my experience) is about 6Mbps (800 KBps).

In my country (Holland) that speed is about the medium speed .
Most ADSL and cable here is between 2 and 20Gbit/sec.
The 20G is just markiting, true speeds are mostly below 8G.
The rest of Western Europe is comparable.