Midnight Mars Browser, Midnight Mars Browser discussion |
Midnight Mars Browser, Midnight Mars Browser discussion |
Oct 9 2011, 05:33 PM
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#871
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1578 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Looks like less than a month ago, VZW began some more active packet shaping:
http://www.phonenews.com/verizon-implement...s-issues-17643/ If you try to squeeze water from the stone that is internet connection tech support, I'd maybe suggest a white lie along the lines of saying that it's an app you use for business purposes. |
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Oct 10 2011, 02:38 AM
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#872
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Thank you, gentlemen. I knew it had to be something Verizon was doing, but I didn't understand it well enough to call to complain. You guys helped me understand the situation so I can hopefully argue with customer support and get through to someone who can help. Thanks for the tip about a business purpose, Steve. I'm sure that will help.
If I can't convince Verizon to stop messing with my data, I wonder if I could find an ftp program that could download the images and populate the directories MMB is expecting. That's a work-around that I could live with. I'm off to Google... -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 10 2011, 02:52 AM
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#873
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3431 Joined: 11-August 04 From: USA Member No.: 98 |
Might be worth trying FTP just to see if it works. If not, that might be an easier fight to win (which might resolve the same issue).
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Oct 10 2011, 02:57 AM
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#874
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1578 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
I was sort of being facetious. But it is good to avoid making it sound like you're complaining that your bittorrent traffic or high-def streaming is slowing down. Because they will want to leap to that conclusion and read some boilerplate to you.
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Oct 10 2011, 04:46 AM
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#875
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Somewhat unrelated question Tom. I have several slow connections I'm forced to use out here with the grapes and the cows, but my Verizon wireless modem is the slowest -- and most costly when I exceed whatever monthly allocation it has. I can't imagine using that particular avenue for MMB. What kind of connection speeds are you getting with the VZW modem?
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Oct 10 2011, 05:09 PM
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#876
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
I don't have many choices where I live. I can use VZW or satellite, but since we travel a lot we use Verizon so we can be connected virtually wherever we go. The speed depends on where I am. In good areas I get speeds of 1-2 megabits/sec, but in other areas I get only a fraction of that speed. The slowest speeds are in areas where Verizon has no coverage and I have to connect through a competitive carrier, but even then it is usually better than dial-up.
Regarding price, I am lucky to have signed a contract years ago for unlimited service, so I don't have a monthly allocation to worry about. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 12 2011, 03:44 AM
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#877
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Just to follow up on this, Verizon says they will try to resolve the problem. It took a while to get through customer support to technical support. I had to go through all the usual monkey drills: rebooting the device, restarting their software, reinstalling their software, etc. They finally admitted that it looked like their problem and passed me through to tech support where I had to repeat most of what I had already told them, and most of the monkey drills as well.
Tech support finally admitted that they needed to write a ticket to send the case of trouble to an "upper level of technical support" who would "definitely" solve the problem. <fingers crossed> I am hoping for a solution, though I half suspect them to come back with the lame argument that they do not support 3rd party software. Mike: Since I can download these images with a web browser, but not with MMB, I'd have to assume there is something different about the way MMB downloads versus the way web browsers do. Is there a different protocol being used, or some different routine that Java employs? Or, could it simply be the fact that the images are requested rapidly and sequentially? Not being a computer programming person I am not certain which questions to ask I am only asking in case the upper level tech support people ask me technical questions -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 12 2011, 04:29 AM
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#878
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3431 Joined: 11-August 04 From: USA Member No.: 98 |
Well it isn't a different protocol. It accesses the same files as you'd see on the web. Beyond that, I don't know what Java does behind the scenes. However, as I said, what the program is trying to do when it fails is read the file length. It doesn't make any sense for that to fail.
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Oct 12 2011, 04:47 AM
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#879
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Thanks for that. Java seems to be the language of choice when it comes to internet applications. If I am asked, I will emphasize that same point.
-------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 13 2011, 05:19 AM
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#880
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Verizon called me back today and said they are not blocking anything on my connection. They tried to suggest it was a firewall issue or an MMB issue. I gave them irrefutable evidence that it was their problem, but it got me nowhere. I guess I will have to find new ISP, because I can't live without my Midnight Mars Browser.
-------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 14 2011, 02:52 AM
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#881
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
I have come up with a workaround that isn't too bad. I installed a bulk file downloader which I use to dump all new images into one directory. Then, I run MMB version 1.5, which has a file import function, to import all the images to the appropriate directories, update the image index, and regenerate the images. Then I can run the latest version to view panoramas.
It's not quite the one click convenient update that I used to have, but it is way better than downloading the images individually and manually putting them into the correct directory structure. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Oct 14 2011, 02:44 PM
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#882
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3431 Joined: 11-August 04 From: USA Member No.: 98 |
That's a bummer. I had a look to see if there is any quick workaround; unfortunately there isn't a workaround for them breaking the internet. And the more I look at it, the program can apparently download text files just fine, according to your log, but not JPG files. So basically I think they're BS'ing you, and Verizon tech support should be ashamed of themselves.
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Oct 15 2011, 02:21 AM
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#883
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Thanks, Mike, for trying. I'm sure they are BSing me. It seemed clear to me that they didn't want to deal with the issue, or perhaps they really had no idea what had changed with their network. That's hard to believe, though. I made it to their "tier 2" level of tech support, stumped them, and convinced them to write a ticket to elevate my problem to "tier 3." I really hoped to speak to someone in the higher level, but I couldn't get there. Tier 3 simply relayed a message to me blaming it on everything but themselves. They simply refused to listen to logic.
I'm happy, though, that it has turned out better than I thought it would. I thought it was going to be too much trouble to be able to continue using MMB, but this work around is really not too bad. It took me about 30 minutes to update the two weeks of images that I missed since the problem started, but now it only takes a few minutes each day. I know you have been too busy to deal with MMB issues anymore, so I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me at all. Thanks again. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Nov 12 2011, 11:07 PM
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#884
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3431 Joined: 11-August 04 From: USA Member No.: 98 |
FYI, I've started a Google Plus page for Midnight Mars Browser where I will post when I update the metadata (a semi-daily occurrence for some years now), and probably post some screen captures.
(Update: Well, that didn't last long.) |
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Dec 6 2011, 05:45 AM
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#885
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
I'm not sure when, but at some point Verizon fixed their network. MMB is once again updating the imagery properly for me.
-------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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