Board intermittently hangs when submitting reply

[CarolC1]

We are running 3.3.2. I'm sorry I don't know the correct terminology to describe this situation.

You are posting, and some posts submit normally. Then you submit a post and the board seems to freeze on the Submit screen. The pending icon spins and spins. Using the google timer, I've had it count down a full 5 minutes and it still isn't submitted. However, if during the time while it's seemingly hanging, I open a new browser window and navigate to the topic, sometimes I find the post is already showing as having been posted. The post is showing as submitted in the new browser window, while the icon is still spinning in the original window. The original window does eventually finish spinning and show as submitted. Other times when I check it by opening a new window, the new window is stuck, too, and doesn't load.

This has been going on for about 3 weeks. A month ago I was told the server was being hit heavily, but the IT people say they are not seeing any issues now.

There have been no changes to the board that I'm aware of.

It is not related to whether the post you are submitting contains images.

It does not seem to do it when you edit posts. It only hangs when you submit a new post, and not every time.

I checked and the php version is still compatible with the phpBB version we are running.

I sent the server people a question about whether there's a new IP check or something like that, but have not heard back.

Does anyone know what this might be?

Thanks

EDIT: Changed topic title from 'Board intermittently hangs when submitting new post' to 'Board intermittently hangs when submitting reply' for accuracy

[jeffythedragonslayer]

I sent the server people a question about whether there's a new IP check or something like that, but have not heard back.

This is the only part of your post I don't understand; other than that your terminology is OK. What do you mean by "IP check?"

[Mick]

Maybe meaning something like Spamhaus or other similar blacklist checker?

[CarolC1]

Maybe meaning something like Spamhaus or other similar blacklist checker?

Yes, something like that. Maybe some kind of new server security they activated after the server was getting hit repeatedly. I don't know enough about it to make an educated guess or ask them intelligent questions.

Thanks

[Brf]

Usually, that type of posting-hang is due to bad email addresses in post notifications where someone has subscribed to a forum or popular topic.

[CarolC1]

Usually, that type of posting-hang is due to bad email addresses in post notifications where someone has subscribed to a forum or popular topic.

Thanks for your reply. I tried testing it. I went to the db and made sure nobody was subscribed to the Test Forum. Then I went to Test Forum and posted. The first post submitted immediately. I posted a reply and it took forever. Posted another reply, which also took forever. Logged in with a second account and posted another reply. Still took forever.

Using that second account I posted a new topic. It submitted right away. Apparently it only hang on replies, not new topics.

I went into a test topic and unticked Notify Me on each post. Then I posted a reply. It still took forever, even with nobody in the topic ticked to receive replies, and nobody subscribed to the forum.

Why is there a problem posting replies but not new topics?

[janus_zonstraal]

Maybe time to find a new host (one that response on your questions)

[CarolC1]

Tonight I belatedly thought to check the test board, which is on the same server. It's doing the same thing. That rules out a problem with the database on the live board (I think) because the test board is running a db dated long before the problem occurred.

To summarize

• Navigating around the board or using Search works normally
• Posting a new topic works normally
• Editing a post works normally
• When posting replies, there's a posting-hang of anywhere from 90 sec to over 5 min before it finally submits
• While waiting for it to submit, you can often open another window, navigate to the topic, and the reply shows as already posted, while the original posting window continues to show the pending icon spinning
• it does this in a topic where sending emails is not required (nobody is subscribed to the forum and nobody has notifications turned on for that topic)
• It does this in topics without images
• It does this on the live board, and on a test board on the same server with an older database dated before this problem began

Can anyone figure this out? What would you ask the IT people, or suggest they check? They're telling me it's a shared server and maybe another site is doing a big job when it happens. I don't think so because it only affects replies and nothing else.

Thanks!

[HB]

Usually, that type of posting-hang is due to bad email addresses in post notifications where someone has subscribed to a forum or popular topic.

Good tip! If so, setting "Email package size" to non-zero in the ACP > Email settings would queue up email notifications instead of sending them synchronously. It won't eliminate the delay due to bad emails addresses, but it'd at least move it to the cron background task and off the page response.

[CarolC1]

Thanks for your suggestion. That was another good idea. It was on 20 but I changed it to 1, and I'm very sorry to say it still took about 2 minutes to submit.

I tried disabling board-wide emails on the test board a day or two ago. Don't know if that was a good idea or not, but that didn't work either.

I appreciate every suggestion. Even if it doesn't work, I might learn something.

Thanks!

[HB]

It may be worth reviewing Slow when posting because of email notification. TL;DR - the phpBB base code, if it hasn't changed, can create massively expensive query statements for email notifications (workaround). As for the email queuing, any non-zero count should defer email notifications to the cron job, though I set it so notifications wouldn't hang around too long. You can get an idea of a reasonable count by checking the largest notification group:

Code: Select all

SELECT COUNT(*) as notification_count FROM phpbb3_notifications GROUP BY item_id  ORDER BY notification_count DESC;

[CarolC1]

Thanks to you and brf for pointing to notifications. You were both right.

I found the problem, but it's a mystery why it occurred now. I turned off the Prime Notify extension. Posted a reply, and it went immediately. Turned it back on, posted a reply, took forever. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Replies submit normally with the extension turned off.

It's version 1.0.5. It's only validated for 3.3.1 and I've been running it on 3.3.2, but it's been working fine for 2 years. I can't imagine what changed.

But anyway, thank you very much. You guys were right. Greatly appreciate the help.

[Mick]

I can't imagine what changed

If you haven't changed anything to cause this problem then that usually means your host has. You should check with them, maybe they changed your PHP version without telling you? Also, you should inform the extension author in Prime Notify support, I'm sure he'd like to know .

Glad it's sorted.