Weird problem when downloading from 4images

[Instigator]

Yep I tried that already few hours ago and no effect. Any other suggestions? 

[V@no]

Where I can test it?

[Instigator]

I've sent you a pm with the link veno

[V@no]

Ok, it seems to be problem in PHP or MySQL settings...
cause if you download file directly (not by clicking download button), you can browse the site just fine while its being downloaded...

So, I guess, try to remove my.cnf and restore php.ini to the default state. (do one step at the time, and test it after each step and obviously you must restart apache and mysql on each change in the configuration) also, try to use default settings for the web server itself.

And then, if nothing worked, try this code:
http://www.4homepages.de/forum/index.php?topic=10755.msg54465#msg54465

[Instigator]

I tried that code already on the main site of the link i gave u. It did help with the serverload but the problem of connections being queued was still there.

It will be difficult to revert back to original php and my.cnf settings with the server hosting many sites and the files having some optimzations. I'll have a think of what changes I made exactly and try removing them one by one.

[V@no]

If so, you could always run two apache servers simulteniously on two different ports, that way you can test it without interupting other sites...
if apache/php settings wont make any difference, then the only thing left is database configuration...atleast it would be easier to pin-point the problem


good luck, let us know if you find the cause.

[Instigator]

Hi Veno,

I have found the cause of the problem. It's something to do with the session/cookie. I download a file and then delete my cookies. I can then browse the site normally. I even login again and can surf the site and even download another file. BUT then I can't surf the site again. So I have to delete cookies again to browse site.

So how do I fix this problem?

[Instigator]

Tried default php.ini - no effect
my.cnf - no effect.
tried also downgrading php to one we had previosuly. no effect.
turned off firewall. no effect
looking through httpd.conf i can't see anything that would effect.

can't think of anything else

Any suggestions? 

[V@no]

just try the default httpd.conf

[Instigator]

Just tried that too Veno. No effect I am getting desperate now.

As I mentioned earlier while I am downloading a large file (logged in) I delete my cookies and then I can browse as guest. I can then even login again and download another file simultenously but then can't browse the site. The cause is something related to the sessionID/cookie information. It's like each user is limited to one request per session id.

[Instigator]

Problem fixed! I changed the value in php.ini

session.save_handler=files

to

session.save_handler=mm

So sessions are now stored in memory rather then files.

EDIT: NOW my site just shows blank page. I've reverted back to the sessions files. So I'm back to where I started from

[V@no]

hmm...this is interesting...wonder what if you change session.save_path ? (make sure that folder exists and writible by the web server user)

[Instigator]

Yes I already tried that Veno few days ago. It has no effect. I have been reading up on this from google searches and it seems the problem is concurrent access for particular sessionid. It's like the sessionid is locked when file is downloading and only after download is finished can one browse the site.

Placing the sessions data in memory helped to solve problem temporary but then the problem of blank pages happened.

Any other suggestions? 

[V@no]

ok, we are getting close...but the strange thing is that once 4images output the file content, apache become responsible of delivering it to the client, it should release the php session because php is not in use anymore...your case is very strange...but we are getting close

[Instigator]

Ok I have an idea. As the problem I'm having is related to one sessionID how about changing the code so that a new session is created for every access? This would mean a large session table but then I can have a low session cleanup value to get ride of idle sessions quickly.