Drupal page load stalls

cov · 01-22-2010, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Bengtson

First thing, can he even access the server? Have him ping the server by servername and by IP address...it's possible that a firewall setting (perhaps on his laptops, or on the network node he's on) prevents him from even seeing the server.

If he can ping the server, put a simple HTML page ("Hello World") on that server and see if he can open it with his browser.

If he can see the server and open the simple HTML file, put a simple PHP file ("Hello World") at the same location as the HTML file he opened, and see if he can open the PHP file.

If he can access the server, the HTML file, and the PHP file, then it's something in your Drupal configuration.

If he can access the server and the HTML file, but not the PHP file, then it's something in how your server is serving PHP (because you've said he can access a PHP file on a different server).

If he can ping the server by IP address but not by name, then it's a DNS issue.

If he can't ping the server by IP address then it's a network issue.

Yes.

As I've stated, he can access the server. When he tries to access the php pages that things start to fall apart.

So yes, it's a php issue.

but quite how has got me foxed.

sneakyimp · 01-22-2010, 04:31 PM

so he can access a simple html file and see its contents?

cov · 01-22-2010, 06:18 PM

Yes.

He can see the Apache "It Works!" pages

sneakyimp · 01-22-2010, 06:44 PM

Are you *certain* that he's accessing YOUR 'it works' page?

Have you tried a php that just does contains this code:

Code:

<?php
echo "Yes you have reached the right page";
?>

With nothing fancy going on, it might just work.

If it doesn't, something really strange must be going on. Short of using his computer yourself, I imagine it would be very difficult to figure out what exactly. It could be a firewall thing where he's accessing your site from some over-protective or badly maintained network. It could be a mime thing where somehow his machine thinks that a PHP file is something else and cannot render it properly. It could be a cache problem where his browser refuses to reload the page and keeps referencing the cache (which has an empty file).

If you can use his machine, you could install firefox and firebug and learn a lot more about what is happening. Firebug would let you see request headers and redirects and that sort of thing.

Have you asked him to try a different browser?

Jim Bengtson · 01-22-2010, 09:51 PM

For that matter, it may be useful to use an entirely different OS/Browser on his computer. Try booting from a Linux Live CD...it'll start Linux from the CD, rather than whatever OS is on his hard drive, so no harm to his computer. Then use the firefox browser from the Live CD to access the server. If there is an issue tied to this physical computer (i.e., something blocking traffic based on his MAC address), you'll see the same problem. If it's just his laptop, the problem is on his hard drive, and the Live CD should work.