LinuxQuestions.org - Website won't load on Linux

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- - Website won't load on Linux (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/website-wont-load-on-linux-704467/)

I just stumbled into this--based on tredegar's post passing along the hints.

My gut reaction is that the fix should be at the website end--I have used 20+ different Linux systems over the years, and I cannot recall an issue with a website that would fix the symptoms described here.

I HAVE had issues with Firefox on some sites. In the majority, the site administrator has fixed it when I reported it.

I wish I understood more of the nuances so I could back up what my instinct is saying.......

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrclisdue (Post 3447065)

I, for one, think it's wonderful that Mr. Hobbs took the time to respond in the thread.

cheers,

Yeah really! Very cool of you Mr. Hobbs to a) take the time to sign up and respond, b) admit and explain what the problem is and c) post a work-around.

Kudos man.

What kind of Firewall is that so I don't ever buy one :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by farslayer (Post 3458323)

What kind of Firewall is that so I don't ever buy one :)

It's a Symantec 1660 Security Gateway, a direct descendent of their "Velociraptor" firewall line. We've taken to calling it "the craptor."

They're no longer producing this particular device... I can't imagine why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany (Post 3456836)

I've already explained that the issue is with our firewall and I'm in the process of resolving the issue by replacing the firewall.

PS - Thanks for the kind words from everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobbsc (Post 3459395)

Thanks. Mine are all PIX or Checkpoint so no worries here then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arizonagroovejet

Being at work right now and having just got the thread update notification it occurred to me to try visiting the site from my work machine which runs SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. The site loads fine even though tcp_window_scaling is not 0

Code:

me@mymachine:~> cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_window_scaling

1

On an openSUSE 11.1 machine I also have at work for tinkering with the website fails to load just as it does on my openSUSE 11.1 machine at home. Interestingly, the tcp_window_scaling setting is the same as on my SLED 10 machine:

Code:

host-foo:~ # cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_window_scaling

1

If I change the tcp_windows_scaling to 0 then the website loads. Which is curious.

Anyway, best get back to work. :)

I had a similar issue, and was made aware of the following:

Quote:

Originally Posted by farslayer (Post 3502781)

Window Scaling is an automated function of the TCP protocol implemented in 1992...

This issue has been around for a while
http://lwn.net/Articles/92727/

Quote:

The TCP window field, however, is only 16 bits wide, allowing for a maximum window size of 64KB. The TCP designers must have thought that nobody would ever need a larger window than that. But 64KB is not even close to what is needed in many situations today. The solution to this problem is called "window scaling." It is not new; window scaling was codified in RFC 1323 back in 1992. It is also not complicated: a system wanting to use window scaling sets a TCP option containing an eight-bit scale factor. All window values used by that system thereafter should be left-shifted by that scale factor; a window scale of zero, thus, implies no scaling at all, while a scale factor of five implies that window sizes should be shifted five bits, or multiplied by 32. With this scheme, a 128KB window could be expressed by setting the scale factor to five and putting 4096 in the window field.

To keep from breaking TCP on systems which do not understand window scaling, the TCP option can only be provided in the initial SYN packet which initiates the connection, and scaling can only be used if the SYN+ACK packet sent in response also contains that option. The scale factor is thus set as part of the setup handshake, and cannot be changed thereafter.

The details are still being figured out, but it would appear that some routers on the net are rewriting the window scale TCP option on SYN packets as they pass through. In particular, they seem to be setting the scale factor to zero, but leaving the option in place. The receiving side sees the option, and responds with a window scale factor of its own. At this point, the initiating system believes that its scale factor has been accepted, and scales its windows accordingly. The other end, however, believes that the scale factor is zero. The result is a misunderstanding over the real size of the receive window, with the system behind the firewall believing it to be much smaller than it really is. If the expected scale factor (and thus the discrepancy) is large, the result is, at best, very slow communication. In many cases, the small window can cause no packets to be transmitted at all, breaking TCP between the two affected systems entirely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODJ (Post 3503268)

I had a similar issue, and was made aware of the following:

Yeah hobbsc, from this thread is the one that clued me into this particular issue. I had not run into it before. .

Looking for one problem with iceweasel I find another and fix it. Problems like this can take months to fix in windows. now back to search to find the problem with iceweasel and youtube. I need to stop messing with my system ... Naaa never happen. :D