Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Technical Help and How To's Log-in Problems

I've been having trouble logging in. Every time I visit the site, it says I'm not logged in, and when I try to log in, it takes me back to the forums without logging me in. I finally tried logging in without clicking the Remember Me box, and it let me in, but it doesn't always stay logged in while I'm on the site.

Has anyone else had issues with logging in? I tried clearing my browser, but the same problems keep happening.

OOh, a topic for me too. I log in successfully, but when I go to
get a story from the TOCs it logs me out instead of sending me to the story. Also my log in does not stay for more than one session.
hope someone can fix this
regards
Artemis

Yep, it's definitely more broken than it used to be till a couple of days ago.

Now, I not only get random logouts, my Windows Phone Internet Explorer isn't even remembering the username/password for the login page so I have to manually enter them.

And on my desktop, I was logged out, too, logged in, went back to this thread, was logged out again and it only worked on the second go-round. On the plus side, if this keeps up, at least I'll be able to debug it on a desktop browser

Michael

I had a similar issue and then it seemed to resolve itself. I have now currently been logged on for 2 hours without a logoff. Of course maybe I should not log out...

Mike

Yeah, it's more stable now. no idea about the mobile browser, though. Don't want to log out just for kicks

Michael

Okay, I'll take it back. It looks like I'm logged out/logged in depending on which page I'm on. For instance, I'm logged out on the main page but logged in when I visit a thread. The problem is, that I'm getting the same cookies for different paths (and with different values) and only one of those is actually valid.

e.g.
ubbt_mysess with path = "/" and "/ubb/"
ubbt_myid with path = "/" and "/ubb/ubbthreads.php/ubb/"

There's also several login and session cookies around and I have no idea if they're all valid/needed/contradictory.

I'm not familiar with the UBB forum software, so no idea which cookies are correct/duplicates/config-issues, etc, but it certainly feels like something's broken there.

Next thing I'll try is delete all cookies and start from scratch.

Michael

Okay, the problem is that sometimes we get linked or redirected to http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm and sometimes it's http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=... Since the some of the cookies are created for the "/ubb/ubbthreads.php/" path, the login fails for the shorter URL. This is definitely a config-issue or a bug in the UBB software and there's nothing we user can do to solve this.

Oh, and sometimes it helps to switch browsers. Right now, I'm using Internet Explorer because Firefox wouldn't keep me away from the subdirectories.

Michael

Okay, it looks like I do not get path-cookies when I'm using Internet Explorer but several of the cookies I get twice.

Definitely not the way it should work.

Michael

I am going to suggest to anyone using Internet Explorer to access the boards to start looking into another browser. There are issues with IE and the boards that started with the switch over and that mostly because these boards are not built with IE in mind, especially older versions of IE. I know that Microsoft themselves are doing away with support of IE 9 and 10 very soon.

I highly suggest Chrome. Firefix seems to have some issues, too but they are not as bad as IE.

Please make sure that you enable cookies as that's how the boards work to keep you updated on which threads you've read and so on.

Also, clear your cache often. There's a program called CCLeaner that is free and will help keep your Internet cache cleaned. There are options to make sure that it does not delete your cookies, although, cleaning them up once in a while is not a bad idea.

Hope this helps some.

Support for IE9 and IE10 has already been killed for everything but Windows Vista (IE9) and Windows Server 2012 (IE10). IE11 is here to stay for the next decade or so. Right now, IE11 is working better than Firefox on the boards and there doesn't need to be an issue with which modern browser is being used with the boards. They don't use anything modern like latest generation HTML5 features.

Clearing the cache again won't help if things fail immediately after the login when you already started out with no cookies and a cleared cache.

I'm really crossing my fingers here for a fix on the server side, otherwise FoLCs will not be able to post as they used to and that would be bad for our community. Me, personally, I've been using Firefox for the past decade or more and I don't want to switch to Chrome or IE just to use the boards. OTOH, my Windows Phone uses IE and that one worked great till the upgrade and only logged me out occasionally since. It's only the past two days that things started to get crazy. You mentioned something about a server reboot and some related problems on the other thread?

I just tried to use a user agent switcher for Firefox but it didn't help, which is odd and apparently there is more to this than just the user agent header.

Is there something else we can do to help with supporting/fixing this situation?

Michael

Okay, i just disabled Javascript in ie ans it started to immediately fail there, too. Reactivating Javascript and resetting the cache and cookies didn't help. Chrome won't let me sign in either. Only IE on my phone still works.

This is bad.

Michael

Okay, I've just checked zoomway's boards and the use the same ubb version without problems. The cookies don't contain a path and the URLs always use the same format.

Michael

I'm going to try something. This is going to cause everyone to be logged out initially. Once you log back in let me know if you stay logged in.

Change is made, give it try now.

BTW this IS a KNOWN issue for all version of IE 8 and above. I have researched this just a little bit.

Okay, this solved it in Chrome but IE and FF are still broken

Hey guys ...

Yesterday I was having issues with posting. When I'd attempt to post, an error would pop up, mention a 'firewall' (I think), and stop the process. The day before, Monday, everything was totally normal.

Monday night my posting ability was back, and I was able to post a couple FDK's. Today I seem to be able to post, also.

But I do have one ongoing issue...

Both yesterday and today I've been having a problem with the log in. And it's pretty odd. Normally I stay logged on--and never logo out. I've had no issues with doing this over the last few years. And I always access the site through my iPhone or iPad (through Safari). Well, since yesterday morning, when accessing the site, I have to log on. Once I log on, I seem to stay logged on, until I click on the 'Lois & Clark Fanfic Message Boards' icon (on the top left of the screen) to 'get back' the the front of the site. Normally doing this takes me immediately back 'home', but now, doing this logs me out. If I use the back arrows to maneuver around, I stay logged in. Odder still, when I tap on the 'log in' button (after being booted out for hitting the 'L&C' top icon), I am suddenly logged on again. And keep in mind, this is without actually logging on again. Prior to yesterday morning, this has never happened.

Overall, no big deal. I'll be hear regardless--I'm just thankful to have 'posting' abilities again.

Just thought I'd throw this 'out there' while the conversation is being had...

Appreciate the work everyone does around here--it can not be stated enough. Love this place .
Laura

I had the exact same problem as Laura. Now I only stay logged if I have the "Keep me logged in" box unchecked. If I check it, I get logged out as soon as it boots me back to the main page.

Duh! Yes, that works. Perfectly obvious

MXY:

Michael, who now really should head off to bed...

I just emailed support about this and about upgrading the boards because this might be the only way to fix this issue.

Keep in mind that we will need to pay to access support, usually $60 yearly and if we need to upgrade over this, the last time the upgrade cost us $450 and 24 hours of down time. I just want people to realize that UBB support is not free and even though this is a known issue I'm at a loss at how to fix it other than going through UBB support.

WooHoo. I stay logged in if I leave the "keep me logged in" box
unchecked!
r/
Artemis
1. Actually it is the "Remember me on the each visit" box.
2. But when I close down, I do get logged out.

Okay, on my Windows Phone it required a complete delete of my browser history, but the save/fill-in-password feature of the browser is working again. I still get logged out after some time, though, but at least I don't have to type in the username/password any longer.

What Artemis found: Yeah, the cookies are now probably just set for the browser session instead of permanently but this might be a small price to pay if the login works reliably in this context.

Annette: I've noticed that the cookies contain the path and that's got to be a feature that can be disabled since zoomway's board isn't sending the path and uses the same version of the software. If an upgrade could permanently fix these issues, I'd be all for it but since it works on (sorry to beat the dead horse) zoomway's with the same version and started with the server reboot two days ago, I'm not so sure this would actually solve our current problems...

Michael

Michael, here are the settings for the boards. I'd like for you to tell me what I should change the settings to because in the research I've done on the support forum tells me that these are correct. I do not run Zoomway's board and at this point I don't know who does so I can't tell you what their settings are set to. What I do know is that, again, it's a known issue with this version of UBB. For all I know they had support come in a fix it, which is what I am trying to for all, what? Six of you having this issue? At least, that is who is complaining. I DO have one user that cannot log in at all now since I made the change to prefix the cookies with "lc"

The reboot of the server was done to fix the STMP issue that was affecting the entire host, which mean sites like the nfanfic and kerthawards, which is going through nominations right now, were also stuck.

Until I hear back from support, I don't know what else to do. But please, enlighten me to what you think I should do.

So right now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place here.

I'll let you know what support says when I hear back from them.

I'm not sure what happened, but I couldn't log in earlier. I closed my browser, and came back an hour later and can now log in. I never check the "remember me" box (or whatever its exact wording is).

I'm not complaining, just wanted to let someone know this happened. I always figure that the more information one has, the better when trying to solve a problem like this. Maybe it's intermittent?

Thank you for working on this problem that seems very challenging... and frustrating for you I'm sure!

Cuidadora, I think the reason why you were able to log in after a while is the your cookies for the boards expired (possibly, I'm just guessing here).

I just reverted the changes I made due to a few complaints of people not being able to log in at all.

I'd rather people need to log in when they open their browser then have people locked out of the boards completely.

Annette,

Thanks. That makes sense. My browser is set to clear cookies when I close it.

Annette, I know it's frustrating and I really know just how frustrating cookies can be after I had a lot of fun with users losing their login because a proxy in between switched the casing of the path's value and the browser stopped sending the cookies and then needing to come up with the correct fix for this.

Anyhow, the longer path values are back for me in Firefox so as far as I'm concerned, I don't think disabling the SEO/spider-friendly URLs did us much good in the long run. Plus, it broke the TOCs, so may just going back to the original setting Hmm...I don't remember, did you disable them while trying to troubleshoot this or was that an effect of the server reboot, too?

I can see that the admin settings look right/sensible/what they should be set to. But since there's still a path value being sent, I'm thinking this might be cause there's another place in the software or on the server where the cookie path is set. Maybe there's a proxy or are there customizations of the pages done? The reason I was curious about the server reboot was that it appeared to trigger the problems and there could be changes that have been made since the previous reboot and they only now became active. Do you know when the last reboot was or if there was a change that never had an effect and just slipped through the cracks till this week?

While googling this I managed to find this post here: http://community.mybb.com/thread-134372.html and http://community.mybb.com/thread-126359.html I know that it's mybb and not ubb but maybe since they're both "bb"-boards and use php, there might be similarities in regards to the config-options? They definitely mention that the settings can be done in code and in the database via the UI and if not done correctly, a server restart resets them etc.

The 6 users: I know, that just a couple of us. But it seems like it's also at least half of the users who posted since the trouble started. I really don't envy you and am just trying to offer all the ideas I can think of to remotely troubleshoot this. Sadly, I don't have any experience with the UBB stuff or, well, any recent php experience, so I can't go beyond generic ideas. That's also why I mentioned zoomway's. Most defaults on web servers etc are to send empty path values because paths in cookies are just trouble. And since zoomway's isn't sending a path either and uses the same software, it seemed to me that we're not doing the default but rather something has been configured somewhere to cause this behavior. And since it's not in the very obvious admin gui, it's got to be somewhere else, be it the php-files, Apache itself or a reverse proxy server, etc. And that means needle in a haystack Did I mention that I do get why you're frustrated?

Michael

Hello Annette,

Please make that seven users. I haven't been posting on the MB at all in a while since I've been ill all month and have been trying to conserve energy. (I haven't even been reading much lately.) I especially hadn't posted here since I didn't think a "me too" post would add anything of value. But your "only six people claim to be affected" comment makes me think a +1 might be worthwhile.

I, too, have been experiencing the login/logout problems that others have described so well.

My thanks to you and to Michael for your troubleshooting and for trying to resolve this problem.

Joy,
Lynn

I am still waiting on a response from UBB support. At this point this is in their hands.

I, too, have been getting logged out every time I turn off my internet and come back. And logged out going to a fresh page (but only if I click that button asking me to stay logged in -- ironic, I know). Like Lynn, I too didn't chime in because logging in to the website each day isn't that big a deal (since my user name and password are saved between uses) and others had already described the problem.

The bigger deal to me is the fact that none of the TOC links work. As a reader (especially one trying to locate stories to nominate for the Kerth awards), I'm finding it frustrating to locate those eligible stories that aren't on the Archives yet or to recommend stories to others. As a writer, I use links to refer readers to my other stories, to correct errors, and to link story parts to one another, none of which I can do at the moment without doing a search on myself. Since I have a story with hundred of parts, slogging through the search results wastes my valuable and limited writing/computer time. I agree with Michael, what was so bad with the last format? Can we please go back, so our links work again?

I appreciate all the hard work everyone is doing to fix these problems, especially since you're working in a foreign language (UBB). Good luck with finding a solution that works for everyone.

I am glad I finally found this topic. I usually stick to the fanfic topics and didn't know what was going on. I was unable to log in and didn't know why. Now I know I have to uncheck the Remember me box. It's a pain having to repeatedly log in, but at least I can log in. So, thank you.

Ann

*Whew*, I thought my phone was glitching or something!

The good news is that leaving "remember me" unchecked seems to help with logging in. Alas, it doesn't solve the fanfic index kicking me out.

Queenie, fanfic index kicking you out, you mean sending you back to the main page of the boards? That's getting discussed over here:
http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=269137#Post269137 (and already trying to figure it out with Annette)

Michael

Okay, with the changes made last night, the login should work at least when you do not check the "remember me" checkbox. This means, you should stay logged in while you keep your browser open (your session is kept alive).

Caveat: when you suspend your mobile devices, the browser might discard the session data after a while and you find yourself logged out when you turn it back on. At least, that's what happens on my Windows Phone with Mobile Internet Explorer. I do not know how it behaves on Androids and iPhones or iPads.

So, it would be great to hear from you guys here in this thread if it a) works for you now and b) how it works for you on your phone/tablet.

Meanwhile, I'll be scouring the net to hunt down when and why the "remember me" feature might break the login. I'm not alone in that it doesn't work, right?

Michael

Disclaimer and note-to-self: For me, the "remember me" checkbox still works on my Desktop Internet Explorer and the boards send me a whole slew of cookies I don't get in Chrome and Firefox.

You are correct, Michael. I wasn't able to log on for several days, either on desktop or mobile. Now I can log on if remember me is not checked. I appreciate the work everone is doing to help find solutions

Great to hear, Susan!

Just a head's up, everyone: We'll be trying one more thing to try and get the remember-me to work, too. It shouldn't affect anyone when we do, but, well... as I said, just a head's up

Michael

Okay, the login, including the "remember me" feature should now also work as well as it did before the trouble started.

'as well as' means that it looks like the 'remember me' feature never worked on desktop Internet Explorer, causing you to get logged out again on the next action. As far as I could establish, this *only* affects desktop Internet Explorer. Chrome, Firefox and mobile IE should be okay.

If you guys have any more troubles with the login, please let us know here. And yes, I know, should the login ever again completely fail, posting about it would be difficult, so e-mails would be needed

Thank you all for your patience!

Michael

I just played around awhile while on my iPhone using Safari. I logged in, checked to 'remember me', then clicked all around the TOC's, backed to the homepage by clicking the 'Lois & Clark' top left icon various different times (which had been an issue for me), X'ed out of the boards and went on some other websites for a bit, got back onto the boards, then X'ed out of the boards again, went elsewhere for a bit, got back into the boards...

Very happy/thrilled/excited to report I had no issues! ! I stayed logged on from the beginning, and even after everywhere I went.

Awesome!!!

Thanks, guys!
Laura

I'd like to thank Michael for all his help on this issue. This was all him. I would just like to give credit where it's due.

Thanks again, Michael!

Log in seems a lot more stable. I'm on IE (yes, I know, I've heard the IE jokes) so I still can't keep the box checked, but at least I'm not getting logged out every time I refresh/click on a new page!

Thanks for all your hard work, everyone!

Next stop: Kerth nominations!

Michael

Thank you Mickey! :-*

Yea! Logged in yesterday, clicking the "keep me logged in" button (or whatever it says), and I was still logged in when I checked in today! *happy dance*

I've been using Chrome the last couple of days because FireFox has been the bane of my existence for the last few months. My screen keeps freezing and scripts stalling that I end up raising my blood pressure more than actually doing *anything* on the Internet. Don't know how long I'll use Chrome. We'll see. Probably until something better comes along.

That seems to have fixed it for me (Firefox and Windows 7) and I've been logged in for a day or so without problems now. Many thanks!

Make that six days!

Yes, old thread I know. But I upgraded to Win 10 last night and the "keep me logged in" box WORKS with Microsoft Edge browser!