FTP and Freenet

I am trying to access a homepage on a unix server hosted by Freenet. I am using the programme Wise FTP, and up until now have had absolutely no problems accessing my websites, the majority of which are hosted by 1 & 1.

I have a Firewall, upload in passive mode, and keep getting an error message, either no connection to the Server or the Login is incorrect! I am really starting to become extremely frustrated with this, as I just don't understand what the problem is. I have checked the User-ID and Login details.

Can anyone help? Is there some trick or extra function I need to know about for Freenet?

I am grateful for any advice you can give me!

I just want to say that this sch--ß connection is driving me absolutely nuts!! It is still not working. Anyway, although no-one could help, thanks for reading this and send round the men in white coats ...

Oh dear, sorry to hear it's still not working. But here is a reply anyway!
I have no idea about freenet connections, but I don't see why it really has anything to do with the provider.
Could it be something to to with your firewall blocking certain ports?
Try disabling your firewall just to eliminate that as a problem.
If the connection still doesn't work, you will have to RTFM again.
If it does work, then there is something not quite right with your firewall settings.

Just remember to put your firewall back up once you've finished any experiments!

Thanks for the help Alien. What's not logical about this is that I look after other websites too, and have absolutely no problem with those sites with FTP, so I really don't think there is anything wrong with the Firewall settings, but I will give it a try just to see.

I have been told that 1&1 can cause problems (don't ask me why) in connection with Freenet. I have now written to Freenet explaining the situation and am waiting for their reply.

So I shall keep away from this for now, therefore saving my temper and nerves (window open, computer through window and so on ... )

There are only so many times one can read the FM, you know, in the hope of finding that snippet of information that will make all the difference!

OK, have disabled the Firewall. It's not the Firewall. I will now forget all about this for the duration of the weekend.

To give this little thread a happy end I have got the problem sorted and I love my computer again.

thats not how it works Archie .. you post a problem, we rack our brains for 10 days trying to find a solution, and you in the middle of this say you got it working but don't tell us how ..

Seriously, how did you sort it? Might be of interest to others here at some stage.

Or maybe you have a reason for not letting on?

I had a call from a distressed and seriously pissed off Mrs Maaph last week saying the computer screen wasn't working, the power light wasn't even working, what I had done the evening before with it, where did I put the old one, or should she go and buy the 19" flast screen she's wanted for months now.

I told her to get the old one from the basement and all she had to do was plug it in and boot up windows, and the clever pc would do it on its own - we could sort out a new one later. She got the old screen from the basement and went to unplug the broken one .. but it wasn't plugged in anyway!!! She'd kicked the plug when she first sat down .. dozy bint :doh:

Reminds me of a trip to a users desk a long time ago to "fix" a broken monitor.

Me: Is it plugged in?
Them: (Giving dirty look) Of course it is!
Me: I'll just check...

You can probably figure out the rest for yourself.

Never trust what a user says. (infuriates my wife when I have to look for the error myself even though she has told me something doesn't work, but she fails to realise that after years of dealing with users one tends to give up believing what they say).

Got a free printer from someone once, as they wanted to throw it away as "it didn't work", got it home, moved the switch from "envelope" to "paper" and bingo works fine now.

@ Maaph: I didn't know you were racking your brains over my problem

A little background information to this first: I agreed to have a look at the site (particularly the files on the server) for a Verein who's Webmaster hasn't been doing his job properly and hasn't updated the site for the past 8 months or so.
Well, the owners of the site were becoming rather desperate and asked me if I could show them how to update pages onto the internet. I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at the server first (some Webmasters are so untidy!) before I go making any promises, and the Verein people have no idea about Homepages and stuff and the programming thereof, so I was/am pretty much on my own with this one.

This is when the problems began with not being to access the site. So I contacted Freenet. The Verein didn't know the passwords had been changed (aahh you are thinking, what a simple solution) but NO, still no access.

Anyway, after having screened all of the settings in Freenet, it turns out the previous Webmaster programmed the Homepage with Frontpage, with Server side includes activated, meaning it could not be accessed via FTP. I have to deactivate SSI, which means the settings are gone, to be able to access with FTP again. Which looking at it, designwise, in my opinion, wouldn't be a bad thing!

I have nabbed the site off the Internet with Frontpage and am in the process of taking a look. My worst fears have come true - it's a mess!

Now I just have to let the Verein know. I have a funny feeling this whole thing is going to land at my door ... but at least the computer was plugged in.

gotcha ..

Question: are SSIs in general a no-no when using FTP or is this a Freenet thing? I am also Webmaster of my "Verein" and I would like to use includes to speed up content change (i.e. latest news) and quite possibly without needing to use Frontpage (and therefore making me hardware / location independent).

I have had a few attempts, but without much success so far. I know .. RTFM, but if someone knows already

You can use SSI as long as your Provider allows use of htaccess files, and you will have no FTP problems.

Frontpage uses these server extension thingies, which once activated disable FTP access.

How about a Content Management System - can also be accessed from everywhere, and by "amateurs", without the possibility of having your Homepage messed up!

As part of a service contract, I have to update my customer's website every month. I am currently having problems with my firewall and do not understand the nature of the problem. When my firewall is running, I cannot access the remote directory on the server(customer uses Loomes). I have changed my firewall settings to allow access to both the internet- and trusted zone. I use ZoneAlarm. I have to switch off the firewall completely in order to upload my changes. Does anybody know why this is or has anybody experienced similar problems with ZoneAlarm? Thanks.

ZA is Crap...

If your cust. server also has SSH running why not just use SCP (Winscp) to xfer the files accross.
No need to fiddle with FTP and Passive mode settings..

Ri-ight. Thanks Darknight.


Not possible, but thanks. Will simply have to do this with my firewall disabled.

I have no experience with either ZA or the hoster you are using, but I suppose you have configured ZA not to filter packets that go to the FTP port on the customer site. Also, depending on how smart your firewall is, file transfer may not work when you are using FTP in active mode, so be sure your FTP client is in passive mode.

New problems. I am trying to upload several large (1.2 MB) files onto a server (1&1). I am not managing. The smaller files(thumbnails) were uploaded in a jiffy. I have waited for 30 minutes already and managed only 1 or 2 of these large files. Has anybody else had these problems using 1&1? I have DSL and the normal transfer rate is about 100 MBit/s.

I think you mean 100Kbytes/s (1Mbit/s) ! That's the download speed. (A)DSL upload speed is around 1/10th the download speed, so probably 10-15Kbits/sec. A 1.2Mbyte file SHOULD transfer in around 10-15 minutes...

100k is less than dual channel ISDN (128k).. Even DSL Lite is normally around 384k down 64-128k up..
As for if the server is having problems, stop your xfers and run extended pings to the server and run a traceroute
and look at the responce times.