You guys are awesome! Hang in there with me just a bit longer. This
shotgun method of problem solving is
exhilarating. All the info posted was almost overwhelming, but luckily I
had some hours today to play with it step by step. I won't even try to copy
any of your latest messages in this report. I am sure that I have neglected
to name one of you below, but please know that I am grateful to you anyway.
I had enough success today to fuel some further tenacity. I had Arachne
flying there for a few minutes . . . and I like it, I LIKE IT. Funny how
computer-related trouble is never caused by just one thing. Usually two or
three, which makes it a real slippery beast. Of course that's also true of
car engines and women.
Bob and Roger and Glenn and Michael,
You all have helped my morale. Thanks for surveying my Arachne.cfg; I did
correct the Mode to 7E1 for Compuserve and tried out your dial-up
variations. But I am quite sure now that the problem isn't in the setup.
I tried other Compuserve access numbers too.
Bob, I remember reading some of your posts on the CIS Internet Resources
forum some months ago. I think there was mention of Arachne stalls during
page loads. Do you know if that ever got resolved? That's some of my
trouble now. Even when it gets to a new page and starts loading, it will
get stuck midway. I wait and wait and finally ESC; then on occasion
pressing R will start it loading again, but only to get stuck again.
Finally it goes to 'Arachne load error'. A couple times, it loaded the
first page successfully, then I followed a link successfully, then entered a
new URL and went there okay . . . then it stalled again. Usually any
attempt to load more than the first page or second page, either URL-name or
IP number, results in 'Arachne load error'. It's as if it loses track of
the DNS. Perhaps in this area Compuserve is redirecting requests in a way
that Arachne can't follow????
Dale,
I am in Los Angeles (not the UK), which I suspect is actually 90-100 percent
of my problem.
Bart,
You suggested that I rule out connection or memory problems by trying Telnet
first. I couldn't find a copy on any of my machines (Oops! I lied --just
found it on my Windows 95 machine). HOWEVER, on a hunch I tried a Freewwweb
access number from outside my local calling area. That's when Arachne
suddenly took off. It worked beautifully, no hesitations, no stalls, no
errors. I could follow links and surf using URL names; I didn't have to
type in IP numbers. I could even load images. I turned on Smartdrv and
Arachne ran smoother yet. I tried caching onto a RAM drive, but that didn't
help much. Anyway, the problem is NOT my machine or modem or compressed
drive.
Randall Morgan,
I hope you still frequent Arachne's list and happen to read this. I met you
on the Free-Net list. You posted there your own successful Arachne.cfg for
Freewwweb. Turns out that the key to YOUR success is simply the San
Fernando access number. That number works for me too. I am in the
Glendale/Pasadena area of Los Angeles, and all the Freewwweb local access
numbers for my side of L.A. County won't work with Arachne. Thanks for your
kind attention and your referral to the Arachne list.
Sergei ,
The IP numbers you traced for me are a great help. For Freewwweb ISP, it
has proved that there must be some kind of redirection to a proxy or other
host via my local access dial-up numbers. Using one outside access number,
there was no longer any problem. But I cannot afford to use Arachne if it
means paying toll charges. I am trying to get Freewwweb techs to look up a
proxy address for my area, but I am afraid they won't bother answering if I
am not using a standard browser like Netscape or IE. They have said as much
in support notes.
Thomas,
I found the TRACERT utility installed with my Windows 95 system. Using that
I get lots of data to compare, so I still hope to find the key for using
Arachne with Freewwweb in my area. Freewwweb is the only free ISP I have
found whose Terms of Service do not rule out use of a DOS browser like
Arachne --a potentially perfect combination.
So if you guys haven't lost interest, I am copying below the TRACERT data I
got so far. I traced three Freewwweb-related URLs, one set using my local
Los Angeles access node, then another set comparing the remote
(SUCCESSFUL!!!) access number. It appears that they lease lines from
uu.net. I am hoping one of you can spot the proxy or 'native' DNS for my
local area. It's all new to me, so I don't know what to look for. Hoping
the email transfer won't mess up the columns too badly.
***First my local Los Angeles access number:***
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracing route to home.freewwweb.com [216.70.93.170]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 137 ms 137 ms 165 ms tnt4.lax3.da.uu.net [206.115.153.196]
2 135 ms 121 ms 120 ms 206.115.255.2
3 164 ms 123 ms 125 ms 137.ATM3-0.XR2.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[152.63.113.142]
4 123 ms 137 ms 118 ms 294.ATM2-0.TR2.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.138]
5 208 ms 188 ms 189 ms 111.ATM7-0.TR2.EWR1.ALTER.NET
[146.188.137.53]
6 190 ms 186 ms 181 ms 196.ATM6-0.XR2.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.65]
7 193 ms 185 ms 190 ms 188.ATM10-0-0.GW3.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.157]
8 196 ms 195 ms 190 ms edge1-s0.nycdc.smartworld.net
[157.130.15.146]
9 201 ms 196 ms 196 ms home.freewwweb.com [216.70.93.170]
Trace complete.
C:\WINDOWS>tracert freewwweb.snap.com
Tracing route to home.snap.com [206.132.166.63]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 125 ms 125 ms 129 ms tnt3.lax3.da.uu.net [206.115.153.195]
2 133 ms 156 ms 113 ms 206.115.254.1
3 118 ms 116 ms 118 ms 136.ATM2-0.XR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[152.63.113.138]
4 119 ms 121 ms 119 ms 195.ATM8-0-0.BR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[152.63.113.81]
5 120 ms 151 ms 118 ms 208.50.13.1
6 137 ms 138 ms 133 ms fe0-1-0.cr2.BUR.gblx.net [207.218.173.35]
7 130 ms 130 ms 132 ms pos0-3-155M.cr1.NUQ.gblx.net [206.251.1.49]
8 137 ms 139 ms 127 ms pos0-0-0.hr3.SNV2.gblx.net [206.132.254.218]
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 206.132.188.122 reports: Destination net unreachable.
Trace complete.
Tracing route to ns.smartworld.net [216.70.64.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 122 ms 125 ms 124 ms tnt3.lax3.da.uu.net [206.115.153.195]
2 120 ms 117 ms 118 ms 206.115.254.1
3 122 ms 130 ms 125 ms 136.ATM2-0.XR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[152.63.113.138]
4 140 ms 129 ms 129 ms 195.ATM3-0.TR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.118]
5 184 ms 183 ms 186 ms 111.ATM7-0.TR1.NYC1.ALTER.NET
[146.188.137.130]
6 203 ms 195 ms 186 ms 199.ATM7-0.XR1.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.21]
7 190 ms 194 ms 187 ms 189.ATM8-0-0.GW3.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.145]
8 235 ms 204 ms 206 ms edge1-s0.nycdc.smartworld.net
[157.130.15.146]
9 215 ms 209 ms 207 ms ns.smartworld.net [216.70.64.1]
Trace complete.
***Finally, the remote (San Fernando) access number***
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Tracing route to home.freewwweb.com [216.70.93.170]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 138 ms 126 ms 138 ms tnt5.san-fernando.ca.da.uu.net
[206.115.154.154]
2 137 ms 143 ms 143 ms 206.115.165.33
3 162 ms 163 ms 141 ms Fddi0-0.HR1.LAX1.ALTER.NET [137.39.40.4]
4 135 ms 157 ms 132 ms 101.ATM3-0.XR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.2]
5 137 ms 135 ms 132 ms 195.ATM3-0.TR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.118]
6 201 ms 191 ms 186 ms 111.ATM7-0.TR1.NYC1.ALTER.NET
[146.188.137.130]
7 203 ms 220 ms 188 ms 199.ATM7-0.XR1.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.21]
8 232 ms 192 ms 206 ms 189.ATM8-0-0.GW3.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.145]
9 193 ms 193 ms 195 ms edge1-s0.nycdc.smartworld.net
[157.130.15.146]
10 213 ms 206 ms 196 ms home.freewwweb.com [216.70.93.170]
Trace complete.
C:\WINDOWS>tracert freewwweb.snap.com
Tracing route to home.snap.com [206.132.166.66]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 126 ms 117 ms 124 ms tnt5.san-fernando.ca.da.uu.net
[206.115.154.154]
2 135 ms 129 ms 130 ms 206.115.165.29
3 139 ms 133 ms 130 ms Fddi0-0.HR1.LAX1.ALTER.NET [137.39.40.4]
4 128 ms 130 ms 132 ms 101.ATM3-0.XR2.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.182]
5 134 ms 134 ms 139 ms 194.ATM8-0-0.BR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[152.63.113.77]
6 150 ms 129 ms 135 ms s6-0-0.br1.BUR.globalcenter.net
[157.130.225.126]
7 149 ms 169 ms 375 ms fe8-0-0.cr2.BUR.gblx.net [207.218.173.51]
8 153 ms 141 ms 147 ms pos0-3-155M.cr1.NUQ.gblx.net [206.251.1.49]
9 160 ms 165 ms 372 ms pos0-0-0.hr3.SNV2.gblx.net [206.132.254.218]
10 * 206.132.188.122 reports: Destination net unreachable.
Trace complete.
Tracing route to ns.smartworld.net [216.70.64.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 119 ms 126 ms 133 ms tnt5.san-fernando.ca.da.uu.net
[206.115.154.154]
2 138 ms 132 ms 165 ms 206.115.165.33
3 144 ms 146 ms 137 ms Fddi0-0.HR1.LAX1.ALTER.NET [137.39.40.4]
4 132 ms 137 ms 146 ms 101.ATM3-0.XR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.2]
5 142 ms 137 ms 130 ms 195.ATM2-0.TR1.LAX2.ALTER.NET
[146.188.248.114]
6 187 ms 202 ms 209 ms 111.ATM7-0.TR1.EWR1.ALTER.NET
[146.188.137.49]
7 188 ms 190 ms 230 ms 197.ATM7-0.XR1.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.53]
8 212 ms 227 ms 194 ms 189.ATM11-0-0.GW3.NYC4.ALTER.NET
[146.188.179.153]
9 199 ms 211 ms 206 ms edge1-s0.nycdc.smartworld.net
[157.130.15.146]
10 206 ms 219 ms 206 ms ns.smartworld.net [216.70.64.1]
Trace complete.
