Version 6.34 crash

[Mark1978]

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone could help me?

I upgraded from version 6.00 to version 6.34, the installation went through without a hitch. However, when I started newsbin up it crashed within about 5 seconds saying "Newsbin Newsgroup reader has stopped working".

I restarted, turned off my anti virus (MSE) and tried again with the same results. In the end I tried every version back to where I started (version 6.00) and all did the same. I have now reinstalled version 6.00 and it works again no problems.

Just wondered if someone could enlighten me on this? It is more than likely something I am doing to be honest, but I like to keep my programmes up to date if possible. Also one of the other reasons I updated the programme was that the d/l speed wouldn't go over 600kb/s when it used to go to 1.5 mb/s. It only does that on version 6.00 when I am downloading the latest group updates, but then goes back down. The download limiter is off.

Thanks in advance.

[Quade]

Deleting the file "Downloads.db3" which contains the download, failed and wish lists, will probably fix this.

You'll want to exit Newsbin first before deleting it.

[Mark1978]

Thanks for your response, much appreciated.

But where would I find the "Downloads.db3"?

Apologies If I am being thick!

[DThor]

Not being thick at all...open the Options/Setup and click on the button Open Data Folder. Now, be sure to quit Newsbin! Then go back to that file explorer location and either rename or delete the file, then restart Newsbin.

DT

[Mark1978]

Thank you for your reply.

I don't know what I am doing wrong but for the life of me I cannot find the Downloads.db3

[Quade]

Are you able to "Open Data Folder" before it crashes?

You could try using windows search too.

[Mark1978]

Tried windows search but to no avail.

I don't get the opportunity to much, if anything before it crashes.
I think that's partly the problem I don't know where the file is located but windows search doest bring up anything.

Would it be located in User / local or something similar?

thanks.

[DThor]

Apologies, I skimmed the thread and didn't pick up that your problem was an inability to keep Newsbin up. Yeah, I have a custom location but by default it should be somewhere in your user folder I believe. I would do a file search, should handle it quickly. I don't know why you're having trouble with search, maybe keep it simple, just search for "download", and make sure you're using wildcards if appropriate. I'll be honest, I hate file search in windows and until recently haven't had to use it much(I'm more a linux person - see avatar), and I always get the two platforms mixed up - asterisk or no asterisk?

DT

[Mark1978]

Not at all, thanks for your help!

File search didn't bring up anything.

But I found it by going back to version 6.00 and opening file location.

I just found it actually it was in User - AppData - Local - Newsbin

Strange that a windows / file search dint find it though.

It seems to be working fine now on the newest version, apart form its only downloading at half its capability with speed limiter deactivated.

[Quade]

What does the "cache" line show in the status bar. See any errors on the log?

[Mark1978]

If I am reading it correctly it shows 80/100. Is that what you meant?

Just in case:



This is the highest speed its got to. On full speed i should be getting 15 Mbps, I have had this previously and I do get it when I download group updates. But as soon as they are downloaded it goes back to circa 600 kbps.

I have tried this on numerous downloads, same result. Its almost as if its taking my bandwidth but not using it fully. It certainly feels that way when newsbin is on. No problem normally of course but for half the capability its seems strange.

Thank you for your help with my issues.

[Quade]

Who is your ISP? I get a regular 100 Mbps so, I don't think Newsbin is limiting you.

80 of 100 suggests you're using 20 connections and that the disk isn't a bottleneck for your downloading. If it was 0/100 then I could say the disk was a bottleneck. I think it looks like you're being throttled or that someone else is using your internet and consuming some of your available bandwidth.

[Mark1978]

I'm using Sky. Unless they are blocking or limiting newsbin all of a sudden its confusing as they are the only ip provider in the uk that are genuinely unlimited.

[DThor]

A little googling suggests there is throttling at Sky, certainly for P2P. It wouldn't be a shock if they suddenly decided to throttle usenet. Make sure you're using SSL and use an alternate port if possible.

DT

[Mark1978]

I'm using SSL and port 443 is that ok?

[DThor]

Yup. As an experiment you can check the usenet provider ports for any alternative port numbers they offer with SSL and try that. It is possible, however, that they're throttling any and all traffic from the actual server address, and no tweaking of ports will fix that. This is happening with more ISPs lately. Then you get into using VPNs or other tech to try to get around it. It depends on how important the max speed is to you.

If you start to show up 'on their books', I. E. you are downloading truly extraordinary volumes of data, they could just throttle you, period. This happens pretty infrequently nowadays since volume downloading has become so common and isn't categorized as particularly unusual anymore.

Keep in mind it's also possible this is a local router issue, too. To say nothing of any software you might be running that 'gets in the way'.

DT

[nonoone]

Hello,

i also have updated to the 6.34 and have now the same problem. I already deleted the downloads.db3 and now it took about 5 seconds and then it crashes.

Thanks for help.

Best regards

[DThor]

It wouldn't be the same problem since a corrupt downloads file was the problem here. You'll need to do some debugging since newsbin just crashing does not happen very often. The usual standbys - check the logging tab for any odd messages before the crash, isolate what you're doing(massive download queue? Are save locations over network mounts? Can you reproduce trivially - If so - how?). Completely disable any and all antivirus or similar programs to rule out their interference (they are often involved because they interfere on such a low level they can muss with very basic operations like writing to disk). Essentially you need to figure out what's different on your end that's not reproducible elsewhere. Knowing a particular operation that triggers it would be useful too - for example a par repair or rar extraction might be triggering it.

DT

[Quade]

Might want to give 6.40RC1 a try.

[bananafishbones]

Quade is correct. 6.34 was crashing quite a bit for me so I installed 6.40RC3 B2051 and it's been stable as a rock.

Cheers,
bf