Personal Web Pages

[sullivanmar]

Hi,

I've had an ongoing issue with my PWP file directory for over a year now and I can't seem to get Comcast to address it. I'm hoping someone here has resolved a similar issue and can tell me how you did it.

I have 2 file folders in my directory.  I created them a long time ago and I want to delete them.  I've used different ftp clients, the filemanager page on the Comcast site, multiple machines running multiple different versions of Windows, and many different browsers.  The result is always the same.

If I try to access either of those folders, the browser will spin waiting forever, or hang, and the ftp client will time out. I believe there is some type of directory file corruption in the file structure on the Comcast server for my account. There is nothing in the directory now that needs to be saved so I'd be happy if they would just rebuild the file structure.  But I've never been able to get to the right place to find someone who can understand the problem and fix it.

Another interesting symptom is that my "Total Disk Usage" in the upper right of the file manager screen always shows as "0% of 1GB" no matter how many files I've stored there or how much space I am using. I would think the directory structure alone would show some percentage of use.

I can reproduce all of this at will, on any machine or environment I can log in from.

But each time I call Comcast, I go through the same process.

a) treated like a dumb user who doesn't know what a file is and told the problem must be on my side/machine

b) finally after many minutes (hours) on hold, get to a higher level support person who logs a case and says they will get back to me.

c) they get back to me and tell me there is no problem and close the case.

I called again today. I have a new case number, and someone will get back to me.  I wish I could say I'm optimistic.

Any other advice?

Thanks

[sullivanmar]

Here is a link to a screenshot of the file manager page.  The first 2 folders listed are the problematic ones.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/sullivanmar/Untitled-1.jpg

By the way, before I deleted them this morning, the Cam folder contained over 20K files. My usage still showed as zero.

This is the result I get if I try the "Manage Folders" tab.  The "Directory Name" drop down box is empty, and if I try to select it, either nothing happens or my browser hangs.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t225/sullivanmar/Untitled-2.jpg

[BethKatz]

Let's address the 0% issue first. That seems to be web browser dependent. I see 0% if I use Chrome or Safari. But if I use Firefox, I see 14% usage. Hmmm, now I'm looking at Chrome and seeing the 14% there as well.

I suggest trying to use Firefox for the File Management stuff, too. But I gather you have already done that since you said you had used a variety of web browsers. I'm including a picture below of what mine looks like.

Comcast really doesn't support the personal web pages. The customer service folks don't have a clue about anything technical. The "higher level people" you will get for web pages don't have a clue either. There seem to be vanishingly few people at Comcast who understand how their web page system is built. It will take days for someone at Comcast to track down someone to examine whether the file system for your pages is indeed corrupted.

I will report your problem and escalate it. At the same time, please try to contact Comcast through their email contact system. Note that you have tried calling with no success. Politely INSIST that someone with system administration privileges and expertise on their personal web page servers needs to investigate your problem. Include a link to this thread. 

They will reply that it must be something you did or some other useless comment. Reply back (again politely but firmly) that this needs to be handled by someone who understands the personal web page server file system, that not many people do, and that you would appreciate them forwarding your request to someone who can help. Be polite but insistent. Calling doesn't help. 

[sullivanmar]

Thanks Beth.  That is helpful.  I will see what happens with my latest call ticket and try the polite but firm approach again. 

I have tried the email path before...same result.

Also, yes, I've reproduced this with IE (V8 & V9), Chrome, and Firefox, on XP, Windows 7, and even Vista!  I haven't tried yet, but I'd bet I can get it to fail on my Android phone.

Is there an easy way I can link this thread to the open CR ticket I already have?

Thanks

[BethKatz]

---

sullivanmar wrote:

Thanks Beth.  That is helpful.  I will see what happens with my latest call ticket and try the polite but firm approach again. 

...

Is there an easy way I can link this thread to the open CR ticket I already have?

Thanks

---

No way to connect them although posting the ticket number here connects them in the other direction.

We're just volunteer customers like you.

[lead5alpha]

Sometimes this can be caused by a corrupted file name inside the folder or a file name with weird characters inside the folder.  Have you tried to delete the individual files inside the folder first.  If they all delete except for one or two, then you have found the ones, try to then rename the bad ones and see if they can be deleted once renamed.

[sullivanmar]

That's actually part of the problem.

As far as I know, the directories are empty.  But I cannot access them to verify, nor can I perform any file functions (view, delete, rename, etc) on the folders themselves.  When I attempt to open them or list their contents, the server never responds.  Same failure whether I go through Browser/File Manager or ftp client (FileZilla in my case)

[lead5alpha]

This behavior can also occur sometimes in web based clients but not with a standard ftp client.  Some web based ftp clients have limitations based on using http to talk to the server.

Have you tried a standard ftp client that uses the ftp protocol to talk to the server?  Filezilla is a browser based but I am not familiar with it.  If you use windows use the windows explorer client and see if it can access the folder.  Open any windows explorer window (not internet explorer) such as the documents library.  Erase the address bar.  Type in ftp://upload.comcast.net and follow the prompts.  A folder with the files/folders on the server will open on your desktop.  See if you can access the bad folder and open it/delete it.

[sullivanmar]

We all learn a bit each day...thanks. I hadn't realized that FileZilla was browser based.

Same behavior with Windows Explorer

[lead5alpha]

I don't know if it is or not.  I am not familar with Filezilla.  Just have seen this behavior in web based clients and thought it was worth trying.  Sorry that it did not help.

[Again]

Try Core FTP LE.  It's a stand alone FTP client.

[doubleprice43]

yes I do have good solution for your problem !

 please,change.. get other provider ,comcast they all the same...

only good they have is a price..

for my only  work with my computer on line to my church I pay $78.00 a month..

thats only to my computer ,I keep tell thoses stupids ,i dont wanna tv ou stupids movies...

but they have a power ,and we have to pay for .!

 I do have the same problem with those imcompetents people..

thats 2 years the same ....they a all stupid', with  all costumers..

I get tired this ..!!   " they don't know  well."

My friend . I recomend' you  a one good for your problem.

save yours programs  out side for a window ,fotos and musics ,and re-install  your window..

and after,  go to  a page this stupid comcast e download a program again..

please...do not save musics e fotos  in your computer ..

good luck..

[sullivanmar]

I've been remiss in not getting back to this note to close it off.  With some hints from Comcast support, I was finally able to unravel this mystery.

The problematic folders were caused by my having over 250K zero-length files in the directories. Because I couldn't get to the directory listing, I couldn't see them and didn't realize they were there.

Once I finally realized the problem, it explained why I kept getting the ftp time-out error.  By changing the time-out parameter in my ftp client, I was able to have it wait long enough to return the directory listing, and then delete all the files.  Once deleted, I was able to then delete the folder.

In effect, I caused the problem through something I set up.  However I would fault the Comcast file management software for very poor handling of the situation.

I had an application that was taking screen captures of a webcam every 5 minutes and storing them on my personal web pages.  I expected that once the directory reached capacity, it would either return an error message that the directory was full and not create a file, or simply overwrite the oldest files in a oldest in-first out manner.  This is the behavior I expected.

However, it appears that instead, it kept creating zero-lenght file headers until some other error condition locked up the folder.  Confusing me further, the progress bar at the top of the file manager would show zero storage used.

So, problem solved.  But Comcast should improve the file management error handling.

[Again]

Comcast provides the PWP with some pretty sad tools and at one point was going to pull PWP all together.  For the most part they don't really support the PWP, as you've probably found out.  It wouldn't surprise us if at sometime without warning they drop PWP all together.